Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Frank Garza joins the show to discuss Iowa basketball, his relationship with Luka, and the coach/father/friend balance PT 1

Episode Date: August 18, 2020

Frank Garza joins the show today to talk about his relationship with Luka and how he balances being a father, friend, and coach. Plus, we get into some of the difficult times this Hawkeye basketball squad has endured and how it has made them stronger. Part two will be coming tomorrow!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. 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 Hawkeye Nation, to another episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Lockdown Sports Network.

As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and I'm excited to be back for another episode of the show. Today we have the man, the myth, the legend, the creator of Let the Peacock Fly in terms of Iowa Hawkeyes basketball. We got Frank Garza on the show today, father of Luca Garza. We had a great conversation, chatted with Frank for probably, I would say an hour and a half and just had an absolute blast talking to him about everything. Fatherhood, being best friends with Luca, the training they do as a duo and getting Luca ready for basketball, the conversations he's had with Fran, what he thinks about Fran as a coach and a parent.

The conversation was endless and I think it was really insightful and y'all are really gonna enjoy this one. So we're gonna jump to that in just a few moments. Before we do that though, I do have a few quick housekeeping items. Obviously, if you love this show, please make sure to give us that five star review, like review and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast that we have great content coming out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And like today, we do have some content coming out on Tuesdays and Thursdays,

depending on what interviews we have coming up. And we do have some other great interviews coming up over the next couple of days, couple of weeks. We have former Iowa Hawkeye baseball player and current member of the Chicago Cub organization, Matt Dermody, joining the show. We have Mike Dom, one of the members of who is going to be playing on the Iowa United, is currently playing professional basketball overseas in Spain and played on the House of Pain TBT alumni team. Talking a little bit about the quarantine bubble, I feel like there hasn't been a ton of content coming out on that one to make sure we drop that. And I also just had Riley Smith, an actor who's played roles on 24 Radio Nashville. The list goes on and on. He currently is playing Nancy Drew's father on Nancy Drew. So really great conversation with him about his fandom with the Iowa Hawkeyes. That'll be dropping next week as well, so stay tuned

for that. Before we jump into the Frank Garza interview, though, I do have a couple items that I want to touch on that happened in Iowa sports news. Broderick Benz announced the formation of the multicultural group in the Iowa Hawkeyes athletic department with players spanning from all over the different sports. I think that's really awesome to see some of the happenings of that. Also, we heard from Gary Barta in regards to the profit loss and impact to the Iowa football program and the Iowa sports programs in general. It sounds like they are expecting around a $ million dollar loss this season. And that could, you know, put them in a deficit of around $65 million or around that,

that range. I know I'm a little bit off on that, but definitely something we're going to talk about on future episodes. And then also the Michigan parents have joined the parent fight to get Kevin Warren to give some answers. So we'll obviously keep you posted on what happens with that as well. That being said, though, let's hop into our interview with Frank Garza. Again, it was a great conversation. You're absolutely going to love it. So let's jump into that right now. Frank, obviously, I'm really glad to have you on the show. I know we talked about that. It's a great honor to have you on here. I've been following you a lot on Twitter. It sounds like you've been following us too, which is really great to hear. Luca has had an amazing season as well,

which is fantastic to even put him in that position. But what I'm really curious about is your relationship with Luca. To me, that's kind of one of the coolest things I've seen is that you have such a strong relationship with him, but it doesn't seem like it's just a, I'm coaching and I'm pushing him physically. It seems like you also have that great spiritual and mental relationship with him that you are a father here and you're a coach here

how how have you developed that approach over the last you know 20 21 years yeah that's uh wow that's a a loaded question yeah well first off thank you Andrew for having me on and and I do want to just say real quick to you know our hearts go out to everyone in Cedar Rapids and all, you know, Iowa for what's going on. And I'm here in D.C. My daughter's here. We're going to be, we got an Iowa sign. We're going to be down there. She goes every night to the, you know, BLM Street right down there.

