Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - DOMINANCE: Iowa’s Jeremy Hecklinski SEIZES QB Lead, Hank Brown Faces FAN SCRUTINY

Starting point is 00:00:01 Kids Day delivered a quarterback statement from Jeremy Hecklinsky, who dominated the competition and outplayed Hank Brown. The performance puts Hecklinsky firmly in the conversation to become Iowa starting quarterback. 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 Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. Today's episode is brought you by Fanduel. Join all the action at fanduel.com to play daily dingers

Starting point is 00:00:44 to make your free pick on who's hitting Homer this MLB season. Coming up today, we're going to hear from a couple of the Iowa players from Friday's Iowa Football Media Day. We're going to hear from Jerry at Bowie, who we've been talking about a ton over the last week. He showed up in a big-time wait at Kids Day and adding to that depth of the wide receiver room, we'll hear from him.

Starting point is 00:01:04 The big question mark for this Iowa team remains inside that defensive tackle. We'll hear from one of the guys anticipated to be a starter, Will Hubert. One of the lone seniors that are around inside this program. We're going to talk about kids' day performances. We're going to go through all the position groups and talk about it. Defense may be a little bit more concerning. We'll get into that a little bit later on. But we begin with the big storyline.

Starting point is 00:01:27 And that, of course, is a battle for who is going to be the starting quarterback for the Hawkeyes this year. We go back to a season ago. After the performance against Indiana, Mark Grinowski goes down with an injury, and it was touching go. If Gernowski was going to be able to go, they had a buy week before they faced off against Wisconsin. He was able to make his way back and, of course, start the rest of the season. But in the interim, in the backup role, Jeremy Higglinsky was listed as a backup quarterback

Starting point is 00:01:54 and was the backup for the rest of the season moving ahead of Hank Brown. We went into the spring anticipating it was going to be a battle. Glinsky was going to be the guy. And then afterwards and throughout this summer, it felt like Hank Brown was maybe gaining a little bit of momentum. But I will tell you firsthand, being there on Saturday, watching the performance myself, I'm sure you've all seen the numbers. And the numbers definitely paint a picture of what a big blowout this was in one practice. It is one practice. And that's going to be the caveat that's going to be out there. That is what Kurt France talked about after the game that, yes, this is going to be something that it was one and I

Starting point is 00:02:32 at that point. Yes, Jeremy Hecklinski outplayed Hank Brown, but it had been very close here throughout camp. So the numbers from Saturday are this. Hank Brown goes 9 of 21, 42 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions. Now, did scramble pretty well and moved around. And I think also leads to what we've talked about here. This is a guy that has probably a little bit more athleticism than people give him credit for a guy that can move a little bit better. Hecklinsky, on the other hand, a smaller guy and you think of kind of that shiftiness that goes along with it. Hecklinsky, though, this is what he did.

Starting point is 00:03:05 Jeremy Hecklinsky, 17 of 25, 205 yards, five touchdowns, no picks. Five touchdowns. Now, they were moving the ball around. It was not a typical game or anything like that, but both these guys had opportunities. Both these guys played with the ones, played with the twos, went back and forth.

Starting point is 00:03:22 We're playing against the number one defense, playing against the number two defense. It was pretty even. In fact, Hank Brown was the one that tried it out there first when they started to go through the reps and go through live action. And it was Hank Brown initially. Jeremy Higglinsky, his first couple of throws, look brutal himself. He looked just awful on both of those throws.

