Iowa Football Press Conference
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Okay, good afternoon. Thanks everyone for attending today. We appreciate your
00:06 coverage. I'll provide a little bit of an outline of the format for today. We'll
00:13 have opening remarks from Coach Ferencz and then we'll follow with remarks from
00:18 new assistant head football coach Seth Wallace, followed by offensive
00:24 coordinator Tim Lester, and then finally we'll wrap up with director of
00:30 athletics Beth Goetz. At the conclusion of that, then we'll open it up for some
00:36 Q&A for each of the coaches. This is being streamed again live on YouTube, so
00:42 we have microphone holders, so when we get to the Q&A portion and you have a
00:47 question, you know, raise your hand and Jack and John will bring you the
00:51 microphone. We will have a transcript today. We'll send that out later
00:56 today. So with that, we'll start with head coach Kirk Ferencz.
01:04 Okay, welcome. Good to see everybody and appreciate you guys being here. So just,
01:14 you know, I want to take an opportunity today just to make follow-up on a couple
01:18 announcements that have been out and talk about some new roles, certainly for
01:22 Seth, and then introduce Tim and let you guys visit with him a little bit. But
01:27 start out with Seth. You know, we announced that promotion, you know, a while back
01:34 here and just in a nutshell, it's really based on the quality work that Seth has
01:38 done since he's been in the program. Spent three years as a grad assistant,
01:42 worked under Norm Parker, you know, years ago and then has been back here since
01:48 '14 and served in several roles and with each year his role seems to increase a
01:54 little bit and, you know, has just done a fantastic job. So I thought this was just
01:59 an appropriate way to recognize some of the achievements he's had. It's not
02:03 intended to single anybody out or anything like that, but just I think a
02:06 recognition of really quality work in the role that he's had, the assistance
02:12 he's given Phil, the entire staff's done a great job, the defensive part of our
02:16 program. So it was just in recognition of that and I'll ask Seth to come up and
02:21 say a few words. And we'll do questions and answers afterwards, but glad you guys had a chance to visit.
02:26 Good to have everybody here and thank you. We certainly appreciate it as a
02:35 program and first off, you know, I give a lot of thanks to Coach Ferentz for this
02:41 opportunity. Obviously very appreciative, very excited about it. This is something
02:47 that, you know, I didn't expect. It's not something that you work for. You just
02:52 kind of go about your day-to-day and try to do as good a job as you can and I
02:57 think that, you know, I think that's evident maybe in the way that that you
03:02 all have seen me grow as a coach over the years. It started here, you know,
03:07 started here back in 2005. It would have been December of 2005 that, you know, I had a
03:14 lot of appreciation for this program. I grew up in this state. I grew up in
03:19 Grinnell, Iowa. My father was a small college football coach, so I was
03:22 always paying attention to football at that time, college football, and
03:26 specifically to the state of Iowa. I had friends that were Iowa State fans. I had
03:31 friends that were Iowa fans. I was neither at the time. I was a father, or I
03:36 was a son who was, you know, celebrating his father's successes. So I
03:41 had, you know, I had a little bit of background, but not a ton. I certainly,
03:45 that increased in, like I said, January of 2005, actually December 2005, January
03:52 2006 when I picked up the phone and I had a mutual coaching contact that
03:59 the new Norm Parker. My love and admiration for this program really began
04:04 at that time when Norm called me up, and then, you know, I later in January of
04:11 2006 became a Hawkeye, and I think I have been ever since. I took a, in the 19 years
04:17 I've been here for 14, but I did take a little bit of a break, and after I was a
04:20 GA here for Norm and Phil and coach, I left and went to Valdosta State down in
04:25 in southern Georgia and spent five years down there, and then as coach mentioned, I
04:29 came back here in 14. And I think the big thing here is, you know, just the day-to-day
04:35 around this program, around the operation that we have here, the people that are a
04:39 part of this, the coaches that I have been around, that I'm around today,
04:43 that some of them have come and gone, some of them have served as big, big
04:49 mentors in my life, and I'm very proud of that. I'm very proud of those that I've
04:54 had the opportunity to learn from, but probably more than anything is the
04:59 players that we've had the opportunity to work with here. And you know, I go back
05:02 to my time here in '06 when I first showed up, and I was Norm's GA, but I
05:07 was working positionally with Phil, and whether it was Miguel Merrick or
05:11 Marcus Pascal then, or I'm working on the scout team when we're trying to block
05:15 Mitch King, Kenny Awebema, guys like that from early on when I got here 19
05:21 years ago, you know, I'm very fond of those memories, and then certainly fond
05:25 of the memories that have taken place here in the recent years. And you know,
05:29 like Coach said, I got back here in '14, so this will be finishing year 10, if I'm
05:34 correct, being back here. And we've had some very notable players. I've worked
05:40 in a lot of different capacities, so I've had the opportunity to recruit these
05:43 guys as a recruiting coordinator. I was assistant D-line coach with Reese Morgan
05:47 when I first got back here. I've worked with Phil in the back end, served as a
05:51 linebacker coach. I oversaw our punt team, believe it or not, for many, many years.
05:55 So in a lot of different capacities, I've been around a lot of good players, and
06:00 most notably some of the linebackers that have come through here, and you know,
06:04 the Jewels, the Campbells, the Higgins, the Jacksons, Bensons, the Neiman Brothers.
06:09 There's just been, there's been a bunch, and you know, I'm very proud of that. I'm
06:14 very proud of the opportunity that I have here. I'm very proud to be working
06:17 alongside Coach Ferentz and this program, this university. So with that being said,
06:22 I don't have much more for you other than, you know, I would just tell you I'm
06:26 probably a lot like the three linebackers that you witnessed this past
06:30 year that all had the opportunity to leave. They all had the opportunity to go
06:34 on and move on to different places, and I think there's just, there's a lot that
06:39 pulls you here. There's a lot that makes you want to stay here, and because of
06:43 that, you know, I'm very fortunate to be here, very happy to be here, and if it
06:46 wasn't for Coach Ferentz, if it wasn't for Norm Parker's phone call in January of '05,
06:50 I probably wouldn't be standing up here. So with that being said, lastly, I just, I
06:54 congrats to Tim Lester, who will be up here in a second, and then, and then Beth
06:58 Goetz on her appointment as well. So thank you all for being here.
