Iowa's recruiting effort hurt by rise of ND and Illinois

	Iowa's Kirk Ferentz (right) is facing an uphill battle in recruiting against traditional powers like Ohio State. John Biever/SI

By Mike Farrell, Special to SI.com, Rivals.com

Back in February of 2004, things were going really well for Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz.

The Hawkeyes were coming off a 10-2 season (including an improbable last-second win over LSU in the Capital One Bowl) and were just a month away from signing arguably the best recruiting class in the program's history.

Then, it all came to a screeching halt. The arrivals of Ron Zook at Illinois and Charlie Weis at Notre Dame have changed the landscape. Now Ferentz, arguably one of the best coaches in college football, is fighting for his recruiting life in Big Ten country.

The 2005 Iowa recruiting class finished second in the conference behind Michigan. On a national level, the class ranked 11th in the country -- ahead of perennial BCS powers like Florida, Texas and others.

Ferentz's haul was led by commitments from five of the top seven players in the state of Illinois. Offensive linemen Dan Doering and Dace Richardson, quarterback Jake Christensen, tight end Anthony Moeaki and defensive tackle Ryan Bain all spurned bigger programs to join Ferentz in Iowa. The state of Illinois belonged to the Hawkeyes, but it didn't last long.

That same recruiting year, Illinois finished ahead of only Northwestern, Minnesota and Indiana in Big Ten signings. Notre Dame, a program that has always done well in Illinois, finished 40th in the nation in recruiting. That's like Lance Armstrong finishing outside the top 10 in the Tour De France -- it simply shouldn't happen. If Ron Turner and Ty Willingham weren't on Ferentz's Christmas list, they should have been.

But alas, all good things come to an end. Zook and Weis arrived, and things have not been the same for Ferentz.

In 2006, Iowa plummeted to sixth in the Big Ten in recruiting and replaced Notre Dame at No. 40 in the country. In Weis' first full recruiting year, the Irish finished No. 8 nationally -- bringing normalcy back to South Bend. In a much less-expected turn of events, Zook's recruiting prowess led to a national No. 30 finish for the Illini. Illinois jumped to No. 4 in the Big Ten behind only Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan. The biggest reason? The Illini protected their home state.

Notre Dame signed the top player in Illinois, quarterback Demetrius Jones. The Irish also landed defensive back Sergio Brown, another top-10 player in the state. Illinois signed three of the state's top 10 players, led by quarterback Isiah "Juice" Williams. And Iowa? Ferentz's top signee from the state was a kicker, Ryan Donahue. Iowa State had more top commitments from Illinois than the Hawkeyes did. Ouch.