Starting point is 00:03:40 And then after that, obviously, definitely a zeroed in, beautiful touchdown to Evan James, dropped into the bucket to DJ Vonami, who I had two touchdowns and looked just absolutely outstanding out there at the tight end position. We'll get into the other position groups as well in this one. But this is about as definitive of a statement as anybody can use. And yes, one of 20 practices that they're going to have leading into the opener against Northern Illinois. Though Kirk says that this is something that I maintain really for the last few weeks. And as I've gone through and talked about this throughout the course of the summer,

Starting point is 00:04:14 and every dayers, you definitely have heard my statement on this before. Because of what happened in Indiana, the Indiana game in the fourth quarter, and really the screen pass that was missed, there is already a public sentiment that is against Hank Brown as the starting quarterback. People have memories and people remember that. And now you throw on top of their memories this performance. And the only time that we're going to have an opportunity to see both of these guys, fair or not, that is what is happening with the fan base, with the people that are covering the team

Starting point is 00:04:47 because we don't get opportunities outside of that one practice. And though there are other programs, I know Wisconsin for a number of years, all their practice. We're open. USC, I think, is a similar realm. Our guy Mark out there with Lockdown Trojans. He has an opportunity to see it all the time. When he wanted to go to practice, he can go to practice and break things down there.

Starting point is 00:05:06 We don't. This is what we get. And now with the public sentiment, coupled with what we have seen at different times, there is an element of Hank Brown. You go back to his days at Auburn. Look very good against iffy competition. But in an SEC game against a pretty average Arkansas team, team, he struggled through three interceptions and a half, and that was it for Hank Brown at

Starting point is 00:05:27 Auburn. Now he comes to Iowa City. Our first time that we get to see him an extended time, he struggled against Indiana, though he made a couple of throws overall. There's the elements to his game that remind you of some of the frustrating quarterbacks for Iowa. And one thing that definitely jumps out, and I went last week and went back and watched the fourth quarter of the Iowa Indiana game. And it is the pocket presence. Is that something that can be taught? Is that something innate? You can improve, but how much improvement can you make? And I see a lot of the similar things with some of the frustrating quarterbacks of the past at Iowa

Starting point is 00:06:00 as it pertains to pocket presence. He just doesn't have it at the same level, where Jeremy Hecklinsky feels like he has that innate ability. It's not something you can measure. There's no stat to measure how good your pocket presence is. You just know what when you see it. And when you watch Jeremy Hecklinsky in comparison to Hank Brown, it shows up in a big time way. Now, that doesn't mean anything to the people inside the football offices.

Starting point is 00:06:28 If it is Hank Brown that they believe gives them the best chance, they're going to go with him. They're going to give him the job if they truly believe, even with these two things now stacked against Hank Brown inside the fans' minds, that's not going to matter to Kurt Ferrence and Tim Lester and the rest of the staff. What's going to matter is what they believe is the best guy to win them football games. But boy, this is a long. long, long road back for Hank Brown.

Starting point is 00:06:53 And the other problem that I see, and I mentioned this last week, is if you do start Hank Brown, because of this negativity, because of this scar tissue that is building up already inside the Iowa fan base, if you go out there and you play Hank Brown right away and it doesn't go well, people are going to boo. People are going to freak out. The first third and six pass got a guy open across the middle

Starting point is 00:07:16 and he overshoots him. Boo. A couple of possessions later, he goes down, throws a pick. Those booze are going to get louder. And is that how you want to start off your season? Do you want to start off in that realm? You might have concerns about Jeremy Hecklinski and his ability at 5-10, 200 pounds, to be able to 185 pounds, to be able to hold up and withstand throughout the course of the season.

Starting point is 00:07:41 It's a valid concern. Quarterbacks of that stature playing in the Big Ten, you definitely could have that in the back of your mind. But it's a lot easier to go from Heklinsky to Brown than vice versa. Because of that, because of the negativity that is going to be there. It wasn't just quarterback, though, that we saw on Saturday at Kids Day. It was a great day for the offense overall. Jeremy Hecklinski, five touchdown passes something unheard of at a Kids Day practice.

Starting point is 00:08:09 Normally, it is the defense dominating. Does that mean that the defense has question marks? Oh, we got some question marks there. We're going to get into the other position groups. running back, tight end, offensive line, all the way across the defense. And special teams, the great equalizer for Iowa football, didn't look very special on Saturday. That's all next as we continue. Stay right there.

