With the Iowa football season over, we wanted to take a look back in time to where key members of the 2010 Orange Bowl championship team are today.
It’s been nearly ten years since the Iowa football program won their most important bowl game in the Kirk Ferentz era. With Ricky Stanzi under center, the Hawks went on a run to begin the season starting with eight straight wins. In fact, the closest game they had during that run was actually a 17-16 victory over the Northern Iowa Panthers who somehow had two game-winning field goal attempts blocked.
The Hawks would rise to as high 7th in the country after that eighth win before they would suffer a loss to the Northwestern Wildcats. The Wildcats knocked star quarterback Stanzi out early in the game and backup James Vandenberg couldn’t get the offense moving. Vandenberg would play much better the next week against Ohio State, but the outcome would be another loss, dropping the Hawks to 8-2.
Fortunately for the Iowa football team, Stanzi would return the final week and lead the Hawks to two more victories, finishing the season 10-2. This strong finish was enough to convince the Orange Bowl committee to invite the Iowa football team to the 2010 Orange Bowl to face off against Georgia Tech and their triple-option attack.
The Iowa football team would go on to win this game and cement their legacies in Hawkeye history. That team had an immense amount of talent on it. Seventeen of the players on the active roster would go on to get drafted after their Iowa football careers were finished and a dozen more found their ways onto NFL rosters.
Today, we’re going to take a look back at some of the key players from one of the best teams Kirk Ferentz has ever coached.
Ricky Stanzi
Stanzi is arguably the best quarterback to play for the Iowa football program under Kirk Ferentz. In his time with the Hawks, he led them to three bowl victories and 26 victories overall. He also possessed a perfect record against top-five opponents (3-0) in this time.
At the conclusion of his career, he was third in most major statistics including 7,377 passing yards and 56 touchdown passes. Some of those, however, are likely to be surpassed by senior quarterback Nate Stanley next season.
After starting for the Hawkeyes for three seasons, Stanzi was selected in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. Until CJ Beathard was selected to years ago by the 49ers, Stanzi was the only quarterback in the Ferentz era to be selected in the NFL Draft.
Stanzi the manzi spent two years with the Chiefs as a backup, never attempting a pass, before being released. Since that time he has spent time with the Texans, Jaguars, Lions, Giants, and the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders (where he was just released from a few months ago).
He’s been living the quiet life since, presumably training for another shot at professional football, but at the ago of 30, his professional football career may be coming to a close very soon.
Brandon Wegher
Star freshman Brandon Wegher formed a one-two punch with Adam Robinson during the Iowa football team’s 2009 campaign. Coming to the Hawks as a four-star recruit, expectations were sky high for the Iowa native, and after seeing him play a crucial role his first year in Iowa City, expectations were through the roof. After all, he did rush for 641 yards and eight touchdowns including 113 yards and one touchdown in the Orange Bowl victory.
Those expectations, however, quickly vanished as Wegher went through a pretty weird situation ultimately resulting in him leaving the Iowa football program (twice). He wound up on the Oklahoma Sooners roster, but he left there before playing a down for Bob Stoops.
He would, however, resurface after a few years playing for the NAIA Morningside Mustangs in Sioux City, Iowa. At Morningside, Wegher had a fantastic two years, setting NAIA rushing records and becoming a NAIA All-American, which peaked NFL team’s interest.
His NFL career, much like his Iowa football career, was brief. After spending one year with the Carolina Panthers, Wegher was subsequently cut and signed to a futures contract with the Rams where was waived a few months later.
Pat Angerer
Pat Angerer is the highest drafted Iowa football player from these five guys were are looking at today. After starting for two seasons for the black and gold and walking away with First Team All-American honors, the Roy J. Carver Defensive MVP Award, and First Team All-Big Ten, Angerer was selected in the second round by the Indianapolis Colts
Angerer would go on to play four seasons in the NFL, starting 39 games and accumulating 317 tackles with the Colts before injuries would eventually derail his once promising career. He would sign to play with the Falcons, but never played a down as he was cut prior to the season beginning.
He’s been quite busy after retiring from the NFL. In addition to being “George Kittle’s life coach” on Twitter, Angerer is a very successful mortgage lender in Bettendorf working for IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union and he is the father to two young boys and one young girl.
Most importantly, he has been incredibly involved with former All-Big Ten safety Brent Greenwood’s recovery, who has been in intense physical therapy after collapsing during a workout a few years ago.
Karl Klug
Klug was a huge contributor to the Iowa football team’s dominance during the 2010 Orange Bowl victory. In that game against Georgia Tech, Klug racked up six tackles and one sack to finish the season with 65 tackles and four sacks, as a defensive tackle. This production earned him All-Big Ten honors as a junior. As a senior, Klug accumulated 57 tackles, 5.5 sacks, and 13 tackles for loss garnering Second Team All-Big Ten honors along the way.
His agility and ability to rush the passer from the interior defensive line position convinced the Tennessee Titans to select Klug in the 5th round of the 2011 NFL Draft. In seven years, mostly as a reserve player, Klug compiled 21.5 sacks and 30 tackles for loss. Prior to the 2018 season, Klug was released from the Titans and retired shortly thereafter.
Today, he still lives in Tennessee with his wife and four kids. In his free time, he is actually coaching the defensive line at the local high school in Franklin, Tennessee.
Marvin McNutt
Marvin McNutt is arguably the best wide receiver to ever play for the Iowa football team in the Kirk Ferentz era, but that success didn’t quite translate to the NFL.
McNutt’s four-year career saw him catch 170 balls for 2,861 yards and 28 touchdowns, all Iowa football receiving records. In the 2010 Orange Bowl alone McNutt recorded four catches for 21 yards and one touchdown.
In his time with the Iowa football program, McNutt received Honorable Mention All-American honors (Pro Football Weekly) as a sophomore, Second Team All-Big Ten as a junior, and First Team All-Big Ten as a senior.
After graduating from the University of Iowa, McNutt was selected in the sixth round by the Philadelphia Eagles but only spent one year with the team before being released and claimed by the Miami Dolphins (who also released him just four months later). He spent the 2013 season with the Panthers, but was released a week before the beginning of the 2014 season, and he hasn’t been on a team since.
When his NFL career was finished, McNutt stayed in the football community by coaching the Cedar Rapids Titans, and Indoor Football League team, for one season before spending another season as the General Manager.
Today, he lives in Iowa with his wife and four kids, and he runs McNutt Elite Training where he works with athletes to improve agility and develop skills for their specific sports.