Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - BONUS EPISODE: Hawkeye cornerback Cooper DeJean's Season is Over

Starting point is 00:00:00 it's a bonus edition of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, and it's a crappy one. Cooper DeGene, done for the season. You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you get podcasts. You can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, hit that subscribe button. It just takes a moment and helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. These days, every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. That's why LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the right people for your team faster and for free. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash lockdown college. Terms and conditions apply.

Starting point is 00:01:06 Well, the news started rumbling throughout the morning and into the afternoon. It is official. Cooper DeGene sees his season come to a close with a injury that was sustained in practice earlier today. Absolutely devastating news for a young man that is an incredible football player. A Pied Piper, if you will, of Iowa football, given all the small town guys. I hope that maybe one day they can wear the black and gold here in the state of Iowa and the impact, it's going to be immense. There is no doubt about it. So a couple of different ways we're going to go with this conversation here today. And the first part of it is obviously what this means to this football team

Starting point is 00:01:46 and what they're going to do defensively now to keep up. Because if you remember a year ago, when the game against Nebraska, Cooper Dijon went down with an injury early in that football game and it did not go well for the Iowa defense. They were torched by one of the fastest players in the Big Ten a year ago. Nebraska made a couple of big shots down the field, and for all intents and purposes, Iowa dug themselves a hole that their offense was incapable of moving out of. This week, they're going to take on one of the best wide receivers in the Big Ten again in Isaiah, don't call me, Juice Williams.

Starting point is 00:02:19 A very good wide receiver, smaller guy, but he's got wheels. He can make plays all over the field. And now you're going to go out there and you're going to do it with obviously your best cornerback and all American, a guy that is incredibly impactful and not giving up a passing touchdown this year, a couple of interceptions, five pass deflections. And we just know what a lockdown defender Cooper Dajin is. And another reason that this is just awful, which is terrible. Look, injuries happen in football. I get that. And Iowa obviously has gone through a whole lot of injuries this season. And it's something that just continues to pile up seemingly week after week for this Iowa football

Starting point is 00:02:56 team. But there is more to it. And I mentioned Cooper DeGene and the impact. I mean, he has become a folk hero for Iowa fans and a guy that it's just so easy to root for. Remember when he was a freshman, just a couple of years ago, very late in the season, he was playing safety. That's where he was practicing. And a lot of people anticipated he was going to be a safety for the Hawkeyes going forward. And injury started to pile up at the cornerback position.

Starting point is 00:03:25 He never played cornerback before. He had never played cornerback in high school he's out there as a true freshman and late in the season he goes out there and pretty darn good last season obviously a great year this year he is one of the finalists for the what bednarik ward goes to the top defender in college football not very often you see a defensive back up for that award, yet he was. And that shows you what kind of player that he is. But he is that small-town kid that gave everybody hope. The coop chance that you heard every time he tried it back there to receive a punt. Every time he got the ball in his hands or he made a play defensively,

Starting point is 00:04:02 you would hear that across Kinnick Stadium. You'd hear it on the road for the Hawkeye fans that were in attendance. He was that kind of guy. He was easy to root for. Heck, even Caleb Brown would be touching the ball, and people see the number three, and they started chanting a coop at different times. So you have that aspect to it.

Starting point is 00:04:19 And, you know, going back to his recruitment, he was under-recruited certainly for the player that he has already turned into be. He was a guy that you watched his highlight video. You watched what he was doing both defensively and certainly at the quarterback position at Odebeld Arthur Battle Creek, Guadal Grove. You saw a guy that was just different. He was built different. He played different. He was at a different speed at 6'11", drop-stem dunking on guys on the basketball floor. He's a guy that just whatever he does, he does it well. And to lose that kind of guy in a season that has been so dictated

Starting point is 00:04:55 about the way the injuries have gone, you still had who? Hope. Because he had Coop. He had Hope because he had Coop back there. And part of that certainly dissipates now. Now in his stead, it'll be Deshaun Lee that'll take back over at one of the cornerback spots now opposite Jamari Harris. Remember, Lee was a starter at the beginning of the season when Jamari Harris was down

