DiBona underwent successful surgery Thursday morning at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and is expected to make a full recovery.  The surgery was performed by Dr. Ned Amendola, director of the UI Sports Medicine Center.

DiBona is a sophomore linebacker from Duxbury, Mass.  After a redshirt season in 2009, DiBona saw action in all 13 games a year ago, with two starts.  He recorded six solo tackles and seven assists.

Iowa will conclude its first full week of practice with Kid’s Day at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.  The open practice is slated from noon to 2 p.m. The Hawkeyes open the season Sept. 3, hosting Tennessee Tech (11 a.m., BTN HD).

I am half tempted to go back and read all of my media day reax items..I am sure each has common threads of optimism, for this is the time of year where optimists rule and pessimists drool.

There are a great number of pessimists this year as it relates to the 2011 Iowa football team…we’ve all bought and read the magazines, we’ve listened to the pundits, some of us have made our own predictions and taken lumps for it.

I picked Iowa to finish 8-4 this year…always hopeful for better, mind you. One of the games I picked as a loss was Iowa’s road game at Purdue. Don Lund writes for the North Liberty Leader, and he’s been covering Iowa games since before I began coming around to media day events in 1999. I like Don, but as Lester Erb was walking out to be the first coach interviewed, Don says ‘Jon, didn’t you pick Iowa to lose at Purdue?’

Erb stops, looks at me, and says “Thanks a lot.”

It was funny, but it was a tad bit awkward. I told him “Hey, I can’t pick you 12-0 every year Coach.”

Ahh, Iowa football media day. Where media and coaches exchanges laughs and jokes and where coaches are polite when asked the ‘How are things going so far?’ questions when Iowa had their first practice earlier in the day (I heard that one three times)

Everyone is a pal on media day…and there were a lot of them…over 100 people were there covering the event. Most every small town newspaper in Iowa, or so it seemed, several blogs and websites as well as traditional print & electronic media (radio and TV).

Here are a few observations I want to toss out to the site before hopping in the car and heading back to Des Moines where I will be editing the videos I shot today…

James Morris is impressive. I don’t know him beyond the media opportunities, but I happened to be on the sidelines last year when he was thrown into the mix against Penn State. I remember how ‘big’ his eyes were, how energetic he was out there…and how he didn’t seem out of place. Was he perfect? Hardly. However, he didn’t seem intimidated by it…he seemed like a natural.

Interviewing him today in a one on one setting, I was all the more impressed. He gave great answers…not just because they were thoughtful and insightful, but that he didn’t just toss out the standard stuff. There was substance, and he is bright. I can’t wait to see him play this year, because my guess is he will look a lot faster because he will be thinking far less than he was forced to do a year ago.

James Vandenberg seems inspiring. Now, I am not saying he made me want to take off my hat and sing God Bless America the way Ricky Stanzi was wont to do…it’s just some sort of confidence he exudes…not cockiness, not anything like that. Maybe he just seems so damned comfortable in his own skin…almost to the point where it seems exceptional, as in most people are not like that. He’s waited his turn, and he is ready for it. He has an easy way of speaking, too…you’ll see that on the video we put up. Small town, country, whatever you want to call it, but it’s the good stuff. I can see why people refer to him as a great leader in this program already. I can totally see how he makes people around him feel comfortable.

Linebackers Coach Darrell Wilson seems excited. Almost like he knows something the rest of us don’t…which is of course true. But most of the Iowa coaches are very tough nuts to crack. They are real even keeled in these settings…some of them are almost robotic with their answers. I respect that, as they don’t want to put bulletin board material out there. But when you watch the video I will post of my conversation with Wilson, I think you’ll see a little something more from him. He said that Tyler Nielsen was playing better as a junior than AJ Edds was a junior…I remember AJ telling me that on the sidelines last year and just figured he was being nice. I felt Nielsen was having a huge year, don’t get me wrong, but Edds was the best of the Ferentz era at the LEO. Nielsen told me he is 100% recovered from his neck injury and raring to go. Wilson didn’t seem to think that having a smaller player at the WILL position will be a problem, because they have to show they can play physical Iowa football or they won’t be on the field.