07:03 Thanks, Seth. Appreciate that. Before I bring Tim up, just say a couple words about the
07:10 search and about Tim in particular. So, you know, it's, appears there's a lot of
07:16 interest in this position, has been, and also the timeline, so we'll address that
07:21 a little bit afterwards, but basically, you know, as I said back in December, my
07:25 first and foremost concern and most of my time was, you know, just focused
07:30 towards our football team. It's my number one responsibility, so that was that. A
07:35 little bit, a little bit of research, that type of thing on the coordinator deal,
07:38 but the bottom line is this, you know, the whole key to this thing was to ensure
07:43 that we got the best person, the right person for this position, and that was the
07:47 goal from start to finish. So, you know, the bottom line is I want to do what's best
07:52 for our team and best for our program, and I'm confident that we had that, you
07:56 know, landed the mark there. Roughly, just in rough terms, probably had a list of maybe
08:00 10, 12 people, had conversations with six and really extensive conversation with
08:05 four, and, you know, what it came down to, in my mind, at least we had four
08:10 candidates that were really qualified, in my mind, to do the best job, and it's us to
08:14 figure out who the best person for that would have been. So, I think when you look
08:19 at Tim and what I've discovered, he's had a wide range of experiences. I certainly
08:22 knew of Tim and was aware of his, you know, background, especially at Western
08:27 Michigan. As I did a little research, I learned a lot about the wide range of
08:32 experiences he had, some things, you know, his story, basically. I know I felt good
08:37 about it, was very, very impressed, and I think as we opened the door and let the
08:40 staff learn more about him and spend time with him, I think everybody, you know,
08:45 walked away feeling pretty good about things. So, in my mind, he's a good fit for
08:49 us, and that's first and foremost. Similar in a lot of ways to, I think, the way
08:54 we've operated yet. A lot of different perspectives, too, and new perspectives,
08:58 and, yeah, it's part of moving forward, obviously getting different ideas,
09:02 different views, and trying to implement in a way that we all believe will work
09:06 for us. So, I feel really confident about how the process worked, and pleasure to
09:10 bring Tim up here to just say a couple words to you. Thanks, Tim.
09:16 Thanks, Coach. I'd like to start off by thanking Coach Perrins and Beth Goetz
09:26 for this opportunity. My family and I are extremely excited to be moving to Iowa
09:32 City and be a part of this football program. The one thing I know everybody
09:37 wants to know is what we're gonna be about, you know, and I can tell you right
09:41 now that we're gonna be a physical football team, we're gonna be
09:46 disciplined, and we're gonna be aggressive. Aggressive in everything we
09:49 do from run game to pass game, to keepers, to RPOs, to tempos. You know, one
09:55 thing I've learned in my time as a former quarterback, quarterback coach,
09:59 offensive coordinator, head coach at pretty much every level, it's
10:04 about putting your players in the best position to succeed. Unfortunately, I've
10:09 only been here a couple days and haven't had a chance to meet all the players,
10:12 other than a couple that were in the hallway in the last couple days, but I'm
10:16 excited to get to work with those guys and to figure out their strengths, their
10:20 weaknesses, figure out where we can put them in positions to have success to help
10:23 our football team win. So, it's gonna be a process. We're
10:28 excited to get started as soon as possible. We started the moment we hit
10:31 the ground running, but really excited to work with all you guys, to
10:36 answer all your questions, but most importantly, I have a saying, RBO,
10:41 relationship before opportunity, right? I'll have a great opportunity to coach
10:44 these young men once I have a relationship with them. So, that
10:48 process is gonna start real soon, and we're looking forward to having the
10:52 opportunity to have some fun out there and be aggressive at all times. With that,
10:57 I'm turning it over to... Oh, back to coach, and I know I'll be back in a minute.
11:03 Thanks, Tim. And last, just let Beth back clean up here. It's my first opportunity
11:10 publicly just to say, you know, really pleased to learn about Beth's full-time
11:14 appointment, and I think you heard that from basically everybody in the
11:17 department. She's done a great job since she's arrived here, and I think all of
11:22 us know these are really interesting, unique times in college athletics, and
11:26 it's gonna take, I think, a real forward-thinking leader to help move us
11:29 forward. Our program's got great potential, and I'm really confident Beth is
11:34 gonna do an outstanding job in that role. So, I'll ask Beth to come up and say a few
11:37 words, too. Thanks, Beth. Thank you, coach, and it's... anytime we get a chance to
11:46 support what Coach Farris and the program is doing, it's a good day for us,
11:49 and so I just wanted to publicly have a chance to congratulate Seth and Coach
11:54 Wallace on this well-deserved and well-earned opportunity, and what an
11:58 example he is for our student-athletes, and I know without question, as you all
12:03 speak to them directly, the impact he has on them day in and day out, not only on
12:08 the field, but certainly personally. So, congratulations to you, and welcome to
12:12 the family, to Coach Lester. We've got a little bit of history, so obviously we
12:16 were in the MAC together, and so I got to compete against his teams a little bit,
12:21 but I also had the opportunity to get to know his son, who's now a professional
12:25 men's volleyball student-athlete, went to the Final Four while I was at Ball State,
12:29 and so it was a pleasure just to get to know the type of individual and the
12:34 character he's bringing to this program, and we are so excited to welcome you and
12:38 your family to Iowa City, and just want to congratulate Coach on putting
12:43 together such a great staff and a great team. I know you... everyone is as excited
12:47 as we are about the personnel coming back and counting down the days. I know
12:51 Coach may like a few more, but counting down the days so we can start fall camp
12:55 already. So, great group. We're looking forward to the 2024 season. It's going to
13:00 be an exciting one, and we're excited to have this group leading our young men.
13:04 Thank you.
13:07 I'll just throw a couple words out here, too, just in closing that, you know, I'm
13:15 really excited about, you know, this team, working with this team. We got back
13:19 here three... almost four weeks ago, I guess, tomorrow, or actually Wednesday, we
13:23 get snowed out, iced out, but really, really like the group that we have.
13:27 Certainly excited about the way the staff's coming together. We still have
13:30 one spot to fill and hopefully get that done here in the next two weeks, not... I
13:35 think we've, you know, got a good grip on that, certainly, as we move forward, and
13:39 it's like every year at this time, you know, it's all about moving forward. A new
13:42 team, new year, new opportunities, and, you know, the biggest thing is that we just
13:46 have, I think, great people involved in the program at all levels, and, you know,
13:51 really pleased with the success that we've experienced, and I kind of go with
13:55 five-year increments, and certainly the last five years with three 10-win
13:58 seasons, a lot to be proud of there, and we know there's a lot of work in front
14:02 of us, and that's really the fun part. It's great to be off the road, you know,
14:06 got the bowl game concluded the year last year, get back here, and, you know, you
14:11 turn your attention to work on the staff, and then also, you know, starting to
14:16 think about the things we need to be doing forward and also recruiting, so
14:19 it's just great to be back on this campus. It's always ironic, our players
14:25 get here, and we all leave, go recruiting. Kind of funny how the calendar works, but
14:29 you know, the best parts in front of us right now, it's when the work gets done,
14:32 getting a chance to get reconnected with our players, getting to know them better,
14:36 you know, what their needs are, how we can try to move them forward, and then move,
14:40 you know, transition into spring practice at some point, but each and every day's
14:45 got purpose, it's got importance, and this to me is a really fun time
14:49 when you're on campus with your players, with your staff, and able to work with
14:53 them, so looking forward to that, and we'll throw it out for questions for
14:57 anybody that was up here today. Scott Dockterman, The Athletic. Kirk, I wanted to
15:05 ask you about the offenses that Tim has put together, relies heavily on
15:11 RPO and 11 personnel. Iowa does do a lot of 11 personnel, but also kind of a
15:18 foundation that's more under center. How do you anticipate kind of the
15:23 marriage going, and what are the kind of the keys that you think will
15:28 help the RPO game work here at Iowa with what you have? You know, it's kind of
15:33 funny, my first blush was crossover film through the years, you know, you watch
15:37 people, and first thing I think of is, you know, 12 personnel, actually with them
15:42 they ran the ball extremely well, and to that point what you said is correct as
15:46 well, and I think that's really the key component here. He's got a real diverse
15:49 background, he's experienced in a lot of different areas, as were many of the
15:53 candidates, and that's attractive. Last year being in Green Bay, being on the
15:58 defensive side, yet part of his response, I don't speak for him, but part of his job
16:03 was to analyze the offense that the Green Bay would face each and every week.
