Kirk Ferentz Press Conference | Tuesday, Sept. 3

to everybody um you know just say say a couple words about uh last week and then certainly look forward to this game here moving forward so uh last Saturday was certainly you know unique experience in the bottom line I just really happy uh for our team to win the game obviously and just uh see a great performance by our guys thought they really did a good job staff uh players everybody involved certainly did well and uh always good to get the win it was a real team effort I think all three phases certainly contributed and a lot of good things a lot of things to teach of uh teach off of off that tape so um like every week but um you know certainly it was very different not being there and uh just a little bit of a unique experience as I said Illinois State came in here and they're you know very well coached we knew that I thought they really competed hard and made a tough H us in a lot of areas so you know first half defense did a great job special teams did a nice job and the offense worked through some some things um especially early in the the first uh first quarter but you know bottom line is they work through that certainly the penalties in the first first half were a major factor I think we had six for 45 and uh it's not so much yardage as it is just how that the penalties impact things and one of those was on special teams really costly as well so um that was like a flashback right to our first Kids Day practice out there in kinck whatever we the nine n or 10th practice something like that but really almost like a direct correlation and that certainly is a better better situation in the second half we had one for five yards and played a lot cleaner that that certainly helped so good good to see the offensive execution in the second half looked a lot better defense kept playing special teams did a good job and uh you know good to be back in the facility Sunday and see everybody in person have a chance to congratulate him just on their effort and just uh through playing playing through the bumps and you know going the full 60 doing a good job there so happy again for the football team uh moving forward to this week we have the same four captains you get Jay Higgins and uh Quinn schy on defense and then um Luke Lee and Kade mamir offensively so same four guys there I think injury-wise we're pretty clean looks like U you know came out of in pretty good shape hopefully we make it through the week here without any issues and um you know the game obviously is a big big game it's a rivalry game uh certainly it's been intense for a long time it's my 34th experience seen a lot of different things during the course of that time but uh bottom L it's just a really good game for our state I think uh you know it's just good for everybody if they're they're involved in football and like football and then on top of it I think you know it's probably a little bit underappreciated outside of our state in terms of the the intensity of the Rivalry and uh the way the players go after it each and every time so you know it's U it's really a good football game uh talking about Iowa State real briefly obviously a really good football program and a good football team um you know I've got a lot of admiration for their staff they've got a really good coaching staff St there they've done a great job since Coach Campbell arrived and they've got a veteran football team at least they're really veteran work counts and I've done a really nice job not not a big surprise they've recruited well they coach their guys well and uh each and every year you know they're just a good program good team look at the last six years right now I think it's a fiveo whatever differential between the two teams so uh I would expect the same thing Saturday enough tough tough competitive hardfought ball game and um that's what we're looking at there so kid Captain this week is 8-year-old Atlas Coleman from West am Mo uh Atlas they discovered a tumor in atlas's lung a year and a half they had to take that out and uh then found a really rare form of cancer that uh that they had a work through and glad to say he's doing really well he's in school and just like every other kid having a good time apparently he's got a good sense of humor tells jokes and uh you know just a great young guy so it' be good to have him and his family here with us look forward to that and uh and just you know to a big game here big rivalry and you know we turned the page yesterday uh moved on towards our preparation here and uh Big Challenge right now is you know getting through this week and just doing a great job uh with our preparation knowing it's going to be a tough game on Saturday so I'll throw it out there for questions yeah there's no tailgate yeah yeah going your describe as much as you can um actually had a a grandson in the house so you know got up had couple scrambled eggs two scrambled eggs and uh nothing too dramatic you know just kind of killed time and then uh did did that more so with him uh but you know when the game started yeah it's just it's just different watching on TV it really different you can see better that's one thing and I had a nice surface to write on which is the second thing so I guess those are two upgrades but outside of that there wasn't much good about it it just uh uh it's sterile and there's really you're you're pretty much helpless not that I do a lot during games anyway I'm not playing but uh you just have a total feeling of disconnection so it was really really strange really strange yeah you know it felt a lot better watching from where I was watching that life was a lot better in the second half uh and again you know that's that's really the study in offense execution is a huge part of the game uh takes a lot of concentration a lot of detail and I think one thing for sure the penalty situation uh did impact Us in the first half second thing yeah we