Starting point is 00:05:18 with his suspension for the gambling. So he'll be back out there again. He's dealt with some injury towards the middle portion of the year, but he's been back now the last couple of weeks. He'll be back out there. I thought he looked solid, fine when he was out there for the Hawkeyes earlier this season. You know, they targeted him right away in that first game of the season. Utah State went right after him and he was ready to go. He went out there and I thought played at a really high level, but you don't lose a player of Cooper DeGene's impact and don't think that there's going to be some kind of slide back.

Starting point is 00:05:49 And the way that Illinois is chucking it around the yard, obviously they're going to go back to this week, Luke Altmyer. The Ole Miss transfer is going to be back as a starter this week. We'll see how long of a leash that he has this week after the other quarterback, the backup. Transfer from Ball State through for 500 yards a week to go against India. Has there ever been a quarterback before that's thrown for 500 yards, not injured, and goes to the bench next week at any level of football? Probably not. If you can find one of those, pass along to me. I'd love to see that because that is incredibly rare.

Starting point is 00:06:20 It just, it's terrible. And it's one thing to lose the guys that they have and even guys that are great hawkeyes like luke luchey luke luchey who's been around for a while you lose a guy like that it sucks but cooper was different cooper cooper was somebody that everybody was rooting for and to see this and to have this news come down. Now, I've seen this bandied about on message boards and on Twitter and some other social media. Oh, I was even out there practicing. Come on. You can't have both sides of it here.

Starting point is 00:06:55 We love the way that Iowa plays defense. We love the physicality that they play. You think you just show up on Saturdays and do that? No. You've got to practice tackling. Watch this Illinois team this week. If you watch any Illinois football, they suck tackling. That's terrible.

Starting point is 00:07:10 And I hate that brand of football. It's awful to watch. It's bad. You want that brand of football? Well, yeah. Then you won't tackle in practice. Maybe guys won't get banged up. It's football.

Starting point is 00:07:20 Guys are going to get hurt. Guys get hurt in practice. That's the reality. And if you want this defense to play at a high level, guess what? You got to play physical defensive practice too. You can't just show up on Saturdays and have those things happen. That aside, we will take a look at what this defense has in front of them, what it's going to look like, what's going to change,

Starting point is 00:07:40 some packages that may be a little bit different now. What can they do to negate the loss? Plus, a huge aspect that we haven't talked about yet is what Cooper DeGene means in the return game. One of the top returners in all the country. Where does Iowa turn? We'll talk about that as we continue. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

Starting point is 00:07:59 Today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. These days, every new potential hire can feel like a high-stakes wager for your small business. You want to be 100% certain that you have the access to the best qualified candidates available. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the right people for your team faster and for free. Whenever for my small business, I need to hire somebody, LinkedIn Jobs is the place to go. And it's super easy to create a free job post on LinkedIn Jobs.

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Starting point is 00:08:53 LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash lockdowncollege. Again, that's linkedin.com. To post your job for free, terms and conditions apply. Trent Conant back with you again here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, a bonus edition.

Starting point is 00:09:18 Coming up later today, we will get you covered. My self and biz will get together for a podcast. We recorded the podcast before the news of Cooper Dijon. We did that a little bit earlier, so we will not talk about the impact of that one, but I want to get you guys a bonus episode out there right now and dig a little bit deeper into obviously the impact and what it's going to mean for this Iowa football team. So let's talk about it. And we talked about the defense. We talked about Deshaun Lee's going to be taking over we've seen Iowa go with the nickel package with Sebastian Castro and in the past

Starting point is 00:09:52 when a guy in that position like a Dane Belton there was a real opportunity with a guy like him that he could slide back over and play cornerback that's not really the case with Castro and though you look at some of the numbers like from a place from pro football focus, and he's considered a slot cornerback, cornerback is not the position for Castro. So it's going to be Lee out there when they go a little bit deeper. I think you'll see Dean Fernandez, who unfortunately the memory of him is the punt that went off him against Penn State. Maybe Devin Hilson will be out there.

