Gary Dolphin on Pat Angerer, Ed Podolak stories, why radio matters in Iowa

[Music] welcome to another edition of the hawk off the press podcast I'm your host Gazette hawkey reporter John Steppy I'm excited to be joined by the voice of the Hawkeyes Gary dolphin Gary thanks for joining me hey John good to be with you nice to see you here in the off season of which we don't have much left yes ticking clock here till fall Camp till Big 10 media days so all those things so when we get to August 31st you're have a new broadcast partner yeah what was it like in terms of going through that process and getting to know Pat anger better first off we had uh we had so many great candidates um all all names you know all names great players at the University of Iowa and unfortunately we can only pick one I know I said multiple times I could work with any of the guys we had we ended up with five finalists we originally had 10 guys on the list uh 10 names on the list and obviously you're going to get you know Iowa is unique or Iowa city is uniique in that in the in that uh geographically speaking uh there aren't a lot of the candidates that live in Iowa City so that that that's always been a a prerequisite that we have to have somebody who can get to Iowa City on on game day or travel with the team uh on the road and uh these four or five guys were willing to do that uh and the other five most of them you know they got kids going into junior high or high school and as a parent they don't want to miss their games and there were some great great names on that list so in the end uh uh you know one of my criteria was that Iowa's been so dug on good on defense for ever 25 years with Norm now Phil Parker that I thought it was important that if we could find the right guy that uh if he if he's a former great defensive player that that would would would add to the spiciness and of course nobody played the game harder better with more ferocity than than Pat anger you know first team All-American uh at Iowa great player uh both in Iowa City and obviously in the pros with the Indianapolis Colts for a number of years till injuries took took its toll and and Pat also has a a temperament uh a vocabulary a lot of the mannerisms that Ed podac has and so I saw a lot of the same traits there you know we had a committee of uh three four five guys that ultimately uh helped choose uh and it was a very difficult decision to make but I think we got it right in the end and Pat Uh I've known Pat since his playing days uh he's got a great sense of humor uh yet he's such a caring human being you know his his Hallmark is uh leading Brett Greenwood out of the tunnel that night after Brett uh uh few years ago had suffered a debilitating stroke and some other health issues to this day Pat and uh his former teammates uh former teammates of Greenwood uh help him get around and and maneuver not only to games but uh through everyday life and so Pat's a very caring very emotional guy and I think that'll come across on the air as well and then kind of with also kind of moving on from a broadcast partner that you've been with for a very long time what is it that you're going to miss the most from Ed Pac well it's his personality I mean his sense of humor uh Ed uh and I've said this often he's the best I've ever worked with and I've you know in 52 years I've worked with a lot of good analysts both football and basketball and I I always gloated that as far as I know I'm the only division one play-by-play announcer and there's only 130 football teams at the division one level or at the power five level John is you know uh and 330 basketball teams as far as I know I'm the only one that that had a Super Bowl champion as a football analyst and an NBA champion as a basketball analyst and both were great players at aisle of course Bobby Hansen is still with us and and and will be for a long time and and Ed's still going to be involved in the broadcast he'll he'll offer up his analysis his uh his pregame preview of that week's opponent starting with Illinois State on the 31st of of August uh but you know Ed Ed 77 I mean father time uh catches up with all of us both physically uh and uh and and it wasn't that Ed was off his game but uh physically you know he he's he's struggling he played 10 years in the NFL uh uh was in a horrific car pedestrian accident as you know 10 12 years ago and so that's starting to take a toll on him physically and as you know as the Big 10 expand the travel becomes more difficult I'm not complaining I love the job and I I love going to all these great Arenas these great stadiums around the country uh but uh you know my day is coming too in a few years health health permissible of course and so it's good to have Ed still involved in the broadcast to what degree to what length we're still working through that yet but it'll be great to have both Ed and Pat anger uh in the same day and then are there any kind of favorite moments I'm sure it's hard to pick one considering how long you've worked with them but is