Seth Wallace 091323 1

  • last year
Iowa LB coach
Transcript
00:00 You guys all got me perfect.
00:01 OK, obviously Matt,
00:02 thank you for putting this thing
00:04 together and in our media.
00:06 I appreciate you guys being on here.
00:08 Obviously this is.
00:11 You know,
00:12 I guess a pretty fortunate opportunity
00:14 for me to be speaking with you after
00:16 after two wins and more importantly,
00:18 the win this past weekend against Iowa State.
00:21 Obviously we feel real good as a as a team
00:24 and you know real good as a program.
00:27 I think you've.
00:28 I think you've seen over the course
00:30 of the last two weeks you've seen
00:32 a lot of improvement.
00:33 You probably seen some things that
00:35 that we need to continue to work on,
00:37 and now really that's that's
00:38 the theme of the year.
00:39 It's going to be the theme,
00:41 you know,
00:41 towards the end of the season as well.
00:43 That you know we're just continuing
00:45 to try to get better and I think
00:47 for the position group that I'm
00:49 I'm working with and responsible for.
00:50 I think you're probably seeing some
00:52 growth and improvement there as well.
00:54 And you know,
00:54 I welcome you know any questions
00:56 related to the program,
00:57 the team or you know specific
00:59 to the linebacker position.
01:01 But again,
01:01 thank you for being with us and we
01:03 really enjoy this opportunity.
01:04 Alright, Seth will go right into questions.
01:08 The first question will be from Chad Lystico.
01:10 Hey Seth, thanks for doing this.
01:14 Hope hope you're well with the way you
01:16 got you describe kind of the way you
01:19 guys teach defense on the defensive line.
01:21 You know there's some I guess
01:23 concern out there you know that
01:25 you only have one sack through two games,
01:27 but I know that's not necessarily.
01:29 You know what you guys emphasize the most,
01:32 so kind of describe maybe you know
01:34 how you would explain that.
01:35 Yeah, I think I think the first
01:37 thing that you've got to look at is,
01:39 you know,
01:40 I do think you have to take into
01:42 consideration the two opponents
01:44 that we've played both of those.
01:46 No, both both teams were dealing
01:48 with younger quarterbacks.
01:49 You know,
01:50 obviously the beginning of the season is
01:52 is not not necessarily the time and
01:55 which you you want to get into a
01:57 whole lot of your offense and and
01:59 even more specifically your dropback
02:00 pass game so the ball is coming out.
02:03 A lot quicker.
02:04 I think you know,
02:05 I think that's probably where you want to
02:07 start and then you know with the way
02:09 that we're built defensively you know
02:11 we start by you know trying to defend
02:13 the run before we you know before we
02:16 ultimately start defending the pass
02:17 and you know just the way that we play.
02:20 Our defensive line or our front seven.
02:22 You know we're real heavy in regards
02:24 to our offense and and how we play
02:26 our techniques up front so you know
02:28 some of that is you know some of that's
02:30 more you know really more to do with.
02:33 The opponent,
02:34 but also you know with kind of how
02:36 we're built and and we've you know,
02:38 I'll be be real honest with you.
02:41 We've got to do a better job of getting
02:43 getting our opponent into off scheduled
02:45 second downs and then your third
02:47 and seven or greater and and that's
02:49 usually when you'll start to see,
02:51 you know a little bit more
02:53 of a pushback and you know it's
02:55 not a huge concern of ours.
02:57 Obviously we'd like to.
02:58 We'd like to get the quarterback
02:59 on the ground a little bit more,
03:01 but I think right now it's just a
03:03 matter of us continuing to do what
03:05 we're doing and you know maybe do
03:07 a little bit better job on first
03:09 and second down to allow those
03:10 opportunities to present themselves.
03:12 Seth next question is from Scott Docterman.
03:14 Seth, good to see you.
03:15 I hope you're well.
03:16 I wanted to ask you about Nick Jackson
03:18 and how he's worked his way into the defense.
03:21 I'm sure the verbiage is a challenge for him,
03:24 probably more than actually going out and playing,
03:26 but kind of what's your assessment
03:28 of him through two games and and
03:30 what's his growth potential over
03:32 the next couple of weeks when he gets
03:34 more familiar with your defense?
