The Hawkeyes lost a prized recruit over the weekend. Four star offensive lineman David Barrent decommitted from the Hawks and committed to Michigan St. The Register today had some explanation for the change. The constant player troubles and scandal over the past year played a factor in his decision.

Now before I get into the meat of this, you have to question a player who claims to have been a lifelong Hawkeye fan and bolts when there is some bad press. Maybe this isn’t so big a loss. Penn St has had way more legal problems than Iowa and they manage to have good recruiting classes. And their coach works from home.

What is troubling is that if Iowa is near the bottom of the Big 10 in recruiting they will never compete. The top of the Big 10 in recruiting is Ohio St, Michigan and Penn St. Iowa used to be in a second tier with Wisconsin. Illinois and Michigan St are both hauling in some impressive classes thanks to their new coaches. Iowa usually manages to get a 4 or 5 star recruit and find some hidden gems that develop into 4 or 5 star value. Iowa has been known for churning out great linemen, especially on offense, but when was the last Iowa O-Lineman in the NFL? Gallery?

If Iowa can’t get the top in state recruits they are in trouble. The state doesn’t produce many blue chips, and it always hurts to see them leave the state (think LaFrentz and Hinrich).

It seems that the Ferentz era is ending. They haven’t had a good recruiting class since 2005 and 2009 isn’t shaping up too well. There are currently two verbal commits. By comparison Illinois has 9, Wisconsin 10, Michigan St 1, Minnesota 9, Indiana 15 and even Iowa State has 4. Are they recruiting for next season?

The rest of the Big 10 has memorized the Hawkeye play book. Not tough to do, watch the games from eight years ago and you get the idea. I’ve complained about Ferentz’s inability to change his offensive and defensive schemes. The spread offense is going to be more commonplace in the Big 10 and expecting your linebackers to cover the 3rd and 4th receivers isn’t going to cut it. The Hawks got away with it when they had Greenway and Hodge.

How is it going to feel if the Hawks miss another bowl, especially with the weakest schedule I can remember. Add to this the Hillcrest rape coverup scandal and you have to ask how much patience the Black and Gold Nation has with Ferentz

Kirk Ferentz talked about the Hillcrest gang rape coverup scandal today and it was a doozy.

“I really take great exception to that. I think if a logical person looked at this, for anybody to be involved in a cover-up ‑ basically you’d have to be morally bankrupt and secondly, you’d have to be fairly ignorant.”

Wow. You lost me there Kirk. I’m not ignorant (though certainly morally bankrupt) and I certainly can see the possibility of a cover-up. When you consider all of the legal problems of last season, it is pretty easy to look at the timeline on this and see a cover-up.

Here’s my prediction. Barta, gone within 2 months. Ferentz, gone by Jan. 1.