there one that really stands out well there there are several uh you know 27 years working with Ed and of course I knew him socially long before that having done the games out of debuk years ago uh and covering Iowa uh through my television work of 10 years when I traveled with the team uh usually Ed zabble Bob Brook Ron Gand we'd all have dinner and so I got I I knew ad very well before we started together as broadcast partners and what always struck me about him is is his his ability toh describe the play uh to uh where a sixth grader can understand what went on uh or a you know a chemistry major uh got it too because as you know we have a when when you're listening to an Iowa football game we've got the Casual listener we've got the passionate listener we've got all levels of football knowledge Eddie was the best is the best I've ever worked with uh at relaying what happened to where everybody can understand it the the other unique thing about him is I'm never without binoculars now my job is to follow the football and and I'm always looking at the quarterback first and it branches out from there Pac never ever used binoculars now we're eight stories up at kennick stadium and as you know we go to Columbus or an arbor you're a lot further away than that from the from the playing field and I asked Ed one time I said how how do you not use binoculars he said I I want to see the defense buddy boy I want to see what the defense is doing and I can't do it if I'm pigeon ho holding on the linebacker or the defensive tackle so that immediately took me back to his playing days when he was one of the great running backs in the NFL uh with hands on kneecaps and his eyes were always moving he said around that that crossbar uh face mask he always wanted to see where the linebackers were jumping where the Dbacks were shifting and and he transferred that to the broadcast booth and it it it was just incredible uh his analysis week in week out you know I've got a ton of great stories if I write a book they'll they'll all be in there but uh what what amazed me about Pac and and you know we we'd have this conversation with coach harence or coach fry uh we did the last two years of Hayden's regime and we asked him hey look if we're if we're stinking The Joint up uh we're not going to Kid the audience and both coaches said look if if we're playing bad tell tell the listeners we're playing bad but don't get personal which we we would never do that uh now Ed will get after a position group if they're not playing well I remember uh what game it was last year I can't remember the game but he said buddy boy he's talking about the offensive line and how poor in his mind they were playing buddy boy none of those guys could block me today that that's how bad they're playing and and I'm 77 years old or 76 whatever it was he'd come up with lines like that that were just and I'd hear from the listeners in the off season or text messages how they're laughing they're still laughing over that poac comment probably my favorite story of Ed and his cander and his genuine was I don't know when it was it was 10 10 years ago maybe we were opening the season like a four touchdown favorite over Ball State and it was a beautiful day it was 75 degrees Labor Day weekend no humidity not a cloud in the sky sold out kenck Stadium everybody ramped up remember Jake rudock was the starting quarterback that year and CJ bethard was about to emerge but uh with h i don't know maybe five minutes uh I may have some of the facts off base here but uh five minutes to go on the game John and I was down two scores to Ball State and they got one timeout left and they're turning the ball over and they're just not playing well on offense and so we uh Iowa Iowa U Iowa as I remember uh three and out they punt the ball away to Midfield and there's an official time out on the field and uh I quit quick because he's running Ed's running his hands through his hair and he's about ready to throw the headset down and I quickly get to a break this is Hawkeye football from lfi and he puts his head down on the counter and he he just left it I thought he dozed off for a minute and it's a two-minute commercial timeout and uh seven or 8,000 fans got up and just headed to the exits clearly they're going out to start their postgame tailgating so we come back from the commercial timeout and Eddie puts his headsets on I go well buddy boy I'm trying to make it a light moment um buddy boy we just saw something that we don't see every day here at Ken State what's that buddy boy I go well 7,500 people just got up and left and uh going to start their tailgating early given the fact the Hawks are down two scores with at least in their mind no hope of a comeback he goes don't kid yourself buddy boy if we weren't getting paid we'd have been gone a long time ago I mean just to threw that out there out of the blue I got laughing I finally got my composure back the Hawks got a turnover went down got a quick score they burned their final time out and what I remember