Kirk Ferentz believes Iowa could get ‘encouraging news’ on Noah Shannon

Noah Shannon could be back soon. After Iowa’s 20-14 win over Purdue, head coach Kirk Ferentz provided an update on his defensive tackle, who was suspended by the NCAA this season after he admitted to wagering on an event involving an Iowa team in a different sport.

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to say we have encouraging news, but I think we have encouraging news. I’ll verify that Tuesday,” Ferentz said. “I wish everything had happened sooner in this whole scenario, and if the world were perfect, it would have. But any encouraging news is a good thing, so I’ll know more Tuesday but we’re optimistic.”

It’s been a tumultuous journey for Ferentz and Shannon. The sixth-year senior was suspended in August just weeks before kicking off his final season. From the jump, Ferentz defended Shannon, appealing the NCAA’s decision.

Nonetheless, the 68-year-old coach made no progress. Ferentz has been outspoken about his frustration with the situation. Saturday’s postgame press conference was no exception.

“When you have to explain to a player or his parents something that doesn’t make sense, right, you compare this to that, and the player and the parent can look at a million examples that are more egregious, and then you look — that was the hard part, to make something that can’t make sense try to make sense.

“Then, to watch him walk around feeling like he’s done something wrong, which I understand, he understands, he broke a rule,” Ferentz said. “But I mean; that’s worth capital punishment? It’s silly. That’s been the hardest thing for all of us.”

What does Noah Shannon bring to the table?

Shannon’s case is unique. The NCAA lumped his violations in with those of backup kicker Aaron Blom and reserve wide receiver Jack Johnson, both of whom allegedly bet on Iowa football games. However, that is not the case with Shannon as he is not facing any criminal charges.

Despite his frustrations with the NCAA, Ferentz is simply hopeful to return Shannon. After all, the 295-pound DL has been named honorable mention all-conference the past two seasons and has career totals of 107 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.

“Any time you get a guy back with his experience and the quality of person he is, his leadership, that’s always a plus,” Ferentz said. “I’ll just feel good for him to be back with the team. Because he feels like he’s let people down, you know what I mean. These guys have got feelings. They are good, young people, and his mom and dad have feelings, too, and they are involved.”