Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Former Hawkeye LeShun Daniels on Tim Lester as OC, Seth Wallace, the importance of LeVar Woods

Episode Date: February 8, 2024

Former Hawkeye LeShun Daniels on Tim Lester as OC, Seth Wallace, the importance of LeVar WoodsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInThese days every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. That’s why LinkedIn Jobs helps find the right people for your team, faster and for free. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/lockedoncollege. Terms and conditions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelNew customers, join today and you’ll get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.eBay MotorsWith all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.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

Today we got former Hawkeye running back LaShawn Daniels with us. We're going to break down what we heard from Tim Lester, LaShawn's thoughts on it, and fixing this Iowa offense. Plus, on the eve of the Super Bowl, we break it down all today. Locked on Hawkeyes. You are locked on Hawkeyes. Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network.

Your team, every day. Hey, welcome in. 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. We're available wherever you find podcasts. and you can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, hit the subscribe button. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Make every moment more. New customers join today. You'll get $200 in bonus bets if your

first bet of $5 or more wins. Visit fanduel.com slash locked on to get started. Well, Sean, good to see you again here a day earlier than our normal Friday, but going to have a recap episode for tomorrow with the doubleheader of basketball on the horizon with Penn State on both the men's and the women's side. So thought we'd do this a day early and a little bit closer to what we heard from Tim Lester in the press conference earlier this week. Seth Wallace, also named assistant head coach, and we'll talk about that a little bit as well. But good to see you.

And on the eve here as we get ready, right around the corner, Super Bowl 58. So a lot to talk about. How are you doing? Yeah, doing great. Doing great. You know, excited to be on the pod again this week. And, you know, super encouraged by some of the things that I heard from Tim Lester and Coach Ferentz this week and, you know, super encouraged by some of the things that I heard from Tim Lester and Coach Ferentz this week. So super excited to dive into that and talk about that a little bit.

Well, let's get right into it and talk about Tim Lester. We had our thoughts a week ago about it. For everyday listeners here of the podcast, I think they know my initial thoughts. I thought it was uninspiring, kind of a boring hire. More vanilla. Here we go. Kirk with his love of ice cream. There's a little more vanilla down your throat, and that's all we were going to get. And I started to warm up a little bit.

You know, the deeper you dive into it, after you look back and really the details of the Syracuse experience and how bad it was. Well, there were some major reasons for that. The time at Western Michigan, how it ended, and the deeper that I dove, the more excited I got. But then hearing him, I don't know if it was a complete 180 from where I was initially, but he won the press conference for me. I thought he was outstanding. He said the things that he needed to. Now that's just that. It's just talking. And until we see it on the field, that's a completely different aspect. But I really thought he knocked it out of the park. I think he talked to the fan base. You can tell he's been a guy as a former head coach that's done a lot of media.

He was comfortable. There were some fun moments and goofiness that's kind of in there, too. Overall, I was really impressed after finally getting to hear from Tim Lester. Yeah, for sure. I would agree with with all of that. I mean, he said a bunch of things that if you're just a fan of the hawks like that like things that you want to be able to hear and he talked about um you know the ability of being able to create explosive plays um being efficient from the quarterback position um and as well as developing um route combinations and route concepts based on how defenses play the offense.

So like those are some things that, you know, we want to hear a lot of it because again, over, you know, especially over the past few years, offensively, we haven't been as explosive as really as we need to be. The passing game has been very, veryinspiring um to say the least so to hear that coming in from uh your new oc i think is uh super super encouraging but another thing that i personally really like is the fact that you talk about um the run game and how being really really good in the run game is what's going to help move offense forward.

And I know I touched on this a little bit last week, but the places that Tim Lester's coach, especially at his time in Western Michigan, when it came to their offense, running the football was a big part of what they did and what they did extremely well. And Tim Lester talked about that quite a bit. And then he expanded on that and said, the better that they're able to run the football, right, it opens up a lot more things in the passing game. It opens up a lot more opportunities for them to be able to do what you want to do. And the fact that they ran a bunch of 12 personnel at Western Michigan, and we've got the tight ends

to run a bunch of 12 personnel here at Iowa. I think the marriage currently, I mean, it makes a ton of sense. You kind of see why Coach Ferentz ended up choosing Tim Lester to be the OC, just because when you listen to him speak, you're like, okay, this is matching a lot of things that we like to hear typically from Coach Ferentz, matching a lot of things that we like to hear typically from coach ferentz and it also helps bring us into more of the year 2024 uh when it comes to offensive football so i know hey we're it's early you haven't even seen really what it's going to look like um on the iowa offense or i will probably obviously get that first look um and sprint at spring ball uh you know about a month and a half but uh for the most part, I think it's very, very encouraging

to some of the things that we've heard from Tim Lester this week when it comes to bringing in his own style of offense and marrying it with what Iowa has done in the past and some of the things that Iowa does best. You were involved early on, obviously, Greg Davis coming in and taking over the coordinator. It was a rough start to things, but it certainly got very better. And you guys had some prolific offenses there, certainly for Iowa standards, certainly in 2014, 15.

