Kirk Ferentz Weekly Press Conference – 8/27/24

about 10 or 15 minutes after the game we'll have about a handful of players in that side room next to the Press Room for interviews kind of right away then after that we'll bring two players to the podium individually before coach so we'll do about four or five players in the side room followed by two players and coach at the podium we will have a transcript today microphone holders today we got Leandra and John um with that we'll get with coach thanks man afternoon welcome to game week finally here and uh you know just good to finish Camp end of camp and uh begin preparation for Saturday so as I indicated last Thursday I think you know the guy's done a pretty good job during camp and thought the last week went really well saw some sharper execution out there and uh overall pretty healthy you know Phil really is the worst injury we had which try to keep him safe this week but um happy with what we've seen I think we're getting good leadership and pretty consistent on that for most of the year and it's it's been consistent as we've moved forward then the challenge over the weekend and then starting this week is just trans transitioning into normal Student Life a lot more activity in Iowa City this past week or so and uh our guys are out there U with student body now so got to deal with her back in classes and then we've had a spike in heat too so it's you know a couple things going on on that way but um um anyway good to be in gameweek that's that's for sure and U you I think the team's really excited about having a chance to play in kenck and it's going to be you know first game challenges are always a challenge You' got veteran players who are a little bit more used to it for a lot of the new guys it's going to be a totally new experience you know having fans there and then you know your first game you always there a lot of unknowns with your opponent and I'll talk about that in a little bit here but that's that's kind of where it's at so uh as we look forward moving forward uh in the game here our captains defensively we've got Jay Higgins and Quinn schy offensively you've got Luke Lee and Kade mcnamer those be our four captains going out for the toss and then transition to Illinois State uh obviously a good program there were six and five last year um of those five losses I think four of those were by eight points total so played a lot of close games coach back's been there since 09 I've known Brock for quite some time a lot of respect for him as a player back in the 80s when he played at Purdue outstanding player for him there and he's had a great career in coaching uh certainly was a big part of the success Purdue had when when Joe to was the head coach there when we got here they were awfully tough to beat and Brock was a big part of that being the D coordinator gotten to know him over the years outstanding person just a really good football coach and then if you look broader uh a lot of the guys on the staff have experienced that Illinois state so you know they've got an identity it's no big surprise uh it's a veteran staff for the most part and yeah I think they have a good idea what they want to do what they want to accomplish so uh a lot of respect for them that way and then you know football-wise they've got a lot of returners back uh you know on both sides of the ball plus special teams are Specialists are back for the most part pretty balanced offensively run pass uh they get the ball pretty quick so it's hard to get to their quarterback and defensively it's a little bit of a different preparation because they've got a three-man front and we've been practicing against four basically all camps so uh some adjustment there and then you know as you might imagine they they've got a good pressure package uh I think we had one of Brock splitz is up on our board for about 3 years I think it was 02 03 04 um one of those memorable ones so uh again I'm sure we'll see some things on S it be a challenge for us and as I mentioned their Specialists are back on special teams so uh you know good football team we expect them to be a you know really tough competitive football team like they have been in the past so that's that's what we've got to get ready for here uh just transition real quick Qui I'll throw it out for questions but you know just thrilled that the kid Captain program is still in effect I believe this is the 16th year I think it was 09 when they started that and uh it's just a really really good concept a really nice way to honor some special people and uh this week it'll be Carter Schmid who is from Coralville his grandfather Kent Ellis was actually a captain here in 1980 so a little connection to the program that way and uh Carter had a rare form of leukemia uh early in his life and um you know had a bone marrow transplant right before his first birthday uh you know and has been treated since and looks like he's in great shape he's been pronounced clear and cured so really happy about that and he's a very active eight-year-old right now likes toide his bike and uh very involved in sports and then the last thing just want to you know uh pay tribute to Don suaki they played here in 56 and uh don passed earlier in this month from Bell Plane played center on the 56 team second team All-American First Team all big 10 and served as an honory Captain back here in ' 04 for our Kent State game and just a first class guy so had a really long productive life and uh you know our feelings to his family certainly just a great guy so that being said I'll throw it up for questions uh Adam shobe Hawkeye Beacon uh thanks for your time today coach uh the depth chart that just came out uh Kamari Molton at rb1 is probably the splashiest uh update there uh sort of how has he ascended to that spot and what are you looking to see from guys like lean and Caleb yeah I figured that might get everybody's intention but it's it's more