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Starting point is 00:09:28 Available now online at five-hourenergy.com or on Amazon. That's five-hour energy. Dotrink on it back with you once again here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We are your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. So we're going to rip through the position groups here and talk a little bit about each of them.

Starting point is 00:09:55 A couple of takeaways from Saturday. at Kids Day starting at running back. Didn't see a ton of Kamari Moulton, but he looks like Camari Bolton. Looks like the guy we saw a season ago, a very good, solid Big Ten back. You definitely know what you have in Bolton. But L.J. Phillips, he looks the part. And when they went live and got the opportunity to kind of run through things,

Starting point is 00:10:13 he is a physical back. And though he lost weight since he's got to Iowa City, down to about 211 pounds. He was up in that 225 range when he showed up. You can see the way that he plays. There's a physicality to him. Guy ran for 2,000 yards a year ago. I don't care if it came in the FCS.

Starting point is 00:10:29 I don't care that it was in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. That dude, he can run the football. And behind this offensive line, I think you're going to see a ton of LJ Phillips again this year. We talked about it a lot. Nathan McNeil, he just looks different. He glides. He's got a different kind of gear to him. So smooth out there.

Starting point is 00:10:46 And he wondered about a package with him a little bit more, maybe being used in the third down. Those are the guys that definitely stood out at the running back spot. over two wide receiver. We have talked a bunch about Tony Diaz. He's been a little bit banged up again here during camp dealing with the bone bruise. But overall, you can see it. There's some juice to his game, definitely. The guy that came up a couple of times on Friday. If you listened over the weekend, you heard me talk about talking to the coaches over at Media Day on Friday, both with John Budmeyer and Tim Lester. Both of them just brought up Evan James and his speed. That speed element, something that they desperately needed in the wide receiver ranks, Definitely shows up with Evan James. You saw it a couple of different times on Saturday. He's going to be used. He's going to be a part of the rotation. Jerry Bowie again performed.

Starting point is 00:11:35 He came up with a great play on the sideline. Had a couple of other catches later on in practice. I think it was three catches, 61 yards of memory serves for him during practice. He's going to be part of the rotation. You know Reese Vander Z. You know Dayton Howard. Are they going to be able to hold things off there?

Starting point is 00:11:50 But those are some guys that showed up. I thought Brody Schaefer, true freshman that came in. He definitely popped a couple of different times. A lot of excitement about him, what he potentially could be. Some ridiculous athleticism being thrown out. I definitely like that front. And a deep wide receiver room. I don't think this is fake.

Starting point is 00:12:07 I think it's real this year. Iowa actually has wide receivers. Over to tight end and talked about it, DJ Vonami was ridiculous. The athleticism, the ability to just understand what he's doing. Talk to DJ on Friday. and I'm going to bring that to you later this week. One thing he talked about, he was a quarterback at high school and how that helps him at the tight end position,

Starting point is 00:12:31 understanding even the times that you're open, you know, with a quarterback, he's not actually open, those kind of things. So DJ really, really talented. We know that. And this room is absolutely stacked up. Tight ends, it is gone year after year after year. We feel normally pretty solid about the tight end play.

Starting point is 00:12:48 This one, though, is ridiculous. Thomas Meyer, the dude is absolutely huge. He can move. He's got some good versatility to his game to go along with the size. Michael Burt, I thought, showed up a couple of different times with his blocking. He got Addison Estrangea back in. And there was a play where he was lined up in the slot on the left slot in a formation. They tried to hit him in kind of a wheel route coming out the backside of there,

Starting point is 00:13:10 lumbering a little bit, still getting that athleticism back coming off in Achilles' tear. You'd anticipate that. But you have Estranga. Zach Ortworth is another guy that we've seen glimpses of in the past. And then the young guys that are there, too. tight end just a ridiculously deep position for this Iowa Hawkeye team. But it matters if you don't have an offensive line, and I think they have an offensive line. Now, we saw Peeper play some center initially.