is a Ball State running back angled to the near sideline and went out of bounds with like 50 seconds to go I was out of timeouts and and so it stopped the clock and got the ball back and maneuvered down and kicked a field goal to win the game so uh two things you never give up of course but the Iowa defense performed admirably again that day but that Pac line was just a classic Ed podac moment and and there have been many of them particularly in bowl games where he gets a little more loose with the with the commentary as the day goes on because there's there's no National Championship at at at stake at least for the most part but that that's just one of the great lines that Pac threw out there if we weren't getting paid we'd have been gone a long time ago he's probably right we uh we can't leave the booth uh so we stuck it out through thick and thin for 27 years and I'm I'm happy to say that most of the memories are great ones uh obviously everybody wants to talk about the Capital One Bowl uh my my favorite memory though uh where it really meant something uh was uh the the n game at Michigan State and the Hawks were I think 8-0 uh and ranked I think top five in the country down four five points they needed a touchdown and stany Colin sanderman had just been laid out and concussed by the Michigan State I think it was a safety and he was straddling him standing over him and I remember Adrien claybourn might have been anger came in and two-and shoved the guy in the chest anyway the flags were flying Michigan State got hit with a unsportsmanlike a personal foul and then an unsportsmanlike penalty so it was like 30 yards and penalties so the Hawks are out of timeouts Ricky stany just puts the team on his shoulder blades and drives him 55 yards in like a minute and a half and on Fourth and seven fourth and goal from the seven yard line uh as Marvin mcnut would later explain I told Ricky throw me the ball throw me the ball last play of the game there's like three seconds to go and stany says Marvin you're going to be double teamed you got a you got a linebacker and there's a safety waiting for you at the goal throw me the ball and Marvin had big hands as you know in real thick fingers and stany says okay so a quick three-step drop and he angles a short slant to Marvin and he catches the ball loses the linebacker bangs into the safety falls into the end zone for a touchdown and the Hawks get the nine and0 and I think they were ranked third the next week came home and and Northwestern who had a good really good team up upsets the Hawkeyes stany got tackled just outside our end zone tore ligaments in his foot and missed the remaining three games plus a month for Bowl prep but came back if you'll remember against Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl and just performed uh lights out and the hawkey's defense with Pat anger in the middle uh held a team that was averaging 330 yards with that triple option run uh offense held Georgia Tech to 38 yards of total offense uh that that that might be the most memorable game start to finish but you think about that defense that angerer was on John they had the AJ eids and I think Jeremiah Jeremiah Hunter at the linebackers three great linebackers Adrien Clayborn who could play either side of the field with Carl clug and Mitch King and bradrick Benz up front they absolutely terrorized quarterbacks and then in the back end you got Tyler Sash and Brad Greenwood at the safeties uh the cornerbacks were terrific uh it was just another example of Great Iowa defense and they usually won the Battle of special teams too so those are those are some of the great memories I that I take away to at least to this point from football there are many others but those are the ones that stick out you were mentioning the Capital One Bowl not to ask you the thing that you probably get asked all the time but what do you remember from that one and how often do people bring that up to you now almost 20 years later they bring it up a lot and and I'm I'm I'm disappointed to say that I I I was embarrassed by the finish of that game number one I didn't know who caught the ball because I was still harping as podac and I both were about the fact that we weren't calling timeout with two timeouts left and 15 seconds I think when they wound the clock after the Iowa penalty uh dummy me up in the Press Box thinking we we drew Tate doesn't know how much time's left and why aren't we calling time out when he and Kenny O'Keefe had the thing figured out uh long before that they had two plays called as it turned out and uh Clinton Solomon who was our best wide receiver had taken double coverage to the short side of the field and uh Sabin decided to or the defensive coordinator decided to run a pure freshman in there as an extra defensive back and and his head was on a swivel he had no idea what who was covering her where and of course he was he supposed to be covering Warren Holloway in the slot Eddie hle was on the other side the WID side Eddie all big 10 had single