Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Another Kirk Ferentz Foot in Mouth press conference, Iowa Football QB Controversy

Episode Date: October 26, 2022

Kirk Ferentz met with the media again today and had some interesting words including clapping back at Cleveland.com columnist Doug Lesmerises.Here's the quote: COACH FERENTZ: I complimented the guys on Sunday because during the questioning, in some cases interrogation, on Saturday that I experienced and the one good thing about that it dawned on me coming home. I said as bad as today was, it could have been worse because I could have been that guy. I could have been that guy. Had his job and had to act like he did. Yeah, it could be a hell of a lot worse. Trent gives his thoughts and where this program can be and another bad look for Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa football program as concerns of nepotism continue to be a national talking point.Some thoughts on where the Hawkeyes will turn at the quarterback spot after last week and what we can read into the comments that were made today.Finally a quick look at Northwestern and what to expect with the match up against the Wildcats coming up this Saturday.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!SweatBlockIf you or someone you love is experiencing embarrassing sweat or odor try Sweatblock. Save 20% with promo codeLocked On at sweatblock.com. Also available on Amazon.LinkedInLinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at Linkedin.com/lockedoncollege Terms and conditions apply.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Underdog FantasySign up on underdogfantasy.com with the promo code LOCKED ON and get your first deposit doubled up to $100!SimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnCollege to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Another week and another foot-in-the-mouth moment from Kirk Ferentz at today's Iowa Football Press Conference. We talk about the reaction and the blowback after Kirk Ferentz says something ridiculous once again. We also talk about the quarterback controversy. What direction do the Hawkeyes go now? Spencer Petras, Alex Padilla, or option C? All coming up on today's Lock locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Our locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes, part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day.

Welcome back once again to the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. I'm Trent Condon. Glad to have you aboard with us here today. Wherever you find your podcast, you can also find us on YouTube. And thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen each and every day. Hit that subscribe button on YouTube and help us grow our listener base here as we continue to grow things on the Lockdown Network. Today's episode of Lockdown Hawkeyes brought to you by Sling TV. Don't miss this week's matchup between the Hawkeyes as they face Northwestern on Sling,

the TV you love for a price you'll love. Try it today. Well, let's get ready for certainly a lot of conversation today. We got a busy week in front of us. Iowa trying to right the ship after that disastrous performance up in Columbus last week. Of course, the Hawkeyes come in now with a losing record at 3-4. Dropped two consecutive games. Still searching for that first offensive

touchdown in a couple of weeks. And well, we're going on a month now since the late touchdown against Michigan. It just continues to compound on itself at this point in time. This Iowa team has issues offensively. We've talked about it all season long. But another thing that we've continued to talk about has been a change in Kirk Ferentz. And as anybody gets older, right, you become more set in your ways. You become more stubborn.

I think that is just human nature that you go through things. And the stubbornness that we've seen from Kirk Ferentz throughout his tenure, at times, it's proven to be a good thing. That's not the case right now. And as we see the evolution of college football, and really over the last five years, and heck, the last two years, college football has changed so much with NIL, name, image, and likeness, and the ability for players now to profit off their likeness. We have that component. You have the transfer portal, something that has been part of

college football now for a couple of years, something that has been part of college football now for a couple of years, but it has just gone to another level now. The ability to go out and change your team on the fly and improve on the fly. And there's been disastrous parts of that. We look at Texas A&M, what they're going through right now, or Miami, a couple of places that kind of paid through the nose in the NIL realm, and it hasn't worked out. But look at the other side, look at what's happening at USC in year number one of Lincoln Riley, look at Tennessee and Josh

Heupel, what he's been able to do in those eras. So it hasn't worked for everybody, but it has worked for some. But Kirk Ferentz's unwillingness to adapt to a change is something that is concerning for the future of this program, for a guy that has signed, sealed, and delivered through 2029. I mean, think of that in its own right. And we've talked about this in the past, certainly. And if you're just joining us for the first time, thank you. It's incredible that Gary Barta would hand out a contract to Kirk Ferentz of that length knowing that Kirk wasn't going anywhere.

You're bidding against yourself, and not only to give him that contract. You want to make it right, if you will. Okay, that's all well and good, but to put the money in place and the guaranteed money that is still on this contract, Iowa owing $42 million. It's incredible. So we've gone through press conferences this year, and there's been some tense moments, and there's been some ugly ones.

