University of Iowa Football Media Conference
Friday, August 9, 2024
Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Coach Kirk Ferentz
Press Conference
KIRK FERENTZ: Thank you, and welcome to everybody. Good afternoon. First of all, just appreciate everybody being here and the interest all of you show in our program, and more importantly, just the commitment, the coverage that you give all year-round. I know our fans really appreciate that and enjoy that. Again, appreciate the work you put into it.
I’m told we have 22 days until game week, so I guess that makes sense, and 138th year of Hawkeye football in Kinnick Stadium, so pretty significant. Obviously not every year in this stadium.
But the great thing about new seasons, it’s a new opportunity, it’s a new year. That really began for us in January. (Indiscernible) as we get ready to move forward.
Just a couple observations about camp so far. We’re eight days into it. I think the effort has been good, pretty consistent in that regard. Like anybody probably at this point, we’re not where we need to be technique-wise, execution-wise, but like the effort, and as I’ve been saying pretty much on a steady basis, the leadership base on this team has been really impressive.
Part of that, you get eight guys back in January that maybe we weren’t counting on. Certainly that’s part of it.
But the older guys are really, I think, doing a good job of setting the pace, showing the younger guys how to work. We’ve got a couple tiers with the football team. That’s just part of it.
This is to me just really where teams kind of get shaped and get molded. It’s a great time, great opportunity. Basically the players get up in the morning, and they’re either heading to a meeting, they’re heading to a lift or heading to practice, and then they eat in between and find an opportunity to sleep, too. It’s pretty simple. Not a lot of distraction.
If a guy will play it right and take their opportunity day-to-day they’ve really got the opportunity to grow and get better, and certainly that’s important for our football team if we’re going to be where we want to be when we get going here.
Things haven’t changed much since last time we talked in terms of the makeup of our team. Defensively we’re about as veteran as I can remember, and part of that, six guys coming back in January. Coaching staff is in place. We’re pretty set there. Not a lot of change in that regard.
So far, again, guys are off to a good start. I think guys know what to do, and it’s just a matter of doing it a little bit better, a little crisper, but moving forward there offensively, very different in a lot of ways. New system, new coordinator, and a couple new position changes with Tim and Jon Budmayr joining, taking the receivers. A little bit of change there.
But we are a little bit more veteran than we’ve been, and that’s, I think, encouraging and is certainly going to help us. Probably as veteran up front as we’ve been in a couple years. I think that’ll help a lot, too.
All in all, so far, so good. The guys have really worked hard. I think we’re gaining ground now, and we’ll need every rep between now and the first game just to have a chance to be ready. But I think the guys are doing a good job there.
Then special teams is a little bit of a mix, again, with Drew Stevens back, Luke Elkin, and Wetjen is back there returning punts, Kaleb Johnson returning kicks. But the punter part, it’s a new moving piece. Reese is doing a good job thus far, and certainly LeVar has done a nice job with that group.
We’re up and running right now. Still a lot of work to do.
Then just a couple things about the coaching staff. Phil Parker I don’t think will be out there today. He did make an appearance this morning. I’m sorry to report that he had shoulder repair done yesterday. He got run into a couple weeks ago or a couple — it feels like a couple weeks ago, maybe a week ago, less than a week, and long story short, I think he might have had some preexisting damage in there, but they had to address that. He had surgery yesterday. Did show up today for practice. I’m not sure if he was on the planet or not, but he was there and watching.
He’s going to be a little bit more ornery than normal probably for the next couple weeks, but I don’t think he’ll be here this afternoon. We’ll see tomorrow. Biggest thing right now is we’ve just got to keep him out of harm’s way, try to keep him out of the way so he’s not doing too much.
Seth Wallace, talked about his change in the out of season, and right now he’ll oversee the defense, but things run pretty smoothly with or without Phil, and will be good to get him back full time.
The other announcement to make, Tyler Barnes has a new title. It’s football chief of staff and general manager, which is kind of the vernacular, I guess, across the country now. Basically what it is, it’s just a reflection of his changing jobs, the changing role, and I think probably bigger picture, it’s just the changing of college football, the way things have changed.
We still play with 11 guys. I think it still takes the same amount of guys to coach, although we did add the extra coach a couple years ago. That was a smart move. Coaching is still coaching, but what has changed is the world of recruiting, and that was even a challenge 25 years ago. Pat Fleury was our recruiting coordinator and the first year he had a hard time getting out of the office with all the paperwork that has to be done, all the bureaucracy when it comes to recruiting. It was pretty obvious at that point we were going to have to change our approach, and we’ve done that and that’s kind of evolved.
I never dreamt we’d have a social media department, but we do, and you have to, so I get that. It’s the same thing going back to Tyler. Tyler basically is really helpful in overseeing our entire personnel group. Used to just be recruiting, now you’ve got NIL, you’ve got portal, there’s all kinds of stuff, all kinds of moving pieces. Having him in place really allows me to do some of the things I want to be doing.
