IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins was the first one to decide to skip the NFL draft and come back for another season.
And then he waited for his defensive teammates to follow him.
“Being a good recruiter that I am, I took those guys out to dinner, I sat them down,” Higgins said during the Hawkeyes’ media day on Friday. “When I posted I was coming back, I thought they would respond a little bit faster, so I got a little nervous that they waited until after the bowl game to say they were coming back.”
So many of the main players of one of the nation’s best defenses last season have decided to come back, coach Kirk Ferentz declared this one of his more veteran groups he has had since coming to Iowa in 1999.
“We’re pretty set there,” he said.
The depth chart reflects that.
Nine of the first-team spots on defense are filled by players who are either seniors or graduate players. Seven of the top eight tacklers from last season are back.
“Honestly, that was the biggest incentive, getting to play with all of the guys who are coming back,” said linebacker Nick Jackson, who is in his sixth season overall and second at Iowa. “We want to do something special.”
Iowa won 10 games last season and claimed the Big Ten West Division title with a defense that ranked fourth nationally in points allowed (14.8), fifth in passing yards allowed (170.7) and seventh in total defense (282.5 yards).
Asked if the Hawkeyes could be even better defensively this season, Higgins said, “Definitely. We left some big plays out there. It’s about being in the right position at the right time. We’re always striving to get better.”
The only thing missing right now from the defense is coordinator Phil Parker. He was hit during a play in practice recently and had shoulder surgery on Thursday.
“He had surgery yesterday,” Ferentz said. “He did show up today for practice. I’m not sure if he was on the planet or not, but he was there and watching. He’s going to be a little bit more ornery than normal probably for the next couple weeks. Biggest thing right now is we’ve just got to keep him out of harm’s way, try to keep him out of the way so he’s not doing too much.”
Higgins’ decision was perhaps the biggest — he ranked third nationally at 12.2 tackles per game and 12th in solo tackles at 5.6.
Assistant head coach Seth Wallace, who also coaches the linebackers, told the story about how new offensive coordinator Tim Lester walked into a meeting of some of the graduate assistants on staff a couple of weeks ago, and Higgins was in the meeting breaking down film with them.
“You would think that at this time of his career some of that would back off,” Wallace said. “But he loves the game, he loves football, he loves his teammates and he loves what we do defensively. It’s really fun to continue to see him progress.”
Higgins has learned plenty from Jackson, who transferred from Virginia before last season.
“Iowa defense is all I know, what Coach Ferentz says, what Coach Parker says,” Higgins said. “Then Nick comes in and says, ‘Well, why don’t we try this?’ He provides perspective, he provides a different skill set from a different conference. It’s really been cool learning from him, learning from the successful career he had before he came to Iowa.”
Jackson is so comfortable with the Hawkeyes, it made his decision to come back easy.
“I’m big on if I make a decision, just staying on it,” he said. “That’s kind of like the way I was when Iowa recruited me to come here. Like, ‘You’re not going to have to worry about me de-committing or re-committing.’ If I say I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it. I didn’t really think about it twice.”
Higgins is glad Jackson made that choice.
“Playing football with your best friend, that’s the greatest thing,” he said.