16:05 So he basically, I forget about the preseason, but got to study however many
16:10 that is. They play 17 in the NFL now? 17? Well, it used to be 16, 17 playoff games,
16:16 two playoff games, so it's like a year of research, and I've always joked about
16:20 like it'd be great to have a sabbatical like professors, go research, study. The
16:25 bad news is usually means you got fired the year before when you get to do that
16:27 in our business, but I think it was just a wonderful opportunity to really put it
16:31 to good use. So long story short, I think you know he's got a real extensive
16:36 knowledge of offensive football. The most important thing in any year is
16:40 knowing who your players are, where the strengths and weaknesses are, and then
16:43 trying to get them in the right spot, and that came clear, came across clear
16:47 during the conversation portion of things over time. Like you know, offense
16:51 is all about figuring out who we got to get the ball to, and then working from
16:54 there, and hopefully we'll have a couple people to get the ball to, not just you
16:58 know one or two. Hey Curt, Chad Lister, Des Moines Register. I'm sure you know as
17:05 you studied Tim's background at Syracuse, Western Michigan, even the Packers, like
17:08 where did, I guess I'm just curious where you landed in terms of where he, his
17:13 potential was offensively, and what you liked about his track record, you know at
17:20 all his stops. Yeah I think I'd look more at the last six, seven, eight years
17:24 probably, Purdue on, with all due respect to Syracuse at that time, because I you
17:29 know, I don't read a lot of feedback, but I did read somebody you know took a shot
17:33 at that one. My first thought was okay if you evaluate my career at Maine, I
17:37 probably wouldn't still be standing here. I never would have been standing here. I
17:40 would proud owner of a 12 and 21 career record at Maine, so you know you can go
17:46 back, and I think you have to you know quantify and qualify everything you look
17:49 at. You know it's like our team last year, I think they're pretty obvious for
17:54 reasons why we struggled offensively. It really doesn't take a detective to
17:58 figure that out. So you know what I've looked at and focused more so, you know
18:03 the job he did with David Blau at Purdue, and then the entire body of work at
18:08 Western Michigan. You consider the Mac schools, you know they typically play at
18:13 least two games that are, you know you're fighting, you're swimming uphill, upstream,
18:17 and look at some of the wins that they had, and some things they did, beating
18:20 Pitt in 21, you know there's some really impressive things there, but more it's
18:23 about the big picture. And then last year's experience has really factored
18:27 into, you know you try to resume, or you know examine the entire resume, try to
18:32 talk to a lot of people that have worked with him, know him and you know pretty
18:36 intimately, and then project you know is this you know is this candidate gonna be
18:40 a good fit, and you know felt really good about it. The work I did on the front end,
18:44 and then certainly with our staff getting involved, and everybody's got
18:48 everybody gets involved in the interview process, making phone calls, all that type
18:52 of thing, so it's pretty thorough, pretty extensive, and because of that I'd you
18:56 know I feel really good about where we're at. Kirk, Tom Caker, Hawkeye Report.
19:01 Wanted to ask you about the wide receiver position. Remember when Greg Davis got
19:05 hired, he brought Bobby Kennedy in with him. Is that something you would consider
19:10 doing with Tim, or have you kind of maybe settled, or do you have a direction
19:14 where you're going right now? I think we're on a good path, but you know it's
19:19 there's there's no mystery. I mean every position is not the same, but it is the
19:22 same in that you know it's a fresh beginning for everybody right now. We're
19:28 fairly young in that room in a lot of ways, and we're fairly inexperienced in
19:32 terms of production, that type of thing, but I think there's a lot of potential
19:35 there, and you know ultimately you want to get somebody who can just like you
19:38 know Tim said a minute ago, have build relationships, be good teachers, and most
19:42 importantly a coach's job is to help players become better. If it was pro football,
19:47 it'd be all about becoming better players. College football has a lot more to it,
19:51 you know, seeing the big picture, student character, citizenship, all those types of
19:55 things as well as being good players, but you know I've given a lot of thought to
19:59 the guys in the room. I think we have good potential right now, and really it's
20:03 about moving those guys forward, seeing the potential, and also you know getting
20:08 them to see the potential. I think that's probably the most important thing right
20:10 now. Tyler Tashman with the Des Moines Register. Kirk, when I guess you got to
20:16 the point of the interview process where you were interacting with Tim, you know
20:20 on a face-to-face, more kind of personal basis, just what you know I guess struck
20:24 you and made you feel like that that relationship could be one that could
20:27 work really well? Yeah, you know it's kind of interesting.
20:32 And Tim's situation is a little bit unique, but there were a couple, three,
20:37 maybe four people that worked with him that I really trust and value their
20:42 opinions, and I know a couple of them have personal connections to this
20:47 program. One person in particular, we have a past relationship. He was a player, you
20:53 know, a hundred years ago for me that worked with him for quite, you know, so
20:57 when you talk to those people and they know what we're about and they know what
21:00 he's about, it's really reassuring because you know a huge part of anything
21:03 we do, and you know we all spend more time with each other than we do our
21:07 wives and families. You know the first thing is you want to bring somebody in
21:11 the building who it's not going to be like everybody else, but you know is
21:14 going to share some common goals and realize this thing's bigger than any one
21:18 of us individually, and that came across real clearly. And then, you know, when you
21:23 really get into the personal part of it and the personal interaction, the staff
21:26 interaction, then hopefully that that comes across to everybody and everybody
21:30 feels the same way. And I think again, I feel really good about, you know, how our
21:34 staff felt about Tim and their exposure to him and the things they learned too
21:37 when they did their homework and research, but this was a group effort for
21:40 everybody to be involved, I think is important. And you know for everybody to
21:45 maybe not be unanimous on the vote necessarily, but everybody saying yeah
21:50 you can really see this guy being, you know, really successful with us and then
21:54 you know letting him go to work. John Steppe, Cedar Rapids Gazette. With promoting
21:59 Seth to assistant head coach, is there anything he can kind of take off your
22:02 plate or is there anything that kind of changes day to day with what he's doing
22:05 now he has this new role? Yeah, it's first time we've done this so I'm not sure
22:08 what it's gonna look like, but quite frankly, you know, if I weren't able to
22:13 be here for some reason and there was a practice back during bull prep where I
22:17 had to attend a funeral, I wanted to attend a funeral, and it just worked out
22:22 where I actually made it back like, you know, 10 minutes beforehand. But you know,
22:27 in a circumstance like that, I'm out in the office for whatever reason, certainly,
22:30 you know, somebody's got to kind of you say yes, no, or here's what we're doing.
