IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa’s most important player for 2011 might be a one-footed, tobacco-chewing football curmudgeon who’ll turn 70 in October.

It’s all right there in Norm Parker’s golf cart.

He showed the media Friday how his cart accommodates the loss of his right foot, which was taken last September, a concession to the diabetes Parker has battled for many years. A knob with a John Deere logo is attached to the steering wheel. A pole is taped to the accelerator.

Parker, who’s going into his 13th season as Iowa’s defensive coordinator, gave it a little gas and cut it off just before trucking over a TV photographer.

“I had to rig up — oh, excuse me,” he said.

A tin of Copenhagen sat in the front compartment. Parker has everything he needs for the season, one he fully intends to see through to the end, something he hasn’t been able to do the last two years.

“He did?” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz asked when told about the tobacco tin. “Aw jeez. I can’t believe that. That stuff’s not good for you.”

Iowa’s media day has been the easy part for Parker the last two seasons. He’s working on the rest of it.

In 2009, Parker had a second toe amputated and the wound never fully healed. After the Michigan State game, he took off his right shoe and it was filled with blood. He ended up in the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and coached the next game from the press box.

Last year, Parker went into the UIHC before the Iowa State game and didn’t emerge until Oct. 30. His right foot was amputated. Parker remained in contact with the defensive coaches, but wasn’t full go until the Insight Bowl. He also missed the Arizona State game in 2004 because of an illness.

Football-wise, yes, of course, Ferentz wants Parker to make it through a full season. Life-wise, family-wise, Ferentz wants that even more.

“I’m his employer, so I’m not allowed to know how old he is,” Ferentz said jokingly. “But I know he’s older than he was 10 years ago. There’s a reality.

“I’ve encouraged Norm to really examine his lifestyle and his work habits. Sometimes, you can’t do what you did when you were 35. We just need his expertise, his wisdom. He’s coaching from a golf cart right now as opposed to being on both feet. And that’s OK. It’s doable. I’m just trying to encourage him to be smart about what he’s doing so he can run the whole race.”

Ferentz has encouraged Parker to shut his office door and take a nap. That’s probably not happening.

“If my door’s shut, does he know if I’m sleeping or not?” Parker said. Then, Parker praised Ferentz for his understanding. In the cut-throat world of college football, Parker knows his health would be a deal-breaker.

“There’s not a better guy in the country that I could’ve been with,” said Parker, who took his first job coaching football in 1965. “A lot of guys would’ve dumped you into the street, put you under the bus and run you over.”

Parker’s absence was felt by the other defensive coaches last season. Suddenly, their 24-hour days went to 27 hours, or at least felt like it.

“Was there a little bit more that everyone had to do?” secondary coach Phil Parker asked. “That’s what we do.”

Phil Parker, linebackers coach Darrell Wilson and defensive line coach Rick Kaczenski said nobody “sees” the game like Norm Parker does. The definition of “seeing” goes way beyond what you might think.

“Norm has a great knack for watching regular games and seeing the problems and the issues that we could have,” Phil Parker said. “Give him a half of a day, he’ll find the issues that we’re going to have to make sure we touch on.”

Said Kaczenski, “We’re still trying to pick Norm’s brain. We’re trying to figure out how Norm sees the game. We’re also trying to think like him. He’s that calming voice, the guy who always has the answer. We might have suggestions, but Norm has all the answers. He’s seen a lot of things.

“He’ll put you at ease. It gives you a confidence, not only in his ability, but also gives you confidence in your ability.”

His duties have been cut in the last few years. He is strictly defensive coordinator, yielding linebacker coach to Wilson. He hasn’t been on the road for recruiting in several years.

His boss wants him to take naps at work. That’s probably not happening.

“I think when I have to scale things back and do that kind of stuff, it’s time for someone else to do it,” Norm Parker said. “If I do that, it’s not fair to the other guys, it’s not fair to the team, it’s not fair to anybody. I hope when the day comes when I can’t do it anymore, I have enough brains to say that’s it.”

The day-to-day might be diminished, but the man is not.