Starting point is 00:10:23 That's a possibility. TJ Hall is still out on the fourth cornerback coming into the season. We saw him last year go in there, and he was one of the guys that gave up a big play a season ago against Nebraska, but he's still out because of injury. So very, very thin at the cornerback spot. One thing that maybe could be a possibility, those are things that they can do with a guy like a Cohen Inchinger. Could he go out there, move things around a little bit? And if it goes deeper than that, we'll see.

Starting point is 00:10:51 But safety and cornerback, they are different positions. And we'll see how this impacts what they're going to do. Is it going to be more cash? Is it going to be going back to a 4-3? What does that mean? Does it mean that Wampa, as we've seen a lot this season, Caster going back to a 4-3. What does that mean? Does it mean that Wampa, as we've seen a lot this season, Caster going back to safety then, and then it's been Xavier Wampa that's been going out of the game. Something to keep an eye on there. So that's the part of it. And likely the putt returner

Starting point is 00:11:15 is now going to be Wetjen, who we've seen back there returning kicks throughout the season, super fast, had a couple of jet sweeps, a guy that has got incredible speed, but Cooper Dijon, just the feel of the game that he has. And you saw last week, he's been playing with an injury the last couple of weeks. Cooper has dealing with what would sound like a turf toe injury. This is a separate injury from that that he sustained in practice on, what is it, Wednesday? Yesterday is Wednesday. Yeah, there we go.

Starting point is 00:11:40 Oh, boy. Yeah, they're all running together at this point in time. But that's what we have right now. And that's what it's going to look at next man up, right? It's a mentality that college programs across the country, football teams across the country. Doesn't matter what level it's talked about all the time next man up. And this is going to impact things in a big time way. Look this season, they're a win away from wrapping up the division title. They already have a clinch to share, but that has not clinched a spot in Indianapolis. All it takes is one more win, either this week against Illinois or the following week

Starting point is 00:12:12 on Black Friday against Nebraska. Just takes one. We'd love to get both of them and move to Indianapolis with a 10-2 record. You know, and we were just gaining a little bit of hope after last week's offensive performance and seeing Deacon Hill for the first time look at minimum like a competent quarterback out there and the offense moving around a little bit and you're starting to gain momentum but boy if they could just keep building and this defense keeps improving at the rate that they have throughout the course of the season maybe it can hang around in that championship game and something goofy happen without Cooper

Starting point is 00:12:42 it just makes it that much more difficult. A season for Iowa football, where you lose, well, before the year even begins, you have the gambling investigation that lingered throughout all the spring, late spring into the summer. And we waited and we waited and we finally got some answers. And right before big time media day, Noah Shannon, he opts out. And ultimately Noah Shannon looked like he's going to be gone for the year that he got that glimmer of hope that he was going to be able to come back and that ultimately didn't happen so we had that kind of hanging over and then we get to kids day practice the only open practice that we get before the season begins and as it happens we see Cade McNamara go down with the injury and looked to be something that was pretty debilitating it

Starting point is 00:13:24 certainly was through the early portions. And right as maybe he's starting to get back, he tears his ACL and his season comes to a close. He got the injury to Luke Lachey, then the injury to Eric Gall, a banged up offensive line throughout the course of the season. Caleb Brown, you get this Ohio State transfer, right? Then he gets a little tired and he's out for a game. And then he comes roaring back this year. You have the running back situation that's been so odd. I,

Starting point is 00:13:51 among others, thought that this was going to be a breakout season for Caleb Johnson at the running back spot. And that has not come to fruition. And now he's battling for those second team carries with Jazzy on Patterson. You have a defense that looked, for Iowa standards, very average early in the season. And with all this and all these injuries piling up, it's something that you couldn't think of. And they still have a shot. We said this back when Brian Ferentz was fired. And there's another angle to throw.