22:33 And you know, there might be some things as we go down the road here a little bit
22:38 that maybe I can do a little better job, you know, in terms of delegating and
22:43 taking some things off. And you know, he's not the only guy on the staff, but I
22:47 have total trust that whatever he does is probably going to be better than what I
22:50 would do. So I probably could learn a lesson right there. Try to take that to
22:55 task. Kirk, in the RPO game there's a lot of times more slants that are involved
23:02 and probably more slants than you guys have run recently. Is that, do you look
23:07 at that as a positive for this offense and getting the ball out of the
23:12 quarterback's hands at a, you know, at a mesh point? And how can that help
23:16 elevate, at least move the ball down the field in the way you want it to be moved?
23:21 Yeah, I mean it's not something we haven't ever considered. We're blind to.
23:24 It's like I kind of touched on earlier, I think, you know, part of Tim's job is
23:28 gonna figure out like what do we want to emphasize? You can only practice so
23:31 many things and do so many things and do them well. But if that's something
23:36 we deem to be, you know, good for our offense and fits in the package and we
23:39 can execute it and not take away from other things, that's a balancing act a
23:44 lot of times. But yeah, I'm open to anything right now, any ideas and the
23:48 whole idea is advance the ball and, you know, help yourself and hopefully in
23:53 theory there you're helping yourself in the running game, you're also helping
23:55 yourself in the passing game. You know, it starts with, you know, not having a
23:59 negative yardage play. That's the first way to kill an offense, besides turnovers.
24:04 That's the worst. But, you know, I think one thing I would interject with
24:09 his head coaching experience, I came across and that wasn't a requisite, but
24:13 it's certainly a plus in my mind because if you're paying attention, you
24:17 really have an appreciation for how football is complementary and how one
24:21 thing affects the other. And, you know, we've been pretty good on defense.
24:23 Obviously, we want to be better offensively and we have been better. We
24:27 want to get back to that. But, you know, just how one thing affects the other, you
24:30 gotta be really sensitive to that because, you know, as much as things change in
24:34 football and I know entertainment value is a big thing this day and age, but, you
24:39 know, it's still about winning and that's really where my focus was 25 years ago
24:43 and it's gonna stay there. I mean, that's what we're trying to do is win
24:46 games if we're gonna keep score, which, you know, pretty sure, you know, someday we'll
24:51 play without equipment. I'm convinced of that, but they'll probably still keep score.
24:54 So, look like the... and God only knows, I didn't watch that Pro Bowl stuff, whatever
24:58 it was on Sunday, but I can tell you this, I have watched it when they did have pads
25:02 and it's good they've done what they'd done because that was ridiculous when
25:06 they had pads. You know, that was just a waste of everybody's time. So, anyway, and
25:10 good reason. I wouldn't have done that either if I was one of those guys.
25:13 Reporter from the Hawkeye of the Storm. You were quoted in the past as kind of downplaying the total
25:19 offense stat. I believe you were quoted on the Big Ten Network as saying it was the
25:22 most overrated stat in football. Do you stand by that? And I noticed in the press
25:26 release about Tim's hiring that his numbers at Western Michigan, specifically
25:30 total offense, were cited. Do you still believe that's a stat that's overplayed?
25:34 Is that in context to making this hire? Is that for clarification? Right, just me talking about total offense?
25:38 Moving forward as far as goals and criteria for evaluating Tim's performance?
25:41 Yeah, I'll give you what I was referring to specifically and then I'm gonna step aside, let everybody else talk.
25:46 But, basically, my reference is, you know, it's an interesting... believe it or not, I do
25:52 pay attention, like what goes on nationally, and I've kind of been
25:55 fascinated through my career. There are certain guys who get reputations. In fact,
25:59 I worked with one 26 years ago. Do the math here. 26, 27 years ago. No, no, holy smokes, 35 years ago.
26:07 Okay, it was a guy who was all about him and it was all about the next job. So it
26:13 was all about his numbers and the place I was at had a pretty prolific
26:17 quarterback. In fact, we actually had two really good ones. But it was all about what he
26:21 was trying to do, his agenda. And over my career, I've noticed there are certain
26:25 people, I'm not saying that's like what all they're thinking about, but it's more
26:28 about their portion of the equation, if you will. And I really don't, like,
26:36 gravitate towards people like that. And I'm kind of fascinated, I'm a little bit petty.
26:41 Sometimes I'll do a little research and that's where the wins per game stat
26:46 came from. So it's possible for a guy to, you know, really try to emphasize what it
26:50 is he does, make himself, you know, look pretty good. Meanwhile, the teams wouldn't
26:55 seven, eight games, which I'm not making fun of that by any stretch. Every game to
26:59 win is tough. But, you know, when that starts taking away from what the team
27:03 might be able to do, I really am not interested. You know, I have no interest.
27:07 And, you know, I've just never gravitated towards that type of person, I guess. And
27:14 so, you know, it's not big in self-promotion, not big in, you know, look
27:19 at my guys. And sometimes those guys are really good and the coach does deserve
27:23 credit. I'm all for that, right? There's a reason why things happen typically. But
27:26 I think, again, it gets back to what's the bigger picture. We trying to be a
27:31 showy offensive team or a high blitz team or whatever. And that stuff's all
27:36 great until you give up the big play or, you know, an offense, you're turning it over,
27:40 throwing the other team, and all of a sudden your defense is out there defending 20 yards.
27:44 It's just, you know, everything goes together, I guess. And just never been
27:47 fascinated with that glitzy stuff sometimes that a lot of people get
27:51 distracted by. So, yeah, we're just trying to build a team. We're trying to, you know,
27:56 build a team on the field that's going to be able to get the job done and
27:59 hopefully at the end of the game win. And fortunately we've been, you know, on the
28:03 right side of that more than not. So, try to stay there and try to improve on that.
28:07 That's our goal. Offense is a big part of that, don't get me wrong. I'm minimizing
28:10 that. If we can average 500 yards and hold them to 150, awesome. Unless we're
28:15 getting six punts blocked. So, you know, I mean, there's something everywhere. So, kind of
28:19 step aside if you guys have questions for Tim or Seth, please do.
