Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Does Iowa Football need to change its running game philosophy? And Brian Ferentz speaks later today

Episode Date: April 20, 2023

Trent Condon and LeShun Daniels are back together for the latest Locked on Hawkeyes Podcas.tDoes Iowa Football need to change its running game philosophy? What is the end of spring practice like for Iowa Hawkeye football players? And Brian Ferentz speaks later today. We break it all down.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Iowa's offense, it's been a spring conversation throughout. Cut blocking, it's even more difficult today than it has been before. Is Iowa working upstream? Should they change their philosophy today on Locked on Hawkeyes? Our Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Trent Condon. He's LaShawn Daniels.

And this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked on Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Well, big thank you to everybody for joining us on the podcast side of things. Also on YouTube, hit that subscribe button while you're there. Five-star reviews if you're on the podcast side helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. LaShawn, good to talk to you again a week away

as we inch our way towards the open practice later this afternoon. We'll get to hear from the coordinators, including Brian Ferencz for the first time since his restructured contract. So we've got a busy time going on right now. How are things going for you? Good, good. Everything's good. You know, a bunch of, you know,

fun family stuff happening over the past few weeks and next few weeks, which has been fun. And then a lot of a lot of hard work stuff at at work so um it's been good been good so we can't really complain on this side of things well i want to talk a little bit about offensive philosophy and leshawn this is a conversation we've had plenty here going back to last season and the run game that just has not worked very well for iowa here certainly recently as what we see now a lot of that is offensive line play has not been up to par,

but also a piece of this has been the evolution and for all intents and purposes, the taking away of cup blocking in college football, where anymore you can't do it. And saw a story earlier this week, Army. You think Army-Navy games and you think of what Army does year after year, that's running the triple option. Well, in order to do that, you have to be able to cut block. They can't anymore. For all intents and purposes in college football, that has been completely taken away.

It is dangerous. And even the way that Iowa does in their philosophy, there's still plenty of injuries that happen. And the college administrators have worked to get away from that and try to keep guys as healthy as possible. Well, this hurt. And now Army is going to be running still option but they're going to be doing it out of a shotgun and doing it just a different way and they think that is their best way to be able to compete i leave that into our conversation about

this iowa offensive philosophy and we've talked about it plenty that we have seen them move away it's not zone blocking all the time like it was in the past there is a lot more hat on hat old school blocking if you will, that they do. But when you see a story like this, a place like Army that basically has to completely change what they're doing offensively, are we getting closer to the point where zone blocking in college? You can still do it in the NFL, but in college, maybe Iowa needs to completely rethink even doing it 50% of the time, it 50 of the time 40 of the time

whatever it is because we see teams just can't do it at the same level anymore yeah it's it's very interesting um obviously in nfl uh it's practically every single team is going to run you know they're they're going to have their zone runs it's very very common in the nfl um you know especially here living out in chicago suburbs watching the bears have their zone runs. It's very, very common in the NFL, you know, especially here living out in Chicago suburbs, watching the Bears. They run zone runs all the time. And obviously it helps when you have the type of athletes like Lyman that you typically have in the NFL to be able to get on those guys and move them the way you need to move them without having to cut block. But even in the NFL, you can still cut block like within the box and now when you get into calls football and you kind of you take that away not only do you not have the type of offensive lineman you're going to have you typically have on an nfl roster even if you have um you know a superstar offensive lineman um offensive line

plays it's a group thing um and then when you take away the fact that they can't cut block especially like on the backsides of those runs um it can make it a lot more difficult so like when you think of so inside zone um running scheme there's not really cut blocking um too much of at all unless you know you have a tight end who's sealing on the back side or you have a fullback that's sealing on the back side and coming backwards to to to cut the defensive end. But if those guys aren't involved in the play, typically you're not going to cut on inside zone. So inside zone is typically going to be left alone. But where the issue comes is an outside zone runs. And we know that Iowa has done it a bunch.