coverage so Drew takes a snap and I I blab blabbered out uh the game's going to end on this play and he pump fakes to Solomon and of course Clinton had all the the double coverage and Holloway runs right by this bewildered freshman pump fakes and he just pop flies and down the seam and hle gets a great block a chip block because that quarterback saw it right away and he was circling to Holloway and probably would have had his arms around him at the four five yard line the game probably would have ended at the five and so Holloway barrels into the end zone with you know five Defenders on him and then half the Iowa roster jumped on him in the end zone and and I caught up late called touchdown Iowa touchdown Iowa touchdown Iowa didn't know who caught the ball thankfully Rob Brooks was down on the it's it's uh it's Holloway Holloway Warren Holloway the Forgotten man so I I learned a valuable lesson there is don't worry about what's going on down on the field other than the snap of the football call to play you can always double back and worry about why they didn't call timeout and I asked Kenny O'Keefe later after the game he said well we had two plays called and uh now keep in mind Iowa only needed a field goal so Eddie and I were a little bit justifiable in our frustration and walner Bellis bis had run the kickoff all the way out to about Midfield maybe just across Midfield all they needed was a field goal and I think SCH Slicker might have been the kicker I can't remember the we had a good field goal kicker but uh that that's immaterial you know Keno keep the offensive coordinator he knows what he's doing uh he and Tate got together Tate wanted to call that play and as we all know Drew Tate was a pretty smart guy he got it done in big moments uh including that game so and Pac was speechless because tears are running down his face I tried to throw it to him once he couldn't he couldn't talk he was so emotional about it which shows that former great players at Iowa like Pac still get emotional when their their school colors the black and gold perform like they did so it was a great moment you know I don't want to overplay the stupidity on my part at the end of the game but uh I get asked a lot about that if it's my favorite play or my favorite call and certainly it's right up there but I'd go back to the the night game at Michigan State that really was the trampoline or the Catalyst for what would become uh an 11-2 season for Iowa and stany with the American flag wrapped around him on the stage uh I can't remember what was going on in 2010 but his his great line was America love it or leave it and that's how we ended that broadcast that night down in Miami and then you were mentioning Ed's humor and then you know obviously has his humor was that an appeal in terms of having somebody that you know can bring that kind of humorous element to the booth 100% uh as you know Iowa radio is so unique it's so different than than other schools around the Big 10 really around college football most are in you know major metropolitan areas and you know I grew up in the state listening to AM radio wh WMT uh KCRG radio at the time in Cedar Rapid with Bob Brooks uh you know Jean claw and I can go on the first year I covered Iowa football John was 1972 or three it was the 0 And1 year let's put it that way Dan McCarney was starting in the line Bobby Elliott was a defensive back I think Butch Caldwell was the quarterback Frank Lauder was the coach not for long but fxl uh was relieved at the end of that year and then Bob Cummings became the head coach so that you know that's 50 51 52 years ago uh and I I felt I'd come full circle in 2015 with the 12-0 team and so that that's another unique part about this broadcast career of mine but but to your to your original point we we're such an egg based state so many farmers listen to us out in the field All Seasons whether they're turning dirt or or or combining or picking corn and we hear from them seems like we hear from all of them all across the state all across the Midwest really uh the Iowa signal is is a great one you know who gets into 40 States at night and a lot of our games are late afternoon evening uh there's XM Satellite it's so much different now than it was when I first started even back in the 90s when you didn't have all these Outlets uh so uh radio is a big deal in Iowa because we're a radio State we got two major interstates that intersect each other like a lot of people are listening uh washing their cars in the driveway on their way to the supermarket uh and and we hear from a a ton of them you know everybody still watches the games don't get me wrong but I I can't tell you how many people uh despite the delays in signals uh uh Cal that they listen to the Iowa game on radio to get the local flavor the local call and watch it on TV which is great uh we got the numbers here a few weeks ago we've got probably a half a million people that tune in and out to an Iowa football game uh as you know we're all Channel Surfers so we're bouncing