So she's got a sign. So we're going to have an Iowa one out there just because nothing's going on. But our heart goes out there so as it comes to Luca your question the relationship it's interesting um uh you know because there's there's many facets one is yeah there's a coach development side then there's the one being dad um and then there's one being a friend you know it's um it's interesting you know in life uh you know you tend to stop growing as a human being once you hit trauma as a young person bang you stop it because why all of a sudden you can't really do that anymore because the trauma is such that you've got to basically fight or flight every day you know you know

freeze or comply right fight or fight freeze or comply so when that happens growth usually stops so it's interesting in in uh in my own life experience where that happened to me uh it's interesting how now as a father the front part which is where i want to start with lucas because what he went through and what we went through in development of basketball besides and just leaving the you know as a dad part out was very similar to what i went through that saved my life the game saved my life it was the hope it was the chance to get away from the house and not have to be in that trauma and so it it's amazing how with Luca

and that love that I developed for the game, we shared that and we loved it. And we love the work. And the number one thing Luca will say is he loves the work. It's not me ever having to go, get out there, get out of bed right now and do it. No, not at all.

It's been him saying, dad, listen, we got to get going. I'm going to be late, you know? And it's that kind of love. That's not just, because dad, listen, we got to get going. I'm going to be late, you know, and it's that kind of love. That's not just because you have to love the game to be good. So from a friendship standpoint, that is all there as a foundation. So, yeah, we are best friends and, and, and he's son and I'm dad. And as you'll find out in life that pretty soon it's a role reversal where the dad becomes the listener and the learner and the son is leading and some new pathways that, you know, dad didn't see, you know, where it was the reverse, you know, growing up for those 21 years or, you know, well, earlier than that, up to say 60, 70. Cause it, you know, he grew and fast and learned fast. And, and so from that standpoint,

that, that piece is there. And then from a coaching standpoint, my son, you know, one of those things I made sure he was more prepared than anyone else, just because if you don't have the physical gifts, Andrew, you got to then excel in the intangibles, you know one of those things i made sure he was more prepared than anyone else just because if you don't have the physical gifts andrew you gotta then excel in the intangibles you know and i posted something hey 10 things that take no physical effort you know one is belief you know i mean i put it on a tweet but it starts with belief you know first visualization breathing like for instance andrew how long can you survive without food i don't i guess i don't know i never tried it yeah exactly i hope you don't have to be in that position by the way and same

thing with folks that are suffering now but about three weeks wow three weeks yeah how long can you survive without water it has to be less than that, right? I mean, you need water within like two or three days, I would assume. Yeah, three days. How long can you live without a breath? I mean, like four minutes, five minutes. One, one. Yeah, one, one breath. So how often do you practice eating? How often do you practice drinking? How often do you practice the number one thing that you can't live without one of them because and particularly as an athlete if you learn pranayama which is breath the science of breath you can expand your lungs to one and a half times that of your competitor so when i

backing back to luke and the development part luke has always we've always prided ourself on being ahead of stuff out there and then i'm old school i learned stuff from coaches that are no longer alive and and those techniques are now luca's turn to pass on and to show on what he does those are drills that people just don't know about or or or or they don't do them because otherwise they would be doing them. But that's neither here nor there. But Luca, that development part, Luca knows and now has become, from a basketball IQ standpoint, he's becoming a master of his sport.

We're going to take a quick break from the conversation with Frank. I hope you all are enjoying it so far. But we do need to let you know about an awesome deal we have going on right here through the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast and the Locked On podcast network with our great folks at rockauto.com. Rockauto.com is your place to go for all your auto part needs. It is a family owned business serving auto part customers online for 20 years. They have everything you could possibly imagine for any kind of car, truck, or vehicle that you drive. Their catalog is unique and remarkably easy to navigate, even for someone who

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cord at right there's no hiding so what we're talking about is not, oh, do this or else. It's, hey, did you consider this? And him saying, hey, what about that? What could we do here? What are you going to face next time? And I still have to say this, you know, nine times out of ten, he's more right than me on stuff now. It used to be. But that one that I'm right on is huge, right? So it maybe makes sense.

But no, I would say, I said this to him. Luca, your inside game is not going to translate to Big Ten. We got to be out a little bit further. Look at him now. Yeah. It's been impressive. What a pinhead, right? I deserve a pinhead, Dad.

But no, because why? I wanted him to have the Sigma 12 to 15. Well, now listen, that's's a nice that one is a huge addition to everything else so anyway that exchange of the game the love of the game and then the coaching and development part is so that i've got drills for him that he's doing that are going to elevate his game based upon his biocycle development part, and him as an athlete, and, you know, and what his strengths and weaknesses are there, so all that put together, it's, it, yeah, you know, it is, is unique, I'm, I'm grateful for it, and, and keep in mind that the glue, the mold to make all this happen is though my wife, Shayla, and my daughter.