28:25 Hi Seth, Adam Jacoby, Go I/O awesome. Sort of talk us through the conversations
28:37 that led you to getting to this position this spring. Yeah, Adam, I don't know that
28:44 there was too many conversations, you know, other than just, you know, an
28:48 opportunity to sit down with coach and he pulled me aside a little while back
28:52 and just said that this is, you know, this is what he wanted to do moving forward.
28:55 And, you know, used a lot of the comments, remarks that he used earlier. So, you know,
29:01 I wouldn't say that there were, you know, a set of conversations or a process to
29:05 this, you know, it was more just a conversation and, you know, an opportunity.
29:09 And to be real honest with you, I don't see it changing a whole much of my
29:13 day-to-day as coach mentioned. You know, my opportunity to be on the defensive
29:18 side of the ball and continue to do what I'm doing there, I think, you know, takes
29:20 enough of my time. But this is certainly a welcomed opportunity and obviously
29:25 excited for it. Tyler Tashman with the Des Moines Register. Seth, can you just
29:30 take us through kind of how you saw the dominoes fall with guys coming back on
29:34 defense, obviously Nick, Jay, a lot of other guys. Just how was that all for
29:39 you kind of seeing a bunch of them come back? Well, to be honest with you, Kyler
29:44 was the first one. Kyler did have the opportunity to move on and, you know, he
29:48 immediately came in and, you know, and said that he was coming back. And then,
29:53 you know, certainly the other two held on until, you know, the last minute. Nick, of
29:57 course, but Jay, you know, Jay waited and, you know, I think he did his research and
30:01 I think he spoke with those that he needed to in regards to his opportunity
30:07 at the next level. But, you know, he reached out, he called, same thing Nick
30:12 did and it just, you know, I mean, it's a breath of fresh air for any
30:16 coach or for any program, for any side of the ball to be able to get back two guys
30:19 that, certainly in Nick's case, I don't know that I was betting on
30:24 that one happening. I felt like Jay we had a good shot on, but when you get both
30:28 of them back, you know, a combination of the three of them that started for us,
30:32 you know, it's a pretty big deal. Tom Kekert, Hawkeye Report. Seth, you've
30:37 traveled the road. You've, you know, GA to smaller college to this point. What does
30:43 this mean to you personally as a kid who grew up in Iowa and, you know, have the faith
30:49 of a head coach like Kirk Ferentz to... Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, I talked about
30:54 the love and admiration, you know, so I think you can use those two words if
30:59 you're, you know, if you're looking for a response right now. It just, it's, you know,
31:06 the conversation that I had with coach was, you know, it was probably a real big,
31:10 real big moment, but, you know, really just, you know, knowing that, you know, I grew up
31:16 a coach's kid. My father was a Division III coach. You know, that was a path that
31:20 I felt like I was headed down and I was good with it. I was okay with it,
31:24 other than my mom kept reminding me if you're gonna be at the Division III
31:27 level, you better... and no different now what we've created in Division I, but the
31:31 Division III levels, it's a tour of duty and she kept reminding me that, you know,
31:35 your wife better completely understand, you know, what's going on here and she
31:40 better understand what's going on here in the current state because this is a
31:43 little bit crazy too, what we're dealing with in college football, but I just think,
31:47 you know, that certainly not what I set out to do, but it's a welcomed
31:52 opportunity and I think I'm very fortunate. Seth, Elliott Clough, Rivals. We've got to
31:58 talk a little bit with Kirk and Tyler about these new three linebackers
32:02 coming in. I know they've all been committed for quite a while, all
32:06 Eastern Iowa kids. What are your thoughts on them and what attracted
32:10 you to them? What are your expectations, I guess, for their
32:13 potential when they do get here? Yeah, I don't want to pigeonhole
32:18 myself in recruiting, but it was a little bit by design. I don't know that
32:22 you could count on three linebackers or three on the defensive side of the ball.
32:27 I know you can count on more than three in the state being scholarship players
32:30 at the highest level and that's a tribute to our high school coaches and
32:35 what they're doing in this state and the development and the type of kids
32:38 we're getting, but to say that we were going to find three linebackers all
32:41 within a 50-mile radius of Iowa City, and I don't think that any of you would
32:46 write a negative article on those three after being around them and
32:49 seeing their storied high school careers because they're all
32:52 state champions in some regard, which is really fascinating
32:58 when you think about it. And then they've all come through our camp, so we've
33:01 had a first-hand opportunity to be around them, their family, but more so to
33:05 vet them from a football standpoint or from a on-the-field standpoint.
33:10 It's a little bit unique, so not counting on it, we just can't talk
33:14 about next year's kids. You guys read about it or you guys at least reached
33:18 out to them this weekend, sorry. John Steppe, Cedar Rapids Gazette. You were
33:22 mentioning in your opening statement having the opportunities elsewhere, but a
33:25 lot keeping you here. What are those things that have kept you here and
33:29 made this such an attractive place to stay? Yeah, I think there's a
33:35 want to be here. I wouldn't say there's a need to be here.
33:40 I wouldn't say that there's an actual want to be here.
33:45 Where I'm fortunate, where I separate myself from a lot of other people is
33:48 I'm from Iowa, my wife's from Iowa, my parents around, her parents are around.
33:53 So any decision made beyond that would probably be pretty selfish on my
33:57 part and I might have to do it by myself and I don't want to do that right now.
34:01 But the way we play defensively, the success we've had here, and
34:06 defense gets a lot of the notables, but coach alluded to it.
34:11 You can go back to nine years ago and you can see that we're one of
34:15 five programs that's won 62% of their games or more a year and
34:20 we're not much like any of the other four. So there's a lot that keeps you
34:25 here. You got a chance to win, you get a chance to coach good people, good players,
34:29 work with good people, good coaches, good staff. So it would take a lot
34:34 to leave here for a lot of things, to be honest with you.
34:39 >> [INAUDIBLE]
34:42 >> Hey Seth, Scott Dockterman with
34:43 The Athletic. And along those lines, I know in this neighborhood, I think at
34:48 least four different schools in the former Big Ten West have reached out to
34:53 you, talked to you in different facets in the last couple years. What is your
34:57 aspiration in the future? And I mean, not this year, we know what you're gonna do
35:02 this year, but in five, ten years down the road, you want to be a head coach.
35:06 And if so, is succeeding Kirk a step towards that in some regard?