around going to different stations but we always come back to Iowa football on Saturday afternoon and uh the number was right just just below a half a million now that includes uh XM Satellite we had 185,000 viewers on the YouTube channel the Hawkeye YouTube channel or the learfield you YouTube channel uh and and all you see Are Pac and I in the booth now why why people are enamored with that I don't know but it is a different look and so they can listen to the broadcast and watch it live 185,000 people tun tuned in and out to our YouTube channel so it's really humbling it's it's a unique situation and of course when we travel around the state in the spring and and early summer to the uh to the iclub Banquets you know whether it's 700 people in Caroll or 300 in De Moine or you know 150 people in Cedar Rapids or a couple hundred in the Quad Cities we we always get the same reaction love listening to you and Eddie uh on game day and I think part of the draw is that not many stations not many networks do a two-hour pregame show and so we get all these people driving to the stadium and that's what they tell us man we jump in the car in the driveway in Omaha and we get your entire pregame show as we're pulling by the time we're pulling into the kinck stadium a parking lot uh and the same way with basketball in the winter time it's an hourlong pregame show but people are at home you know they're getting around the dinner table and they got the radio on so it's very humbling very heartwarming uh but Iowa fans are very loyal to their to their radio as much as they are their teams you were mentioning kind of the full circle nature of your first year covering them was the winless season then you see 12-0 in 2015 what's it like seeing this program in such a different state you know two of the last three years or 10- win Seasons compared to when you were first covering this team yeah that was part of the uh you know that that early 70s late 60s uh Eddie of course played in the late 60s was part of the uh you know much was made about uh 19 straight non-winning Seasons I think they had a couple 500 seasons in there I always love Jim obl's line he goes 19 non-winning season look that's only two two bad decades Jim could always Woodle it down to a smaller number it's only two bad decades but uh obviously uh uh I love covering the Hawks you know the the record's important yes but I love the game day atmosphere of then Iowa Stadium to to kenck Stadium of course nothing like kenck Stadium now the way they've retooled and remodeled and refit the stadium and build it up and to the noise level now at uh you know 70,000 strong so it's uh it's so much different that in the early 70s when rarely were the Hawks on TV that was the other thing every we knew the game was going to start at 1:00 or 1:30 no later than 1:30 because there were no lights and it started to get dark around 4 430 uh you don't have to worry about that now obviously but uh you know across 50 years you know everything changed when Hayden got there in 7879 uh to to to to to think that he could take that program and and have him in the Rose Bowl three years later uh is just a mindboggling to me and of course Hayden built it from there and you know Kirk Kirk's got a little Hayden into him I mean he in in him uh in that he kind of keeps everything to himself and makes notes all the time and you know if you drew a line in the sand with Hayden whether you're in the media or or a or a fan he didn't forget that and and Co coach fences the same way so it's to think we've had John two football coaches in uh you know almost 50 years that that's incredible and had a lot to do with bump Elliott and then Bob Busby after him Gary Bara the stability of the program since Hayden arrived is what really has stood out to me uh all these years and and I've covered Iowa for the most part I was at Northwestern for six years in the early 90s so but I always followed Iowa at that time and uh so I would say that the big thing is the stability uh you know bump I've told people this I remember when bump hired Hayden I I interviewed bump I said north Texas SMU John Hayden fry not really known in these parts how did you settle on John Hayden fry he goes he just struck me in his interview uh bump said he struck me uh that that this guy was a throwback he knows how to win he's won everywhere he's been uh he brought SMU into Columbus Ohio and played Ohio State off its feet when the Buckey were ranked number one one year uh that caught a bump's attention and he thought and and I remember his last line he said Dolph let's put it this way if if I don't get it right with Hayden he'll be leaving and I'll be going out the door with him and thankfully bump got it right because uh there was not a better human being on the face of this earth when I remind people bump hired lud Olsen Dan Gable Hayden fry and he hired Christine Grant who in turn hired Lisa blutter so that that bumps a Hall of Famer in many different vernaculars especially as an athletic administrator and