Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Former Hawkeye Jovon Johnson joins the show to talk about Iowa, his time in the CFL, and his role as the DC at Defiance

Episode Date: May 1, 2020

We've got special guest Jovon Johnson on the show today to talk about his time with the Hawks, what brought him to the CFL, and what his future goals are as a coach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I thank God I was born on the good arms of the Midwest, and not on the battlefields of the U.S. It's a time of panic, and it's intercepted! It's picked off right away! Intercepted by Marty Hooker! Pick six! Eight seconds into the game! Buffen sets up deep in the pocket, goes down the field for Smith!

Oh! He's got it! Smith! Touchdown. 85 yards. High on. Touchdown, 10. Taking a shot in the end zone.

It is caught. No offense. Touchdown. That's either one or you have it. Go ahead and three. Yes. Two-point lead for the Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network.

As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and I am very excited about today's episode. Wasn't sure if we were going to be able to make it happen in time, but had an opportunity to interview the great Jovan Johnson, former Iowa defensive back, three-time All-Big Ten CFL Defensive Player of the Year. Man, it was a blast talking to him. So I think you're going to really enjoy listening to this episode of the show, and a big shout-out to Jovan for taking the time out of his day to sit down and talk about literally everything. We talked about his time at Iowa, some of his favorite memories.

He let us know which one of his quarterbacks were his favorite. He also talked about his CFL time, his time within the NFL and kind of what led to him going to the CFL. And, you know, I think he got pretty candid on that. So definitely think you're going to enjoy that. CFL, and I think he got pretty candid on that, so definitely think you're going to enjoy that. If you do like the episode that we're giving you today, make sure you do subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at. Give us that five-star review, and make sure to like us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram so you can get all the latest details of whatever episodes we have coming out and all the great stuff we have coming out as well. So with that being said,

I don't want to waste any time. Let's jump into our interview with Jovan Johnson. Well, today I'm joined here by former Iowa Hawkeye football player, former NFL player, former Canadian Football League player, and current D3 defensive coordinator, Jovan Johnson. Jovan, how you doing today, buddy? I'm doing all right. You know, worked on some investments, kind of creating some money for myself, and I'm just continuing to grow, but I'm doing well. I love it, man. What are some good investments right now? What was that?

What are some good investments right now? Oh, I mean, with the economy being what it is right now, I mean, there's good opportunity for investing, being able to make some money for yourself, do some research, find out who's paying out dividends, find out how much it is per share with certain companies where they were prior to the epidemic, and then where they will go once it's all said and done. So, you know, you've got to do some research on it, and it's a great opportunity at the present moment.

Absolutely, man. Yeah, especially with everything so low. Good chance to buy low and hopefully make some money when everything hopefully rebounds. Right. Awesome, man. So where are you currently staying at right now? Are you in Ohio or are you back home in Pennsylvania? I'm a little bit of both.

The way we are set up, working remote, I'm half the time in Ohio and half the time in Pennsylvania. We have our defensive staff on for two weeks, and then I'll be in Ohio. When we are off for two weeks, when the offensive staff is in,

then I'm back in Pennsylvania. I'm still working remotely either way. Awesome, man. You actually just got recently promoted to defensive coordinator. Congratulations, dude. Thank you. Did you kind of know that was coming? I wasn't. I didn't expect for it to happen so soon.

But, you know, Coach said he did his research, and he looked at a bunch of different resumes and, you know, he figured he had the right guy right on staff for the job. So he gave it to me and allowed me to kind of run the show with the defense. He was able to see, you know, the impact I was able to have on the kids in the last four or five games of last season where we went from the beginning of the season after the first six games to where we finished up after the last four or so um you know it was just a it was a blessing in disguise but that's what happens when you work for a guy that you that you play for at once in

your career so he knows what i'm all about that's awesome man so is that the connection then and how have you actually got into uh defiance yeah, so our head coach was the offensive coordinator in Winnipeg in 2009 in the CFL. So we already had a connection there. That's how I got offered a job. I ran into him at the coaching convention in San Antonio in 2019. convention in San Antonio in 2019. And we kind of talked, and he said if he had a job open up, he would give me a call. And, you know, some things didn't work out with the defensive back post that they had hired previously.