Those years were some really good numbers overall. But it took a while to get there. Does it feel like, at least on the surface, that this marriage and this melding, coupled with a very veteran team and a very veteran offense, where you have an offensive line with 160-plus starts in their collegiate careers in your starting five. You have a quarterback that's played a lot of games. Now, injuries is a different conversation. A running back room that we talk about a ton. Tight ends.

The question remains wide receiver. But being a veteran group like they are and an offensive line that has a lot of starts there does that make it how much easier does that make it i guess i should say being able to do that and do that with a veteran group you know i think it makes it uh a lot easier i mean you think about uh those guys they played a lot of football they've seen a lot of uh different things that defenses have thrown at them. Obviously, they've installed, you know, their own offense a million, a ton of times. Because you obviously always install new things every single year.

And a bunch of these guys on offense, even though it hasn't been great, these guys have played football against some really, really good football teams. It's not like, you know, coming in from when Davis took over and it wasn't a very – that first year wasn't great. And, you know, it wasn't like Iowa was in, you know, Big Ten title games at that point in time. Anyway, so, like, this team that you're bringing – that you're coming in to take over now, right, has been to a Big 10 title championship game multiple times over the past two years.

And you've got a ton of experience on that offense with guys that have played a lot of snaps and I've seen a lot of snaps. So I think when you're bringing in a new offensive coordinator who's trying to install some new system. I think having a lot of veteran guys that have been around a lot of football, that their football knowledge is just at a higher base than some of your younger players, it's going to make it that much easier to install an offense because you can make similarities to maybe your previous system um you're going to start marrying a little bit of the language and things are going to start are going to be a lot more familiar for those veteran players to go ahead and to adjust to um whereas

if you've got a young team you got guys that haven't played a ton of football like it's it's already difficult enough to to move on from your high school uh offense to you know a college offense and then to you know go and switch that like you know a year after you've been in the system i mean it's definitely tough but when you have guys that have played a lot of football that you know are in their uh you know third fourth fifth years even six years right at the at the – and calls football, it's going to make installing that system so much easier. And you don't necessarily have to hold your offense's hand,

your players' hands, because, again, they've seen a lot of football. They're going to be able to understand the concepts and the things that you're trying to do without, you know, making them all confused and having them play at a slower tempo than maybe they would if, you know, they're the early on players. We heard not only from Tim Lester, we heard from Kirk Ferentz, some thoughts on that. Also from Seth Wallace, the new assistant head coach,

we'll get LaShawn's take on that. Plus quarterback play. Cade Bactamira, injuries aside, we certainly know the importance there. Iowa asks a lot of their quarterback. I want to talk to LaShawn a little bit about that and perhaps simplifying the offense, what a step forward that can mean for the quarterback position at the University of Iowa.

We'll do that as we continue Locked on Hawkeyes. Happy Super Bowl to all who celebrate from FanDuel. It's America's number one sports book. If you're like me, Super Bowl to all who celebrate from FanDuel. It's America's number one sports book. If you're like me, Super Bowl Sunday, it's all about getting that best spot on the couch, grabbing your favorite football snacks, and placing some super bets. And I'll tell you what, Super Bowl,

there is so much to like in this game. The prop menu is immense. I'm taking a look at rushing totals. I'm taking a look at under interceptions for Patrick Mahomes in 17 playoff games, is immense. I'm taking a look at rushing totals. I'm taking a look at under interceptions for Patrick Mahomes in 17 playoff games, just four interceptions in his career. And FanDuel has so many ways for you to end the season with a W, two, three, how about 30? Not only can you bet on who's going to win Super Bowl 58, but FanDuel also has bets for which player is going to score a touchdown,

scoring multiple touchdowns in the game, yardage totals, how many points will be scored, and so much more. New customers join today. You'll get $200 in bonus bets if your first bet of $5 or more wins. Just visit fanduel.com slash locked on to sign up. That's fanduel.com slash locked on. Make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL.