Without the female, you know, they're just so much more. Even the central nervous system is 51% because they give life. By the way, a great book out there called The Female Brain. I encourage everyone. And then The Male Brain, both written by the same doctor. I forget her name just off the top it's a senior moment but that's a great book out there to to understand that but I want to be real clear is that that family yeah couldn't have done it with I mean give me a break

uh provided the strength because my wife has you know my father, who passed away two years ago now, was a hero in Syria, was a phenomenal soccer player. Incredible. You go everywhere. Just, I mean, and so she came from that,

knowing the hard work, what it took. So that was all supported. So if that wasn't supported at home, then maybe, you know, it wouldn't have happened. So it's a total team,

you know, effort there. But when it So it's a total team, you know, effort there. But when it comes to the friendship and then the development stuff, that's really Luca and in our own, right? Because those were the times that we earned that on the court and what we do together. And that's unique, just like it's unique between his mother and him. They talk more than I do. You know, a couple, two, three times a day. It's like sometimes he does shut up.

You know, I'm going to see you at the next game. Okay, get out of here. I'll see you at the, you know, like, come on. I don't need to hear that again. Yeah. Because listen, I want to say I'm not some, you know, unbelievable guy. No, I'm not. I'm a turd.

You know, I'm like a hot dog. You know, Heinz 57. Because, no, serious. But because sometimes in those stands, I had vision. I put it together. And I learned to become a dog, you know, Heinz 57, because I'm not serious, but because sometimes in those stands, I had vision. I put it together and I learned to become a great, you know, a better trainer and certainly in my profession is performance enhancement in terms of, you know, going from where you want to go here to becoming better.

I say I'm a master at that, you know, but the point was some of the, when i listened to myself in the stands what i was saying to luca when he was a young kid i'm embarrassed to hear it i was saying it's just shut up hey and because i'm six eight not big i got some of the parents were probably afraid of me they wouldn't say anything but i listened to myself i said i'd tell luca my god i was terrible but yet that he knew he came from love and he knew that he was further advanced and he knew, and I don't say that stuff anymore because he now does it. He wasn't doing it and we practiced it. And so I didn't, so I was there to hold him accountable. Just like now he

requires that of me. And if I didn't, he'd fire me, right? Hey, you're not doing it. You're not treating me right. You know, you're not telling me what I need to see. And I was, I was exposed. that you're not treating me right you know you're not telling me what i need to see and i was i was exposed i wasn't ready for that move why so there is that equilibrium that now you know that that's there that's just every level andrew requires more the higher the harder i mean literally the more so where luca now is it's 95 mental five percent physical% physical. So I ask players, I say to folks, even the training world is, hey, what about the inner game? Like for me, I'm selling, some of the selling sales training, but also in our Elevate program, what's the inner game of your sport? What are you doing to enhance that? You're only going to act in accordance with how you are internally. i don't care how good the coach is or how good the play is

you're not going to perform and so these things is what's created this you know uh and for luke and i were like you know it's just us doing our thing and and we never really kind of looked at well yeah i guess that is unique you know like the big 10 network was here doing a special as I know a couple of years ago and the journey or something and the whole family and everything. And the guy comes over and goes, Hey, Frankie, listen, I've been doing this 30 years. There's not a dad doing this with his son at this age.

I haven't seen that in 30 years. And I went, wow, geez, I, I never thought of that. And yet I couldn't imagine myself never not doing it. Yeah. So – I think that's what's so rare, though, is the fact that – I mean, that's kind of what interests me the most is the fact that you are that father and you are that coach and you are that friend. You managed to mesh all three of those together.

And, you know, obviously everything is – you know, everyone – you see what you see, right? You know, we don't know what's – but it sounds like that truly is how that's formulated and I think that's really rare and really impressive and you can just tell you know even listening to Luca's you know press conference that he was coming back to Iowa I mean he talked a lot about you know his relationship with you and talking to you and speaking with you and speaking with his mom and his sister and and having that incredible support system so to me that's what really was the coolest thing about it. Not, you know, you have Luka.

Luka's an amazing basketball player, and I think that's awesome, and I'm really happy he's with the Iowa Hawkeyes and all that stuff. But I think the family aspect of it is what I think is probably the coolest piece is you just don't see that very often. And I think what kind of the next transition to that is Fran has two boys on the team as well. So the next transition to that is Fran has two boys on the team as well. And I think the outside perception of non-Iowa fans is that Fran has a bit of an anger problem.