So he called me and asked me if I wanted to take the job. And we talked about the details of it, how much they would pay me, and when they wanted me to be there, et cetera. And I accepted it. I've been there ever since, since February of 2019. That's awesome, man. Well, congratulations again on that. Was it a nice transition for you going from playing to coaching

and at least continuing to be around the game? And instead of maybe working on your growth, working on these old teenagers working on, you know, these young or old teenagers, young adults' growth. Is that something that you've really found some passion in? Yeah, I mean, I'm passionate about it simply because I get to make a great impact on some young kids' lives and try to help guide their direction, help them reach their full potential,

understand that, you know, it's the little details that help big, become great games as you get better and better over time. So, you know, I'm able to impact them and teach them the game of football, teach them, you know, different intricacies with life and things like that. So, you know, and I was fortunate to be coached by some of the best coaches, you know, guys that showed me discipline, detail, you know, just kind of how to be organized and, you know, on top of things. So, you know, you're not surprised when certain things come up, you know, that's out of your control.

But I was fortunate. My career has been fortunate, so I can't ask for anything more. Definitely, man. So what are kind of your long-term career goals then? Do you want to continue to move up in the ranks? Would you like to stay at Defiance? What are some of the things you're kind of looking at or just taking it one season at a time? You know, you take it one season at a time.

But, you know, the ultimate goal for me would be to coach at the NFL or Division I ranks. I know I'm cut out for it. It's just a matter of gaining the experience and continuing to grow as a coach and not so much as a player anymore. But again, being coached by some of the best coaches, it has shaped me into understanding the development of a player, how to organize and structure meetings and understanding how to coach and teach different guys differently because everybody learns differently but I know that and I understand it so just take it one step

at a time one day at a time and continue to help each of our players grow to reach their maximum potential. Absolutely man and that kind of started you know obviously at Iowa you had some fantastic coaches playing under Kirk Ferentz and Phil Parker as your defensive backs coach. So let's talk a little bit about Iowa then. Joining the Iowa program, you were pretty under-recruited, which I think is pretty common for defensive backs coming to Iowa, it seems. A two-star recruit out of Erie, Pennsylvania, just one offer. What was your recruiting experience like? You know, I was constantly overlooked.

So coaches would come in, you know, they would always come in to see when my teammate laid ball rolling. You know, the 6'1", 195-pound corner, that was a 10-200-meter dash guy. You know, he had all the intangibles of being a Division one pro style defensive back and then you have me on the other side five nine about 160 155 pounds in high school um i was lightning quick but you know i made a lot of plays but i never really got recruited the way that i felt you know with the with the amount of plays and the amount of success that I had on the field.

It never really showed in the recruiting game. So you just kind of learn to deal with it and just kind of whatever comes your way, accept it for what it is. My only Division I offer prior to Iowa was Kent State. They wanted me to come in and play both ways because they considered me an athlete so it was it was just one of those things you know I had a lot of small school offers division two division three schools would come in and talk to me and stuff like that so but it was it was just a great experience to go through because it lit a fire under me that

you know once I finally got the opportunity to get a scholarship at division one level I knew that it wasn't no turning back like I knew that I was going to go into it with the mindset that I was going to prove everybody wrong so um you know that's where that's where I was when I finally got to campus and was able to showcase definitely I mean I think it's's pretty clear that you definitely took that chip on your shoulder and used it for good, and I think Iowa does a great job of extrapolating that chip on your shoulder and turning it into a polished prospect later on for a professional career.

I mean, you ended up, after your career at Iowa, tied for second in interceptions in your entire career, a four-year starter, three-time All-Big Ten. So not that my opinion matters in the subject, but I think you did a pretty darn good job. Yeah, I mean, I just feel I think my career at Iowa, although I wish that I could have went back and relived a couple of moments

just to make some of the plays that I felt I should have made, that I think that if I would have known what I know now, that I would have made. And then I would have broke the record instead of just being second. I would have gotten the opportunity to catch some balls that I thought I should have caught that I dropped just because I would have been a lot more aware of the circumstances and the game. But, you know, everything is here or dead now,

but I wish I could relive it again and go through it all over again. Absolutely. So if you had to go through it all over again, what would be the one thing you would do differently or what would be the one play you wish you would have made? Well, when we played against Miami, Ohio, my sophomore year, and playing against Ben Roethlisberger, everybody had a fire under them because he was that quarterback that everybody wanted to beat.