Trent and LaShawn, back with you again on Locked On Hawkeyes. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Your team every day. That's what we do here across the Locked On Network. LaShawn, starting with quarterback. And I don't know how many times, and really, this is not just a Brian Ferenc thing or Greg Davis thing or a Ken O'Keefe thing has been during the 25 years of Kirk Ferentz well it takes a long time to learn the offense and certainly for the quarterback why does it take such a long time to figure out this offense why is it that it feels like you have to have a master class in order to

to do it what makes certainly quarterback play and just overall the difficult the offense in the past so difficult to pick up right away yeah i think um the biggest piece of that is so at iowa the quarterback is responsible for basically everything so in addition to you know getting the play calls in and whatnot they also have to go up and they have to identify protection changes, identify who the Mike linebacker is on any given defensive formation that we're going against. Because, again, the quarterback is the one that points it out. There's other teams where the line points it out. They make those decisions and whatnot. And so the quarterback can just focus on, you know, the coverage they're seeing and whatnot. And so the quarterback can just focus on, you know,

the coverage that he's seeing and whatnot. But when you add everything of all that piece of the puzzle, like it's just a lot to think about in, you know, a 40-second play clock. I mean, you get the play in, break the huddle at, you know, 17, 15 seconds left on the play clock. You get up to the line of scrimmage. Everyone gets lined up. Okay.

You see how they're lined up. Initially, you make that protection changes if needed, or you identify linebackers to where maybe the line is sliding or where we're working to in the run game, because they still do that in the run game as well. And then now you're, okay, you check back up. You have to play clock. We're down to three seconds.

Okay. We got to hurry up. We got to snap the ball and go from there. So, like, right. It's just a lot to think about. Whereas, hey, you and other other places or if you run like an air raid offense, hey, you just run out there, you get lined up, line identifies who they're sliding to. And then, you know, you go ahead and you're off and running. into and then you know you go ahead and you stop the ball and you're off and running so when you add all that stuff on the quarterback's plate i think it makes it a little bit a little bit more difficult for for them to get accustomed to it um so i think that's some of the part that can make it a little bit more difficult because again when you add that piece into it and now when you're

calling a pass plays and you're telling your quarterbacks hey now now you've got to make sure we're protecting the football. Hey, you haven't had the opportunity to get a good look at the defense and you don't want to turn the ball over, you don't want to fumble it, because, again, you don't want to get pulled out of the game or anything like that. So it can add a lot of stress to the offensive side of the ball. And when you're not running the football well, and you're stuck in those third and medium and third and long situations

where the defensive line can obviously just tee off on the offensive line. And so that internal clock is ticking a lot faster. You know, you're trying to get the ball out. It can make it an extremely difficult situation for quarterbacks. So I think that is part of it. And then I haven't even talked about the audibles and the checks that you have on plays. And when you add that piece into it,

and Coach Ernst always talks about quarter um, quarterbacks, you know, getting us in the right play, um, making sure that we don't make take a bad play worse and things of that. Like, it's just, it's just a lot to think about for, for the quarterbacks. And I feel like that's why it takes a ton of time for the quarterbacks at Iowa to really, really get up to speed because they have to be able to do all of that. And then on top of that, Coach Ferentz has to trust them.

I mean, at the end of the day, Coach Ferentz has to be the one to trust the guys that are out there, that he's going to go out there and he's going to execute as needed. That's why I know the past year for us was just so frustrating for fans just watching the offense because it was just a bunch of stuff just watching, you know, the offense because it was just a bunch of stuff that we weren't accustomed to. Even when quarterback play hasn't been, you know, as great as we liked it to have been just this past year when it came to turnovers and getting in bad plays

was just something that we just really weren't used to seeing. So I think that was a pretty frustrating part of the past season. But overall, that's why it's difficult when it comes to the quarterback position and being inserted into that at Iowa. Whereas running backs, hey, I mean, for the most part, hey, you tell you what hole to go to. You know, pass protection is a little bit more difficult. But I mean, you start to understand it pretty quickly. So it's definitely a lot easier to be plugged in as a running back than it is as a quarterback. That makes a lot of sense and really good breakdown of kind of what makes it so important for the quarterback and why we hear that going back and the difficult nature of picking things up.

