The majority of the current player and at least 55 former Iowa football players are African Americans, and they have made accusations on social media regarding a bullying and racist culture within the team.

Strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle was placed on administrative leave, and while an independent inquiry was conducted, The Gazette examined a large number of social media messages to get a thorough understanding of what sparked it all.

UPDATE: Doyle’s 21-year career with the Hawkeyes came to an end on Monday, June 15, when Iowa announced it had “reached a separation agreement” with him.

What statements are the players making?
The conversation began on Wednesday, June 3, following Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz’s media conference to talk about his conversation with his current squad over George Floyd’s passing.in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department on May 25, and the subsequent nationwide demonstrations for racial justice.

According to Ferentz, he would prefer it if players took a team kneel during the playing of the national anthem this season. James Daniels, an offensive lineman with the Chicago Bears who attended Iowa from 2015 to 2017, said, “I think it’s long overdue for there to be a cultural shift for both Iowa football and the state of Iowa if the team decides to kneel as a team.” The other players concurred.

Laron Taylor was the first to bring up Doyle’s actions on Thursday, June 4. And Jaleel Johnson answered. On Friday, June 5, the discussion resumed when Faith Ekakite quoted Ferentz’s interview on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt and stated, “Change begins with Doyle and his Strength & Conditioning staff.”

Daniels then followed almost nine hours later with amessage that, as of June 11, had 679 retweets.

Daniels wrote, “The Iowa football program has too many racial disparities.” “Black athletes have endured far too long unjust treatment.”

This seems to inspire other athletes to come out with detailed accounts of racism or other forms of mistreatment, or to confirm problems with the program. This is a timeline of the statements made.

The players were at Iowa when?
In the mid-2010s, the majority of former Hawkeyes who spoke out were enrolled in the program. This graph shows the number of players from each team that have taken to social media to report bullying or racist actions from coaches, or to verify that the program has issues.

Daniels, for instance, is included in the total for the years he was with Iowa—2015, 2016, and 2017.

The information excludes previousplayers who haven’t disclosed that they dealt with problems themselves or that they saw problems, merely saying they’re rooting for their former teammates.