Rick Kaczenski is two people. Those of you sitting in the West stands have seen Coach Kaz go OFF on the bench…he is a fiery guy, and very, very vocal. His players love him, but man does he have some fire…but on camera at media day, he seems far more like a puppy dog low key. (I don’t want to get my head ripped off). He spent a lot of time talking about Iowa having a big rotation on the DL this year…he also gave me a 60 second highly technical answer related to Iowa’s scheme that you will love…that will be when I roll his video out.

Kevonte Martin-Manley is confident. Not in a DJK sort of way…there is only one DJK. But I asked him if redshirting last year was any easier after getting to Iowa, and seeing that the guys ahead of him were better and farther along, if that makes redshirting easier to accept. His said ‘No, that’s not it.’ and gave me an answer along the lines of he was not willing to say they were better than him…You’ll be able to see for yourself, and I didn’t really sense cockiness in his reply…he is just real confident in his ability.

CJ Fiedorowicz likes being off the radar. He said that it’s better this way, because at times last year he felt like people were nervous. Now, he doesn’t speak for the entire team, and I think Iowa’s problems last year stemmed more from injuries than anything else. But he is entitled to his opinion, and you’ll see that on my video interview with him.

Marcus Coker is a chiseled 230-pounds. The Iowa media guide lists him as weighing that much…and he is rock solid at that weight. It’s surprising he is that ‘heavy’ because he doesn’t look like he’d weigh THAT much, but muscle is heavier than fat, right? Then again, doesn’t a pound of fat weigh the same as a pound of muscle? I digress. Lester Erb told me he is running lower to the ground and less upright. He said you can watch the Missouri game and notice how he was running upright early and got lower as the game went on. Coker is a quick study to be sure.

DeAndre Johnson is happy. He is 100% healed and very excited to get going. Most players are excited to get going, but after you tear your ACL a cup of coffee into your senior season, and you arrive at college thinking you are physically ready to go and you quickly see you are nowhere near ready and everyone is lapping you, it can be a tough emotional load to carry, along with being away from home for the first time and a half country away. But Johnson has weathered that storm…he thinks he can be the lightning to Coker’s thunder. Others are going to throw their hat into that ring, but he’s ready to take his swing.

Look for the videos to start showing up on the site later tonight and over the weekend and we’ll transcribe the coaches interviews, too…thanks for visiting the site, another season of Iowa football awaits!

Reiff, a 6-6, 300-pounder from Parkston, S.D., becomes the 17th Iowa player ever named to the Playboy team.  The junior is the sixth Kirk Ferentz coached Hawkeye to make the list.  Former Hawkeyes Nate Kaeding, Robert Gallery, Matt Roth and Chad Greenway were named to the team earlier in the Ferentz era, while Adrian Clayborn was named in 2010.  Ferentz was also named the Playboy Coach of the Year in 2003.

Reiff, one of five offensive linemen named to the Playboy team, has started 21 consecutive games.  In 2009, he was named third team Freshman All-America by CollegeFootballNews.com and was named to the first team Big Ten All-Freshman team by the Sporting News.  Reiff garnered second team All-Big Ten honors in 2010.

McNutt, Jr., a 6-4 senior from St. Louis, started all 13 games in 2010 en route to second team All-Big Ten honors.  He led Iowa in receptions (53) and yards (861) and was second in touchdown receptions (eight).  McNutt has accumulated 16 career receiving touchdowns, tying him for the fourth-most in Iowa history.

The duo was also named to Steele’s preseason All-Big Ten first team.  Senior cornerback Shaun Prater was named to the first team defense.

Seven other Hawkeyes were named to Steele’s preseason All-Big Ten team.  Senior defensive end Broderick Binns, sophomore linebacker James Morris and junior safety Micah Hyde were all named to the second team defense.  Two sophomores, running back Marcus Coker and offensive lineman Nolan MacMillan, were named to the third team offense.  In addition, senior defensive tackle Mike Daniels was named to the third team defense and senior linebacker Tyler Nielsen was named to the fourth team defense.

