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IOWA CITY Phil Parker, the defensive coordinator for Iowa, addresses questions. Getting started in his 27th season as a Hawkeyes football coach:
What do you ask prospective high school students right away?
I like to know how long they have been playing football and whether they enjoy the game. Because I believe that their level of investment increases with the number of years they have played.
Which quarterbacks and offensive coordinators have you coached against the best?
Paul Chrystat of Wisconsin is the player I’ve always believed to be the hardest to defend in the Big Ten. Their offensive tactics, including diversion, leverage, and attempts to out-leverage you. He has likely been the best, in my opinion.
I have problems with every quarterback. They all really annoy me whenever they have the chance to mess up. There are many talented players out there, you know.
For 17 consecutive years, your team has had a pick-6, which is an interception returned for a score. Who has a longer streak, do you know? One team does, though.
I don’t even monitor that.
(Utah, with 21 consecutive seasons.)
What do you remember about playing here in 1984 and 1985?
Parker was a three-time first-team All-Big Ten safety for Michigan State. The Spartans played in Kinnick Stadium and won 17-16 in 1984 and lost 35-31 in 1985. With 44 seconds remaining in 84, they just managed to stop Iowa quarterback Chuck Long from making a 2-point conversion. With :27 remaining in 85, Long scored on a 2-yard keeper to seal the victory.
Do you want me to mention the Chuck Long 85 bootleg? That’s the one I vaguely recall. Alongside Norm, I was on the sidelines of the Chuck Long bootleg.
Norm and I were strategizing for the first time, so it felt a little strange.
From 1983 to 1994, Norm Parker served as Michigan State’s defensive coordinator. From 1999 until Norm’s retirement following the 2011 season, Phil Parker coached Norm Parker’s defensive backs at Iowa.
Remember what occurred the year before?
What took place? I’m not sure.
Long was just inches from the goal line when your team stopped him.
Yes, exactly. I believe Hayden Fry, the coach, believed he had scored or something.
These two games are fantastic.
Who is the most well-known resident in Lorain, Ohio?
Other than Reese Morgan?
(Morgan, a former assistant football coach at Iowa, grew up in Lorain, which is 30 minutes west of Cleveland, just like Parker. The late Toni Morrison, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the Nobel Prize in Literature, may be a better candidate, according to some Lorain residents.
Is the best game football?
Because it takes eleven men on each side to try to function, I find the game to be engaging. And that, in my opinion, is what matters most about it.
However, it’s becoming more of an entertainment industry, in my opinion. Points on the board are what people want, and without them, you won’t attract advertising. And you ve got to keep people interested in the stands and stuff like that instead of just going out and playing the old-school football and you re allowed to hit guys and tackle guys.
You’re sixty-two, correct?
Yes, I believe so.
Social Security benefits are available to you. Will you hold off on drawing it?
I don’t know. I really haven’t talked to my financial guy about that. Although I don’t believe we (truly) discussed it, I did speak with my wife about it. I intended to ask Pete Carroll, Kirk Ferentz, or Bill Belichick. I intended to check to see if they began sketching theirs. They are 70 and 74 years old, and they have been receiving Social Security since, what, 62 and 63?
Tell me if I should, but I’m not sure whether this is the proper time.
Are you Sarah Jessica Parker’s relative?
Serrica?
Parker, Sarah Jessica.
What is her residence?
New York.
Not in my opinion.
In the Cherry Bowl, how many passes did Army throw?
(In the first-ever Cherry Bowl in Pontiac, Michigan, in 1984, Parker’s Michigan State squad lost to Army 10–6.)
Two, I believe.
That’s right.
Are you aware of the other side of the story? They intercepted half of the passes they attempted.
Who was chosen?
I am unable to inform you.
So you weren’t the one?
It might be.
Wouldn’t you recall that if it were you?
I can’t recall that. Check it out.
He was the one.
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