Starting point is 00:13:34 Then it was a bunch of Kail Winter, and I think that's what it's going to be. Kail Winter is going to be the guy at center. You know, there's a lot that is asked at that center position. And it's not just snapping the football, all the line calls that go out there, all the understanding that goes into it. And for different guys, it just, it doesn't always click. and maybe that's case for Kate Piper. He can go on and he can be a great guard in the NFL and I definitely think that's going to be the case for him.

Starting point is 00:13:58 Just not translating maybe at this moment and too much thinking a lot of times is a problem. You saw that with Logan Jones in his first year. Logan Jones had that issue. You could see the big mauling blocks that he would make and some highlight real blocks that he'd have to the center position. But there were snapping gaps and there were times that you can tell this is a guy that was just thinking too much.

Starting point is 00:14:19 I wonder if that's the issue with, Cade Peeper. If you have a line, though, with Trevor Loughke, preseasoned All-American a left tackle. Layton Jones, who was excellent last year at left guard when he came in because of injuries. A center in Kiel Winter that at minimum is going to be, you think, adequate and a chance to be better than that. And All-American Guard there in Cade Piper, and then Jack Dotsler, who was fighting for that job a year ago at left tackle with Trevor Loutk, and it came down to the wire. In fact, both those guys played a lot early in the season before Lauk definitely settled in and put together an incredible season.

Starting point is 00:14:51 That's a really good offensive line. And then you also have depth. You have Michael Meslinski, who's been around forever. Now just needs to have a healthy season. He's going to be solid in your swing guy. He can be a center. He can be a guard. You have Piper that you can move inside.

Starting point is 00:15:05 Back up like a Lucas Allgaier, who is probably your swing guy at the tackle spot. Maybe going to play a lot more, though, inside this year at the guard sis. And we'll see if there's some kind of rotation to get Allgaier and his feet wet just a little bit. They got Trent Wilson that came in from the portal from James Madison. He's still learning there, but there is some depth and then a ton of young guys that continue to develop on that offensive line.

Starting point is 00:15:29 Coach Barnett has done a great job of rebuilding that thing and keep it flowing on the offensive line. So that's a look at the offense over to the defense now. Let's go here. Let's go backwards to forward because I think you know where I'm going to go. Defense of backfield was without a couple of starters. Zach Lutmer was out there a little bit, but not a ton. really didn't play a lot out there. We talked about it earlier this week.

Starting point is 00:15:53 Tyler Brown has been out with an injury. He said it's not major, it's not minor. Doesn't sound great, but the anticipation is he's going to be all right and ready to go for the start of the season, but it is missing some valuable practice time as he goes through things. They definitely feel confident, though, and Coach Ferrence mentioned that he looked really good in the spring. They know what they have in Tyler Brown.

Starting point is 00:16:13 But that has been that Anthony Hawkins, the 6'3 safety from Villanova has got an opportunity himself, to be out there and working a little bit more. And at that size, you saw it show it up a couple of times on Saturday. There was a play in the end zone on a pass from Brown. He was able to deflect away. He likes to play with some physicality. And I know this is something our friend David Eichold from Hawkeye Insider,

Starting point is 00:16:35 as mentioned before, and I really like the take on this one, if Anthony Hawkins is able to prove that he's good enough to be one of your starting safeties, you feel good about Brown, you feel good about Hawkins, and then he could put Zach Lutmer back at the cash position. He's such a playmaker playing up on that line, the way that it is, does that improve things overall? As we talk about the offensive line, always trying to find the right five guys. Maybe it's the same thing here, as opposed to having Jacob Wallace, a smaller type of guy at the cash position. Instead, you have a bigger guy in Zach Lutmer coupled with the new transfers that come in at the safety position.

Starting point is 00:17:12 Just something to keep an eye on and something that I'm definitely intrigued to think what that could look like. if they go that direction. A couple other things on the defense. Defensive backfield looked all right, not elite by any means, but I just believe in Phil Parker so much. Playing with, you know, Lutmer not out there, two of your starters, not in your defensive backfield. I'm not going to freak out, and it's Phil Parker.

