It pains me to admit this sometimes as an "offensive guy," but defensive coaches are simply built different.
Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker suffered an injury at practice recently that he initially thought was no big deal, but ultimately required surgery.
We're not talking about some knee pain for the 61-year old veteran defensive coordinator who, once again, led one of the top scoring defenses (#4 nationally) in all of college football last year.
After practice yesterday, Parker was asked about the injury that has him in a sling.
His response?
"Somebody bumped into me and they caught it at a bad angle."
"Just kind ripped off the rotator cuff, torn labrum and a bicep. No big deal."
Ripped off the rotator cuff? Torn labrum and bicep? Asked to put it on a scale of 1-10, Parker brushed it off and put it at a 5 or 6, initially thinking he could wait a few days and loosen it up on his own, but it was more serious than he thought so he went under the knife.
Parker shares that doctors told him that he should be in a sling for six weeks before adding, "but we're negotiating on that."
They say offenses and defenses take on the personality of their respective coordinator, so it's no wonder the Hawkeye defense is one known for being so dang tough from the front seven to the secondary.
Here's to hoping coach Parker makes a full recovery and gets to feeling his best soon. He added that he still expects to be on the sideline for games, and not up in the friendlier confines of the box.
Parker, Kirk Ferentz, and the Hawkeyes open their season against Illinois State in 10 days before their in-state rivalry game at Kinnick Stadium against Matt Campbell and Iowa State to kick off September action.
They'll then have Troy at home and Minnesota on the road before their first ranked game of the year in Columbus against Ohio State.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.