After losing the game against us in 2000, what, that was three, he went on not losing another game for the rest of the year. So if I could go back and play that game all over again, instead of having two interceptions, I would have had three. One of the plays, his receiver ran a slant route, and I jumped the route with the ball hitting me in the chest, and I dropped the interception. So if I could relive that play all over again, I would have caught that ball

because I would have anticipated it. I didn't anticipate that he was going to throw the ball to him. I just kind of jumped in front, you know, hoping for it. And I wasn't really prepared for the outcome. So the ball hit me in the chest, and I didn't get my hands on it. Absolutely. So you actually got a chance to play with Big Ben when you joined the Pittsburgh Steelers out of school as an undrafted free agent.

Did you give him any crap about that? No, we really crossed paths a few times, but we never really spoke to each other. I don't know. Ben's a different cat. So, you know, I don't know if he knew that I was the same guy that picked him off twice in a game or if he didn't know or if he didn't care. But, you know, we never really shared many stories or words with one another when we played together.

Interesting. All right, I can read between the lines a little bit there. So in terms of your Iowa career, I mean, you were a part of arguably the most successful four-year period that Kirk Ferentz has ever had at Iowa, and he's had some really great, successful teams. Your freshman year, you go 11-2. Sophomore year, 10-3. Junior year, 10-2.

A, did you realize that the program was heading that direction? Maybe not that quick, but did you realize the program was heading in that direction when you wanted to go there? Yeah. I mean, doing my research, you know, the year before I got there, they had just won the Alamo Bowl. You know, they were trending in the right direction. Although we had so many guys that were under-recruited, you know,

just the attitude was already there. The culture and standard was being built from the guys that were there before me. Knowing Bob Sanders and Ed Hinkle in high school and growing up, I knew what kind of mentality and skill set they brought to the table. Again, two other guys. Hinkle probably had more scholarships than Bob did, but Bob Sanders being another guy that was under-recruited in the level of skill that I saw him play when he had his opportunities in high school,

I knew what type of guys they were bringing in. So I totally expected for us to continue to build off of the win in the Alamo Bowl in 2001 and just continue to get better and better. And that's what we did over four years. You know, you get guys like Fred Barr and Colin Cole and Brad Banks and these guys, you know, Jeremy Lightfoot and Robert Gallery, all these top-notch, big-time guys. You know, they had already started building and developing the

standard at Iowa. So for my class in 2002, you know, as soon as we stepped on campus, you know, you already could feel, you know, the environment shifting for us to be a winning program. We just had to continue to build on that. And when we got younger recruits come in after us, we had to make sure that we showed them the way so that the the uh the standard would be set with those guys so that they could continue to build a program after us and everybody continued to follow suit and and the program went to where where they are now definitely and i think it's interesting too when you talk about that because nowadays when you think about kirk barron's you think about the longevity of his career of coaching and the traditions and the way the Iowa program is kind of, when people

think of Iowa, they have a very, very strong belief about that program and the fact that it's a hard-working blue-collar program. But when you joined the program, it wasn't always that case, right? I mean, that identity hadn't completely been set. I mean, it's kind of been an Iowa thing, but the identity hadn't been completely set. So mean, it's kind of been an Iowa thing, but that identity hadn't been completely set. So you're one of the kind of the founding guys of that with that group of guys you just talked about, which I think is really cool to think about. You know, 20 years later, 15 years later,

you can still see that identity in these Iowa Hawkeye football players. Yeah, I mean, that identity comes from the coaching staff down, but, you know, the standard was set from the players in the locker room. The guys who were the leaders on the team, they expected things to be done a certain way, and if you didn't do things the way that they had wanted them done, then they was going to tell you that you could get your ticket and go out of town and we didn't need you to be a part of the program

because everybody had to be pulling in the same direction in order for us to continue to have success so you know we all bought in and we continue to grow continue to get better and again we just kept you know putting that on the younger guys that came after us that this is the way things are going to go and if you don't want to be a part of the way we're going to do things then i was probably not the place for you but we're going to win a lot of football games based on you know this blue collar attitude and coming to work every day and you know understanding that nobody's going to give us credit for anything we're always going to be the underdog but you know you have to embrace that role and you know i look forward to going out and just proving everybody wrong. And we did that a lot, especially during my four years.