by of what's going on uh two things really uh lean's missed some time he's had an injury that nagged pretty much throughout Camp um so Kamari got a lot of work this this uh August and uh the other component there is Kamar has really done a nice job and I think I kind of mention that or alluded to that back in December even he really started to to look comfortable and did a lot of good things did a good good job in the spring and um you know has really just been really consistent all the way through August so they're they're all going to play uh but he's really done a nice job uh lean's only been back you know maybe 8 10 days and it looks like he's good he's good to go but it was just uh he had a really long nagging injury it was just took a while to get uh get work through but uh happy he's back U the other guys have done a good job too so really I feel pretty good about the group but uh anxious to see him play in Kamari especially we haven't really seen him go in game activity John Kirk uh Tyler tashman with the de Mo register I think this offseason you alluded to um Michael penx Jr in the context of Cade and like Michael penx was someone that had major like surgical repairs and came back and was not not that those two guys are exactly the same but can you just kind of expand on maybe the context of how you see guys coming you know the ability to come back from multiple major injuries right yeah I'll put in the context that you know I've sat in a lot of meetings acade or medical meetings and academic meetings but a lot of medical meetings since uh you know 26 years now uh we had one last night so I don't pretend to know anything about medicine but um you know you listen and you pay attention then also you witness things and I go back just the you know the contrast between the 80s 90s and now um you know the way all injuries are are different now certainly an ACL repair is much much different than it was 40 years ago um uh laboral surgers have come a long way most of them are arthoscopic so uh the bottom line is this you know ACL repairs its our experience that you know it just takes time to get them back and Cohen came back uh entringer came back from his in record speed that's at one end of the spectrum sometimes they're slower I think they're different for every individual just like any injury and um but the bottom line is uh you know a player has to get confidence in his body and confidence that he can do what he has to do to perform whatever his position may be so you know it it uh it's I don't want to say routine nothing's routine medically but it's just it's it'd be really unusual for a player to be I think deterred uh from an injury like what Kate had and it was a very clean repair uh again I'm no expert on medicine but you know it's always good when they say everything is clean you know really nice repair and that type of thing then it's just a matter of time uh for the physical component and then also you know where a player gets the confidence and I think it was that open scrimmage was really the first time I saw him looked like you know he just kind of put it aside and then we've seen a lot of those pictures since then so I think he's he's more than ready to go and really confident in his in his body John seie C Rapids G that obviously a little different this week with you not being there on Saturday how do you kind of prepare for that and what's kind of your Approach at that wide receiver spot in terms of who's spending the most time with that yeah so a couple things the um you those are things we're working through this week and really haven't talked much about it we'll start that tomorrow and then Thursday's our day to really kind of to you know talk about all those things I did think of one good thing about this at least I can blame if you know something happens sing just I don't know why they did that that that was stupid uh so maybe there's a positive here in this whole deal uh but in all seriousness no I think I think we're it's not it's going to be pretty much business as you usual um you know Tim Tim would be the guy I go to to refer on you know what do you think about this this and this on offense Phil Lavar and U you know Seth will do the same thing we talked about a lot of things on Thursdays about what we do you know fourth down four down territory all those kinds of things this situation that situation but the the only missing part is uh you know when you get in a game sometimes there's a feel that flies in the face of maybe what you decide on Thursday and sometimes you just got to make a call and go with a gut instinct so um you know if that that be the case Seth will do a great job with that he will have the final say all that stuff but we'll we'll talk a lot of those things out and then the the receiver thing will work out internally uh as I said last week we got a really good staff and the guys young and old you know the full-time coaches but also the G part-time guys and um you know we'll get it done we'll cover that uh David I hawkey insider.com Kirk TJ Hall list is quarterback two there's no doubt that John Nester is probably going to get some significant time and Des Shawn Lee but what were maybe one or two things that ultimately gave TJ Hall kind of that maybe just that extra little Edge over the other two probably just a little bit of consistency and it's gone back and forth it's a little bit like the running back back position uh difference is most of those guys have been available the Four Corners have been been competing and practicing so probably a little consistency thing but it's it's still really close we have a lot of positions right now where you know we got to start somewhere uh Saturday and start somewhere this week when we we practice with our first team uh but I will say this it won't surprise me especially in certain groups where it may take a month to figure out like where we're at uh and I say that in a positive way