The Hawkeyes open the regular season Saturday, Sept. 3 against Tennessee Tech in Kinnick Stadium.  Kickoff time is still to be determined.

Well, that same guy is back and offering up more support for his choice of Stanzi as the #1 pick in this lengthy, data packed yet entertaining read.

If you like Ricky Stanzi (which probably means all of you reading this) then you will love the read.  If you like Stanzi but have doubts as to his success in the NFL, give it a read.

If you are a real American, give it a read.

This, from the item:

Ricky Stanzi is potentially the Kevin Kolb story of 2011. Stanzi, like Kolb was, is a current media #6-7 QB overall for the Draft. Like the Kolb situation of 2007 (Philly making a trade to move up to get him much earlier than experts expected), the “smart” teams are potentially going to have a feeding frenzy in the early 2nd Round or late 1st Round to out-do each other in trying to secure Stanzi (if I’m right about Stanzi).

As the item reminds us, Kolb was considered a mid-round selection, much in the way Stanzi is right now.  But Philadelphia moved up and took him with the #36 overall pick of the draft, an early 2nd round pick…Kolb was the #1 quarterback prospect in the 2007 draft according to the guy who is writing this about Stanzi…that year, JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn went ahead of Kolb…and so far, while the book has not been written on Kolb, you’d have to say Kolb’s future in the league is more bright than Russell’s (he gone) and Quinn’s (he almost gone). 

This item talks about how the smart teams draft…and also offers some interesting data with regards to when Joe Montana, John Elway and Dan Marino retired…when they were 38 years old…the item points out that Peyton Manning is pushing 36 while Tom Brady is 34…and why those two teams might be interested in Stanzi, as well as others.

So give it a whirl and enjoy it.

Through the years, there have been a few folks that have felt I cannot be objective when it comes to being critical of Kirk Ferentz.

While I have disagreed with some football game related aspects through the years, the truth is I haven’t found too many areas to be critical of Ferentz away from the field.

Due to what I have come to know of this program and the people in it, away from the field, it makes it very easy to defend the man in charge when I have felt others have unfairly targeted him or his program.

The people in this program care and give back far more than any of us knows.

As I have written before, I have received countless emails through the Ferentz era and have had several conversations with people that have told me how either Ferentz, his staff members, the players or a combination of the above have impacted their lives.

On Saturday at Kinnick Stadium, I witnessed a level of giving back that left me emotional after the day was done.

The coaching staff was made aware of a local family that has had a tough spring. They lost a wife and mother under horrific circumstances not too long ago.

The Iowa football program invited these three individuals to be their guests at Saturday’s open practice and the family experienced a level of caring and giving back that will never leave them.

I was able to witness every gesture, every kindness and every smile first hand, as I have known this family dating back to the early 1980′s and was with them on Saturday.

The father is a lifelong friend of mine and his two young children are now the same age the father and I were when we became friends.

Chic Ejiasi (Director of Player Development and a former Hawkeye) met the family before the open practice and gave them a complete tour of the practice facilities. The children were able to meet Tony Moeaki who is back in town training with Chris Doyle. After making our way over to the football field, the children were able to stand on the field and watch the practice. Chic pulled several players over to meet the family, including Marvin McNutt who spent some time talking with them, as did Jeff Tarpinian. Gary Barta spent some time with them..even Sheriff Ron Stewart spent some time with them.

They were able to meet and have their pictures taken with former Hawkeye Chad Greenway who gave them a few minutes…and when practice was over, Ejiasi told the family that Coach Ferentz wanted to meet them.

Kirk stopped and chatted with them for several minutes and took a photo with them before going on to who knows how many other obligations and responsibilities he had in front of him on that day.

Two or three minutes might not seem like much, but when you take into consideration how many times they do that during the course of a day, it adds up quickly…it’s just two or three minutes for one person or family, but it’s non stop giving back for those involved in the program, who also have a job to do.