03:35 Yeah, I think Scott did.
03:37 It's a good question and you know here.
03:40 Here's where Nick is very fortunate.
03:41 You talk about verbiage.
03:42 He said I think now this is his
03:45 fourth defense that he's worked with.
03:47 His fourth defensive coordinator.
03:49 So he's got plenty of verbiage.
03:50 It's just a matter of trying to figure out.
03:54 You know what in the past is,
03:56 you know,
03:57 parallel to what we do here,
03:59 and I think what I think what
04:00 you're going to continue to see
04:02 is you're just going to continue
04:03 to see gradual improvement from
04:04 weekend and week out.
04:05 You know right now I don't want to
04:07 say he's drinking out of a firehose
04:09 'cause he certainly isn't 'cause
04:11 there's a lot of there's a lot of
04:13 football that he's had and played in
04:14 the past but trying to marry some of
04:17 the stuff from the past to the present
04:19 is you know is is it not a challenge?
04:22 It's just a work in progress and you
04:24 know I'm anxious to see each and every
04:27 day you know come and pass and see
04:29 the improvement that you know not
04:31 only that he is experiencing but
04:33 also Jay Higgins and the other guys
04:35 that you know might haven't taken
04:36 the field yet but you know all those
04:39 guys are young in their own ways and.
04:40 Or inexperienced in regards to our
04:43 defense or the brand of football
04:45 that we're playing against.
04:47 Our next question is from David Eichel.
04:51 Seth, appreciate you taking the time.
04:52 Good to see you a little bit of an
04:55 unconventional first couple of weeks
04:56 for the Iowa linebacker room just
04:58 with teams utilizing the quick passing.
05:00 I'm sure Nick Jackson's tired
05:01 of going back in coverage,
05:03 but how valuable are those pass
05:05 reps and him dropping back into coverage?
05:07 How valuable is that going to be going
05:09 forward through the rest of the season?
05:12 Yeah, I I think that the more
05:14 diversity that we see at the
05:16 beginning of the year in regards
05:18 to our opponent and what they're
05:20 doing offensively is only going to
05:21 provide us with a better foundation
05:23 for you know the middle of the season.
05:25 And then you know,
05:26 obviously the back third of the season.
05:28 But you know what we've seen is
05:30 we have seen some parallels.
05:32 You know, I think you know we shared
05:34 with our with our guys beginning of
05:36 this week that Western Michigan is
05:38 going to be a blend of our last two
05:40 opponents in a lot of ways there's
05:42 going to be some tempo there's going
05:44 to be some you know tight end usage
05:46 that we saw out of Iowa State that
05:48 we didn't see out of Utah State.
05:50 There's going to be the spread element
05:52 and again the tempo that we saw to
05:54 Utah State that we didn't necessarily
05:55 see out of Iowa State.
05:56 So just the more of that that we
05:58 continue to get, it's going to be
06:00 better for us defensively in the long
06:02 run 'cause it just provides a stronger
06:04 foundation to what we're doing defensively.
06:05 Our next question is from Mitch Fick.
06:09 Hey Seth, such a big moment for
06:10 Ethan Hurkett on Saturday.
06:12 Two years ago this week is when he
06:14 gets knocked out against Kent State,
06:15 loses the rest of his freshman year.
06:17 Just what have you seen from him?
06:19 I know Jay told me yesterday.
06:21 Hurks kind of the guy you point to
06:23 for everybody else like that's how
06:24 you go about your business.
06:26 Just what have you seen from Ethan
06:28 as he's grown into the two deeps
06:30 and really a more prominent role?
06:31 Yeah, Mitch, I and I do appreciate
06:33 your tweet yesterday.
06:34 You know it was.
06:35 It was good that that I think you
06:38 got to the bottom of it in regards
06:40 to you know how things finished in
06:42 Ames on Saturday with with Ethan
06:43 on top of the ball and then.
06:45 You know,
06:46 I was asking his teammates and his
06:48 teammates were you know were graciously
06:50 crediting you know the way that
06:52 Ethan goes about his business and
06:54 you know Ethan Quinn Schulte,
06:56 Jackson Rexroth.