Absolutely, man. And I want to ask a couple questions. It might be a little difficult, but obviously the 11-2 season, the 10-3 season, and the 10-2 season, three of the best seasons in Iowa Hawkeye history. Which of those teams would you pick to win against each other? Ooh, man. Shoot. That's a tough question um i would say i would say the 10 and 3 season defensively we were probably the best defensively than we had out of all my four years would have been that 2003

season so my second year at iowa but offensively the 2002 team would have the best offensive um you know the from the the offensive line you know all those guys were first or second round draft picks a majority of them of them played in the NFL. Then you had Brad Banks who was the runner-up for the Heisman, Mo Brown, and CJ. Those two guys at receiver. You had Clint Solomon and Henkel at receiver. The running back that we had,

2002's offense was probably the best in my four years, but 2003's defense was the best defense that I ever played on. I love it. I honestly think you can make an argument that the 2002 offense was the best in the Kirk Ferentz era in general. That offense was explosive. Yeah. I mean, I remember Dallas Clark playing against, was it Purdue?

I want to say it was Purdue at Iowa. He got a little tight end out route, quick out. Brad hit him on a play quick, and boom, he went 90 yards for a touchdown in a game that we were struggling to win, but we ended up winning in the last couple minutes. But, I mean, when you put guys on the field like that, I mean, future first-round draft picks that people probably never expected to be first-round draft picks. And then you have Mr. Consistent with Nate Kading.

You know, I mean, he could make a field goal from anywhere. he could make a field goal from anywhere. So, I mean, that 2002 team is probably the best football team that I've ever been on. But the defense in 2003 was the best defensive team that we had. Definitely, man. So I'm going to hit you with another one. And we lost three games that year. Yeah.

I'm going to hit you with another hard question. So you played with three starting quarterbacks, all kind of brought their own thing to the table, Brad Banks, Nathan Chandler, and Drew Tate. Which one is your favorite quarterback? I love them all the same, man. I love them all the same. I guess when you look at, you know,

the different skill sets between the three of them, you know, Brad obviously would probably have the most, When you look at different skill sets between the three of them, Brad obviously would probably have the most marquee career based on the team in 2002. Being that he was the highest runner-up, he'd probably get the most credit. But the one that I had the most passion playing with would be Drew Tate just because I love the way Drew competed every day he made our defense better every single day because you know he he wanted to challenge us to be he wanted to challenge the offense to challenge us to be the best defense that we could probably possibly be so you know he he had that fire in him. And being that he was undersized, he played with a huge chip on his shoulder.

So he would probably be my guy, Drew Tate. And I played with Drew in CFL. We played against each other. We played on the same team. I had the opportunity to pick him off of the game, the actual game. So, you know, we had some fun times, but we always shared a mutual respect for one another. So he'd be my guy.

I love it. The funny thing about that is I actually just spoke with Drew Tate about two weeks ago, and we were talking about that 2004 team, and he specifically mentioned you and said that you were the one guy who you had to deal with every single day in practice, and you made him a better player because if he did anything stupid, you were probably going to pick it off. Yeah, we had some time. Until to this day, when I come back to Iowa and there's recruits around and Coach Ferentz

is there, he always shares the story that I probably had an interception every single day in practice and my whole career at Iowa. That's amazing. So, I mean, I really just enjoyed taking the ball away. And if you did make a mistake, I was going to make you pay for it. That's the way that I played the game as well. So, I mean, that's just who I was. That's so awesome, man.

Last thing I want to touch on with Iowa is the fact that you played under Phil Parker. And Phil Parker has been definitely growing in terms of popularity because of how many defensive backs he's been putting in the NFL. And lightly recruited defensive backs at that. You know, you got that Pennsylvania kind of vibe going as well. A couple different Pennsylvania backs. How would you describe playing under Phil Parker, though? What does he do for defensive backs that helps ignite that fire

and helps bring out the best in you guys? Well, it starts with him. I mean, it starts with him. He's the mastermind behind getting the most out of his players that he could possibly get out of them. He's going to challenge you every day. He's never going to tell you what you