Starting point is 00:17:36 We just go back to that. Cam Buffington, he got beat on one of the Vonami touchdowns. You saw the 33 running behind him and two guys that are ridiculously athletic. Still, I thought Buffington, I looked pretty solid out there. You got Jane Montgomery outside. They're going to be good. Van Kekricks, when they went 4-3, the veteran special teamer, he was out there a ton.

Starting point is 00:17:55 Also got to see a little bit of Derek Weisskopf, who is out there in some 4-3 packages. Also, they got a bunch of dudes. And a lot of depth at that linebacker spot. Another position, I just don't think you have to be overly concerned about where the concern lies on the defense. Stop if you've heard it before. It is at defensive tackle. and inside they started. Bryce Hawthorne looked all right.

Starting point is 00:18:17 Will Hubert, who looked solid, both those guys, but just the lack of deck. Now, they were also playing without a few guys. Kenneth Meriweather did not practice at the defensive end spot, so you have that component. That meant that we saw Drew Campbell out there, who definitely looked athletic. I thought he overran things a couple of times, broke and Tane a couple of times that Hank Brown was able to get out and around him two different times throughout the course of the ball game. and the strength, I guess, of Hank Brown came with his legs as opposed to his arms in this one. Still, Drew Campbell, you can see light bulbs starting to come on.

Starting point is 00:18:50 Same thing for Yosea, Yopinessa. And I heard this on Saturday, or Friday, I guess it was over at Media Day, is somebody brought Yosey aside and just reminded him, you're going up against an All-American left tackle every single day in Trevor Lauk. It's not going to be as difficult as what it's going to be in a lot of different games throughout the course of this season. so don't get too down on yourself. You can see the light bulb is starting to come on for Yose.

Starting point is 00:19:15 Had a nice pass deflection in the game. So overall, definitely growing there. The Joseph Andersons of the world. So a little bit of Devin Kennedy, still waiting for it to come on. Emmanuel Olajabaju, who we've talked about just looks completely different, defensive tackle. He wasn't out there, too. That's where it is. And, you know, there's two areas of concern for this football team.

Starting point is 00:19:36 And we know that these are two places that they just haven't struggled very often. You go back to 2014 when they had former walk-ons out there at defensive tackle, and it wasn't good. And you do wonder if that's going to be something similar this season. Now, 2014 was an absolute abject disaster of what a season was for them. The last time that Iowa did not have a great year or even a bull eligible year is back in that one. I'm not willing to go there, but defensive tackle is a concern. And special teams also is a concern. The kicking game looked average at best, and that's probably putting it kindly.

Starting point is 00:20:14 I thought both the punters looked both okay, but back to the kicking game, Eli Ozick, who comes in from North Dakota State, he finishes. I think I saw the numbers four of nine. I wasn't charting things as I had my little guy with me. We'll get to that momentarily. But four of nine, Burr was seven to nine, something in that range. But there was also, there was snapping issues, kicking issues, just misses. The punting game was inconsistent. Boston Everett had a absolute thud off the side of the flat like a 20-yarder,

Starting point is 00:20:45 then bounced back with a 55-yard or so the inconsistency out of the freshman. You get that. Philpot was all right, and maybe the consistency wins out in the veteran guy with Tanner Philpott. But nothing that leads you to believe that they're going to be special in terms of the specialist. And then you throw in some bad snaps from the long snapper position and you get a little bit concerned. If Iowa struggles this year, a defensive tackle, and in special teams, you think this team's going to go nine and three? You think they're going to go eight and four? Are they going to make seven and five?

Starting point is 00:21:21 If it's as concerning as it looked on Saturday, that's where I think there are some real, real concerns. Well, I mentioned I was not charting things, and that's because had my little guy with me. My son, Jack, went over to Iowa City. He was pumped up. He called it the best football day that he has ever had. He enjoyed it so much, getting autographs from the players. He was, as he were watching us along on YouTube, had his Brevin doll jersey on.