really didn't throw or catch uh the throws weren't always accurate and then we made some of those throws in the second half and we caught the ball well so gives you a chance to get going then the Run game was was certainly a little cleaner and crisper but um those are things you go through and you know we're going to go through a series of things over the course of the season um uh as much as you try and camp and you try to put the guys in pressure situations and create things and all that but it's not the same as playing a game and until you get in a game you really don't know how individuals are going to perform or how they're going to play and then the other component is just the same thing to be said about your team you know you just don't know what they're going to how they're going to respond to those situations they're going to rise and we'll we'll have a bunch of them here in the next 11 games out there you just don't know what they are but I think the biggest takeaway for me was just the way our guys St stuck together they kept the good attitude and um I'm not so sure how many adjustments got made at halftime but we just played a little cleaner in that second half uh and then you know when you do that you give yourself a chance for some success obviously like the rest of the off second I know lot of we here is that he hasn't healthy we got to see him play Healthy just your thoughts were you impressed the second absolutely yeah I've been saying it pretty consistently I think I you know you can't quantify this and it's you know just going off experience but I think to me at least his one of his biggest challenges firstly you know getting through the the injury was the first challenge first and foremost and I will say this after watching TV and you know if I hear one more thing about ACL repairs uh this is 2024 there's a lot of guys playing college football and pro football that had AC repairs so to me that's so far in the in the rearview mirror right now uh but nonetheless it was a reality you know certainly this past year to deal with it um but more importantly I think is just getting back into football shape if you will and playing in a in a team environment not a seven on seven environment uh which he hasn't really done for two years you know as a healthy player so um to see him keep his his attitude positive and keep working through it uh played he was much cleaner in the second half and that's you know that's what you hope hope a guy is going to do and he's he's got game experience that's in his pocket that's a good thing for him but he's you know that two-year Gap I think is something that you know he's had a work through and uh it was good to see him he looked relaxed looked confident and that was in that second half and that's really those are positive things you can't hand that to a player they've got to go out and experience and earn it don't remember yeah so Jazz that was a coach's decision to keep keep him out he'll be back was back with us yesterday and we expect him to be right to roll this week and great young guy you know just uh something we decided to do uh Seth is it's not as bad maybe as we thought initially but nonetheless I guess it was last Wednesday if we met Tuesday so the next day of course and um you know do look is bad right now we'll probably know a little bit more here by the end of the week but it won't be this week it's you know hopefully we're talking about a week or two not not multiple weeks yeah I'll go back to recruiting them we were you know really excited about him and I saw him two years ago I guess I saw Zach playing basketball lmer and he was he was out there playing and uh I got to go up and see him turned our by week last week uh saw a couple games that night and uh just like he was playing quarterback just like the way her can handles himself carries himself um and then it was frustrating this summer because he had a multitude of things that kind of held him back from the summer program uh just you know just general training and U so you know he missed a lot of time that way for he was able to get back and get going and uh since we've been in practice he just carries himself well I don't know how well you know him he's I want to say he's expressionist but he doesn't he doesn't get real uh you know dem monster if he just really steady very focused and and mature for his age I think and his experience level so uh he just continues to grow continues to do a good job with whatever we throw at him and uh as we went on you know just became apparent to us that you know he's probably the the guy to have in there and um you know I thought he you know again just watch watching on TV it looked like he really performed well the other day and I'm out on the sideline seeing him and all those things but he just seemed to handle things in stride so it's not too big for him and um he certainly likes to compete and it was good to see him go up with his hands and catch balls and you know make some plays for us yeah it seems like all the feedback is really good I was curious about that uh Sunday morning and yeah seemed like everything went pretty smoothly no major delays I guess you know they run a little bit behind with the tablets but uh no it sound like it was really good and I think everybody thought there was a benefit to it for sure yeah is when I talked about them being a veteran team veteran in the key parts and that's one of the ones positions as referencing well he's not an old guy but he's he's really played enough now where I think he's a very confident guy very very poised and just does a good job running their offense so they've got a really talented group of receivers uh tight end brommer is a really good football player so they've got guys that they can get the ball to and I'm sure they will so he's he's done a really nice job leading their football team and uh I'm guessing his best football is still ahead of him yeah he's