By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The NFL showed up in Iowa City in full force on Monday, or close to it, and for good reason.

With everything that Kirk Ferentz has accomplished in nearly two decades as the Iowa football coach, his program’s success in developing NFL players probably stands out the most.

That’s why 31 of the 32 NFL team had at least one representative at Iowa’s Pro Day event on Monday.

Iowa hasn’t won a Big Ten title since 2004, but it has had 47 players selected in the NFL draft since that season, including 19 in the third round or higher.

That number will rise next month with as many as five former Hawkeyes expected to be selected in the 2018 NFL draft.

Defensive back Josh Jackson and center James Daniels both apparently made the right decision by declaring for the draft as juniors because they are likely to be the first two former Hawkeyes taken in the seven-round draft, perhaps as early as the first round in both cases

Offensive lineman Sean Welsh, running back Akrum Wadley and linebacker Josey Jewell all attended the NFL Combine and project as mid-to-late-round draft picks, while linebacker Ben Niemann and offensive linemen Ike Boettger and Boone Myers also seem worthy of NFL draft consideration.

And don’t forget about former Iowa defensive end Drew Ott, whose two-year quest to play in the NFL had him participating in Monday’s pro day.

Iowa players bring a certain credibility to the NFL Draft because teams appreciate and trust what they’ve been through under the 62-year old Ferentz, who is the longest tenured coach in college football.

Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle is also highly respected for developing players the right way. Doyle is meticulous, innovative and demanding with his approach to weight training.

“It’s just how structured the program is and having to be at places on time and how coach Doyle runs the entire weight room,” Daniels said when asked why Iowa is so successful at developing NFL players. “There are a whole bunch of colleges that don’t have mandatory body weights, and just having to be within a four-pound limit with your weight, that takes a lot of discipline.

“And things like that transfer over to the NFL. And that’s why I feel scouts like Iowa so much is because of how structured the program is here.”

Daniels had his pick of schools while coming out of high school in Ohio as a four-star recruit. He even turned down the Buckeyes even though his father was a former Ohio State offensive lineman in the mid-1990s.

It helped that James’ older brother, LeShun Daniels Jr., played running back for Iowa from 2013-16, because James was able to see up close how Iowa operates under Ferentz.

“Iowa is not getting the four- and five-star prospects like these other schools, and the production of getting players, especially offensive linemen, to the NFL is just as good as anywhere in the country,” James Daniels said. “I had a brother here, and my dad’s pretty smart, so I understood that.

“I really wish recruits would realize that if you come to Iowa and go through the program and realize how structured it is, you’ll be at a huge advantage when it comes to coming into the NFL.”

That is quite a statement from a former star recruit who lived up to the hype, thanks largely to the structure and the environment under Ferentz who spent six seasons as an NFL offensive coach from 1993-98.

Iowa is known mostly for turning two- and three-star recruits, such as defensive back Micah Hyde and linebacker Anthony Hitchens, into future NFL stars.

But Ferentz’s approach also works with heralded recruits, as evidenced by James Daniels only needing three years to make the jump to the NFL.

Offensive lineman Bryan Bulaga also came to Iowa as a four-star recruit in 2007 and only played three seasons before being selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of th 2010 NFL draft.

The way James Daniels describes it, Ferentz runs a program that forces you to grow up and be accountable. It teaches you responsibility and the value of hard work, while also developing your football skills.

Of course, you could say that about every college program, but the proof is in the pudding, or in Iowa’s case, in the NFL draft.

Ferentz has been so successful in developing NFL players that some of his critics have used it against him, saying Iowa should’ve won more games considering all the talent.

The numbers are sort of misleading though, because Iowa’s NFL pipeline has produced mostly lineman, linebackers and defensive backs.

C.J. Beathard this past season became the first Iowa quarterback since Mark Vlasic in the early 1990s to complete a pass in an NFL game.

Iowa has had 15 offensive linemen selected in the draft under Ferentz, including six in the third round or higher, and 12 defensive backs. And many of those players would go on to have long and successful NFL careers, names that include Marshal Yanda, Eric Steinbach and Bob Sanders.

Iowa has earned the respect that it has with NFL scouts and executives.

It certainly helps to have Ferentz in charge because he has a lot of credibility in the NFL, both as a person and as a developer of talent.

As for James Daniels, he decided to skip his senior season after receiving feedback from NFL personnel that ranked him as a first- to third-round pick.

He also talked with his parents and with the Iowa coaches before declaring for the draft on Jan 5, which was about a week after Iowa had defeated Boston College, 27-20 in the Pinstripe Bowl.

“I went back home to Ohio and I took like a week to think about it and that’s when I made the decision,” Daniels said.

Daniels only took part in position drills on Monday, working mostly at guard, because he already has helped his cause with his body of work at Iowa and with his strong performance at the NFL Combine.

His next month also will be jam-packed with chances to impress NFL decision makers.

“Right now, I’ve just have been training and taking calls,” Daniels said. “But my next month, April, is just full of visits and workouts and all that stuff.”

Daniels already has scheduled visits with at least eight NFL teams, including the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears. There probably are more teams involved, but Daniels couldn’t think of any more while bing interviewed on Monday.

Josh Jackson didn’t attend Monday’s press conference, but he also figures to go high in the draft after having one of the greatest single-season performances in program history. The Texas native went from being a reserve in his first two seasons at Iowa to a consensus All-American this past season.

All three of Iowa’s starting linebackers from this past season participated in Pro Day on Monday, and they all feel that being a former Hawkeye could help their cause.

“Just ex-players talking about all the work you put in here and the camp schedule and all that type of stuff that it just translates and is very similar to the NFL structure,” said Ben Niemann, who started as a sophomore, junior and senior at outside linebacker for Iowa. “Here, a lot of accountability, a lot of discipline, and if you want to be successful at the next level, you’ve got to have those traits and characteristics.”

James Daniels has them, along with a bunch of talent, and he soon will be rewarded for it.