(sikids.com)
The South Dakota native committed to Iowa, then to Nebraska, and then back to Iowa. Reiff continued the Hawkeye's legacy of having very good LT's. As a redshirt freshman, Reiff started 11 out of 13 games and made the Big Ten's All Freshman Team. As a sophomore he started all 13 games at LT and earned 2nd Team All Big Ten honors. As a junior Reiff also started all 13 games at LT and earned First Team All Big Ten honors. He also earned First Team All American honors by Pro Football Weekly. Reiff declared for the NFL after his junior year and became a first round draft pick for the Detroit Lions.
19. QB-Brad Banks-2001-2002
(thegazette.com)
Even though I tried to rank the players based on a whole career more than just one year, which is why I do not have Shonn Greene in the top 20, I had to have Banks in the top 20 just due to his and the team's success in 2002. Banks, a junior college transfer, just played two seasons for Iowa and only started one year. As a junior, Banks played some along with Nate Chandler, and completed 41 out of 68 passes for 582 yards and throw for 4 TD's. However in 2002, Banks started and had one of the best individual seasons in Iowa Hawkeye history. As a senior, Banks threw for 2,573 yards and threw for 26 touchdowns. He also ran for 423 yards and 5 rushing TD's. He led the nation with a QB rating of 157.1 rating. Banks led Hawkeyes to a 8-0 season in the Big Ten, 11-2 record overall, and a trip to the Orange Bowl. Banks won the Davey O'Brien Award. He was runner up for the Heisman Trophy to USC's Carson Palmer. He was AP's College Football player of the year. He was first team Walter Camp All American.
18. LB/DL-Aaron Kampman: 1998-2001
(hawkeyelocator.worldpress.com)
Kampman played as a true freshman and had 6 sacks. As a sophomore Kampman started all 11 games and finished second on the team with 103 tackles. During his junior year, Kampman moved to DE and started all 12 games. He earned All Big Ten Honorable Mention honors. As a senior, Kampman had a very good year. He again started all 12 games and earned All Big Ten honors. He recorded 9 sacks as a senior and ended with 18 for his career. He also ended his career with 35 starts and 342 tackles.
17. OL-Bryan Bulaga: 2007-2009
(packerchatters.com)
Another star LT for Iowa. Bulaga played as a true freshman and started the final 5 games at LG for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Sporting News listed him as Freshmen All Big Ten. As a sophomore, Bulaga started all 13 games at LT and was named 2nd team All Big Ten. He came back as a junior and missed the first three games due to a thyroid injury, but came back and started the last ten games. He ended up having a very good season and won Big Ten Offensive Linemen of the Year, First Team All American by Sporting News. He was also named first team All Big Ten by coaches and media. Bulaga was a 1st round draft pick for the Green Bay Packers in 2010 where he has been a solid contributor since.
16. C-Bruce Nelson: 1999-2002
(thegazette.com)
How can you not have respect for this former walk-on from Emmetsburg. Nelson started 48 consecutive games at center. He was the heart of that great offensive line of 2002 along with Robert Gallery, Eric Steinbach, Andy Lightfoot, David Porter, and reserve Ben Sobieski. As a senior he was first team All American and first team All Big Ten. Nelson was second round draft pick by the Carolina Panthers in 2003 but unfortunately injuries shortened his career to 2 seasons. Iowa has had some very good centers during Ferentz's tenure (Brian Ferentz, James Ferentz, Mike Elgin, Rob Bruggerman, Rafael Eubanks, etc.) but there is no doubt Nelson is the best.
15. LB-Pat Angerer: 2006-2009
(sportsthenandnow.com)
Angerer, a Bettendorf native, was highly recruited out of Iowa and part of the highly ranked 2005 recruiting class. After redshirting in 2005, Angerer played sparingly as a freshman and a sophmore(battled injuries that year). It almost looked like he might have been another "bust" from that class to go along with guys like Kelvin Bailey, Ryan Bain, Tyler Blum, Jake Christensen, Dan Doering, and Alex Kanellis. Some never or barely played for Iowa before transferring and some stuck with Iowa but never reached their supposed potential. However, after contemplating giving up, Angerer ended up having outstanding final two seasons for Iowa at MLB. As a junior he started out as second team MLB but started against Iowa State and stayed the starter over the next two seasons. As a junior, he ended with 107 tackles, 6.5 tackles for lost, 1 sack, and 5 interceptions. He ended up being on the second team All Big Ten by the coaches. As a senior, he also had another outstanding year. He ended up with 145 tackles(5th best all time in school history) and 5 tackles for lost. He was listed as first team All American by college writers, Phil Steele, and the Sporting News. He was one of the 5 finalists for Bronko Nagurski award. He was listed as First Team All Big Ten by both coaches and media. After his career ended for Iowa, he was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2nd round of the 2010 draft.