because I think we have a lot of young guys right now that you know we're going to learn a lot more about them John Nester is a good example you know he hasn't played an awful lot we' seen him on special teams so to see him in game action I think we'll learn a lot about him I think our receiver rooms a lot like that uh the back thing will probably sort itself out but I think we've got guys are capable um so that that's part of the process here as we move forward and just it'll be interesting to see see what it looks like here six weeks from now as opposed to just you know this Saturday Chad L too de Mo register uh you've been at this for 25 years at Iowa 28 in total as a head coach uh in your opinion like what are the most important jobs for the head coach on Game Day itself uh and I know you're probably going to give a self-deprecating answer here yeah but no see what is SE like for Seth what is that what does he need to do the best on Saturday I'm laughing because they're chuckling he gave me a u a report on what I do and there's more there than I thought I guess uh cuz you just kind of you know you just kind of do what's natural in your position but um yeah I guess you know some of the decisions we talked about are part of it but if you think about over the course of 12 weeks there aren't that many decisions you make and uh that are really critical I don't think but you just try to keep things in in an even flow and I think you know probably try to keep everybody's uh mood or approach in an even flow too and uh you know if we're getting a little bit High here or down here you got to try to balance things out a little bit and just try to make sure everybody's for focused on what they do but you know really in all serious mean this in um you know to to low key it but it's probably what you do during the week is more important I think and then certainly during camp and just year long like just trying to um you know make sure everybody's kind of keeping their eyes on the target what we think is important and uh once you get to game day you I say this in all honesty the players do win the games like they're the ones out there competing we can't do that there are times when we maybe do something that's helpful but overall it's how the players play it really is so you know they they'll do great and I mean we've got a good leadership group here and they'll do great but there's going to be some challenges there's no question about that and there going to be some things that we don't expect so we just got to you know kind of Stay Stay centered and just stay on course here Owen cing with kgn uh I saw the Kade peeper is the backup center right now he's a guy who's received a lot of Praise from his fellow offensive linemen is that where he's firmly entrenched now is just at Center or would we see him anywhere else on the o line yeah he can play anywhere on the interior and that's that's a good question question because it kind of opens up a uh we do have some flexibility this year which is kind of kind of nice going into this we've trained him a lot or worked him a lot at the center position uh Logan's not going to be here forever so he's really done a good job there but you know Toler jumped in last year Ellsbury jumped in and did a really nice job tyers work all five positions and it's not often you can say a guy can do that but I think he can do that pretty effectively he's got a lot of experienced and practiced well uh Nicki Young's got the capability of playing a couple spots so you know would be our top eight guys with the five starters and um you know I think we probably have a little bit more versatility and flexibility than we've had in the past which is good and then we've got some younger guys that are are are moving along and you know we're going to try to keep them uh keep them growing too but yeah those would be the top eight guys and yeah kade's been a he's quote unquote undersized when we recruited him uh but he's you know he was just a lean guy and he's still lean but he's really done a good job and he's he's done a really nice job on the field uh John Sears whv Kirk when you have a new offensive coordinator new offensive schemes what are some realistic expectations for you as the head coach as you enter game one H it's like every game I mean you just want want things to go smoothly and you want the flow of things to be good um you know things that stop offenses or negative yardage plays on forc erors penalties you know fall starts those kinds of things alignment errors so just you know playing fundamentally sound that way would be a good starting point keeping the ball off the ground is always a good thing and then you know regardless of what you're doing um you know there there going to be some things you're going to pop up and some things we're we're trying to get cleaned up in practice right now uh you know we had Saturday off uh Sunday we didn't didn't do any football stuff we just let the guys stretch and Jog a little bit so we got back into football again yesterday and you know we took two whole days off without helmets on and looked like we hadn't practice in six weeks so it just it's all of a sudden you're right back to trying to get the guys in there plus you're trying to you know deal with some things that maybe you haven't seen so but you know all that being said I think just you know good effort obviously playing fundamentally sound and not doing things are going to beat us that a good starting point and if we can get a little momentum going and get you know hit a couple plays that's always a good thing too it's usually what it takes for offensive production U Blake hornstein Hawkeye headquarters coach good to see you um you know it feels like as far as level-headedness goes you have a unique approach to every single game you treat every single game the same whether it's an FCS team or I I'll say Georgia 3 years ago you guys treat every game as