I mean, we ran it a bunch when I was there. And I know that before I was there, they ran it a ton. bunch when I was there and I know that before I was there they they ran it a ton and obviously over the past few years haven't been able to really get into it as much um as probably that that they would like to I mean I can think back even in my senior year like we started having to go away from a little bit because I remember I had a long touchdown run against Rutgers to start off the second half and Ike got called for a block below the waist on a cup block. I remember Coach Ferentz was just going off on the sideline while the refs about it. But that's when they really started calling it,

and we started kind of going away from that. Because the reason why you want to do that is because when you think of outside zone, you want to get guys running, right? You want to get the defense kind of moving side to side side it's not as vertical as your inside zone play so you'll do that you got to run and you know those defensive linemen those are fast guys um very athletic and so typically sometimes the only way that your backside offensive lineman is going to be able to cut off um you know a shade or a or a person that has inside leverage is by trying to run and just getting a cut block

out there and the fact that they take that away um makes it much more difficult for those linemen to be able to get those blocks and and get that hat and be able to get them moved and get them displaced which then makes it difficult on the running backs where now like i've just got to keep running to the sideline because if i try to cut back or stick my funding around, those guys, the defenders are going to be right there. And so I'm going to have to either hopefully if it hits quick enough, you know, you can run through an arm tackle. A lot of times, you know, it just doesn't. So, yeah, it's definitely something that you're obviously going to have to adjust the way you coach it a bunch, which they've been doing. But also, obviously, you've got to start involving a lot more runs like you can't just

go ahead and give everyone the same look um that we've typically done in the past just because the events will will anticipate it and they're going to anticipate um you know those steps from offensive linemen and be able to flow and get in front of everything um so you can't get that hat on the hat um you can't get those guys kind of moving through um out the different gaps that you want them to be and then the running backs can't stick their foot in the ground and be able to get vertical get a field um and i feel like that was something that we saw a bunch um last year but even when um tyler was a running back a couple years ago like we know how his ability as a runner was right.

He was definitely a person I wanted to get out in space, but the fact that they couldn't really cut down that, that backside and get those backside defenders, right. It made it difficult, more difficult for him to be able to create some of those explosive plays. So yeah, there's a lot of things that's going to have to come with it. So he changed some of the philosophies that, that I was typically been used to.

But I think that, you know, they've got a good coaching staff there. Coach Ferentz and staff, they know what they're doing. But sometimes they will just have to obviously look inward and say, like, okay, just how the rules are going. We can't run this as much.'s let's get back into running some powers let's get back into running um you know some counter plays which we saw a lot more this year than we've typically seen in the past and i um will anticipate that we'll probably start seeing that a little bit more um uh as some of the years go on so one other thing that i find interesting so looking at the roster here this spring,

you only have two fullbacks. And one of those, the anticipated starter, Eli Miller, a walk-on from Colorado, he tore his ACL. He's out for this year. So they only have one listed. Maybe they'll move a guy over from linebacker. I mean, that kind of makes the most sense. Or can he find a backup offensive lineman? He kind of have that supersized guy.

Or is this telling us without telling us that Iowa potentially is moving away from the fullback? And maybe this conversation that we're having right now, LaShawn, is a big part of that understanding. And he mentioned, you know, the backside with the fullback and what they have to do blocking and those kind of things that they're understanding, too. Hey, this is antiquated. We have to move away. We have to evolve. that they're understating too hey this is antiquated we have to move away we have to evolve and with it the fullback not completely gone but if he plays it's going to be maybe a half dozen snaps it's goal line and that's about it yeah um you know it's it's a little frustrating

to see you know the how much the fullback is really kind of going away from from football and you know a lot of times now obviously the fullbacks they they're with the tight ends now and and they spend a bunch of time with them um but you know there's they they've really kind of gone away from that from that true fullback now and the fact the matter is you can't block a lot of the runs uh as you've been able to in the past i mean like you know you think of like a stretch run on outside the box and you get a fullback out lean in front of you and, you know, you go and they cut a DB down or whatever, right?

Like that, like a bunch of that stuff. You just, you know, you just, you can't do, do. And the way that football is going, it's a lot of spreading people out. You know, there's not as much as that kind of ground and pound and, you know, eight guys in the box, you know, 10 guys on the line, scrimmage, all that stuff, type of run of football. And, you know, that trend has even been in the NFL. I mean, a bunch of teams that do carry fullbacks.