06:56 They all come from the same fabric.
06:58 They all come from the same background.
07:01 They all come from coach Schultes
07:02 program up there at Xavier and you
07:04 know so they haven't they haven't had any.
07:07 I guess their learning curve has not been.
07:09 You know what it might be for some
07:12 other programs that maybe exist further
07:14 away where players aren't as familiar with us.
07:16 So when Ethan got here we knew we knew what
07:19 it was going to look like down the road.
07:22 You know it was just a matter of time
07:24 and then obviously the injury that
07:26 that came about you know kind of.
07:28 Sideline that or put it on
07:30 delay for a little bit,
07:32 but you know,
07:33 I think what we see each and every
07:35 day in in the way that Ethan goes
07:37 about his business,
07:38 whether beyond the field or off the
07:40 field is is really in a first class
07:43 position and something that I think
07:45 our young guys if as I mentioned to
07:47 the linebackers if we can just pay
07:49 real close attention to the way
07:51 that he does things.
07:52 I think we'd all be better because of it.
07:54 Our next question is from John Stepi.
07:57 Hey Seth, great to see you with Jay
07:59 Higgins and his adjustment to my
08:01 Kleinbacker obviously a lot of pre
08:03 snap responsibilities at that position.
08:05 How have you seen him have
08:07 adjust that new role?
08:08 You know, I think I said this at
08:12 the beginning of the show and I tried
08:14 not to get too far in front of my
08:17 skis because I wasn't sure what what
08:19 it was going to look like once Jay
08:21 did take the field and and I were
08:23 two games into it so I'm very
08:25 cautious of of saying too much here.
08:27 But you know, I think I think what
08:29 you're seeing it first off the credit
08:31 doesn't need to be given to Jay Higgins,
08:33 but I think a lot of credit has to
08:35 be given to that room and the guys
08:38 that have come before him and in
08:40 the brand of linebacker play that
08:41 has has been played here.
08:43 You know, during the history of
08:45 Coach Ference's time, but you know,
08:47 here more recently with some of those guys.
08:49 You know that Jay has attached himself to
08:52 and and Jack Campbell and Seth Benson.
08:54 I know that the both of them reached
08:56 out to Jay after the game on Saturday.
08:59 Jay looked up to both of those guys.
09:01 In in so many levels and and paid
09:04 attention and tried to emulate and
09:06 replicate and you know now we're
09:09 we're starting to see that.
09:10 Again, there's a lot ahead of us right now,
09:13 but but Jay's done.
09:14 Jay's done a really good job both on
09:17 and off the field in in regards to
09:19 the football as well as the leadership.
09:22 Our next question is from Tyler Tachman.
09:25 Hey coach, I hope you're doing well.
09:28 I'm Jay Higgins was talking about yesterday.
09:30 He he had heard stories about what
09:32 Sebastian Castro used to do on scout team.
09:35 Do you just have any memories of
09:37 kind of the early days of Sebastian
09:39 and kind of what what he used to do on
09:42 scouting? Yeah, Tyler, I apologize.
09:44 I walked past you two or three
09:46 times the other day on the side.
09:48 I didn't know who the heck I was
09:50 looking at and I'm like gosh,
09:52 I this guy. But anyway,
09:54 I apologize for not not stopping
09:55 by and saying hello,
09:56 but I do appreciate your out.
09:58 You were out there before anybody else.
10:00 They must have been in traffic,
10:02 but anyway,
10:03 in regards to Sebastian,
10:04 you know just.
10:05 I mean,
10:06 the one thing that that Sebastian does
10:08 is is he goes hard and he goes fast
10:11 as soon as he diagnoses you know
10:13 what what is exactly going on and
10:15 and I would I would rewind that clock
10:18 if you wanted to look like it.
10:20 If you wanted a visual of what that
10:23 looked like when he first got here,
10:25 there was no diagnosing.
10:26 There was no.
10:27 It was just he went and you know,
10:30 usually was headed in the wrong direction.