35:12 >> Yeah, I appreciate your question, Scott. And I don't know that I've ever thought
35:17 much beyond where things are right now. I think that's always been, I've
35:22 actually, I was around my father growing up and I saw him do it. And
35:25 there were times where I got very nervous of the potential that
35:32 you could wind up in that type of position, just because of all that it
35:35 entails. So it's not that I wouldn't want to get there at some
35:41 point, I just think it's a byproduct of doing your daily job. And really
35:46 that's kind of all I've been about for the course of my career is just
35:50 see how well you can do your job, where you're at, and with those that
35:55 you're doing it with, and then the rest will take care of itself. But to
35:58 David's question, there's a lot that keeps me grounded. And I
36:03 get to work with Phil, and I said he was an acquired taste a couple weeks ago,
36:07 and some people have asked about that. And don't ask me right now, because I'll
36:12 pass on the answer, because I don't want to get into it. But having
36:17 worked with him, having GA'd for him, having worked with him, I don't claim to
36:22 have much of an ego. I know we all do to a certain degree. There's not much
36:25 I need other than just the opportunity to coach our players, make some
36:30 suggestions in regards to what we're doing defensively, and then turn
36:34 the page the next day and keep doing it. So I think a lot of it just keeps me
36:38 grounded. Opportunity to be around some really special people is a
36:42 big part of it. Coach Wallace, Adams-Jacobi, Rivals, you had a pretty good offseason
36:49 in terms of returning guys that you really wanted to retain. The
36:52 downside of that is you've got a lot of linebackers on scholarship, guys who are
36:57 capable of contributing to this team. How do you manage a situation like that,
37:02 especially with the scholarship count where it is right now?
37:06 Adam, I recognize that, and I would reference it as maybe an
37:10 inconvenience, not a downside. We've got a lot of good players on our team. The
37:16 room that I'm responsible for is a foundation and a catalyst to
37:22 what we do special teams-wise, so there is opportunity there. But there are
37:26 some guys in that room that have been waiting around for three, maybe four
37:29 years for their opportunity, only to think that that opportunity was
37:34 going to come available this coming year, and then you have two or
37:37 three guys come back. So I do recognize it's the ever-changing world that
37:40 college football is. They've got choices to make. I would welcome their
37:45 choices. I would give the two sides as best I could in regards to it,
37:50 but at the end of the day, they've got to make some decisions. I would
37:54 say that is where we are fortunate. There's not a ton that is good about
37:57 the transfer portal, but there are kids that can leave now and
38:01 maybe try to find a better situation if, in fact, they're set on
38:06 not being here. So that's hopefully an answer that sums it up.
38:11 Alright, thanks guys.
38:14 David Eicholt, 24/7 Sports Coach. Welcome to Iowa City, first of all. Thank you, I
38:29 appreciate it. I think there's a lot of questions about the wide
38:32 receiver usage. I mean, Iowa's only had one wide receiver with 600 more yards
38:36 since the start of 2016. It's a position that comes with a lot of ego and wanting
38:42 touches. I guess coming into Iowa City, how are you going to kind of maybe
38:46 reinvent the wide receiver positions? Because I think you said in your
38:49 opening comments, you want to put a product that people want to be a part of.
38:52 So I guess just from a strictly wide receiver perspective, how are you trying
38:55 to plan to do that? Well, obviously wide receivers are a huge part, no matter
38:59 what you're running schematically. But putting them in position, I
39:03 think is the biggest key. Through my time in coaching, I think
39:08 we've been around quite a bit of pretty good ones and we've been able to find
39:13 ways to get the ball in their hands. There's a lot of
39:16 ways to do that, whether it's screens, whether it's just straight
39:20 drop back, whether it's putting them in the backfield. The flexibility of
39:24 an offense is key. I haven't had a chance to meet all the
39:29 wide receivers yet, but I want to make sure that the quarterback
39:33 understands that we are going to spread the ball around and he's going to read
39:38 his keys as he's supposed to. It's my job to make sure that one of those first
39:43 couple options is the guy that we want it to be. So I've
39:48 had some success with that and plan on keeping it going.
39:52 Hey Tim, Chad Lace, Dakota Des Moines Register. Were you calling plays in
39:58 2021 for Western Michigan? Yes, in '18, '19, '21.
40:04 Yes and no. Jake Moreland and I, Jake is my
40:13 best friend and we think the exact same. We played together, we coached together
40:16 80% of our adult lives and we kind of groomed and he was ready. So we
40:23 kind of hopped in and kind of teamed it that year, but three years before that I
40:27 called it. I've been studying the 2021 season because that was a
40:31 terrific offensive year for Western Michigan. I'm just kind of curious
40:35 what you remember about that season in terms of the production and how that
40:39 could maybe apply to what you want to do here because I see a lot of things here
40:42 like rushing attempts, time of possession, the wins were good
40:47 ball security, those types of things. I think we were top 10 in the
40:51 country in time of possession, poor, worried for. I never huddled,
40:57 which was unique. That team, I felt like we did a good job running the
41:03 ball, finding our run lanes and the pass comes after that. We never
41:08 even talk about throwing the ball until we figure out how to move the ball on
41:12 the ground and that was an explosive team. The one thing that people
41:15 don't, maybe it's because I'm a quarterback and I always have been and
41:19 coaching them, we're gonna do what that person does best and Caleb was
41:24 good at it. Before that we had John Wasink, who was my first couple
41:28 years our quarterback and he was great at drop back, going through a
41:31 progression, that was his thing. I just noticed, I just saw a trophy, the
41:35 Campbell trophy in there. John was a finalist for that, which was an
41:39 award that Jack won. John was a finalist when Justin Herbert won it.
41:44 It changes every year depending on who you have and what he does well.
41:48 That guy behind the center matters. Figuring out what he does
41:53 well, because if you have a flexible enough offense, we can call it any way he
41:57 wants it. That year Caleb was really good at the RPOs. We had some
42:01 pretty dynamic wide receivers, DS Cridge and Sky Moore. We had two second-round
42:05 draft picks out there running around. That combination that year was
42:09 a great mix and we had a great combination with Jake upstairs and me on
42:14 the field. Every experience can help us moving forward,
42:19 but we got to figure out what we got and what's the best way for us to
42:24 to be efficient, aggressive, run the ball and help the team win. Then we'll do
42:28 those things, whatever they are. Hi Tim, John Seppi, Cedar Rapids Gazette.
42:32 How do you blend or what's the process of blending stylistically what
42:36 you've done before with the RPO, with other things, with what Iowa has
42:40 done historically, has found success doing historically? It's a process that
42:46 started a couple days ago, but it's an exciting process to get
42:50 everyone's opinion in. I have all kinds of playbooks.
42:55 What's going to jive with what they know and where we think we
42:59 can improve. I've run, I've coached long enough now that I've run a lot
43:04 of systems. In 2008 when I was a Division 3 coach, Seth was talking
43:08 about that, we ran the Shanahan system. He was the quarterback
43:13 coach at Houston Texans. Matt, who I played college ball with, got him coffee.
43:18 I think that was his official role. I got to play book then and we
43:23 ran that at Elmhurst. At Syracuse, when I took over, we took over a spread
43:28 offense that didn't even have a tight end and we tried our best to
43:31 blend them together. Then we went to Purdue and got to run the Saints
43:36 offense, which is really neat. Learned a ton. Then on to Western where I had an
43:40 offensive coordinator my first year. Then when I took over, tried
43:44 to put a little bit of that in it. Then to go back and work with Matt
43:47 this year was full-fledged, that system. Everyone runs that system a little
43:52 differently, but it's fun to get back after 10 years of being versions of it.