want to hear. He's always going to tell you what you need to know. That's just the kind of guy he is. He's going to challenge you every day. He's never going to tell you what you want to hear. He's always going to tell you what you need to know. That's just the kind of guy he is. He's fiery. He has a confidence about himself. He knows that he knows his stuff, and he's going to push you to attain and reach for more than you could possibly imagine you could ever accomplish. He knows how to take a guy based on their skill set and incorporate technique with athletic ability

and then make a complete player. I think that's the number one reason why so many defensive backs that have went to Iowa that was under-recruited ended up getting the opportunity or played in the NFL for a long time is because he takes raw athletes, puts their technique together, and kind of formulates them into the full package of a player, and then he gives them to the NFL and says, thank you, here you go. But, I mean, he does a hell of a job at developing defensive backs,

teaching you how to watch film, how to study the game, being a student of the game, knowing your X's and O's, making sure you know everybody's assignment and not just yours on the field, which makes you more marketable to the NFL because then you can play multiple positions. Guys like Micah Hyde, Charles Godfrey, Desmond King, myself, we all come from that Phil Parker era. And guys know that if you know myself you know we we all come from that phil parker era and guys know that if you know everybody's position then you could be a plug and play guy you could not you

could play corner and if somebody goes down in the heat of the moment you could be playing safety because you know everybody's position so we we all come from that realm of of being caught caught by a guy who challenges you to know what everybody does in the back end so that you don't just know your own job. Definitely. That's actually, it's funny you mention that because I just had an interview with the Locked On Broncos podcast, also on the Locked On Sports Network, about Michael Ogimudia and the fact that he just got drafted.

And they asked me, you know, what does Michael Ogimudia bring to the table that other corners don't? And I said the versatility because he knows exactly where he should be on every play, and he can play any of the positions in the secondary. And so that's interesting that you say that as well. I didn't even think about that, you know, being really the coachable aspect of Phil Parker's influence on that. Yeah, he's going to challenge you to know when we get on the board and kind of start going over our defensive calls, what you're supposed to do.

He expects you to know what all four guys, even if you don't know what the front seven does, he expects you to know what the four guys in the secondary does. So, I mean, it makes you a better player, makes you more of a complete player, because if you know what the guy next to you is doing, it kind of allows you to play faster and more confident. Definitely, man.

All right, last question about the Hawks. Before I move on, just a couple questions about your pro career. I've already kind of taken up a decent chunk of your time, but what would be your favorite Iowa Hawkeye win? Oh, I'd have to go with any of my four games against Wisconsin. Because the reason why is because the guy who Iowa was recruiting prior to me getting the offer to Iowa went to Wisconsin, who was one of my teammates, one of my best friends. They were on him heavy, and he ended up going to Wisconsin

because Wisconsin offered his brother as well. And then Iowa offered me a scholarship after the fact. So anytime we had the opportunity to play against Wisconsin, and in those four games against Wisconsin, I had an interception in every game. So, I mean, you could pick one. Any of the wins against Wisconsin, I never locked them in four years. That's awesome. I actually lost to them in four years. That's awesome. I actually lived in Madison for four years,

and my hatred for Wisconsin grew exponentially just being around all those Badger fans. That makes me happy that that's one of your shining moments, man. Yeah, that's crazy. I lived in Wisconsin as well for about four years, and I hated it every minute of it. Yeah, they just – I mean, like I can only imagine if you're a Wisconsin fan and you live in Iowa, you probably feel a similar way,

but the passion is so annoying to be around when you don't feel that passion with them, when you don't care about their team. Yeah, yeah.

That's funny, man. Actually, last question about Iowa, which would be your least favorite team then? Would it be Wisconsin or would it be

another team in the Big Ten? My least favorite team? Yeah it be Wisconsin or would it be another team in the Big Ten? My least favorite team? What was your biggest rivalry or the team you hated the most when you were in Iowa? I'd probably have to say Iowa State just because that's a rival game. Either Iowa State

or Penn State. Penn State because that's my home state and they didn't recruit me so I hated them with a passion. But Iowa State because that's my home state, and they didn't recruit me, so I hated them with a passion. But Iowa State because you know how the hatred and the bad blood is between the two of those programs. Definitely, man. All right, so do you have a few more minutes just to ask a couple more questions?