Starting point is 00:21:46 I've talked about it before, our family connection with the dolls. And then as Brevin was making his way into the stadium, he got his picture with him, as he can see it on YouTube and a big smile on both of their faces, which was great to see. He just thinks it's so cool that he actually knows an Iowa football player. Not going to lie, dad thinks it's pretty cool as well. But really, really fun day. They do a great job.

Starting point is 00:22:05 the autographs, the opportunity. And it was great for dad to be able to sit there and watch a little Iowa football and give you some takeaways from that on Saturday. We're coming back on the other side. Friday was Football Media Day and a couple of interviews you want to hear. I mentioned those big questions, those big concerns that are happening with Iowa football at defensive tackle. Well, I talked about one of the presumed starters, Will Hubert, just about that.

Starting point is 00:22:29 Really good interview with him. Jerry at Bowie, another guy at wide receiver that I've talked about a bunch. Both those guys coming up on the other side as we continue. you stay right there. This is your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast, Locked on Hawkeyes. Baseball fans, if you think you know who's hitting a homer today, Fandall's giving you a free chance to call your shot with Daily Dingers. It's easy to play. Just make your free pick for who you think will hit a home run in their game. If you're right, you'll receive a profit boost to use on your next bed for a chance at extra winnings. Best of all, you can make a free pick

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Starting point is 00:24:08 A couple of player interviews from Friday at Iowa Football Media Day. Let's start things out with Geriot Bowie, the Hawkeye wide receiver. So first question, Ben, talking a little bit about your athleticism. Saw a couple of numbers. I'm not sure if I was supposed to see him or not. But vertical, best on the team? Yeah. I know you and Breve were battling.

Starting point is 00:24:31 Brevard was up there. Did you see his? Yeah. I think he was 43. I got him. I got him. So after last season, really the last year and a half, the injuries, being back out there, just how you feel being back out on the field and feeling healthy out there?

Starting point is 00:24:46 How do I feel out here? It feels amazing, honestly. I give all glory to God. I'm glory to Jesus Christ. You know, he brought me out of the little slump, little injury, whatever is going on, you know. You can't really control that stuff. But now that we're here, you know, I feel great out here. I'm more athletic than before faster, you know, stronger, more physical, more agile, you know. And I'm super stoked, super excited to be out here. And like I said, you know, thanks to Jesus Christ. You have been part of this offense now, seeing the growth here the last couple of years as Tim came in and implemented the new offense. Where you feel you guys are today in the passing game, where you are specifically. I know still figuring out that quarterback spot of it, but when you look at where you were, when you were early in your career to compare to where it is today, just what you think of the passing office.

Starting point is 00:25:30 Just like when I first got here, we've made phenomenal leagues, a phenomenal jump. You know, our passing game is looking real good right now, especially like compliment our running game, you know. You know, obviously our running game doing it. So if we can get guys in that box, when I won matchups, you know, you got Reese Van derby and Howard both like six, six four or six five. Guys you throw it up, you got KJ Parker, Tony Diaz, you know, fast guys, and guys with good hands, you know. Evan James just came in, he's real fast, too.

Starting point is 00:25:59 So, I mean, all the receivers are making plays, you know, check down some running backs, all that work. Everybody's making place. So the passing game is always improved, and it's been the best, you know, since I've been here. last one for you. Now you're a veteran. You're an old guy now. Yeah, I am.

Starting point is 00:26:15 Yes, yeah. So Unk, the three freshmen that have come in. What you've seen out of them, anybody stand out and maybe could help you guys this year? Brody, Isaiah, sticks. Who did you forget? Oh, yeah. What was the question again? Just out of those guys, kind of what you've seen here during camp,

Starting point is 00:26:32 and maybe a guy that could help you guys out this season. Honestly, they've all done a great job. Especially the type of offensive. have NFL, Shanahan-type offense. For them guys to come in and just all be able to pick up the plays so quickly and be, like, intent with what they're doing and in the playbook. Coming out here and running out, you know, we were helping them out at first. But, you know, we let them fly and they started flying.

