3-2-1: Time for Super Cooper

Yeah it’s been a minute. We usually stick with our 3-2-1 column for Thursday during football season, but every once in a while we have to bust them out during the other parts of the year. So here we are. Cooper DeJean is playing in a Super Bowl on Sunday. We salute the great Micah Hyde. We discuss what the Iowa football roster still might need and hoops portal rumors. Plus, yes, I have my Super Bowl pick.

THREE THINGS WE LEARNED

IT’S TIME FOR SUPER COOPER

Sometimes life works out for the best. It certainly did for Cooper DeJean. I think it’s fair to say that whatever disappointment the former Hawkeye defensive back had after not being selected in the first round of the NFL Draft is now gone.

DeJean ended up being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the NFL Draft and was the 40^th overall selection. Of course, all he did was eventually move into a starting role for Eagles and on Sunday he will be lining up to play Kansas City in the Super Bowl.

Quite a journey for a kid who grew up in the small northwest Iowa community of Odebolt, IA, population 994. He is another one of those great success stories that have frequently happened in the Kirk Ferentz era of Iowa football. Be it overlooked recruits or small town Iowa kids rising up, DeJean is the latest in a long line of great stories. On Sunday it certainly wouldn’t be all that surprising to see DeJean make a huge impact play to help the Eagles win a Super Bowl. He did it at the high school level winning a state title. He did it at Iowa and that includes one of all-time great plays that wasn’t against Minnesota. I fully expect he will do something special and memorable on Sunday night against the Chiefs.

MICAH HYDE CALLS IT A CAREER

Speaking of under the radar players when he arrive in Iowa City, Micah Hyde might be at or near the top of the list. Hyde wasn’t a well know recruit coming out of the state of Ohio. But, Phil Parker saw something in him and as he is known to do, he kept that recruitment under wraps and waited patiently to spring the offer so other schools wouldn’t come calling to try and steal him away.

So the week before signing day, Iowa brought him in, offered after the visit, and he quickly committed. If there is a list of Iowa players who had crazy good ball skills, I think DeJean and Hyde would probably be in my top five, maybe top three. Hyde could have honestly probably played wide receiver at the college level, but he was so gifted as a defensive back.

After earning first team All Big Ten honors and being named Defensive back of the year by the conference in 2012, Hyde was a 5^th round draft pick by the Green Bay Packers. He went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL. The first four with the Packers and the last seven with the Buffalo Bills. This year he spent part of the season on the practice squad for the Bills, not being on the active roster for a game.

This week he officially retired from the NFL. Hyde finished his career with 664 tackles, 24 interceptions, 5 forced fumbles, 8 fumbles recovered, 1748 return yards, and 5 touchdowns. He did all that and remained one of the good guys in the NFL. Congrats Micah and enjoy your retirement!

COACH JENSEN GETS HER FIRST SIGNATURE WIN

There are always a few milestones for any first year head coach and Iowa’s Jan Jensen checked off one of those boxes this past Sunday.

When Iowa knocked off then #4 ranked USC, it marked the first top ten team that Jensen had beaten as Iowa’s head coach. That is an achievement many coaches don’t reach in their first year and now she has done that.

It’s been a rocky stretch for Iowa on the court. After a pretty solid start to the season, the Hawkeyes hit a rough patch after the first of the year. Iowa dropped five straight games, including three at home. Honestly, Iowa could have won four of them, but execution, free throw shooting, and turnovers contributed to all those losses.

But, the Hawkeyes seem to have righted the ship a bit, winning three in a row, including that victory over USC. Iowa sit at 15-7 on the season and 5-6 in league play with a trip to Minnesota and Nebraska coming up in the next few days. Certainly a couple of important games. Minnesota is much improved this year and Nebraska was one of those teams that got Iowa in that five game losing streak so revenge will be on the mind of the Hawkeyes.

TWO QUESTIONS

WHAT ARE THE REMAINING NEEDS FOR THE IOWA FOOTBALL TEAM?

Before we dive in on this topic, I really kind of miss the old days where the first Wednesday in February really meant something for college football. While we all longed for an early signing period because it made the lives of kids and families easier, the reality was we all knew it was going to kill off the February signing day drama.

I kind of miss it. Sweating out a long night before signing day trying to get the latest news. Getting up really early and trying to dig up any information, especially in the old days before all the technology that we now have in our hands. Fun times.

Anyway, Iowa signed a defensive back today. Jacob Wallace is a nice get and Iowa really likes him, but expecting him to come in and make a significant impact could be a reach. We have seen it happen, but I can’t count on it. One spot Iowa might want to add to this spring when the transfer portal opens up is at defensive back. Cornerback in particular could be a position Iowa would like to add an experience player.

I should mention that Iowa is at 83 scholarship players. The limit is 85. That doesn’t include Kaden Wetjen, who isn’t officially on scholarship at this point. So, two spots are technically open. Which brings us to wide receiver. I think we could see Iowa keep that portal door open for that position. The Hawkeyes want to continue to add weapons in the passing game. I would say that same thing for defensive tackle. Iowa added a pair of players at that spot in the early portal period, but if the right guy enters, they could try and get involved.

SPEAKING OF THE PORTAL, WHAT SHOULD WE MAKE OF HOOPS RUMORS?

Whenever a basketball team struggles you can bet that once we reach February and March the rumor mill surrounding the transfer portal will heat up. That is exactly what happened this week regarding a pair of sophomores on the Iowa roster.

High school and AAU teammates Owen Freeman and Brock Harding saw their names start to pop up on portal speculation sites. To throw gas on the fire, Freeman had season ending surgery on the index finger of his shooting hand.

Look, let me get this out of the way. Thousands of college basketball players will be entering the transfer portal in the coming weeks and months. Thousands. There will also be players who say they aren’t leaving and after meeting with their head coach, then end up leaving. There will also be plenty of players who enter after their head coach gets let go. Heck, last year Fran McCaffery’s son, Patrick, transferred to another program. Long way of saying, players will be leaving the Iowa roster.

But, as of today, right now, I can tell you that Harding is not discussing his future options. He and his family have had zero discussions about entering the transfer portal. His only focus is winning basketball games at Iowa and he loves being a Hawkeye. Freeman is focused on healing up after surgery, not jumping to a new school.

Could all that change in a month or so? Yep. It certainly could. Look, a few years back we saw C.J. Fredrick deny repeatedly that he was leaving, even to the Iowa coaches until he was leaving and heading to Kentucky. Anything can happen, but right now folks there is nothing to report on either player as far as their future. They say they are staying and until that changes, let’s allow Harding to continue to play and Freeman to heal up and also not bash him for not being at a game one day after surgery on his finger.

ONE PREDICTION

The Super Bowl is coming up on Sunday. Pat Mahomes is 7-0 in the playoffs when the betting line is inside three points. The line for this one is 1.5 points. I am not going to be in the business of picking against Mahomes. Chiefs 27 Eagles 23. My one bold prediction is DeJean gets a pick or creates or recovers a fumble.