looked good both both those guys and you know anything that that happens along the way you know we just our our deal is like we deal with it and then uh my encouragement for everybody is we're looking forward you know we're not looking back unless there's a reason to and uh Caleb has really practiced well um well I get two calebs here yeah uh Caleb Johnson let's start there the first guy he asked about he's really been practicing well and did a good job and when he went in there I wasn't surprised like you know he just that's how he's been practicing really focused and and hit the holes hard and all those types of things so it's good to see that that's probably as good as well as I've seen him run the football since he's been here and uh great young guy got a great attitude and good and then Caleb uh it's going to be good to get him back too and um you know so last the week the deal was last week he worked on the scout team against our defense and uh philling those guys said he did a great job and that that's what you're hoping to hear so he had a great attitude about it he's back in in the rotation now and he'll be out there Saturday I don't know how much but he'll be out there of the season is that a Prett uh yeah I mean it's encouraging certainly um I think it's a combination of a lot of things you know I think the line were a little bit more veteran up there I thought the guys overall protected pretty well you know that didn't seem like that was an issue at all for us so that was helpful uh Cade working through you know his his uh you know leave of absence for a while you know going through that he's been a little bit of a sabatical medical sabatical so working through that and then the receivers did a good job for the most part going and getting the ball running good routes things like that so uh you know good combination and and some of those plays that Kade made were under dur rest you know not not necessarily because of a breakdown but uh those guys blitzed a lot had free rushers coming so thought he handled that situation well too we got plenty of Blitz practice on Satur no question that situation how do you think he did that OPP yeah we talked about Reese and same thing I mean kamari's been here for a year but he's he's a young player really hasn't doesn't have much game experience so thought did a lot of good things he really did and he handled it well uh he's a just a really steady guy every day is pretty much the same with him it's a good day and works hard so that that's what again you know you can't simulate things game experience and and for players like that the younger guys that haven't played was is a really good experience for them to be out there in competition tough competition and having to perform and uh those are two guys right there that haven't done much for us but certainly have a chance to help our football team a lot whether you talk about him or Reese vanders neas seasons ago kind got thrown it how you seen kind of grow from that moment yeah I'm not laughing about that I'm laughing in that you know I mean name a player or coach who hasn't had that uh that's just part of part of the the journey if you will and uh that's kind of what I referencing with teams you know you're going to go through hard times and we went through it Saturday you know offensively we're up against it a little bit and the guys just kept pushing forward and um you know player like TJ he he's probably being a little too hard on himself you know if talking about that one specific incident but um you know it's part of part of playing football whether you're a first year guy like that or could be a senior you know what's your response going to be that's the major thing in sports and you know he's done nothing but good good things missed a lot of time due to injury which was unfortunate and that's Low's development but this spring you know really looked good and he's had a really nice camp and uh you know it's good to see him in in The Fray like he is he's doing a really good job and he's got a lot of football in front of them a in his confidence the way he carried himself Satur yeah yeah I mean just hope that was coming and uh there's no guarantees on that one and you know I mean he's always been confident and I think he knows what to do all those types of things but at some point you just got to you got to do it and then you've got to You Know sample some success or you know taste it a little bit and experience it and um you know again you can't hand that to a player they've got to go out and do it and and work through it and it hasn't hasn't always been easy you know on a couple levels so um credit to him for sticking with it and you know fighting through that first half it didn't go perfect for us obviously but came back and just did some really good things in the second half and hopefully with each uh each day practice or game experience you know he's going to keep getting more confidence in himself and he's moving around he's throwing the ball and just you know looks a lot more relaxed out there and that's that's a that's a really you know it's easy for me to say Hey you know relax enjoy the game all that stuff you know good luck now here's the ball go do it a whole different story but credit goes to him on that one yeah well his potential remains to be seen but he's improved with every step of the way and um you know we have some guys talking about a couple young guys who played Saturday but you know most of our guys you or majority of our newcomers this year going to be red shirting it looks like uh you know you know never know what's going to happen but it looks like that and that's kind of been been the way in our program for quite some times and you know when you get behind good players you get two pretty good defensive tackles right now so um you know for him to start may not be realistic at this given point uh but you know it's all in front of him right now