10:34 But he was going so you know the the reps,
10:37 the practice, the time,
10:38 the experience has all given him
10:40 an opportunity to diagnose things.
10:42 And what we're still seeing is we're
10:45 still seeing that suddenness.
10:46 The violence you know he is a.
10:48 He's an unbelievable tackler like he
10:51 will find a way to get the ball carrier
10:54 down just I can't say enough about
10:56 Sebastian the way that he's taken on
10:59 the role of of you know being in
11:02 our cash player right now.
11:03 Next question is from Adam Jacoby.
11:06 Hey coach, how you doing?
11:08 I'm good you doing well.
11:10 Thank you.
11:11 So actually Tyler asked a pretty decent
11:14 overlap on what I was curious about too.
11:17 So I guess sort of zooming out a little bit.
11:21 The two biggest components that are
11:24 visual or that are visible for sort of
11:27 untrained eyes like ours on the pick
11:29 six against Iowa State was Joe Evans
11:32 putting the pressure on the QB and
11:35 obviously the the pick and score by
11:37 Sebastian sort of anything else that.
11:41 Popped out to you like with with
11:43 a coaches I on a play that that
11:46 helped make that play such a big success.
11:49 Uhm, you know, I I do think I would.
11:52 You know, I'd I'd give credit to
11:54 what the D line was doing up front
11:56 and and Joe certainly was coming free,
11:58 which you know that that's going
12:00 to put the quarterback you know in
12:02 a little bit more sense urgency to
12:04 get to get rid of the ball.
12:06 Yeah, I think it's you know that's
12:08 that's something that we stress to
12:09 that position whether it be the Leo
12:12 in space whether it be the cash in space.
12:14 You know the route that does give
12:16 us a little bit of trouble is,
12:18 you know when number two starts to,
12:20 you know,
12:21 work away from the cash of the Leo
12:23 to the wide side of the field and
12:25 they run the corner off like that's
12:27 just and I can't say that that is
12:29 specifically what happened right there.
12:31 But what I would tell you is the
12:33 Leo and the cash player are very
12:35 cautious of, you know,
12:36 getting up underneath whatever route
12:37 exists on the far sideline when we're
12:39 to the field because that's, you know,
12:42 quite frankly, that's where we're giving up.
12:44 We're trying to.
12:44 We're built to protect the inside
12:46 middle of the field first and then
12:48 react to everything on the exterior.
12:50 I think we're fortunate right there.
12:52 I think what you saw.
12:56 During the course of the game against
12:58 Iowa State as you saw a young quarterback,
13:01 that his coaches were purposely
13:02 trying to make sure that his throws
13:05 were on the exterior of our defense.
13:08 And I just think it just,
13:10 you know, it played out.
13:11 There was a little bit of time that
13:13 developed during the course of the game,
13:15 where you know,
13:16 I think our guys got a little bit
13:19 familiar with what they were trying
13:21 to do in the past game and and then
13:23 they started to expand, you know,
13:25 to the perimeter much much like.
13:27 Gosh, we made.
13:28 We made the quarterback scramble
13:29 in the midfield.
13:30 They were going from our bench left to right,
13:33 and we're in a we're in a two man
13:35 situation where we had the with the
13:37 guys underneath covering man to man,
13:39 and we usually play it with inside
13:41 leverage and we had moved Fisher to
13:43 outside leverage because they kept
13:44 hitting Fisher with number 18 going
13:46 to the flat, which you know,
13:48 I'm sure you guys can remember
13:49 on some of those third downs,
13:50 and you know,
13:51 so whether it be a change like that
13:53 that we made on the sideline prior
13:54 to that series or whether it be
13:56 just Sebastian Castro starting to
13:57 get a feel for what was going on
13:59 with the quarterback in conjunction
14:01 with Joe Evans coming coming free
14:03 from the left end into that right
14:05 side a gap in the face of the quarterback.
14:07 So I just you know it's all.
14:09 It's all everything working together
14:11 and then you know the the course of
14:13 time that existed in the game and in
14:15 the field that that are underneath
14:17 cover guys had coverage wise.
14:19 Thank you so much.
14:21 Alright, coach, next question
14:22 is from Chad Lysico.