43:57 It was fun to just be in it and watch all the teams in the league run a
44:01 version of it. Not all of them, but a good portion. There's a lot to
44:06 choose from. I hate to keep going back to this. I can't wait to
44:09 see what we have. I definitely know how to tie them together.
44:13 A lot of the formationally and how we're going to build it, what
44:19 gets called will depend on what we see in spring and what we see
44:23 as we see these guys move around here in the next couple months.
44:26 Coach, John Sears, WHO TV. Iowa's offensive struggles are well-documented from last
44:33 year. What you've learned about the program and maybe taking a look at the
44:37 roster and the personnel, what gives you confidence that you can come in here and
44:41 help move this program in the right direction?
44:44 I love tight ends. I'm a huge fan. Everywhere I've been, our tight end
44:51 has been all-conference normally. I guess as a quarterback,
44:56 that's the guy that you start with. Some people use them, some people
45:01 don't. I love the fact of what they can do to a defense in the run game,
45:04 in the pass game, in the play pass game, in the keeper game. It also can
45:09 open up things out on the edges too. I know there's an unbelievable
45:12 tradition here of that. I've heard we have some really good ones.
45:16 Everything I've heard, right? I've heard this and I've heard that, but I can't
45:20 wait to see it for my own eyes. That part of this offensive, running
45:25 12 personnel, which is really what we did at Elmhurst and a little bit at
45:29 Syracuse, that fits what I have a lot of experience in, let's put it
45:35 that way. But none of those work if you can't run the ball, right? So you go to a
45:40 place, if you want to run an offense that's going to be physical, run the ball.
45:42 You've got to go to a place that can run the ball. I have looked at
45:46 the numbers there to make sure that can happen and we've had success.
45:49 We have to continue to have success to get the rest of it to go.
45:53 Those combination of those things make me really excited about what's
45:57 coming. Tom Kekert, Hawkeye Report. Nice to meet you.
46:03 Two-fold question. Sidelines or press box for a game?
46:08 And Cade McNamara is likely going to miss most of the spring. What is the
46:15 challenge when your starting quarterback is not available to you on
46:19 the field for spring ball and trying to implement your offense? I would say to
46:23 the first question, A. Question A, I would say up. I prefer being up.
46:29 I like to see the game from up there. I think being an offensive coordinator is
46:32 about making adjustments. I've called games for a long time. I was a head coach
46:37 at I want to say 24 years old, 25 years old. And so I've called a game where I
46:41 think I've called a game where 70 passes. I've called 70 runs in a game.
46:45 You have to make adjustments as it's happening because they have a
46:48 plan too. And so when you're having to think and make adjustments, I
46:53 just think being in the environment up in the booth is a way better and
46:56 learning environment than sometimes on the sideline where it gets very
47:00 emotional, you know? So I've always felt better. Now as a head coach, I had to
47:05 call him from the sideline. So that guy up in the booth was the most important
47:08 person in the world to me that we thought the same way, you know? But if
47:13 it came to my preference, I'm pretty sure I'll be up. And then the second
47:17 half of your question is the one thing I would tell you is, you know, we need to
47:22 get the horses to the race, right? So, you know, whenever Kate's ready to go,
47:26 I'm looking forward to working with him. But there is absolutely zero way that
47:31 you can discount his experience, right? It is a, you know, when you have
47:37 experience and playing in games, I'm very confident that he'll pick it up
47:41 when his time when he's healthy, when he's ready. Um, if he if he didn't have
47:45 a ton of experience, I'd be, I'd be more scared, more worried, you know?
47:49 Um, but you know, he's got to get healthy and be good, good to go when he
47:53 gets his chance and he'll he'll be out there every single day. We're out there
47:56 whether he can throw it or not, but he'll get a lot of learning and but
48:00 he's played games and that is invaluable when it comes to quarterback
48:03 play. So I'm excited about that part of it. Hey, Tim, Blake Hornstein, Hawkeye
48:07 headquarters here. Kind of a question about Kate McNamara as well. He's
48:11 somebody who's had experience, as you mentioned. What are some ways, I guess,
48:15 maybe assuming he'll be healthy by the start of the season that you could
48:18 accentuate and elevate him as a quarterback? I got to make him
48:23 comfortable. Number one, right? I mean, everybody's comfortable doing
48:26 different things. I think sometimes quarterback coaches, uh, you know, they
48:32 have things they like to do. I'm not married to anything. I've run a lot of
48:35 things. I have a very, really unique experience as far as levels and I've
48:40 been a D coordinator. And so, um, I got to get, I got to get him to, I got to
48:45 figure out what he's good at, you know, and I got to put him in those
48:47 situations as much as possible. And I've watched a little bit of film on
48:51 him. Not enough that I can comment on any of that. But I think that's and
48:56 the things that I need him to get better at, we have to focus on, right?
48:58 You get what you emphasize. So we're gonna make sure that he can do the
49:02 things that I think this offense should be able to do well. Um, and then if
49:06 there's things he's really good at, we're gonna do them much like we were
49:08 talking about the RPOs earlier. Caleb was great at him, so we did him a lot,
49:12 you know, and and it worked so, so that I got to get to know him and make sure
49:17 we each every quarterback. I mean, there's, there's a couple, you know,
49:21 the year I was at the offensive coordinator at Syracuse, we, we lost
49:25 our starting quarterback. I want to say his place seven. It was an Achilles. It
49:28 was like an Aaron Rodgers thing. And then the backup went down and I end up
49:31 playing a walk on and the offense totally changed. We, we, we had to
49:35 change, you know, so, uh, so I got to get to know each guy and what they do
49:39 well, uh, so that we can call the offense to have the most success when
49:43 he's in there. But, uh, but that's, that's on me to make sure I can figure
49:46 that out and put him in good situation to have success.
49:49 Finish up with three more.
49:51 Okay. Scott Docterman with the athletic. How you doing? I'm good. Good to see
49:57 you. Um, quick, quick question. And before my real question, you're gonna
50:01 be coaching quarterbacks just to make sure. Is that? Yes, sir. Okay. Yeah.
50:04 Uh, route concepts. How do you, what, what's the, what structure do you like
50:09 to run, especially because you ran so much R. P. O. How do you like to build
50:14 your, your concepts, you know, beyond the line of scrimmage, you've ran a
50:18 lot of 11 personnel, I mean, you know, or 11 or 10 personnel, probably 90% of
50:23 it that I've seen at least me 10. Yeah. Well, not 10. I was gonna say 10. I
50:28 think I've got a lot of, a lot of, uh, 11 person. But how do you anticipate
50:34 that working within kind of the foundation of what Iowa likes to do?