a unique challenge as a coaching staff how do you uniquely motivate your players every single week to treat every single game the same I mean with all due respect I just explained to our guys like the people that think they know what's going to happen most of them don't have to go out and compete uh so you know I think whoever it was somebody said you know experts are people that aren't accountable to anybody and you know so it's good to be an expert I guess but we're you we got a lot of invested everybody's got a lot invested and one thing I've learned you know 20 plus years of being back here and you know it's no different in the NFL although in the NFL everybody's in the NFL but um you know if you if everything starts with respecting your opponent in college football anything can happen last weekend uh already Illustrated that there at least two games I think that went you know opposite of what people would have predicted so it's just the nature of college football and we're talking about young people they got a lot on their minds and a lot they got to deal with they do go to class they trying to earn a degree and uh you know if you're not careful like you know you can just you can get off the track and lose the concentration that's necessary to be good at this this level and you know winning is hard uh I think it's harder than it's ever been in college football uh and that's a good thing it's competitive but you have to appreciate that and you've got to understand it's it's week by week and I think I said this somewhere in the last couple press conferences we only got 12 that are guaranteed so it's really not that much compared to all the time we spend preparing and practic and training um you know it's just such a small percentage so to think you can't be ready 12 times there's really no excuse for that and that that's everybody's job hey coach Matt Mall from the da I just wanted to ask you about Xavier damka obviously a five store recruit coming to Iowa how has he handled those expectations and how has he grown throughout his time here he's been great he's just absolutely great and you know I know five stars and all that we don't get a lot of those but um you would never know with him in the building you know five star three star or two star just he's a quality young guy first and foremost uh really does a nice job that way and it's been fun to watch him improve each and every turn so he's really doing well he dealt with a little bit of a uh injury or medical situation here during Camp so he missed some time so he's you know not maybe as far along as he would be in normal circumstances but done a really good job and expect him to have a really good year this year uh Kirk Scott do with the athletic I wanted to ask you about uh earlier today there was a documentary that dropped on Conor stallions from Michigan and there was a segment that showed him with the game ball from kenck Stadium from two years ago had his name placed upon it um what are your initial thoughts now that it's there it's not a rumor anymore and then secondly um do you have any opinions on what should happen to the University of Michigan based on this yeah I'll let somebody else figure that out and I just heard about it maybe an hour ago something like that and got an email that you know I mean that's so far out of my it's history right now so whatever whatever happens happens and uh the appropriate parties will deal with it but uh you our eyes are forward right now and um you know I'm that whole scenario I never spent much time worrying too much about it um you know just we we got plenty to worry about right here so that's kind of been my attitude yeah thanks Kirk Tom ker Hawkeye Report wanted to ask you about Ree vandery and um his appearance on the two deeps as a true freshman and kind of diling off that too any other true freshman that You' decided maybe you're going to put out there on Saturday no nobody firmly I don't think I think I'm correct in saying that I probably should know but uh nobody firmly um and I think we'll be able to protect a lot of guys in that red shirt mode with the four four game rule so but we'll see we'll see how that all goes two things in reese there's opportunity at the position and then secondly more importantly he's done a good job it was kind of frustrating cuz he had some stuff he was dealing with through the summertime medically uh but that cleared up uh I guess right before Camp I guess it would have been and he he's done a really good job he's learning quickly he's done some some really good things out there in the field and you he he'll be on the field for sure Saturday yeah um John seie Cedar Rapids Gazette what's really stood out to you about both Stevens kind of coming back from the injury last year and kind of through Paul camp now yeah Bose uh had quite a journey you know since he got here in that whole Co class was uh you know it's been interesting but he's fought through a lot the injuries um a lot of things that could have gotten him discouraged and I'm not saying made him made him quit but just you know maybe U you I'm not saying make him break but you know there there are some things it just he's had a tough go he's really had to work hard for it and you know we've had a couple guys really do a great job uh but I think you know last spring was a big big period for him he was able to be out there all 15 days and he's had a lot of injury things that have kept him in and out of the lineup and off the practice field it's hard to gain traction and really get good if you can't be out there consistently but spring was the first period where he went you know start to finish no issues and same thing in August he's really had a good you know good good month and I just told him this morning I said you really had a good camp and you should feel confident because he's worked hard and he's really um you know he's done a good job so I'm anxious to see him play