Pinstripe Bowl means a little more for Senior Linebacker Corps
The importance of coaching at the collegiate level can’t be understated. No matter how talented or hyped a recruit may be, at the end of the day they are all 18 year old kids moving to away from home for the first time, often to an unfamiliar location.
In order for these groups of kids to find success, they need leaders and role models they can rely on to help them through the tough times they endure that we don’t see on Saturdays.
For Iowa’s three starting linebackers, one of these role models was Jim Reid.
Reid became Iowa’s linebacker coach in 2013, when current Iowa seniors Josey Jewell and Bo Bower were redshirting while Ben Niemann was a senior in high school.
Reid spent three years in Iowa City developing the trio before he took off to become Boston College’s defensive coordinator after Iowa’s Rose Bowl loss in 2016.
“A passionate guy, someone who would come help you out at 2 in the morning if you needed him to,” Niemann said once Iowa found out they drew BC in the Pinstripe Bowl. “Drop anything for his guys. A great coach.”
Reid had a lasting effect on more than just the linebackers.
He talked to us a lot, like in ’15 and ’14 when we were here, just because [we] weren’t doing our job, and it was hard for them to do their job,” defensive lineman Nathan Bazata said. “He would talk to us about our fits and that type of stuff and we’re supposed to be on a certain call. He was huge in my development and growing as a player, so I have a lot of respect for him and it’s going to be awesome.”
While it will be an exciting and emotional day for Reid’s former players, at the end of the day they are competing against each for something important. Iowa hasn’t won a bowl game since 2010. Boston College has just one bowl win since Matt Ryan graduated.
That won’t be easy for anybody involved.
“In one way, I was happy (about playing Iowa) because I’d be able to see them. In another way, I just felt sick,” Reid said, “that we would have to compete against guys that I just have great admiration for. I mean, I loved all those guys you just mentioned, and all the rest of them.”
He added:
“Three of the best years of the 47 I’ve been in college football. Great, great memories and great friends.”
Jewell, Niemann, Bower, and countless other Hawkeyes will never forget the lasting impact Reid had on them during their time together.
For the senior linebacking trio, they couldn’t have asked for a better opponent for their final college game. One last chance to impress Jim Reid.