Yeah. Awesome. So when you moved on to the NFL, obviously going undrafted, but got a chance to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tell me a little bit about that experience, walking in as an undrafted free agent, playing for Bill Cower in his final season. How did that all go for you? It was a hell of an experience. about Bill Cowher that I appreciated is he saw the potential that I had as a player that nobody else really gave me credit for. You know, I went to get my job every day. I went hard. I never

really took, you know, no prisoners. I was always the first one to be on the field ready to go. And I challenged myself every day to be on top of my game and again the same correlation that I had at Iowa during practice I would I carry that same energy into Pittsburgh where I would get an interception every other day I would end up with the ball in my hands so um the the only thing that that frustrating is that, you know, throughout those 16 games as a rookie, you know, I only played in five, and in the five games that I did play in, you know, I made play after play after play on special teams,

and I never got the opportunity to showcase in the secondary, even though I, you know, performed well at practice every day. But then Cowher ended up leaving. As we all know, had he stayed, I wouldn't have played in the NFL, especially with the Steelers, for a lot longer than I did. And then Tomlin came in and kind of cleaned house with the guys that were undrafted free agents and guys that weren't making a lot of money. And he brought in guys that he wanted to keep.

And, you know, the rest was history after that for my NFL career. It's interesting. Yeah, so you didn't get any other calls from any other teams after that? No. I had not to knock anyone, but my agent wasn't really working for me. At the time when I got released, he was in the middle of – he was representing Asante Samuel so Asante was in the process of getting a mega deal so he was more focused on that than he was

on getting me into a camp and he was telling me that guys weren't getting signed and you know nobody was getting workouts but one of my good friends Anthony Madison who was a free agent with me with distillers he ended up having about 12 workouts in about 15 days and he would call me all the time and be like man you should be working out like I'm here like I'm seeing guys working out that you know aren't even half the player that you are and I'm telling him I'm like well my agent's saying nobody's getting workouts he's like well that's not true because I got workout every day. So I ended up firing that agent, long story short, and hiring a new guy. That's frustrating, but, you know, all things happen for a reason, right? And you end up in the CFL, and you put together an incredible career, man.

188 games over 11 seasons, 564 tackles, 8 sacks, 35 interceptions, 8 touchdowns, and 10 forced fumbles. When you went to Canada, how big of a culture shock was it, like a shock of going into a different league, playing in Canada? I know, talking to Drew, it's cold as hell up there, definitely a different type of environment. What was that like initially when you got there? It was a different beast. What was that like initially when you got there? It was a different beast.

You know, my first year up there, I was a completely different player than I was throughout my career just because I had a different attitude. I didn't really want to be there. I thought I was better than the guys that were on the field up there, but I wasn't playing. So my attitude kind of kept me on the field up there but I wasn't playing so my attitude kind of kind of kept me off the field just because even though I went to work every day and I would do my job and you know pick the ball off and knock the ball down and do what I was supposed to do it was just that I wasn't I wasn't happy because I wasn't playing. So we ended up winning the Grey Cup my rookie year in Canada. And the next year I went to a different team.

So that's when I really started to open up more. I don't know. It was just something about some of the defensive backs on that team that first year and the mentality that I had versus them and them being very comfortable. Those guys were very comfortable, in my opinion. Like, they were comfortable being out there on the field because they didn't feel like nobody threatened them to take their jobs

until I came. And then when I came, I wasn't coming to make friends with anybody. I was coming to take their job, and some guys can't accept that type of competition. So, you know, we didn't really vibe well. take their job, and some guys can't accept that type of competition. So, you know, we didn't really vibe well. And then the next year I went to Winnipeg and ended up having the opportunity to actually compete and play. And then I started in those games that I started. I started all 17, 18 games except one.

My brother got killed, and I missed a game for that. But I would intercept the ball and take it back for a touchdown every time. And then I started to make a name for myself. And then the following year, I was a CFL All-Star. I had the most interceptions in the division. And that's when I finally got my breakthrough. And then two years later, I was defensive player of the year in the CFL and I had workouts to NFL teams.

I worked out for the Jaguars. I worked out for the Bengals. I worked out for the Dolphins. And then a week after I signed a contract to go back to Canada, then Ken O'Keefe and Joe Philbin ended up taking a job at Miami with the Dolphins. Oh, man. Yeah, so it was a crazy, crazy experience, but I mean, I was happy in Canada. I was living my best life, so, you know, and I didn't have any worries in the world.