Starting point is 00:26:59 So they're all doing a great job. You know, sticks, you know, I got to give some props to sticks. Maybe I'm biased because he's from Florida, you know. But, Zay, too, Zay from Florida. I got to get them all props. Brody and Isaiah, they all came, they all got in that film and that playbook, and they're all working so well. I'm proud of them.

Starting point is 00:27:19 Thank you. Jerry at Bowie right there, the Hawkeye wide receiver in his third year and a healthy year. I think you're going to see a guy that's going to have a surprise performance and call my shot on that one. Well, there's also questions at defensive tackle coming up this year. Will Hubert, the fifth-year player, former walk-on with the program. Some thoughts on that defensive tackle. spot and why maybe it shouldn't be as concerned.

Starting point is 00:27:43 Will, I'm sure you probably heard it if you read any articles on Iowa football or listen to anything. Defensive tackle seems to be the biggest kind of question mark that people on the outside are bringing up. What would you say to those people? What would you say to people that say that's going to be a sore spot for Iowa football this year? Yeah, I know that we, I know where they're coming from.

Starting point is 00:28:00 I mean, we lost a lot of guys going to, like, getting drafted to league and stuff like that. We lost a lot of seniors. But one thing that I do think that Iowa does good with is to develop a big players. even though there are a lot of guys that leave the program, the guys that come up and take their spot, I have just a really good job of making them prepared and keeping them prepared so that when that opportunity finally comes,

Starting point is 00:28:23 there's people ready to take that next step and they can fit right into the program and stuff like that. So I really don't think that it should be too much of a worry. We're just trying to take it every week by week and just try to get there. So you guys, you veterans, you guys came in as walk-ons. And with that, going back to your decision five years ago to do that, but secondly, just knowing that walk-ons,

Starting point is 00:28:45 there's a big pedigree for Iowa football, what that means, and for you guys potentially to be starters and kind of carry on that walk-on legacy. Yeah, absolutely. I know that the walk-ons kind of an endangered species these days, like you said. But, I mean, I'm just so blessed and excited to have an opportunity just to play here, let alone potentially be a starter.

Starting point is 00:29:05 It's what I work for every day. It's what I've worked for for five years now. So it's just, I mean, it's been just one of my life goals to finally get to do what I want to do. And so I'm so grateful for the opportunity. I tell this story a lot of my radio show. 20-some years ago, bowl practice got there. Of course, we got 15 minutes as media guys. And most of it was your defensive lineman put your hands up in the same spot.

Starting point is 00:29:31 Time and time. Those reps, that repetition and now doing it for five years and kind of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. What does it mean to be a defensive line and have to do those things for us outsiders? That's got to be boring as hell. But you guys are out there doing it and then seeing it show up on Saturdays. Yeah, no, I mean, that right there is like what makes players great. And so, like you say, like just doing the small things and the not nice things every day. The fundamental drills and stuff like that, they may not be fun, but that is like, that's your foundation.

Starting point is 00:30:00 If your foundation is weak, then you can't. Like your chances of being a good player pretty low. But I mean, our coaches just constantly pound and pound and drive through the point that your fundamentals are the most important part of your game. Another. That was Will Hubert there. The Iowa defensive tackle. Talk a little bit about the expectations of being another part of the legacy in a walk-on for Iowa football. Some good stuff there.

Starting point is 00:30:29 We will have more interviews here throughout the week. Spliced in at different times, different topics and different players. I talk to, I think, overall, probably about 20 different players and eight different coaches over in Iowa. City on Friday. We'll have those for you here on your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast, Lockdown Hawkeyes. Back with you tomorrow. Hope everybody out there had a great weekend. We will break things down.

Starting point is 00:30:50 The countdown to kickoff continues, and we got you covered each and every day here on Locked on Hawkeyes. Have a great day. We'll talk to you tomorrow. Until then, go Hawks.

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