14. K-Nate Kaeding: 2000-2003
(thegazette.com)
This was tough for me. Some may want him higher and some might want him lower. For me, this is about as high as I could list a kicker. Still, you can not doubt or forget what a weapon Kaeding was for Iowa. When Kaeding ended his career for Iowa, he became Iowa's all time leader in career points(373), field goals(67), PAT's made(167), and PAT attempts(169). As a sophmore, Kaeding was listed as honorable mention Big Ten. He was first team All Big Ten for both his junior and senior seasons. In 2002, Kaeding also won the Lou Groza Award for the nation's best kicker. A couple more impressive stats I found were that he was 19-23 from 40-49 yards and 5-6 for 50 yards plus for his career. During his career Kaeding also made 22 consecutive field goals from 2001 through 2002. He also made 60 consecutive PAT's as well, which is also a school record. Only 159 of his 295 career kickoffs were returned.
13. DL-Colin Cole: 1999-2002
(marcmwm.wordpress.com)
One of my all time favorite Hawks. Part of Kirk Ferentz's first recruiting class; the Florida native was a big part of the team's turnaround. At 300 pounds Cole brought size, strength(very good wrestler in high school), and agility as he played DE and DT. As a true freshman Cole played in 9 games, missing two due to injuries. As a reserve he finished with 7 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. Cole was also a key sub as a sophomore and started the last game of the year against Minnesota. He finished his sophmore year with 7 tackles for lost and 5 sacks. As a junior, Cole finally was a full-time starter. He recorded 15 tackles for loss and 6 sacks. He earned All Big Ten Honorable Mention. As a senior, started all 13 games for the Orange Bowl team. He finished with 85 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, and 9 sacks. CNNSI.com and Sporting News listed him as second team All-American and he was also unanimous All Big Ten First Team. He finished his career with 25 starts, 213 tackles, and 23 sacks. Cole went undrafted but signed as a rookie free agent by the Vikings. Cole has had a nice long career in the NFL, mostly with the Green Bay Packers.
12. OG-Eric Steinbach: 1999-2002
(bleacherreport.com)
Steinbach, recruited as a TE, is the best guard during the Kirk Ferentz era, in my opinion. As a freshman, Steinbach started 4 games at right guard and was part of the young line that would eventually become a key part to the team's turnaround. However, Steinbach had a set back during his sophomore year, as he missed most of the season due to injury. He played in 5 games and started 3, including the final 2. As a junior, Steinbach became a star. Besides missing three games, Steinbach was listed as first team All Big Ten. As a senior, Steinbach stayed healthy and had a huge year as part of the great offensive line that helped Brad Banks become runner up for the Heisman and winner of the Davey O'Brien trophy. As a senior, Steinbach earned First Team All Big Ten, Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year, and Walter Camp, AP, Sporting News, and Coaches First Team All-American. In 2003, the Illinois native was a second round draft pick by the Cincinnati Bengals. He has had a nice career for the Bengals and Browns. He currently is a member of the Miami Dolphins.
11. TE-Dallas Clark: 1999-2002
(sportsthenandnow.com)
I have to admit, this surprised me. When I originally came up with my list, Clark was listed number 2. All I think about is his 2002 year which was the greatest year I have seen by any tight end for Iowa. There is no doubt, that in a program that develops a lot of NFL tight ends, Clark is the best under Ferentz. However, Clark really only had two productive seasons for Iowa at tight end. I kind of put him in the same category as Brad Banks and Shonn Greene, who each had a great and legendary season, but were not productive for more than one or two years. He is still one my all time favorite Hawks and had a very nice career in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts; being a favorite target of Peyton Manning. He is now a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The pride of Livermore, IA was a walk-on linebacker. In 1998 Clark redshirted and missed most of 1999 due to injuries. Finally in 2000, Clark found playing time and contributed as a special teams player(won coaches appreciation award for special teams) and backup linebacker. However, in 2001 he moved to tight end, which worked well for Clark, Iowa, and his bank account. He started 10 games and played in all 12. He caught 38 passes for 539 yards and scored 4 touchdowns. He earned All Big Ten Honorable Mention honors by both coaches and media. However, that was overshadowed by his 2002 season. As a junior, he had 43 receptions for 742 yards. He once again scored 4 touchdowns. He was able to spread the field better than any tight end I have ever seen in a Hawkeye uniform. Who could forget his 95 yard touchdown reception against Purdue? He ended up being First Team All Big Ten, First Team All-American, and won the John Mackey award for the nation's best tight end. Due to his injury in 1999, he was elgible for one more year but he declared for the NFL draft and became a first round pick by the Colts. Clark is also one my all-time favorite Hawks. Everyone loves the underdog, and what better underdog story is there than Clark who started as a walk-on linebacker from a small town in Iowa and ended up being a All-American Tight End, NFL First Round Draft Pick, Pro Bowler, and Super Bowl winner. I thought he would be much higher, but the players in the top ten all had very good careers as well for Iowa and were key players/starters for 3 or 4 years.
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