I mean, their fullbacks, they do a bunch of other things. I mean, a team that you see a bunch of 49ers and kyle juchek obviously he's a fullback but he's basically a tight end right they they split him out um a bunch they'll put him in the backfield as a running back he's not just a fullback so i feel like just kind of moving forward um you know especially as the fullbacks work more and more with the tight ends um obviously monte uh worked a bunch with them. There were times where he'd be lined up at tight end. So to be able to have that ability is really the only way that fullbacks,

if you are a fullback and you're obviously playing football, college football, professional football, that you've got to be able to have that tight end ability. And just the way they half football is going now, I mean, it really is almost like the death of a fullback. So that's why whenever you do see a fullback in there and you see them get a great block or, you know, they get a carry and they get a nice run, like it's always good to see.

But yeah, I mean, that's just the way football's moving. We are just a couple of days away from the open practice. No longer a spring game. Those weren't around when LaShawn played. Haven't been around for a couple of days away from the open practice. No longer a spring game. Those weren't around when LaShawn played. Haven't been around for a couple of decades in Iowa City. But what's it like for the end of the tunnel as you make your way out for the spring practice? We'll talk about that with LaShawn as we continue here on Locked on Hawkeyes. Today's episode is brought to you by Built.

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at built.com. Trey Connolly, Sean Daniels, back with you on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. All right. Couple minutes left with LaShawn and let's get into spring. The last one, this last practice, it's an open practice. You get a couple thousand people that make their way into Kinnick.

They can't tailgate. So that frustrates people like me. So then you got to just sneak a beer or two before. Don't tell anybody. That's what I like to do. But for you guys, you get to the end. It's coming down. When you're a veteran, I'm sure it's a lot different than when you're trying to make your mark in the Iowa program.

But what these last couple of days are, the grind, the 15 practices. And I mean, is there any anticipation for the open practice at the end? Or is it just another practice? It really just ends up being another practice um like when you're a vet you're just happy that it's like you're like it's the last day you're just so you're so happy about you're like finally like it's over um but yeah i mean it's really just like another practice and like as a vet like you're not you're not really getting that much work like you'll get you'll get um you

know a little bit of work obviously just you know being in that environment having a crowd um but a lot of this a lot of the time is going to be spent focused on some of the developmental guys and some of the guys who are obviously trying to continue to make their mark um because at this point in time we've already had multiple scrimmages we've already gone um you know heads banging for you know two hours out there out of practice so um and obviously at this point in time you don't want to uh put any of your guys who you anticipate or who are going to be uh you know big time players for you in the fall you don't want to put them in harm's way so you obviously uh yeah it's a you're you're pumped that it's the last day of practice that aren't really going to

get that much work and you you will early like um i think i'm trying to think like my last couple years like we had like we'll like we would do like a quick like nine on seven like a quick seven on seven and then like we would run like a quarter of work but really it wasn't even like a quarter of work it was it really was like 10 plays which is which is which would be like barely uh a full set in um and like a regular practice so like uh there's not a lot of work that goes into it but this is an opportunity though for you know some of those young guys to to get out there in front of a crowd um show what they can do not only to to the coaches and your teammates in that environment but also to the fans and we know that you know being a fan favorite's definitely definitely fun

um you know early on but obviously you you want to continue to make an impression and each one of those practices for a young guy are, are a big deal. So, well, we know coach Ference is not known for pregame speeches. Last thing for you, LaShawn, does he even say anything before spring practice or like,

let's just go work? No, he doesn't say, he doesn't really say anything. Like we'll have, I don't even know. I'm trying to think like we'll have like, we'll have like a quick team meeting.

We'll, we'll break out like quick. Like, I mean, coach Ference, obviously he have, like, a quick team meeting. We'll break out, like, quick. Like, I mean, Coach Reinhardt, obviously, he'll tell us, obviously, go out there, play hard, be smart to your teammates, notice you don't do anything dumb. He'll go ahead and let them out there. Yeah, yeah. Then we'll break up into, like, position groups.