Yeah, I mean, there's definitely not, you can't put a price tag on happiness, and when I was talking to Drew, you know, he mentioned the fact that in Canada, you know, obviously they take football seriously, but it's not a 24-7, 365-day-a-year thing like it is in America. So you get to enjoy a personal life a little bit. And some people actually, from talking to him, actually really appreciate that even more than going and playing American football. Yep, yep, because our days are shorter.

So you have more personal time, more family time. More time to just kind of just relax and not be worried, so caught up in football all day. In the NFL, it's a full-time job. It's 7.30 to 7.30 at night, every day, meetings, practice, more meetings. You don't really leave the facility. That's just lunch and dinner. And then after dinner, you have another meeting, and then you get to go home.

It's really a full-time job. You have to be fully committed to a lot of people think because it's the highest level of football, those guys actually have to earn their paycheck every day. Like, it's a full comp. Like, it's a grind every day. But in Canada, you know, we have four and a half hours of time that we are actually working.

So, like, we come in, you know, we have our meetings, then we have practice, and then, you know, some position groups will have meetings after practice. But we're done by 1.30. So, I mean, you got the whole rest of the day to yourself to just kind of, you know, whether you want to study film for an hour or, you know, go hang out with some of the other guys on the team, whatever the case may be, whatever you guys tend to do,

you know, you have more time to do such. So you kind of enjoy it a lot more. Definitely, man. And the final thing I wanted to bring up with you, I definitely appreciate the overview of your time at the CFL. You actually answered like six of my questions, which is awesome. I definitely want to touch on the fact that you were the – it sounds like you were the first corner to every win,

the CFL's most outstanding defensive player, which is just incredible. When I talked to Drew, he mentioned you, as I said, and one of the things he said was that he thinks you could be a CFL Hall of Famer. Is that something that has crossed your mind at all? And what would that honor mean to you if you were able to be inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame? I never really thought about it, to be honest. I mean, it would be cool and all, but given the way my football career has gone throughout my life I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't induct me so I would I mean if they did great

like I would appreciate it it would mean the world but if they don't so be it I mean at the end of the day I accomplished more than they than they ever probably thought it that was gonna be humanly possible so um you know it was just my drive and motivation determination to prove people wrong that allowed me to be able to go out and compete at the level that i did um i guess i would just say if they didn't i blessed them with 13 11 what 12 12 years of greatness so they can't deny that absolutely i mean no one's denying that i mean uh when i was looking at some of the stats i mean just so impressive what you were able to do and accomplish up there obviously some unfortunate breaks as far as the the nfl piece goes but really impressive

career in canada jovan i know i've taken up a lot of your time and i really appreciate your time any last words for the iowa hawkeye fans out there listening to this? Hey, someday I may be back in Iowa City coaching at the University of Iowa. That would be a dream come true. Second home for me, a place that I've spent so much time. I appreciate all the fans and all the support, the continued support of the ones that have followed my career and just kept up with me over the years. It means the world to me, even though we might not speak every day. But, you know, that kind of support just goes a long way,

and I appreciate everybody at Hawkeye Nation. I love it, man. Well, thank you so much, Jovan. Stay safe out there, and we'll be following your time as defensive coordinator at Defiance, man. Appreciate it. Awesome. Have a good day, buddy. All right, and that will do it for our show today.

A big shout-out to Jovan. You know, responded to me, jumped on the show pretty quickly, Appreciate it. If you did like this episode, though, make sure you do like, review, and subscribe. Give us that five-star review and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at. And make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We'll have more shows coming out next week starting with the Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Sorry, excuse me. The Monday, Thursday, Friday format. And our Tuesdays are going to be our TBT Tuesdays. On our Tuesday episode, interviewing one of the Iowa United players, we have Iowa Hawkeye Nicholas Bayer joining the show.

So make sure you check out all of our episodes next week as well. And if you like some of the draft coverage we did this past week, make sure to check out the Locked On NFL Draft podcast. They do a fantastic job. Trevor Sycamore and Benjamin Solak right here on the Locked On Sports Network, giving you NFL draft coverage year round. So make sure to check them out as well. Again, thank you all for tuning in, Hawkeye Nation.

I hope you have a very fantastic weekend, a safe weekend. And as always, let's go Hawks. We'll see you next time.