And Fran can, you know, is he allowing his boys to play and they shouldn't be and whatnot. But personally, I look at it as Fran seems like he's handling being a father and a coach really well. And I think to see two of those type of you know two parents like that in the same small organization same small tight-knit community is incredible and I want to get your thoughts on Fran as a dad and a coach and yeah that's insightful Luca insightful question Andrew well I'll say yeah about Fran there's there's there's another piece I want to answer to if I can to him, which is how about the, how about the fact that, you know, you got a parent who's a coach of Luca and his development. Hey, listen, if Fran wasn't a guy that was superior of a,

what I say is an intangible man, he's superior in that. And I mean, when I, Frank tells me something, I know it's going to happen just like I'll say something's going to happen. That's our relationship. There has been not one deviation from that in the entire time that I met him, you know, which dates back to 2015. Yeah. And so, you know, trust Andrew requires time and experience. And so I say this based

on that, not based on the fact that he's coaching my kid. Yeah, I think his magic is with his wife, Margaret. You know, they're together as like a complete, you know, you want to come back and be their kid, right? You know. So anyway, I say he balances it. He knows it. He's delineated. He's laid out. Here's where it is.

For instance, Connor's red shirt year. I don't know if anyone paid attention. I certainly did. Because you've got to learn the man who's coaching your kid, right don't know if anyone paid attention. I certainly did. Because you've got to learn the man who's coaching your kid. Right? It's part of being a dad and part of being a coach myself. Yep.

And understanding what's going on so we can prepare for Fran's offense. So Luka was ready in all these spots that Fran had envisioned because he's a phenomenal playmaker. But here's what Fran would be doing. He'd be sitting with Connornor coming out at every half and moments of breaks that he could say hey connor what should we be doing here uh what if you were coaching right now what what play would you call so similar to luke and i very very similar is connor's learning some stuff that is incredible mentoring. Andrew, which is why he's, when he has the ball,

no one's going to get it. Yeah. He's a general extraordinaire. I see him more like a general out there. You got a couple generals out there, five-star generals. You can have two generals playing with each other. It's better if you have five because you win a national championship. I think we got seven probably. got the whole team you know we got the biggest

one in france so i say france balanced it margaret i think is um uh i don't i say she's ever overlooked i'm just saying listen someone to me is like hey the the glue that puts it all together makes it all happen and uh supports you know based upon a belief that family is fundamental and serving others is what this is all about man it's just a great story and and uh and we're going to know them forever and i couldn't be more honored or or grateful for it so i i give him an a plus in that category i would say the uh, you know, I really, you know, I like all their kids. But in terms of Jack, you know, he could, you know, I got him working on the Skyhook early on.

So, you know, I can't wait to see him, you know, go nuts with that. But he could be maybe the blend between both of them. That would be crazy. Wouldn't that be be something and so anyway i don't want to you know say i don't want to skip over his daughter but i'm just saying to your point or to your question is i think he handles it um very fine i probably take a deeper role in the development like working them out i do more of that and fran just physically can't not possible it's not it's not his thing my

commitment in life i think i posted it when when luke had made his announcement today was the minute he was born and same with my daughter i just forgot anything doing in that thing because that was just my calling yep that was just like a right as rain so i'm not due i don't care if i i uh uh you know, bury me in a cardboard box or something like that. That's where I'm, I'm going for them. Yeah. And I think that's an honorable thing that, that is at least it is for me. And so that's, and it's so it's neat to find someone in Fran as a man, as a friend,

that I can say, Hey, we know what we're talking about here what i'm talking about is basketball because i know it development because i know it you can see that and then his ability to see it and then allow it to happen on his team because they'd be playing a game now i remember wisconsin luca didn't have a really good game that freshman year. Guess what? Luka wants to say, Dad, we're going to shoot now. I come from the stands. I get on the change. Boom, we're shooting around. Listen,

if I'm a coach and I got an eagle, what are you doing here? He knew that that piece is what Luka needed to overcome that because we did it his whole life. I'm there to help support him because he's he's an outsider remembers a freshman he's an outsider yeah just as he should be and then he earns his way in that's how life is you just don't come in oh we love you no earn it

right you know so i was there to ensure that happened in terms of him being able to to get through it or not and you know ensure that i was there there to, to, to be there for him, say, and he did it. Not, not me, but, and it's what was needed. Cause we had a seven game start there where we didn't start. We lost our role and we had, you know, we had to figure out, okay, we're going to accept that. Or are we going to, cause no one's worked harder, right? No one has done the things that you've done. I mean, even if you started now, Andrew, I don't know, it'd maybe take you six years to catch up on some of the drills we've been doing daily, repetitively. And I think, you know, this year was the year that he demonstrated his mastery of the game with some of the shots he made.