And going back after the Illinois game, and there's been some tense moments, and there's been some ugly ones. And going back after the Illinois game, and Kirk responding to a question about making a change, we won 10 games last year. Surprised you didn't know that. You know, that kind of thing. And that's not exactly what he said, but he did say, we won 10 games last year. He said that to David Eichel, the guy that was on the beat last year. Very flippant, very arrogant, condescending, and we're getting more and more of that from Kirk Ferentz. And then today,

a double down, and a double down of going after the media. I'm not here to white knight for the beat writers. That's not what this is about. It absolutely is not about that at all. Their job, they get to cover the Hawkeyes, right? Now me, here on the podcast, I cover the Hawkeyes. On my radio show, I get to talk about the Hawkeyes. We're not digging ditches. We know we have a pretty good. But again, the arrogance that came out from Kirk Ferentz and divisiveness, it's something that is not one of Kirk's best qualities. I think we've known for a long time that he doesn't really have a whole lot of regard for people that cover the team.

I think you can tell that. That's football, 2014. We've had plenty of instances where it has gone bad. But today, this one was another level. Now, he wasn't going after an individual member like he's done before, like he went after David Eichel after the Illinois game. That's not what this is. And I have no problem with coaches doing this at a time.

But a question was asked in the press conference by Kennington Smith, newer guy on the beat on a second year. He's part of the Des Moines Register. And asked a fairly innocuous question. I mean, there wasn't a whole lot of depth and breadth to it. It was, in fact, I heard him and Chad Leistigau also with the Register, their podcast, and they were talking about it a little bit, and they mentioned it was kind of a softball. It was not a question that you're going to really dig deep into and things like that.

And Kirk, what a tangent. I mean, you could tell that this is something that he had teed up. He had teed up and ready to go, and this is something that he wanted to talk about. So here's the quote, and I want to read it verbatim for you. Because this is not the Kirk Ferentz that I think we all respect. This is not the Kirk Ferentz that you believe is a guy that's going to be able to pull this team out of what they are. So this is Kennington's question. Talked to you last Saturday. Turnaround would be more player-led on the leadership of the team to kind of to galvanize the group. How have you seen that manifest itself in the days following

and how it's trickled down to the younger players? Again, looking for maybe some leadership quotes, something like that. You're taking an angle. You're writing a story. I get that. I understand exactly probably what Cannington was aiming for. And instead of actually answering the question, this is where Kirk did. Quote,

Kirk Ferentz, I complimented the guys on Sunday because during the questioning, in some cases, interrogation on Saturday that I experienced, and the one good thing about it dawned on me coming home. I said, as bad as today was, it could have been worse because I could have been that guy. I could have been that guy. I could have been that guy. Had his job and had to act like he did, unquote. So I read the transcript first before I heard it. And you got to watch it yourself. You can see it on the Lockdown Hawkeyes Twitter account. Lockdown Iowa is where you can go there to find that.

And it's not just the verbiage that is used. It is the tenor. It is the tone. It is the way that he says it, the divisiveness. And the arrogance, again, that comes off in this. I'm not some lowly newspaper writer. You're a football coach. I mean, come on.

You're paid handsomely. That's great. You got a lot more money than any newspaper writer out there. Congratulations. But to say it in that way, you know, he's got a PR firm. The football program has their own public relations department that they hire, that they pay. This comes out of the athletic department budget because Kirk has stuck his foot in his mouth that many times and they've had to do that. And after 2014, they needed to do that. And yet this is still what continues to come out of his mouth. In a year where you have the worst offense in the country,

where you're trying to miss a bowl game for the first time in a long time. And this is what you respond with. Because a columnist in Ohio had the gall to call you out on this garbage nepotism that you continue to flow out there. You skirted around the rules that are in place for a reason. The reasons are what we're seeing right now. This is why nepotism laws are in place. Because of crap like this. Because we know Kirk Ferentz is not going to fire his son.

We know that a change cannot be made because Gary Barta doesn't have the stones to actually force a change. This is not firing Kirk. That's not what it is. Kirk, in my mind, he has built up enough that he deserves an opportunity if he wants to try to build it out, but it can't be with his son. It just can't be. It has been six years in an aptitude. The worst offense in the country. Last year, an offense that was ranked in the 100. Don't know if you know, they won 10 games last year. Yeah, Kirk, we know. You did it with special teams.

You did it with turnovers. You did it with defense. Those turnovers, those special teams are still very good, but they're not scoring at the same level. And your offense has gone from deplorable to whatever the other term would be worse than that. That's where we are right now. And this is you.

Kirk, you did this. You had an opportunity here to make a change. You had an opportunity to evolve, adapt, do things to make this program better. You had that chance, and what did you do? You doubled down on yourself and your son. And it has absolutely broken you. And it's broken this fan base.