There were several recruits and their families in town this weekend as well as several incoming freshmen and their families. Ejiasi spent some time with them too, but he was always aware of where my friend and his children were, making sure they were enjoying their day. Chic Ejiasi could not have been more gracious or more accommodating.  He made sure this family had seen all they could see before he went to spend time with his own family, as his parents met up with us after practice was over.  They had never seen Chic’s office and he was going to show them but he made sure the children were taken care of first.

When the day was finished and I shook my friend’s hand, the look in his eyes and the grip in his hand told me all I needed to know about how much they enjoyed their day.

Later, he sent me an email, telling me how much his kids opened up on the car ride home and how excited they were from what they had just experienced, each of them telling their father it was “one of the best days of their lives.”

Considering the darkness they have had to deal with as of late and the ramifications they will continue to deal with for a long, long time to come, seeing what the Iowa football program did for three people on a cold and dreary work day touched me in a very, very personal way…this type of personal caring, this kind of giving to the community happens nearly every day in some way, shape or form from this football program as well as throughout the entire athletic department.

The photo atop this item comes from this photo gallery, and was a part of the Iowa football program’s ‘Day of Caring’ activities, where they went out and cleaned up an area of the community. Before anyone scoffs at a photo opp, the program rarely has their photographer with them when doing good deeds.

They don’t send a photog over to University Hospitals when the players make their regular visits to brighten the day of Iowa fans who are in poor health. They don’t send cameras in when players and coaches visit the cancer recovery wings. They don’t have a webcam watching Kirk Ferentz returns scores of letters a month in handwritten fashion.

Iowa football gives back and the overwhelming majority of the time, they do it away from the spotlight which is always a good indicator of the sincerity of the act.

So when people try to paint the program and those involved in it as folks that don’t care about the health of their players, or that they are just some kind of football factory only concerned with winning games at all costs, I have bristled a bit as such notions.

After personally experiencing the level to which they give back on a regular basis, I will be even more vigilant in taking on opinions that tries to do that in the future, because that’s just not the reality of what this program, and the people in it, is about.

The Iowa football program regularly talks about how they are a family. I can personally attest to the validity of this statement, and this family is most certainly an extended one.

-HawkeyeNation.com’s Spring Game Notebook | Full of quotes and anecdotes, observations and more.
-HawkeyeInsider Spring Wrap | Observations from Saturday’s practice from Rob Howe
-Blockers Look Like Top 2011 Building Blocks | Mike Hlas of The Gazette offers these thoughts, and I concur; the offensive line looked good on Saturday
-Marvin McNutt Video | McNutt sat out the spring due to injury but still had plenty on his mind.
–Kirk Ferentz Video Series | ONE | TWO
-Offensive Line Expected to Lead the Way | I certainly concur with this headline from the ICPC. This group looked good on Saturday, with Ferentz saying they have a lot of room to improve. If they improve as much as Ferentz hopes, they might be the best group in the Big Ten next year.
-Derby Getting Comfortable at QB | I have had my doubts about Derby at QB. But Saturday’s practice opened my eyes a bit more.
-Just a Typical Spring Practice | From the ICPC
-Podolak: Rehab & Recovery Going Well | Good read from the ICPC on Ed Podolak’s recovery from being struck by a car this winter.
-More Iowa Videos | From Brendan Stiles of HawkeyeDrive.com
-It’s Keenan Davis’ Time to Shine | According to Kirk Ferentz & Marvin McNutt
-Defense: Talent Surplus Gives Iowa Options | The Hawks have a lot of capable bodies on the back end as well as up front.
-Ferentz Eager to Get at Special Teams | This is an area that has to improve next year, according to Ferentz
-Kind of What You Expected from the Hawkeyes | From Marc Morehouse of The Gazette
-Video Gallery | Several videos from Marc Morehouse | Wait, Here’s More
-Iowa D-Line Has Less Hype, Lots of Promise | From the Quad City Times
-Receiver Davis Stands Out for Iowa | Don Doxsie of the QCT writes this, and he’s dead on. Davis was pretty amazing on Saturday. You can see for yourself in the highlight reel at the bottom of this item.
-Morris Entrenched at MLB | from the QCT…Morris and Tyler Nielsen make for two solid and experience backers. Where the third comes from will be interesting.
-Vandenberg Seems Perfect Man to Be in Control | From John Bohnenkamp of The Hawk Eye
-PHOTO GALLERIES: ICPC | U of Iowa | Rivals 1 | Rivals 2