the numbers show that but I I would think if I had to label Iowa football it's just the stability of the program thanks to John Hayden and to Kirk fence and then if I'm doing my math right 27 years for you is the exclusive voice of the and this will be year number 28 coming up no this will be year uh this will be year 27 I think okay I think well 1997 was the first year John so if we go to 2027 that's minus a couple uh yeah 27 number 27 coming up let's hope I get through 27 okay so how much longer do you think you want to continue doing this well I just turned 7 three um I'm in pretty good health and uh I'm certainly not going to do a oneandone with Pat anger I couldn't do that to him uh you know Eddie and I talked long and hard about both going out the door at 25 which was be two years ago and we got to 25 and and Ed had no intention of of leaving he had a rebirth of sorts I said well okay he said fact his line was I'm going to go another 25 I go well good for you buddy boy I won't be there at the end of the next 25 but uh I'm sure you know that's that's just who he is which I love about number 14 there aren't many guys John that have their number on on the inner wall the inner Banner of a stadium and poal number 14's up there with buck Buchanan and Len Dawson and Curley Culp and Willie lanir down at Arrowhead and so the guy is so special toh to me and to Iowa fans uh but you know old old father old old father time catches up with all of us physically and so if if my health remains like it is now I I'm certainly not as fast as I used to be running to the bus and and um uh you know the travel is the big thing with me uh football I know I got one game coming up on Saturday well actually two on Friday uh this year uh you know basketball is a little more draining physically uh but i' I'd like to go another two or three years you know and then and then get to you know then I'll be 75 and to me that's that's right now that's enough let's let the next voice of the Hawkeyes uh he or she come in and and and do their thing and what has made this such a fun job that you want to continue doing it you know well into your 70s well I grew up in Cascade which is 60 miles from kenck Stadium uh and caror or the old Iowa Fieldhouse my folks had season tickets my first game in in Iowa Stadium I think I was 10 years old Notre Dame was playing Iowa that day in football Notre Dame won by a sizable margin uh but I didn't care uh because that's when I fell in love with Iowa football actually I I grew up with a little red spin dial transistor RCA radio and I could get Tate cumins uh on Saturday uh at at one o'clock uh from kenck or Columbus wherever they happen to be and then it was Paul eels and Frank k Leo and then eventually Ron Gand and zabble and and my buddy Bob Brooks and that's where I really was introduced to Iowa football and basketball and uh I I gloat when I tell people the first Iowa basketball game I saw live I believe it was 1962 was Don Nelson's senior night and I think he hung 37 on Wisconsin that night and there was nothing like the old Iowa Fieldhouse and I'm here to tell you I love Carver but uh you know I I think uh the fact that I grew up so close to Iowa City uh is is what drew me passionately to uh to the Hawks at a ver very early age and then in high school uh I knew I wasn't I I played Sports I knew I wasn't good enough to take it to the next level but listening to all these great broadcasters I thought man wouldn't that be fun to do and so I decided to choose a journalism uh as a as a a vocation uh went to school two years in in Minneapolis at Brown Institute of radio and TV and uh attended Loris College after that and and here we are uh and uh you know we try to do a lot of good with the broadcast too you know good great causes whether it's stead family children's hospital or the American Cancer Society or Hope Lodge there's so many great causes Camp courageous I try to intertwine public service and volunteerism with our broadcast each and every week uh and so that that's a passion of mine uh you got to give back to the community and I feel we do that a lot through our broadcast uh in fact I just uh formed a foundation uh it's called the Gary dolphin if I may be allowed to put in a Shameless plug absolutely the Gary dolphin journalism Scholarship Foundation where kids uh who want to go to college as long as they have a journalism or Communications component to their studies uh uh we want to give a scholarship we want to give two away one to a female one to a male uh each year and there'll be more information we just rolled that out there'll be more information coming out on that in the in the near future some some type of a little Legacy that I can leave uh uh behind for the next maybe the next voice of the hawy well Gary thanks for joining me hey John U see a lot on on the road uh always fun visiting with you and the guys at The Gazette glad to be on with you this week thank you and thanks to our listeners for tuning in until next time we will talk Hawks later [Music]