14:25 Hey, it feels like I mean,
14:27 I don't have numbers,
14:28 but feels like your blitz percentage
14:29 maybe is even lower than usual.
14:31 So far this year for whatever reason,
14:33 but I was kind of curious what.
14:36 You know what factors lead you guys?
14:38 You would fail to kind of quote
14:40 unquote dial up the blitz and also
14:42 just curious if Jamari coming back.
14:45 Does that give you more comfort
14:46 to maybe blitz more because you've
14:48 got two veteran corners out there
14:50 as opposed to a new guy like.
14:54 Chad, I think that the one thing
14:56 that I do want to do is is I do
14:58 want to give a lot of credit to
15:00 DeSean Lee. You know what he what
15:02 he did in his first two games.
15:03 You know, 'cause there's a target on
15:05 your back when you become that guy
15:07 that that takes that role for somebody
15:09 that that should have been in it.
15:11 You know, and and offenses know that
15:13 offensive coordinators know that
15:15 quarterbacks know that.
15:15 So you know, I do want to give a
15:18 lot of credit to the Sean and.
15:20 You know what he's done over the last
15:22 the last three weeks and really more
15:23 than that during camp because you
15:25 know we could kind of see this.
15:27 We could see where he headed in that
15:29 direction at the beginning of August.
15:31 But you know, in regards to our pressure.
15:34 I give I give our opponents a little
15:37 bit of credit and I say that because
15:40 because of their use of formations.
15:43 You know, if if you go back and you look
15:45 at it, we faced a lot of what we call
15:48 formation to the sideline.
15:49 The acronym would be FSL or FIB
15:51 formation into the boundary that
15:53 gets us locked out of a lot of
15:55 these when they set the formation
15:57 to the short side of the field.
15:59 You know there's some spread
16:01 formation stuff that you know.
16:02 I can't tell you that I I can tell
16:04 you that we have been lesser from a
16:07 percentage standpoint when it comes to pressure.
16:09 I can't say that we've called less
16:11 pressures if that makes sense to you.
16:14 We've been checked out of some
16:16 pressures because of what the
16:17 offense is presented to us.
16:19 So I I don't.
16:21 I don't know that we've.
16:23 We haven't intentionally said OK,
16:24 we're you know, or for any other reason
16:27 other than you know what the offense is.
16:29 Dictated so you know,
16:30 I I think that's that's probably.
16:34 You know, fairly high level
16:35 answer in regards to it.
16:37 Steph, final two questions.
16:38 First one is from Scott Docterman.
16:42 Yes, Seth, I wanted to ask you about,
16:44 you know, two players in particular
16:45 who were backups and and ones Jane
16:47 Harrell and his level of kind of
16:50 trajectory because he looks like
16:51 he might be a guy.
16:53 You know a guy maybe if as a backup now,
16:56 but maybe next year is being a real
16:58 vital player and also Ben Keeter.
17:00 We haven't seen him yet.
17:02 I don't think any minute uniform
17:04 and you know high profile player.
17:06 Where is he kind of stand on things
17:08 right now with your defense?
17:09 Yeah, I'll start with.
17:11 I'll start with Jaden.
17:12 Then I'll get back to Ben in regards to Jaden.
17:15 Jaden's done everything that we have
17:17 asked in regards to the Mike linebacker
17:19 position you know he is sitting
17:21 in a backup role right now.
17:23 You know, I think he's anxiously
17:25 awaiting an opportunity to try to
17:28 make make things right based on that
17:30 last series against Utah State.
17:32 I know that that was not a.
17:33 It was not a good taste that
17:35 was left in his mouth.
17:37 And you know, and I think he's
17:39 hopeful that at some point that
17:41 opportunity will come.
17:42 But you know, I'll tell you this,
17:44 like the I or nor staff has.
17:47 You know, it's we don't have any
17:49 reservation in regards to him going
17:50 into the game at any time under
17:52 any circumstance like that's.
17:54 That's how well he's prepared.
17:55 He's done.