I'm anxious to see him play some ups and downs like all the guys on Saturday but um he's he's a he's a guy that's got a really good future in front of him and I'm just really pleased for him in the way he flought through and pushed through uh Adam Kobe Hawkeye Beacon uh one position that hasn't been on the depth chart is returner any idea of who's been working who's you know looking like a starter there I got some idea but uh yeah I think uh ouan will be the punt return guy right now weij will be back there and um he'll be starting off there and then Caleb on the uh most likely and kick return got a couple guys in the mix there but uh um that that would probably be what it looks like um you know I'd say that' probably be what we'll go I'm just trying to think here lmer is also a guy and then TJ Hall at punt return lmer probably be three right now and TJ be number two and then the kick return I think we're still looking at that a little bit yep we'll finish up with Jack Shannon hi Kirk Jack leader with Casey RG when we spoke to the players with one exception pretty much everyone was not worried about you know rallying around you as their coach who wouldn't be there on the sidelines it's kind of honestly a little lukewarm it wasn't rah rah was that something you instilled in them that that first day you told them told them and just as a clarifying Point practice this week this whole week is it going to look basically the same as any other week with with you leading it or will you kind of seed some uh leadership to coach Wallace I'll do it I always do through Friday night uh including the snack I'll go to the snack and uh you know we tell them a little bedtime story before they go to bed and then we have a snack so I'll be there for that but yeah it's business is normal for me and um I think last year I heard about rallying cries and stuff like that you know I made a mistake so uh I've owned it stepped on a line I think the line was a little bit cloudy a little bit blurry but nonetheless I stepped on it so that that is what it is and just like if um you know a player were hurt or you know we all go on we just go on and keep pushing on and uh so I won't be here there's nothing to Rally about anything like that the the idea right now is everybody do what they're supposed to do and um I'm confident they will we got a good group of guys and the staff will do a great job so to me it's almost a non-factor and it could be the same thing if I you know got hit by a whatever a truck or something like that wasn't there so you know it's all kind of the same stuff hey Kirk Shannon KCCI where have you I know you talked about consistency but where have you seen Kamari Molton grow oh proba confidence you know he he's had a a great attitude since he's been here he's got good Vision he's he's bigger and stronger physically uh than he was certainly a year ago a year or plus ago when he got here uh so all that's good that's one of the benefits of experience and um you know so happy about that he's got he's got tremendous attitude but he's got he's got a real good Vision a good ability to see things maybe other guys can't see and that's been pretty consistent it really started showing in December when we were doing more work with the guys you know he'd been on the scout team most of the time last year so uh it seemed like he was you know maybe a guy who could could pop through here a little bit and I think he's certainly done that in August and again I I Envision us playing you know a lot of the guys in the group and Max White's done a good job too so feel like it's a good group that way and you we'll just kind of see how it plays out as we keep going forward and history would say we we never have too many backs that's for sure Chad Li to C morning register um I know we talked a little bit about this in February but honestly you know hiring a new offensive quet probably overshadowed it but you picked Seth Wallace as assistant head coach for a reason can you kind of articulate what you see in him that that fills the role that you want to see on Saturday and also do you want him to kind of reflect what you do this Saturday or kind of be his own person I'll start there I mean he's got to be himself that's that's the most important thing and uh if I've learned anything in coaching like my mentor is very different personality-wise than I am uh and the coaches I've worked for are very different than um you know than my personality you got to be your self that's that's first and foremost uh going back to February basically you know there's a probably a reason I've never named one in 25 years because it just it's you know there's some there's upside and there's certainly some downside to it potentially so I don't want anybody to take it as like you know picking you I like my fourth son or fourth kid better my third kid that b deal um but you know he uh he's just done a great job he's really and it's no foreshadowing none of that stuff it was just uh I felt it was time to to reward him he has he's had opportunities to leave and several other of our coaches have as well uh but I just thought it was a good way to recognize the fact that he wanted to stay at the program you we certainly want him to stay and I just think it made sense at that time there was nothing more than to it than that but um he's done a great job but I've got I've got total confidence we got a really good staff of guys and guys that have been here for the most part for quite a while or have association with the program for quite a while and um I've said it before I mean the best part of my day is walking in there outside of being with my my wife Mary obviously but uh was walking in here and you know being with a lot of good good people that you know we're all kind of working we're we're different but we're all looking work working towards the same thing and that that's a fun thing fun thing to be part of okay thank you guys for