Your coach will tell you, like, how much anticipate you're going to play. Obviously, if you play really well to start, they'll pull you out early and get some of the other guys in and whatnot. There's not really too much that's going on to it. It's just, again, it's going to be another practice. It's another opportunity to get better and really just continue to focusing on a lot of development on some of those younger guys at this point in time

in the spring prep. Awesome. Hey, LaShawn, I know you got to bounce. You got to get back to work. I'll wrap things up and we'll talk to you again next week. Yes, yes, sir. Go Hawks. That's LaShawn Daniels joining us as he does here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.

Great stuff from him and always appreciate the time from LaShawn Daniels joining us as he does here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Great stuff from him and always appreciate the time from LaShawn. Well, when we come back, it is press conference day. We will hear from the coordinators. Yeah, we're going to preview a press conference. First time we actually get to hear from Brian Ferentz since his contract was changed. Of course, the 25-point stipulation was put in there as well. What are we going to hear later today? That's coming up on Locked On Hawkeyes.

Trent Conant back with you one final time on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Well, every day or tomorrow, you are going to get something. Yes, and we will hear from Brian Ferentz coming up along with Phil Parker and LeVar Woods. We'll hear from all the coordinators, offense defense and special teams. We'll talk about that. And you can anticipate, I will have plenty of reactions. So what are we going to hear?

What are we going to hear later this afternoon? And I understand that there's excitement. People want to get pumped up about it, right? You want to see what he's going to say. Is any of the beat writers going to have a gotcha moment? And look, you're not going to get much. I don't think we're going to get any fireworks. We're not going to have a pound the table kind of thing, anything like that. The lecture from Brian Ferencz, that's not what it's going to be. The media members, remember, they have a job. And I know us as fans. And I still, yes, though I'm technically part of the media,

I host daily radio show and do what we do here on the podcast side of things I'm still a fan more than what the beat writers have to be because they have that working relationship and that's what it is though they are not employed by the university though they have to be the ones that work to get the answers to the questions that we as fans ultimately want, it still has to be a working relationship. And you're not going to hear Tom Caker or David Eichold or Scott Dockerman or Chad Leistico or on and on and on. You're not going to hear those guys go out there.

This is not going to be like, what's the movie? What am I thinking of? The Colonel Jessup, right? We're not going to get that. You want the truth. You can't handle the truth. We're not going to get those kinds of things. That's not what this is.

It's not the way that this is going to go. It has to be a working relationship. And if you go full throttle, you go after a coach, well, unfortunately, there's going to be repercussions for that, be it even if you are not taken off the beat. Still, what kind of response are you going to get when you're trying to get answers to questions? So I think we all have to realize that that's not going to happen.

They're going to ask when you're trying to get answers to questions. So I think we all have to realize that that's not going to happen. They're going to ask tough questions. They're not going to ask it. And maybe the pointed way that you want, Hey, Brian, why does your offense suck? That's not what you're going to get. But what you're going to get is why has it struggled? What have you done to change? And we probably won't like the answers, but that is the reality. We'll have a full breakdown for you every day.

There's coming up tomorrow on Lockdown Hawkeyes. Earlier this week, we heard from Brevin Dahl. Big appreciation to Brevin for joining us here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Hey, if you like that as well, if you like hearing from the recruits after their commitment, let me know in the comments section on YouTube,

or you can hit me up on Twitter at TrentCon. And if that's something that you like, we'll work to do more of that here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast feed. We'll get more of those people out there if that's something that you like, we'll work to do more of that here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast feed. We'll get more of those people out there if that's something that you enjoyed. Hey, we're working for you and making this better for everybody out there. That does it for today

on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Reaction coming your way. That'll be in your feed early Friday morning. We'll get that out to you right away and get you up to date on everything we hear today from Brian Ferencz, from Phil Parker, from LeVar Woods, a breakdown of the press conferences, and then get ready for Saturday and the open practice in Kinnick Stadium. That does it for today. Thanks for joining us on Lockdown Hawkeyes each and every day. Your team every day. That's what we do on

the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.