Starting point is 00:14:19 And it's easy. You throw the script in front of some Hollywood writer. All right, this is not reality. There's no way things like this actually happen in the real world. Well, we're living it, right? We're living it, Hawkeye fans, at this point in time. But as you go through and you look back, one thing that I mentioned about Kirk Behrens and when he is at his best is moments like this, when circumstances are difficult, when things look as bad as they can look for the program, for the team, for an individual, whatever it may be, those are the

Starting point is 00:14:50 time that Kirk Ferentz coach teams. They fight back. You know, they don't just go and sit in the corner and duck their head. Now they come back swinging. It's going to be tough and it's going to be even more difficult. But I believe in Phil Parker. I believe in Kirk Ferentz in these kind of moments. Brett Bielema would like nothing more than to come into Iowa City and get a victory, get his team bowl eligible, and keep a glimmer of hope alive for them to get to the Big Ten championship game. He would like nothing more.

Starting point is 00:15:21 Look, he loves being a Hawkeye. The importance of that, he's's coaching Illinois and he was not able to be there two years ago when Illinois came to Kinnick Stadium for the first time him as an Illinois coach he was sidelined I believe with COVID right at the time his team played really well and it took Charlie Jones making a couple of big plays in the return game for Iowa to turn around and get the victory in that one his team's's going to be ready to go. And regardless if it's Altmeier, it doesn't matter what they're going to do at the quarterback position. This is a team that is moving it very, very well. You lose Cooper Dijon. You lose the Tim Dwight for a generation or the Chuck Long

Starting point is 00:15:59 or for the old people, the Niall Kinnick and Randy Duncan and go on and on and on. He was the guy. I mean, how many number three jerseys do you see each and every week in the stands at Kinnick Stadium? But the opportunity is still there. And though it's going to suck and it's going to be senior day and Cooper, though he's just a junior, are they going to do something maybe to announce him? Noah Shannon, I think definitely deserves some recognition as his season was not able to get off the ground, even though it felt like for a couple weeks that that was going to be a possibility

Starting point is 00:16:29 that he was going to be able to play in these final three or four games. That didn't come to fruition. Senior days are always really emotional for the players, for the coaches. We know Kirk's an emotional guy. But Iowa's been playing their best football over the last five years in November. Though this is tough. And it's an Illinois team that has not played as well as many people believed.

Starting point is 00:16:51 Another big defensive tackle. Big Johnny is as quick and as athletic as any defensive tackle, maybe in all college football. That's not overstating things. This dude is an absolute stud. Chips are stacked against Iowa. I got hope in this team. I have a belief in this team.

Starting point is 00:17:09 Let's see if we can get it done. As mentioned, coming up later, we got you covered here on Lockdown Hawkeyes. Myself and Biz, we'll get together. We'll talk a little Iowa football, take a look back at what we saw against Rutgers. Is there hope for this offense to really continue to take steps forward?

Starting point is 00:17:24 It feels like it's even more important now than it was just, let's see here, about 12 hours ago before the news started to come down on Iowa football and the injury to Cooper DeGene. We'll talk about that. We'll talk some basketball. We'll make our picks of the week. Hey, don't forget, Locked On has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube.

Starting point is 00:17:45 Locked On Sports Today is here for you 24-7, covering the top sports stories of the day with local experts of Locked On, plus our national shows covering every league. Go to Locked On Sports Today on YouTube. That's Locked On Sports Today on YouTube. And subscribe to the first ever National Sports 24-7 streaming channel. Full episode coming in your feed a little bit later today. The big news, though, deserved its own podcast,

Starting point is 00:18:13 and that is Cooper DeGene seeing his season and likely his Hawkeye career coming to a close. Thanks for making Locked on Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We'll talk to you again later. Go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - BONUS EPISODE: Hawkeye cornerback Cooper DeJean's Season is Over

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