And there's possibility of no coming back from it. That's where we are right now. You have an awful Northwestern team coming to town, a program that has had your number, a program that has won three consecutive games inside of Kinnick Stadium. They come to town on Saturday. Iowa's favored by 11. Can the Hawkeyes score 11?

I don't ask that flippantly. I'm being honest. Can Iowa score 11 points to win a game? Offensively? I don't think so. Can they get two touchdowns? They've done it once against Nevada. Offensively, two offensive touchdowns. That's all we're asking. Can they do that against Northwestern, a team that defensively ranks in the 90s? I don't think so. Short of your defense scoring. That's what you're asking week in and week out. You got away with it last year.

You won 10 games. You also lost four. And you're blown out on three of them. And the reason, in all three of those games, because your offense absolutely stunk. And you did nothing to improve it. You kept the same quarterback that's the same guy that we've seen the last three years. You kept the same offensive coordinator that is in over his head.

You had an opportunity to at least go out and get somebody that knows something about quarterback play. And what did you do? You just gave your son that job too. Ken O'Keefe walks away. And what do you do? You double down on putting Brian as a quarterback coach. So you know anything about footwork of a quarterback? Does he know about throwing motion?

Does he know about arm angles? Does he know any of these things? Of course he doesn't. That's not where he has coached before. He has no background for that. And instead, you double down on yourself. This is where we are. And somebody from Ohio had the gall to call you out on this,

to ask, and not even call you out, to ask the questions. And your $6 million a year salary, to ask some questions that made you feel a little bit uncomfortable. And he'd come back like that and act like you're better than him. Come on, Kirk. I thought you were better than that. For 24 years, I believed you're better than him. Come on, Kirk. I thought you were better than that. For 24 years, I believed you were better than that. And the things that came up from the negativity of two years ago.

And the racial questions that were inside the program. To your son, living in low-income housing when he was a student at the university. And all the things that have happened rhabdomyolysis on and on and on i ultimately believe that kirk was a good person responses like that have me questioning it it's a crappy place to be but that that's reality well it's not only that not only that from the press conference we got quarterback talk yes quarterback talk we're at it once again. Spencer Petras, well, my thoughts, they have been out there a whole lot.

I think people know certainly where I am with him, but we're going to talk about it a little bit, break down what we found out at the press conference as we continue here. This is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. As everyone knows, athletes can fall in the ranks, but when it comes to saving money, SimpliSafe always stays on top. And right now you can save big with SimpliSafe home security. They're giving listeners 40% off their advanced security system. SimpliSafe was just named the best home security of 2022 by US NewsS. News. I use it. I love it. You'll love it, too.

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so you can get the highest priority police dispatch. Don't miss this chance to say big when you protect your home with the best. Get 40% off your order when you visit simplisafe.com slash lockedoncollege today. That's simplisafe.com slash lockedoncollege. Go there today. Customize the perfect system for your home. Trent Cotter back with you here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast as we're talking about the press conference from earlier today. So it took a little while to get everything, kind of thoughts in order and going down the road that was very bothersome of what we heard from Kirk today.

It was a small part of the press conference, but one, again, this is not me white knighting what we heard, but the other part is the quarterback play. We have seen the worst quarterback in the country play this year in Spencer Petras. We saw him a year ago. He was bad. And after the injury, he went from bad to worse.

It was, you would think, unsustainable. But the decision to come into the year, they said it was a quarterback competition, right, that we were having both guys out there competing for the job. It was both Alex Padilla, who we also saw play last year, and Spencer Petras competing for the job. I said at the time on radio that that was a farce, that there was no truth to that. And ultimately, that's the way that it played out.

If you really believe that Alex Padilla got a fair shot at this job this year, I got some land to sell you, some beachfront property here in the state of Iowa. It's just, it's not true. It just isn't. There's nothing that would lead you to believe that Alex Padilla had a real opportunity to win this job. I don't know what it is about Spencer Padilla. I don't know why this guy is the apple of the eye for Kirk Ferentz and for Brian Ferentz. I just don't get it. You go back to his first career start back in 2020. Of course, the season began late because of what was happening with COVID.