You know, there's another aspect that very well could be coming. It happened in a number of bowl games this year, and that was the communication aspect that we've seen for almost 30 years now in the NFL where the OC or the head coach can talk to the quarterback until there's 15 on the play clock. They did it. Everything that I read from every team that was involved in that absolutely loved it. And having that ability coupled with Tim Lester, not on the field,

but up in the booth as an OC, something that I think everyone should. And unfortunately, the old OC was not able to do that after his tirade up in the press box in his first year as an OC and had to go down to the field. That aside, having your offensive coordinator up there, being able to see all those things. Well, Sean, you definitely know the difference there. That's got to be a huge aspect. I know there's play callers, head coaches that are play callers that have to do it on the field, but that eye in the sky, being either an offensive coordinator or being the offensive coach that's up there reeling, how important is that? And being able to see kind of the whole field and how much easier is it to do it upstairs

as opposed to down on the field? Yeah, I think it makes it easier because i can as an offensive coordinator i can now make the adjustments on the fly all right i don't as because again it's the offensive coordinator it's my offense right we're running on the things that i want to run and if i'm on the field yeah i can see a little bit but i'm basically relying on whosoever happens to be in the box whether it's a uh you know offensive analyst another offensive coach wherever um that happens to be up there uh to essentially relay what they're seeing down to me right make it a little bit more more

challenging to make those adjustments on the fly because again uh they're going to be changing how uh they operate after those descriptive plays and i think we saw that i think it really reared its head quite a bit this past season like hey our scripted plays we come out and we're looking extremely well we start off you know extremely well in the offensive side of football but then as the game moves along um it felt like the defenses adjusted very, very quickly, and then we didn't have a plan for it. And I think part of that is just because, again, you're relying on someone else up there in the box to relay those changes

and adjustments to you down the field versus being offensive coordinator in the box and making those changes. And as I understand, like being on the sideline is definitely, it's nice and fun to be able to do that. I think it presents additionally a challenge for your offensive coordinator being down on the field to be able to make those adjustments. So that's why I like the idea of having the offensive coordinator in the booth and then if you add in the part where now like you have the communications and the helmets

now you don't even have to go through the middleman of the quarterbacks and you know maybe a receiver coach on the sideline do it signals to your to your quarterback now hey you you see what they do you see wherever the situation is, whatever the down and distance. All right. You offense coordinators up there in the booth. They see maybe how they reacted, maybe the last play or maybe the last previous drive to that certain situation. OK, now I can make this quick change and now I can get the play down to my quarterback quickly. I can get us to the line of scrimmage quickly. Now I allow the quarterback to have more time to, again, do those things that I just mentioned a few minutes ago. I can ID,

you know, the blitzes that the defense is showing. I have time to look at maybe how the safeties are rotating and in the defense. And now I can figure out, okay, where I want to go with the football. So having your offensive coordinator in the press box is, I think, is something that should be done because, again, it makes it so much easier for that offensive coordinator to make those in-game adjustments and drive-by-drive adjustments versus, all right, now you kind of have to wait to get into the locker room at halftime to really have that more of an in-depth discussion to look at, you know, maybe how the defense was adjusting. Well, Sean, one final thing.

Hearing from Kirk, said he's open to change. I thought that was a big takeaway there. But Seth Wallace becoming the assistant head coach. And I don't know what that entails. It doesn't feel like they exactly know what it entails. I mean, there's some easy things. You know, Kirk, he's being pulled a bunch of different directions. And we know that from just everything happening in college athletics.

There's a lot on the plate of the CEO and kind of simplifying things there. Do you read it as this is Kirk saying, when my retirement comes, this is my number one choice. Can you read it that way? Or is it just that a new title for a guy that deserves it? Seth Wallace has had a lot of opportunities. Illinois has come after him. Minnesota has come after him. Northwestern has come after him to be a defensive coordinator.

Is it just that, hey, a guy that we need to keep around and we got to find a way to make that happen? Yeah, I think it's potentially a little bit of both. I think it's definitely potentially a little bit of both. Yeah. I mean, coach Wallace definitely deserves the, all the promotions because again,

phenomenal coach has been, has done an extremely good job since he's, he's been at Iowa. I mean, he was, he was there when I was there. Obviously, giving the running backs crap all the time because we know linebacker coaches, right? I mean, those guys are always going butt and head,

so it always made sense. But, I mean, he's done a phenomenal job as essentially basically being Coach Parker's right-hand man when it comes to to to that defense and um i think knowing that he has had a ton of opportunities to go elsewhere i mean all the defensive coaches has but um i think with um just that his football smarts and his ability as a coach and the way that he's really helped solidify that, that linebacker group year after year and have been playing at a high level.