50:38 Because 12 is such a staple here. Yeah, I kind of think I look at myself as a
50:44 12 guy. You know, when the years we had 12, I can remember my first couple
50:47 years of Western, we had 12 and that was, those are, those are good years,
50:51 um, where I felt more comfortable with what we were doing. Um, at Elmer's
50:55 College, we are 100% 12. That's all we ran the entire season. So, um, but
50:59 either way, when it comes to Rob concepts, it's under, you gotta
51:02 understand the timing of the, of the quarterback's footwork and, and we can
51:06 build, you know, it's kind of like a piece meal every week. You know, you're
51:11 building the concepts. Now there's some full fields where we're gonna call it,
51:14 he's gonna know his progression and we're gonna go to work. We'll have 4-5,
51:17 6 of those that he's comfortable with. But I just think the flexibility in the
51:21 passing game is what makes, you know, the offense I ran in college, which is
51:25 more of a spurrier stuff compared to what Shanahan does, uh, and how they
51:29 build their progressions every week. So it's, it might look like a different
51:32 route combination every week, but we will change them based on coverages and
51:37 what we're seeing. Um, but I want to get the quarterback comfortable with the
51:40 same thing over and over again. The key is to have him do the same thing over
51:43 and over again and have the defense thing is a different play, right? Um, so
51:48 when you have your, you know, we like these two or three things against this
51:51 coverage and we like this on the backside against this coverage and you
51:53 can mix and match them and you get five on the front, five on the back and the
51:57 iterations of those two and then you add shifts in motion to it. Um, you can
52:02 really put a guy in a comfortable situation where he knows what's going
52:05 on. It might not look like that to the defense, that's the plan. Um, but it all
52:09 starts with what we're getting and what he's comfortable with, you know, and so
52:12 we have to get him, we got to get it installed, figure out what he's
52:16 comfortable with and then we can, we can build it from there. But it always
52:19 starts with, with the coverages we're getting and what our guys good at, you
52:23 know, and then I feel like we can always build it from there. I got 600
52:27 pages of past plays in there, you know, figuring out what he's good at and
52:30 getting good at something. Jack of all trades, master of none is not what we
52:34 need to be about. We need to figure that out so we can get really good at
52:37 something.
52:37 Jack leader with KCRG Jack with KCRG. Welcome to Iowa City. Thank you. What
52:44 you said before RBO relationships before R. B. Uh, R. B. O. Yeah,
52:48 opportunity regarding that a lot of coaching is not just X's and O's, but a
52:53 matter of trust building relationships with a lot of guys you haven't met guys
52:58 who were playing for a different guy under a slightly different system four
53:01 months ago. What is the key in coaching? You've been around different places in
53:05 being an offensive coordinator and earning trust of those guys, especially
53:09 in these first few weeks when you're meeting them for the first time showing
53:12 them these new things. Yeah, you're exactly right. I think the biggest
53:16 thing is sitting down and learning about who they are, you know, and uh
53:20 because it does matter, you know, it is fun watching, you know, we have cut
53:24 ups and they get to watch, you know, some NFL cut ups and I think they
53:28 always appreciate that, you know, running some of the things that they've
53:31 run at that level that we've had success running at that level. Um, but
53:35 it's the most important thing is for me getting in front of them and uh and
53:39 really just asking where they're from because I don't know for a lot of them,
53:43 you know, some of them are from in my backyard in the in the suburbs of
53:46 Chicago, some are from Iowa, some are from
53:49 uh
53:49 Australia. I met him the other day and he couldn't, he didn't even have to
53:54 tell me where he was from. I knew and it was awesome to meet him. Uh so, so
53:59 that's really the key because I know once once we have that relationship
54:02 then it's time to go to work, you know, and I got to show them kind of our
54:06 ideas of what we want to do. I really want to see them all move around, you
54:09 know, I'm excited to start getting the playbook put together, which is going
54:13 to take some time. Um and and really watching all the last year's film to
54:18 watch the guys play, you know, and I haven't had a chance to do that yet
54:20 over this weekend, these four days. Um but that's that's what's coming soon.
54:25 You know,
54:25 we'll finish up with two pat
54:28 pat Hardy with Hawk fanatic and KCJJ radio. First off, congratulations.
54:32 Welcome to Iowa City. Thank you. How much do you value mobility at the
54:36 quarterback position and will that be a priority moving forward when recruiting?
54:40 I value efficiency at the quarterback position. Mobility would be a bonus.
54:44 Like if I can get both 100% I'm all for it. I mean, who doesn't want that?
54:48 Right? Um, but there has to be efficiency first, right? And I think
54:53 sometimes people get enamored with the mobility and when they have to drop
54:57 back on a third down and get us the first down or a two minute drill to go
55:00 win us the game. Uh, you know that we can't fall short in that scenario. You
55:04 gotta play quarterback first, you gotta be able to move the sticks with your
55:06 feet and the more you can do, the more we can do when it comes to running the
55:10 ball, you know, so, uh, it's just, it's a great, a great icing on the cake if
55:15 you can have it. So I'm always looking for it, but I'm not going to go away
55:19 from a guy that I think can really execute an offense and make throws and
55:24 be efficient as a quarterback. Just because if he can't do that, I'm not
55:27 going to just take him because he can run a little faster. You know what I
55:29 mean?
55:30 Hey coach, Matt McGowan from the Daily Island. So back in 2022 Western
55:35 Michigan, how much of the play calling were you involved with and what did
55:37 you take away from that season? Was that last my last year? Yeah. Oh, I,
55:41 well, I hired a new offensive coordinator. He came in and put in his
55:45 system. Yeah, I was going to be more of a head coach, you know, and uh, when
55:50 did I take over the last three games, four games, you know, we're really
55:53 struggling. Um, we weren't playing complimentary football, we're turning
55:56 the ball over. Um, you know, we lost our quarterback in Sky more. They had
56:01 two years left before they were done with their eligibility and they left in
56:04 January to go to the NFL draft. Obviously I was excited for him, but
56:07 it was through us off guard a little bit, you know, it's worked pretty well
56:10 for Sky. Obviously, he won one super bowl, he's going to another one. So
56:14 excited for him. But, uh, so we were struggling personnel wise. And so I
56:20 think we won three of our last four, you know, uh, it wasn't pretty. It was
56:24 what we had to do. I played a two freshman quarterback and two freshman
56:27 wide receivers and uh, kept ourselves in games, let our defense play great,
56:31 play good. I mean, we found a way to win those games when that's what we
56:34 had. That was our best foot forward. So yeah, I think I caught the last four
56:38 that year and had to call different words than I'm used to calling, you
56:43 know, so I had to read it off the sheet, which is harder for me. And
56:45 normally the guy that puts in his back pocket and doesn't take it out, you
56:49 know, um, but yeah, I called that was that was the last four that I called.
56:55 Okay, we're good. Thanks guys. Appreciate it. Thanks.
56:59 Yeah.
56:59 It's okay.
57:04 (door creaking)