The Big Ten made the decision early. They weren't going to play. They reversed course and started up. Iowa goes to Purdue in front of nobody in the stands, and Iowa goes out there. And Petras looked pretty good. Petras looked decent. he threw the ball through for 260 yards now he has not accomplished that since throwing for 260 not 360 260 that's the high water mark then a week later against Northwestern a game that they were in control

they were dominating and in the second half of the game Brian Ferentz again in over his head even back three years ago throws the ball 50 50-some times to Spencer Petras. And I knew there something was off. But even before that, Nate Stanley graduates, and Spencer Petras has, for all intents and purposes, handed the job. We have never seen this before, and I can't think of any position where a guy was handed handed a job and not just any job a quarterback job there's something about the guy and you can see it right he answers all the questions he's a stand-up guy anybody that's talked to him has nothing but positive say things to say he's got a haircut he plays a guitar i don't know i don't know what it is, but there is something that Kirk and Brian absolutely love about the guy.

So you put Alex Padilla in last week after one of the worst halves of football we've ever seen from a quarterback, certainly in my 42 years on this planet. It was bad. Really, really bad. There's no other way. You've seen the worst quarterback in college football play for the first six and a half games of the season without one snap. Padilla comes in, first play, fumbles. Third play, tip ball, interception. All right, it was bad. But to even put Alex Padilla in that spot, look, you made your

bet. You went with this guy, Spencer Petras. You should have continued with it. If you're going to go that route, if you're not going to give him any snaps throughout the course of the season, should have continued with it. If you're going to go that route, if you're not going to give him any snaps throughout the course of the season, speaking of Padilla, you made your own bet. Yet here we are. It was an unwinnable situation. It was a terrible spot to put Padilla in. Playing in front of 105,000 people for his first snaps of the year is just unthinkable. But that's what Kirk wanted to do. And there we are. But after that performance, not just last week by Spencer Petras, but what we've seen for now two and a half years. And to come in this week, starting yesterday on Monday with the depth chart,

you release the depth chart that has the or. Spencer Petras or Alex Padilla. Well, that's a change, at least on the depth chart. And then to come back today and say both guys are getting first team reps. We're going to see what happens in practice we know what's going to happen in practice you've told us this for two and a half years he's a better practice player in your mind and that trumps everything trumps being the worst quarterback in college football

that trumps his practice habits trump what you see on the football field Saturday after Saturday you've told us this so we know what's going to happen Saturday, right? We know it is going to be Spencer Petras trotting out there, and it is going to be ugly in Kinnick Stadium. When that happens, and I predict that is what it's going to be, it is going to be ugly.

You've told us Spencer Petras practices better than Alex Padilla. Who's going to get the job? The guy that practices better. That's what Kirk continues to say. So it's going to be Petras out there. Instead of an opportunity to rip the Band-Aid away. Look, this is a lost season. There's no winning a division title.

This team's not ripping off five straight wins to end the season and maybe backdoor in their way in. So they get blown out again by Ohio State or lose to Michigan again. That's not going to happen. You have to look towards the future. You have to find a way to improve what is the worst offense in the country. It's not going to be with Alex. It's not going to be with Spencer Petras.

And I don't know if it's going to be with Alex Padilla. I don't think that he is that much of a difference maker or that much of improvement if he is at all over Petras. That's not what this is. But you had a chance to give a guy that has won football games for you before, a guy that has shown ability that he can make plays. You had a chance here to give him a week to get all the reps with the ones to go through as the starter and see if you have something there. Because not only that, El Spadilla has eligibility. He could be your quarterback in 2023, but they refuse to do that.

Something about that goatee. I don't know what it is. Maybe he plays a beautiful rendition of a Led Zeppelin song that Kirk really likes. I don't know. But it's going to be back to Petrus. That's where we are. This is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. I'm Trent Condon.

Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes, again, your first listen each and every day. Big thank you to everybody out there for joining us. If you're on YouTube, hit that subscribe button right now. Want to also tell you about our friends at the Locked On Sports Network and Locked On Sports Today. For your second listen, check out Locked On Sports Today.

From the games that matter to the most and biggest stories in sports, go beyond the scoreboard and behind the scenes with local experts and insights only Locked On can provide. Locked On Sports Today, available on this app, YouTube, or wherever you get podcasts. We'll wrap things up. A quick look forward to Northwestern.

I mentioned a couple of numbers there with them. It is certainly not very pretty this season, the numbers. Of course, we remember that first game back in August over in Ireland. Oh, look out. Here comes Northwestern. They beat Nebraska. Since then, six consecutive losses. That's right.