I think the other thing I would just mention, the recruiting calendar has changed a lot. Certainly different than 25 years ago. I would say different than five years ago.
With all these changes, the work that Tyler and his staff do is really critical because it allows our coaches to actually coach the guys that we recruit to come here, and when we do recruit players, we promise them and their families that we’re going to try to coach them and try to move them forward. To do that, you have to be here, and you have to be present mentally and physically.
It’s really interesting how things have shifted a little bit, and I think it’s a bigger challenge now than ever. Really I want to give compliments to our personnel department. They’re doing a good job, and it allows the coaches to do, I think, what they enjoy the most and hopefully what they do best.
Just in closing, new team, new time, new opportunity. We are a different team than we were in April. A lot has happened since then. Guys have matured, worked hard, and now the challenge is to get a little bit more cohesive, tighten down in execution. We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and game day. But again, I think we’re on a good path.
Again, plenty of work to do, but I like the guys we’ve got. I’ll throw it out and see if there are any questions.
Q. Now that you’ve gotten to see Cade McNamara on the practice field for the first time since his injury, is he looking how you need him to look at this point? Same question with Brendan Sullivan. First time you’ve got eyes on him. Those two guys in particular, what have you noticed from them thus far?
KIRK FERENTZ: I’ll start with Brendan and just tell you this. I’ll throw Jacob in there, too. Both guys that joined us, they’ve really done a nice job, and Cade Borud the same way. He’s probably a little bit further away, but really good prospect. Jacob has done a really nice job. You can tell he’s a veteran guy, he’s been around a little bit, knows how to do things and carries himself really well, and Brendan the same way. He’s done a really good job out there.
For him it is new. It started in June for him, so he’s trying to catch up a little bit.
I would say the same with Cade. Not as much mentally but just playing-wise, and grabbed him the other day and just reminded him he’s missed a lot of time. He hasn’t played healthy here, unfortunately, since he’s been here last year other than first eight, ten days, whatever it was here, before the first Saturday.
He’s doing things. He’s there mentally. It’s just a matter of time, getting back used to playing again so he can be quick and decisive with his throws, all that type of thing.
Doing a good job, just we’re not there yet, and every practice is going to be important pretty much for everybody.
Q. You were mentioning Seth with that assistant head coach role. Aside from stepping in for Phil, how do you see that role playing out throughout fall camp and through the season?
KIRK FERENTZ: Yeah, I don’t know if it’s going to be a big dramatic difference. It really is kind of more of recognition, without going into too much detail. People were knocking on his door a little bit in the out of season, and I appreciate the fact that he chose to stay here. I really do. Credit to the people that were knocking on his door. It’s smart. He’s a really good coach and a good person. Pretty good in every aspect of his job. I don’t see his role changing significantly. It was a way just to acknowledge the work that he has done here.
Q. Talking a little bit more about Brendan and Cade, quarterback situation, I know Brendan was third on the depth chart that you released or that was released when we were at Big Ten media days. Would you say he’s moved into that second spot? Is he splitting maybe first-team reps with Cade? What does that look like?
KIRK FERENTZ: We’re eight days into it right now, so not making any proclamations other than he’s done a really great job. He’s picked things up really quickly. Good prospect, and one advantage he has over Marco is he’s played. He’s been out there I think six starts, if I think correctly, if I know correctly. Played the week before us against Maryland and looked really good in that game.
I think he’s a little further ahead from that regard. He’s had that experience, a little bit more confidence and decisiveness in what he does.
I think probably the best way I can term it right now, it’s like all positions, we’ll make decisions here as we go along, but the room overall is a lot more competitive than it was certainly at the end of last year, last December, and that was the goal, try to get a room where you’ve got good competition. We want that at every position, and some positions are a little better than others that way.
Q. I wanted to ask you about your defense and kind of more holistically than narrowly this year, and that is since 2018 when you made the change to go to a Cash 4-2-5, the numbers speak for themselves as far as the growth and what the defense has been able to do. Has it surprised you that they’ve been so successful, especially against the run, considering you’re running two gap and not necessarily filling every single gap with a safety and everything and just the way that they’ve been able to compete and compete at the highest level in the country?
KIRK FERENTZ: Yeah, I mean, that question actually triggers — going back to 2000 against Northwestern out here. 2000, yeah. Right? They were ranked, we weren’t, obviously. I think we came off the Penn State win and played them. They had put up 54 or 56 – I’d have to look – again Michigan the week we were beating Penn State. I’ll never forget leaving Norm’s office that night. He and I watched that film together and were both like, oh, boy, better get a bigger boat.
I left that night and I just said, Norm, I’m guessing we’re going to match up against these guys. They were a three-wide outfit; it was the greatest show on turf. They took some ideas from that.
