Amani Hooker very well might have changed Iowa’s philosophy at defense forever with his play last year.
Iowa is switching to a 4-2-5 defense (four defensive lineman, two linebackers, five defensive backs) permanently after finding success with it towards the end of the 2018 campaign. Hooker played what Nick Saban and, if you go back a bit further, Bill Belichick, dubbed the ‘STAR’ position during a press conference back in 2012.
Iowa calls it the ‘cash’ position, but the idea is the same. It is basically a hybrid defensive back-linebacker position that has its origins in the very common nickel defense.