It makes total sense why he got the, got the promotions and all the, all the raises. Now, when it comes to post coach Ference, I don't know, I don't know how, you know, those, those talks went. I mean, maybe it was something like, Hey, like if, you know, that time comes, right. Like you would be the person, right. You'd basically have the first, maybe the first crack at, you know, the interviews and whatnot, basically be that being a physician to essentially be, be handed off, you know, that head coaching job, maybe almost like how,

you know, how state a few years back when Irma retired, right, they kind of just handed it off to Ryan Day, you know, maybe in a situation like that, but you never, you never really know what was in their mind. And who knows, I could just be, you know, talking just to talk at this point, but I definitely think it is significant that they did that because i feel like that's something that it hasn't been something that they've done and so i think it was extremely unique to go ahead and you know make that announcement and especially adding that that title and it's not something um i think that we should just be like brushing aside,

but I still think that I see coach Ferentz loves coaching, loves football, and I don't anticipating him, you know, going away, at least not this after this season, but you know, you never know kind of what is going through the minds of coach Ferentz and the new. Final thing on this front and it pertains to lavar woods who was uh interviewed for the tampa bay buccaneers special teams job he did not get the job it went to somebody else but the importance of somebody like lavar now lavar was not the special teams coordinator when you were there

that was chris white but he has obviously elevated things and uh just how good they are in returns in coverage units. And this is a guy I kind of stumbled across this thought the other day. There's probably not a coach that deals with more people on the football roster than your special teams coordinator because you need a bunch of different parts. Right. So he's dealing with young guys early in their career, those kind of things. Just the importance of LeVar and your special teams coordinator, because he's working what short of quarterbacks pretty much with everybody. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's, it's interesting that, you know, special teams coaches don't get more head coaching jobs. I mean, I get why they don't, but it's just interesting because again, these guys, when it comes to being a head coach,

a lot of times, especially if you hire really good coordinators, a lot of times it's you basically essentially being a CEO and helping everyone else, your other assistant coaches, do the best jobs that they can, putting them in positions to succeed. And then as a special teams coach, you're in tune with basically every single situation that pops up during the game. Because again, you got to have a special teams units ready at any given time, whether it's, you know, end of half situations, you know, I see you have your, your third down situations, you have your end of game situations, you know, things like that, like, like a special team coach, you're going to be in tune with, with all of that. So you're going to have an idea of like, okay, these are are these are the areas that we have success in. And on top of that, Coach Woods has coached on the offensive side of the ball. He's a coach on the defensive side of the ball, and he's done a great job on both those fronts.

So, you know, special teams coaches, especially guys like Coach Woods. Yeah, you're you're interacting with basically everyone on a day to day basis because most people are going to be in special teams meetings. Most people partake in in special teams, especially at Iowa. So it's I love the fact that Coach Woods had got that interview opportunity for the Bucs, and it's obviously not going to be his last opportunity. His opportunities are going to continue to grow and grow because, again, how good the special teams units have been since Coach Woods took over. And, I mean, special teams units have always been good at Iowa,

but I feel like they've really gone to another level with Coach Woods taking that over, and it helps. And you have, you know, the experience that he had in the NFL playing special teams and, you know, bringing that to Iowa. And I think he's a guy who has made a really, really big impact on a lot of the players. I mean, heck, you got Cooper Dejean you know you're your best player on your football team you know running down on as a gunner on special teams units i mean that that kind of tells you like okay like the type of respect that that players have for for coach woods and the fact that you know he's not just going to put anybody out there if you're the best

you know player um to help a certain unit, he's going to take it and use you and put you in a place to succeed. Yeah, special team coaches, they deserve all the accolades. They deserve, I think, more opportunities when it comes to helping run the ship, but

I was super excited to see Coach Woods get that opportunity, but I'm happy that he's staying at Iowa for sure. Not alone on that one, LaShawn. No doubt about it. We continue here at Locked On Hawkeyes. Super Bowl thoughts in our final moments. Of course, George Kittle getting ready for a Super Bowl.