and he's working hard every day and he's a much better player than he was a year ago at this time and that's it's great to see it's not a surprise because he's got a great attitude and works hard but that there's more of a process you for most players not all but most players have to just kind of kind of work at it and when they get their turn you know go in there and play play well and it was good to see Jeremiah I'm not surprised but it was good to see him do a good job out there yourp missing it's just a totally different experience you you um you feel totally disconnected and I thought about that a little bit like you know if I retired you know the difference is like you're not invested the way you are uh if you work every day and are with the guys every day so um the closest thing would be like one of our kids games you know you're kind of invested you're a parent but it's still not the same as when you coach and work with people on a daily basis in a really intimate uh environment you know and that's what we get to enjoy and that's the best part of coaching it's just that um you know the times when we get to shut the door and just do what we do or practice and all those kinds of things um so when you have that then it's really strange to be disconnected and I it's you know it's Cod of Silence on Saturday so you know left the hotel Friday night uh which was strange and then you know sleep in your own bed that night that's strange and then um basically wasn't sure what to do all morning and then the game came and then I wrote wasn't one sure to do it halftime so uh it was kind of interesting but it all worked out you know it all worked out and then it's even stranger after the game because that's you know it's a either it's a really good time emotionally or a bad time and those those highs and lows make it really special so you miss out on all those things and you know and it it wasn't the same scene everybody on Sunday it's just that you know time Gap in there uh it's a little bit different but you know it's over and hopefully something I'll never experience again we'll see see how it all goes y it's a nice place to hang out Mary's build a nice house yeah you know I saw Pat at the hall of fame lunch in on Friday and that was enough right there no I'm joking but um first of all it was great great to to see both Adrian and Sean go in and great to have them back and their families back that was outstanding and Adrian's High School coach was back also which was really neat he came up from St Louis so that was great uh Pat did a great job at the luncheon and as you know I mean pat pat gives you that crazy demeanor and all that stuff but he's he's a pretty deep thinker he knows what's going on and I'm guessing I haven't heard any reviews but I'm guessing he did pretty well my prediction is he will do really well in the future and he followed a great guy in that poac certainly it's fly fault me for my office I think yeah yeah it just there's always one in my office too you know only good thing about winter yeah okay yard you know one person's opinion uh they've done a lot of things well there since Coach Campbell got there um that League was not exact ly like known for defense and ours is probably a little bit more so that way at least you know that's it's kind of been the trend and yeah I think uh coach hok he's an outstanding coach a great person uh he he's really he came in with a vision I'm not sure where it all got incubated H got hatch but um you know they've been good on defense basically after that first year that first year was a year of adjustment but for my vantage point they've been good on defense all the way through and they've been good on offense too and they they've uh you know changed subtly but they've got an identity and a system that works really well for them and I think that's why they've been so successful you know they they U run the ball control the ball uh they passed it well too but I mean they they're balanced on offense and then defensively they've been really good and they to me that that put them in the mix with the other teams in that that u in that conference including beating Oklahoma I think twice was it twice been it twice I think you know so you know that's not supposed to happen according to the experts but they they've done a really good job and that's a big component of it and you know I think you know I feel just uh growing up it just seems like if you play defense in any sport you got a chance you know you got a chance and you know you can't win if you don't have a chance so you know I R Credit to them but they're they've been tough on a lot of people you know it's interesting you look back I mean there's it's hard to find many games where you know they give up a lot of yards or points really hard question we talked sily yeah we were very civil with each other and um she gave me a little distance uh at halftime I walked around at halftime came back and uh then I actually like you know was gave a yeah or whatever we made a play and I didn't know she was sitting about 20 yards away from me but anyway yeah so we all got along fun no problems totally different terms of a guy that iy everyone else world Xavier talking about yeah I mean he's just he's a quality young guy just like we talked about a lot of these guys it's it's been a step at a time um you know he he's at the other end like you know he was very her recruiting wise and some guys weren't but it's still an adjustment when you come to college you know for most players it's an adjustment it takes time and we've had some pretty good players back there too but um he's done a really good job takes coaching really well he's had a great attitude from day one uh like like most players that starts at home he's just a great young guy to work with and he's got you know really good size and um you know he's got a good good feel for the game back there so we're glad he's on our team