If you weren’t in Kinnick Saturday, you missed some amazing catches by Keenan Davis among other things. Don’t fret; you can see them here in this video package put together by the Big Ten Network…definitely worth the watch:

QUARTERBACKS: It was windy and cold for Saturday’s open practice. If this were a game day, Iowa’s running backs would have had 40+ carries and the game plan would have been pretty simple; run the ball and throw some controlled, short play action plays into the wind and take your deep shots for two quarters of the game when the wind was at your back.

I didn’t have any preconceptions that we were going to see stellar quarterback on Saturday and from my vantage point, we didn’t see that.

However, I felt that James Vandenberg was competent and threw the best ball of any of the three quarterbacks. He’s clearly the #1 option with the eyeball test as well as what the coaches have told us.

That being said, I came away more impressed with A.J. Derby than I have at any other time. He has a long way to go before I’d want to see him under center in a Big Ten game, but he is only going to be a redshirt freshman. These next four months are going to tell the story for him as it relates to being a quarterback at Iowa or someone that makes a move to another position. But Kirk Ferentz said that the battle for the #2 quarterback is “even” right now between John Wienke and A.J. Derby, and that did surprise me. Here is what Ferentz had to say after the open practice on the Iowa quarterbacks:

ON VANDENBERG: “Overall he did a good job this spring. He is respected by his teammates and is a good leader. Everyone respects him. Now, he has to go out there this fall and have some success in game conditions and I think he will. He will have some ups and downs, too, like any young player does.

ON THE BATTLE FOR THE BACKUP: “I’d say it’s even right now. That will be determined in August. The good news is that both of them can improve between now and then. I think right now that it’s kind of even.”

VIDEO: This was shot by Marc Morehouse of The Gazette. To see several of his player interviews plus two from Kirk Ferentz, click on this link.

SPRING GROWTH: I thought Keenan Davis was the ‘Saturday MVP’. He made three spectacular catches, all three of the diving variety and two of them were diving one handed stabs that were completions. The two one-handed grabs would have made ESPN’s Saturday Top Ten highlight clips if they happened in season; they were that noteworthy. Here is what Ferentz said when asked who the players were that stood out this spring:

“Steve Staggs made some grabs today and he has been good all spring. We have some openings at that position with some guys being hurt this spring. CJ Fedorowicz has made progress, I felt Adam Gettis had a good spring. Johnathon Gimm at fullback has done a nice job progressing. On defense Dominic Alvis (who played the defensive tackle slot occupied by Karl Klug last year) is coming along and has improved. Colin Sleeper did well for not playing much, Lowery, Castillo and Bernstine have done well. Kirksey has done a good job as well as Hitchens. We have a lot of guys that are all moving forward.”

INJURIES: There were no significant injuries on Saturday or this spring. Here is what Ferentz said about this topic:

“The best thing that happened today, other than one hamstring injury, is we didn’t have any injuries. Our issues were coming into the spring with surgeries. That’s why things can be ugly in spring. We have six to eight guys that should be in our two deep that did not work but this spring but will be ready in June. Marvin (McNutt) will be ready to go in June, too.

Ferentz also said this about fullback Brad Rogers: “That is a different discussion. As you know they took him off the field in Arizona (cardio issue). We had some tests back a few weeks ago that had a positive outcome and they are closing in on what it is. There is a chance we could get him back in a month or so.”

That is great news for Brad and for the football team. Iowa will be a better team this fall if Rogers is able to play. He offers the most versatility at this position since Jeremy Allen back in the early portion of the last decade. Allen has been the best running fullback of the Ferentz era and I believe Rogers can challenge for that ‘title’. He proved his mettle as a blocker last year when he started at Michigan and he has good running skills. This means the defense has to account for him at all times as both a blocking and running threat. You definitely want him playing.