MVP odds at FanDuel pretty good on George putting together a good performance. We'll talk about that. Give you some thoughts on the game as we wrap things up. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. that. Give you some thoughts on the game as we wrap things up. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. GameTime is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports, music, comedy and theater events near you. And right now, all users will get $100

off when they buy a big game ticket with code VEGAS100. What would you do with an extra $100? Well, for me, if I was in Vegas getting ready for the game using the GameTime app, maybe I'll just throw it on the craps table. A little Yo! 11. How about that? 15 to 1. We'll see if an 11 comes up and we can get a big one there. GameTime has killer last-minute deals, all-in prices, views from your seat, and their best price guarantee. GameTime takes the guesswork out of buying tickets. I love the ability to see your seat before you buy it so many different ways. You know, a place like Carver Hawkeye Arena.

I know tickets for the women's game that remain are incredibly high right now. Know exactly where your seat is going to be and do it with the GameTime app where you get upfront pricing knowing exactly what those tickets are going to have. Zone deals also at GameTime. You pick the section and GameTime picks the seats for big time savings. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with GameTime. Right now, all GameTime users get $100 off

a big game ticket with code VEGAS100. Terms apply, just download the GameTime app and use VEGAS100, V-E-G-A-S 100 for $100 off download the game time app and use Vegas. 100 V E G A S 100 for a hundred dollars off a big game ticket. Or if you're not going to the game, use code locked on that will get you $20 off your first purchase. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed.

Trent LaShawn back with you you one final time here this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast alright 49ers and the Chiefs it is Super Bowl 58 LeSean let's just start at the top who do you like in the game yeah so I've gone back and forth with this

a million times and if the Chiefs you know didn't have patrick mahomes like i would be like niners for sure like no real question about it talent wise top to bottom probably most talented team in the entire nfl but the fact that the chiefs have Patrick Mahomes as quarterback. And for some reason, when teams play the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, they tend to go away from things that they do best for some odd reason. And because of that, I've been leaning extremely heavy with the Chiefs. And I think that's where I'm going to be putting my money is with the Chiefs

because I feel that good about Patrick Mahomes. I feel like the only time that I bet against him and the I came out on top was when I bet on Tom Brady so like uh it I hate you know reducing it down just to quarterbacks just because and these are two phenomenal phenomenal. But it's definitely going to be a battle. I think it's going to be a fantastic game. But yeah, I mean, I really, really like the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes. I mean, he's been that great in the playoffs and continues to play at an extremely high level

in the playoffs. And I feel like in games like this, the quarterback is really what ends up making that difference. Guy you know pretty well, George Kittle, has become a star in his own right, developing tight end U, obviously what he's done on the field. When George showed up at 190 pounds and he looked at him and he's just a geeky looking dork and what he morphed into, he had a lot of fun, he had a personality that went along with it, but seeing that him develop into one of the best tight ends in the game,

and a career obviously at Iowa was banged up for many parts of that. Could you anticipate that? And certainly early in his career, when he showed up that this guy was going to become not just a character in the league, but also one of the best tight ends. You know, if you would have asked me that when I first came and I was, George is going to be one of the best tight ends in the nfl i would have been like i mean he's a good player but one of the best tight ends in the nfl like i don't know about that but you know watching the way that he's developing watching the way that he worked throughout his his iowa career to you know put himself in a position to be an opportunity to uh show off his skill set and the fact that, you know,

he got drafted really to the perfect situation for him to thrive and continue to grow has been super exciting. Because you knew he had ability. You always knew he had that athleticism. You always knew he had great, you know, run after the catchability just based on how athletic he is and how, you know, his size, how he ended up growing into, you know, being over 250 pounds. And you watch him develop year after year, and you're like, okay, maybe this guy's definitely going to have a solid NFL future. But, you know, watching him to develop into this year the best tight end in the NFL has been just been fantastic to watch. It's been a bit of joy to watch him play.

And, you know, I was super excited to watch him again in a Super Bowl. And hopefully this time around, you won't get called for, you know, offensive pass interference on deep pass plays. So fingers crossed for that. But, yeah, I would have, if you, yeah, like I said, uh i would have if you yeah like i said if you would have asked me that when i was a freshman george being one of the best titans in the entire nfl i would have said like yeah all right man like good joke right um but no i i love it i love love george and you know love watching him rise into really an nfl superstar 71 right now at fanduel 70 to 1 for george kittle to win the mvp of that one might be worth a couple of ducats just to have a little fun

with kittle in that one leshawn always enjoy the conversation a lot to talk about here on the football side of things a busy basketball night in front of us with iowa both men and women taking on penn state i'll have a breakdown of that one tomorrow leshawn we'll talk to you again next week. Appreciate your time. Yep, sounds good. Go Hawks.