Next morning I came in, and Norm said, we’re going to play our defense. His thought was LeVar was our outside backer, and he felt like let’s get our best 11 guys on the field and play our defense the way we know it. And it worked out beautifully.
So I learned a lesson. Not that I was second-guessing, but it’s just, like, Norm knows what he’s doing, leave him alone.
So over time you just keep looking at things, and we made that decision. If we can find the right guy, then we’ll do that. It takes two things, I think. You have to have the right guy to be able to play that position. Sebastian is really good at it. Been fortunate there; Cooper could do it. Got a couple guys right now that are working there. Then the other guys have to be able to do what they have to do. I think we’ve been lucky that we’ve had both the combination of both.
It’s really helped us. It’s just kind of offenses have evolved typically of who we play week in and week out, and it’s kind of like I mentioned with Tyler Barnes’ thing, it’s a whole different job than it was 20 years ago.
So I think you have to look at the game that way a little bit differently, too, and that’s why I do chuckle a little bit about the new teams coming in, is it going to be a big adjustment. Well, college football has always been pretty diverse. Whether a guy is from the West Coast, middle America or East Coast, a three wide offense is a three wide offense, so is a four-wide offense. It’s not that big a deal. Kind of went on a little bit of a ramble there, sorry.
Q. Last year late in the regular season, you used — it was the Nebraska game, used a backup field goal kicker and it worked really well, and you won the game on a last-second kick. What is your backup field goal kicker this year, if you decide to use one for whoever reason, for Drew Stevens if you need a backup field goal kicker?
KIRK FERENTZ: Yeah, right now it’s Tripp Woody. We’re hoping we don’t have to do that. You never want to do that.
That day I just didn’t have a good vibe. Drew was struggling a little bit. Keep in mind, he was a second-year guy. I think all players, the more they’ve done things, the more comfortable and confident they get. He’s been a whole different person this semester, this past semester. Now we’re moving into a new semester.
But just carrying himself a little bit differently. I don’t mind telling you it was an item of curiosity for me just to see how he’d go through spring and now the summer, and he’s kicking the ball well and kicking with confidence, so keep our fingers crossed there.
Q. Defensive line depth has a question mark coming into this. What have you seen from that group so far in terms of developing some of that depth in camp?
KIRK FERENTZ: Yeah, I think I’d mentioned three guys. Jeremiah Pittman inside had a good spring. He’s continuing to do well. So I think we have three guys that we feel pretty good about there. A couple candidates for that fourth spot, and they’re competing at it.
Then the two outside guys, Max Llewellyn continues to get better, and then Brian Allen I think is really improved. Both of them have a lot to work to do, but they’re getting a lot of work right now, and it’s been good, too, because flipping it over, we’re worried about that second line, that second non-senior group, if you will, and I think they’ve made real good strides.
But we’re getting both those groups a lot of work because it’s going to benefit them. We’re going to need those guys this year.
Q. As you’ve coached offensive line, obviously, how would you describe what you expect the standard of offensive line play to be at Iowa, and what makes you optimistic it will be there this season?
KIRK FERENTZ: There’s a certain tempo you hope guys will play at. There’s no way to microwave it. It’s just a process. It’s something you’ve got to work at.
I’ll flip back, when I went to Cleveland, I probably got hired because there was some work to do. They made a change, and I went in there and — before I talk here a little bit, we had one veteran that was established, and outside of that, we were open to changes in a lot of spots.
Long story short, we ended up settling with some younger guys, and that’s probably why I got hired was because I was a college coach and didn’t mind coaching guys that weren’t first-rounders.
Went in, did that, and what I do remember distinctly, it was week — we were 7-2, so it was week 10. The next year, our playoff year, and that was the game where the line just started playing with the kind of tempo we were playing in Philly. They were 7-2. Why you remember stupid things like that, but you do. It was a big game, and our guys really played. They just took a step.
There was an air they had, just the way they played. They broke the huddle with a little bit more confidence, and most importantly with the ball snapped like they were humming, they were playing.
All you do is just keep chipping away. It’s like everything in football, you just keep chipping away. But you’ve got to have the right people. Then they’ve just got to believe and keep pushing.
These guys have done that. We’ve had our share of challenging situations, but the guys have stayed — they’ve hung tough. George has done a great job keeping them focused on the right things, and just starting to see that in practice. We’re starting to see them play at a little better tempo than we have in the last couple years.
I said this in Indy: All I know about Iowa football, in my 35, 36 years here, when our line plays good and our quarterback plays good, we have a chance. We have a chance to have a good offense, and that’s pretty much true of anybody, unless you’re in one of those offenses where you don’t worry about blocking guys. But you’ve got to have really good skill guys. It’s always good to block people. That’s kind of how I was raised, I guess.