Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker reports on his injury and talks about his defense

By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – A three-time All-Big Ten safety for Michigan State in the 1980s, Phil Parker was known for his bone-jarring hits and aggressive playing style.

He often sacrificed his body for the good of his team, but strangely enough, he never suffered a serious injury that would have required surgery until late in his coaching career.

Parker, who has been Iowa's defensive coordinator since 2012 and has been on Kirk Ferentz's staff since 1999, was injured in some sort of bizarre accident during practice recently.

“Somebody collided with me and I caught him at a bad angle and he kind of tore my rotator cuff and tore my labrum and biceps,” Parker said Tuesday after practice. “No big deal.”

The injury required surgery and prevented Parker from attending Iowa's annual media day on Aug. 9, so he was available to the media for about 15 minutes Tuesday with his arm in a sling.

Parker addressed several topics, including whether his injury will require him to coach from the press box rather than the sidelines.

“It's hard for me to be up in the box,” Parker said. “I like to be down there with my players so I can look them in the eye and see what they're thinking and understand if they're OK and what we're doing and things like that.”

Parker said he will pay closer attention when coaching from the sidelines, especially at Kinnick Stadium, where there isn't much room to move along the sidelines.

“We have such a short sideline on our side,” Parker said. “You just have to be careful. I've been doing this for a long time. This was the first time I've had to have surgery.”

Parker said his arm will need to be in a sling for about six weeks, but maybe not.

“But we will negotiate about that,” he said.

As for the health of his players, Parker said defensive backs Xavier Nwankpa and Koen Entringer are both making progress.

He said Nwankpa should be back in the next few days while Entringer returns to practice, but that the coaching staff is limiting some of his reps.

Nwankpa, a former five-star recruit from Southeast Polk, started 12 games last season as a strong safety and has 54 tackles and two interceptions in his career, including a pick six against Kentucky in the 2023 Music City Bowl.

Entringer, a sophomore from Ypsilanti, Michigan, has played primarily on special teams and has nine tackles over the course of his career.

His most memorable tackle came in the 2023 Big Ten Championship Game against Michigan, when Entringer ran nearly the entire length of the field before forcing Michigan punt returner Semaj Morgan out of bounds to prevent a touchdown.

Entringer had a chance to tackle Morgan right after Morgan caught the punt, but Entringer missed the tackle and then fell to the turf.

But instead of giving up the game, Entringer quickly got up and then sprinted past several players from both teams while pursuing Morgan.

The game became a huge hit on social media and Entringer was praised for his effort, determination and speed.

Parker said he expects Nwankpa and Entringer to both be ready for the season opener against Illinois State on Aug. 31 at Kinnick Stadium.

“Right now, I think everyone on our defense should be available,” Parker said of the defensive backs.