THE DEFENSE: As mentioned, Dominic Alvis played inside this spring and looked shifty at times on Saturday. He also got caught in the wash a few times on running plays against the #2 defensive line and was taken entirely out of the play. However, he is new to the inside as he has been mostly outside during his time on campus. Here is what Kirk Ferentz said about the defensive line:

“I think they are progressing. Alvis, it was good having him out there. Carl Davis missed the first week of practice with a dance marathon injury as Norm mentioned but he got some good work. Lebron has done some good work. It will be a ‘by committee’ thing next year, where we will play six or eight guys. Nardo and Bigach have been out but will be back shortly. It will be a group effort.”

There are two sides to this…most ‘by committee’ efforts, regardless of the sport, usually mean that you don’t have many bell cow players. Mike Daniels is the best defensive lineman on the team and he is certainly a star. After that, you have a lot of capable players but few you can point to and say ‘this guy can take over a game,’ like Iowa had last year.

However, there was a huge drop off last year between the first five and the next three or four, so much so that Iowa suffered from some fatigue late in games late in the season. If you are playing six to eight players and the drop off between them is not significant, that can make them actually be better players later in games than their counterparts. They are still the same players, but if they fresh, late, they are better than they were to start the game as it relates to matchups, if that makes any sense.

Last year, I think the feeling was a 75% Clayborn was better than a 100% backup. This year, you might see players that are 85% of what Clayborn and Ballard were at the start, but there will be more of them which allows the player to stay closer to his ability level for the entire game. We’ll see how it works and how it shakes out. There is a lot of time until the first football game including two more important growth periods.

RUNNING BACKS: Ferentz talked about the gains Marcus Coker made this spring, primarily in the passing game. Ferentz said Coker didn’t do too much of that in high school, both catching the ball as well as experience in pass protections. He said he improved on his catching as well as in the protections department.

As for the backup running backs, here is what Ferentz said:

“We have to develop some depth there. Jason White has done a good job this spring, has made some strides. De’Andre Johnson has miles to go but he looks more like what we hoped he would look like last year. The freshman class, it’s realistic someone will help us out here.”

I got a chance to see Mi’Kial McCall in the press box and he has a good build to him. If I had to wager on which freshman running back gets the most action next year, McCall or Coe, I’d bet on McCall. I may well be wrong about that, but I just have a sneaking hunch Coe winds up on the other side of the ball in his career, especially if he has any issues keeping his weight where it is right now. But make no mistake; he is going to get every chance at running back.

OFFENSIVE LINE: I liked what I saw on Saturday. They did a good job for the most part and it’s great to see so many heatlhy and capable players. Brandon Scherff held his own and Gettis looked real good. Ferentz said Nolan MacMillan has some orthopedic issues he is working through. But for the most part, this group is healthy.

WILLIE LOWE STATUS: This is what Ferentz said on Willie Lowe, and then his comments on Rhabdo: “He (Lowe) is still in school. You know what I know. He has expressed an interest in looking around and we have traded voice mails late this week.”

On the other players that were affected by Rhabdo: “For the most part they have been 100%. We have all moved on. You won’t hear anyone on our team talk about it after today. We are moving on. I think we beat that horse to death.”

KICKING GAME: Eric Guthrie was more consistent than Johnny Mullins on Saturday and it sounds like he has taken the lead for that job, with Ferentz saying “I think Guthrie’s improvement has been good and he has shown us that he can be a good punter.” As for place kicker, Ferentz said this: “Mike Meyer done a good job all spring. He is the starter right now.”

DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Here is what Ferentz had to say about this group: “Micah Hyde really did a good job at safety. We have had some good competition at corner. I am not sure what we will do and we have time to think about it. With this team, its like ’08, ’03 and ’01; there will be a lot of moving parts in August and September. Stanzi and Angerer started out on the bench in 2008. I can see things like that happening this fall. This gives us a good chance to look at combinations back there. We have some options available, some healthy options too.”

Look for a Hawkeye Spring Game Mashup later tonight as more and more media outlets publish their content from the day and we aggregate it for you in our Mashup Series.