17:56 He's done an excellent job in the
17:58 meeting room and he's he's done an
18:00 excellent job on the practice field as
18:02 well so and he's he's got a good one
18:04 to learn from and he also had the
18:06 same opportunity that Jay did with
18:08 with Jack and Seth so you know no
18:10 no issues there and really just.
18:12 You know, looking for that door to open
18:14 up for him to for him to go in there
18:16 and in regards to Ben.
18:19 So Ben had an ankle.
18:21 He had an ankle that showed up in
18:23 that first week against Utah State.
18:24 That was the only reason he didn't
18:26 practice on Tuesday and Wednesday that week,
18:28 so that was the only reason why
18:30 he didn't dress that weekend.
18:31 That's why you didn't see him in uniform.
18:33 No other reason other than that.
18:35 You know, Ben's Ben's done a great job.
18:37 He's doing a great job on our scout team
18:40 right now. You know the biggest thing
18:42 there is just us trying to, you know,
18:44 work this marriage with with wrestling
18:46 because he is trying to juggle both
18:48 like it's not.
18:49 It's not a full time job over in wrestling,
18:51 but you know it's it's him doing a
18:53 part time job over there and trying
18:55 to get over there as much as he can.
18:58 And you know we're trying to work
18:59 to put weight on him as well,
19:01 which I know is needed.
19:03 You know, on the wrestling side as well.
19:05 But you know,
19:06 I I think his world also you know
19:08 his world also changed a little bit.
19:10 You know a few weeks ago when there
19:12 was news that came out of came out
19:14 of Carver in regards to some of the
19:16 other guys that were on the team,
19:18 I think that you know that path
19:20 might have changed just a little
19:22 bit in regards to his thinking.
19:24 So you know right now he's done
19:26 a great job for us and you know,
19:28 I don't see why he wouldn't
19:29 continue to do that.
19:31 It's just us trying to figure things out.
19:33 You know, as we get closer to
19:35 October, November and December.
19:36 Last question set this from Tyler Cashman.
19:39 Sorry Tyler Cashman.
19:40 I was curious about Kyler Fisher.
19:41 Someone has kind of been in
19:43 the program for awhile and.
19:45 I think has an increased role this season.
19:47 Just what is what is all kind of
19:50 stood out about his development
19:52 since he's been at Iowa.
19:53 Yeah, Tyler has Tyler's.
19:55 Tyler's really a unique story.
19:57 I say Tyler talking to Tyler about
20:00 Tyler Kyler is a Kyler's really a
20:03 unique story. You know, Kyler was was,
20:05 you know, however many years ago it was.
20:08 It's probably five years ago now that
20:11 that we were down in Saint Louis at
20:14 the Lindenwood you know Sox and Jocks
20:16 camp where everybody in the in the
20:18 Midwest goes to and and we saw Kyler
20:21 Fisher at that time moving around
20:23 and he had on blue blue cleats and
20:25 I remember telling telling Coach Parker.
20:27 I said you might want to take a look at this kid.
20:31 We might be able to get him as a walk on.
20:34 I don't know where he's from.
20:36 Lo and behold, we figured out he was from Iowa.
20:39 You know, and two weeks later we had him at camp.
20:42 And the way that Tyler Fisher developed
20:44 is we got him as a walk on.
20:46 We loved his background.
20:47 You know, being a wrestler and you know,
20:50 just looking at his skill set and
20:51 then he came here as a DB and quickly,
20:54 you know, quickly ate enough calories
20:56 that you know that we had to put him
20:58 in the linebacker room and and he's
21:00 been a great fit. He's been an
21:02 unbelievable, unbelievable staple on
21:03 in regards to our special teams units,
21:06 and it's had some significant plays
21:08 during the course of his time there.
21:10 And now he's just now getting his
21:12 his taste of, you know, defensive football.
21:14 And I don't know how many snaps it was.
21:17 The other day I think was somewhere in the 20s,
21:20 but he went in there at the Leo position
21:22 and did a really good job and and did it.
21:25 In his, you know,
21:26 that was really his first defensive debut,
21:28 and I reminded him of that on Sunday.
21:30 Like this, you know,
21:31 the next step is just the next step.
21:33 Like will continue to improve and
21:35 but he's done a great job.