Six straight losses for them. We'll talk about the Wildcats. And can Iowa, can they score those 11 points at their favorite by? That's as we continue. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. available. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps find the right people for your team faster and for free. I have a small business. Finding the right people to fill in in so many different places is so important. It doesn't matter if you're looking for somebody to help you out with the books. If you're somebody like me, help out a little bit

of the play-by-play that I do. You're looking for somebody to help on the sales force. Whatever it is, LinkedIn Jobs can help you. Add your job, the purple hiring frame to your LinkedIn profile. And that'll spread the word that you're hiring simple tools like screening questions, make it easy to focus on the candidates with just the right skills and experience. You can quickly prioritize how you'd like to interview and who you would like to ultimately hire coming to the end of the year, looking forward to 2023. We talked about that with the Hawkeyes. Looking forward to 2023 for your business. This is the time to do it with LinkedIn Jobs.

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash lockedoncollege. That's linkedin.com slash lockedoncollege to That's linkedin.com slash lockedoncollege to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Trey Connick back with you one final time on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes

your first listen each and every day. We'll be back with you tomorrow. Business is going to stop by. We got LaShawn later in the week. Still so much to talk about. Basketball is right around the corner. We're getting to get into that a little bit more. Last week, did a minutes breakdown. You can always go back and find the old podcast as well, wherever you are watching us today. And if you're on watching us on YouTube, hit that subscribe button for us. All right. So let's finish up with a look at Northwestern.

This is a Northwestern team that comes in with a 1-6 record. They have had their own set of issues, certainly this season. The Wildcats, well, they're not very good. Pretty much everywhere that you look. You look and think green is good, red is bad, right? There's a whole lot of red there. So offensively, team 74th in the country in total offense. Rush offense, they are 101st, though the passing game has improved.

They've made a change at the quarterback spot. That's a little bit better. 45th in passing offense. Now, are we concerned after what we saw last week, giving up just 360 yards to that high-powered Ohio State team? Are we scared that suddenly Northwestern is going to be the team that's going to, I don't know, throw this defense for a loop?

I just can't see it, right? It comes back to the offense. So here is what we see Northwestern, where they are defensively right now. They're 81st in scoring defense. Other defensive numbers on the season for this squad. They are total defense 97th, 112th in rush defense, 58th in pass defense. Look, this is a game that if what Kirk has been trying to sell us, that it's about this process. It's about getting better. It's continuing to work, right? Putting the work in, we're going to grind. We're going to figure it out. It's what we've done for 24 years, and it's going to happen here.

If this is to be believed, this is the week that it has to show up. It doesn't matter who's behind center. It doesn't matter that Deontay Vines maybe adds another element and at least another wide receiver with some kind of talent out there. The offensive line takes a step forward. All these different things. Yeah, they all work together. The offensive line takes a step forward. All these different things. Yeah, they all work together. But this is not just about a game where you go out there and you slog out a 13-9 win and get it done.

If that's as good as they can do in this one, you got big-time problems. It's a systemic issue. This offense, I don't think, is at a level that you can even hope for that, that they're going to be able to score. I mentioned earlier, can you get a couple of scores? even against Northwestern? This is how bad it is. The offensive line is as bad as it's been since 1999 in Kirk's first season. That's how bad

this thing is. But it's not just that. It's the scheme. It's what they're trying to do. I saw something over the weekend on Twitter. It was just talking about the passing routes that Iowa was running. Understand the limitations of the wide receiver group. And he was just talking about the passing routes that Iowa was running. Understand the limitations of the wide receiver group. Get it. Still, you have to try to find a way to stretch the field. Even if it's just a guy running a go route. I mean, you have to show some semblance.

You don't have to throw it. But they're not even doing that. They got guys running in the same spot. It is an absolute mess out there offensively and what they're trying to do in the passing game. What's the scheme? And that's where I am. It doesn't matter how bad Northwestern is defensively. First of all, we know Fitz is going to be fired up.

Fitz has been, obviously, going back to his playing days when he tore his knee up. Was it Chad Deal, I think, was the guy that rolled up on him. He thought it was a dirty play, and since then, he's been butthurt about Iowa. And it's a program that he has loved to beat throughout the years. And he's been very successful at it. Three consecutive losses to this Northwestern program in Kinnick Stadium.

Are you confident? I'm sure not. More on Northwestern, more on this week. More on basketball also as the week goes on. Biz will be by with me tomorrow. Thanks for joining us here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. And once again, want to help you out. Just a

different way of looking at sports with Locked On Sports today. All the games that are out there, the biggest stories, we got the NFL, we got college football, NBA, NHL, they're all going on right now. Beyond the scoreboard and behind the scenes, you do it with the local experts and insights from the Locked On Network. It's Locked On Sports Today, available on this app, YouTube,

or wherever you get podcasts. If you stayed with us to the end, hit that subscribe button on YouTube. I'm Trent Coddett. Thanks for joining us. This has been the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Go Hawks!