That I tell you, I can't. It was like that one bank shot against Ohio State. I've still tried. And I've been trying daily, even last night. Yeah. Trying to make that shot. I can't do it. It hit right on the top corner. He got fouled.

Hit just the top of the run just enough and fell back in. I just went like, my gosh. Yeah. So, anyway just the top of the run just enough and fell back in i just went like my gosh yeah so anyway it's the master of the game um that i mean i'll be honest his freshman year i was you know i was hard on the whole team um not in a bad way just there's a lot of the fact they play like turds yeah there's some turd games yeah and you know even even last year you know as a sophomore um i thought luca would have really great spurts but i was wondering you know, even even last year, you know, as a sophomore, I thought Luca would have really great spurts. But I was wondering, you know, why is he not getting the rebounds? You know, he's he's the tallest guy in the court. He should be the guy there.

And then you see this year and you see it all come together. And I think what was most impressive to me and people would ask me, you know, what is Luca change? And I'm like, I honestly just feel like it's starting to come together. And most all, he is the smartest person. It feels like when he has the ball in his hands there is a way to get to the rim no matter what angle no matter who's on him and he knows how to get there and he knows how to get there quicker than whoever is guarding him and I think that is truly impressive I mean the way he can maneuver and craft his way around at six foot eleven is

it's something that you don't see ever and I think it goes back to the the practicing all that kind of stuff so I think it's pretty impressive nonetheless well that's a great point Andrew and I'll tell you just as the another thing I love about Fran and Sherm and Kirk and Spree the whole you know is um you know one of the big reasons I saw for a year to your point he couldn't get and couldn't go get a rebound on this night is because he was out of gas from sprinting 94 feet, taking the ball out. Yeah. I said to Fran, I said to Sherm, please, don't let him take the ball out. Have your best scoring threat with the great lungs

and make them cover you down low so the outside opens up. So, hey, let's try it. And they did. And one of the reasons Luke will go get a rebound now, he's not gassed. Yeah. After running 94 and taking the ball out, sometimes 100 feet because the ball goes outside out of bounds. You got to go run, get it, and get it.

Then you're sprinting down. Now go run. I mean, come on. Now look at it. Yeah. Yeah. Now look at it. But see, that kind of collaboration, because we want the same thing.

We want a national title. Period. I'm just going to say it. I'm going to cry if it doesn't happen. Poor baby. same thing we want a national title period i'm just going to say it i'm going to cry if it doesn't happen poor baby but no listen we're going to prepare to be ready as we are to take it and so uh i think not having uh fans and stands which i i hate you know i hope that we're going to be able to do it by march madness but i think it actually helps Iowa. Because these are kids that Fran and crew, they recruit a certain intangible kid, young man. And they care for each other.

They're with each other. They're in constant communication with each other. That's a leadership that starts at the top, Andrew. And so I think it favors them because they'll play together. Some of these places where kids come in from all different places, you know, this and that,

not that transfers are bad because Bakari was phenomenal asset to the team. But my point is, sometimes personalities flare up and there's no stands in the fans, you know, fans in the stands, sorry. Cheering you on that

will allow you to forget kind of the stuff going on the chemistry thing and just play to win which is fine to do i've been i've been in those situations but no this is a team's been through that tough freshman year it was ugly it was hurtful and it took luca it hurt luke's and plus here's a kid that only you know 10 people would ever be at this game because he was in a marais private school where there's only you know the people would ever be at this game because he was in a moray private school where there's only you know the games at 3 30 because they they don't care about athletics

it's part of pe class oh you want a game fine it's at 3 30 so nine people show up you know the parents you know so and then he's in front of what national tv 50 000 people screaming his name out hey you dumb you know so that's hard on a kid and it was hard on jack too so it's like boy they took it hard and and this is the reward for standing up to it saying fine listen we're here for the long haul let's see what you're saying in two three years we make the tournament boom and then this year we would have i'd say we would have been minimum 12. You know, we would have got there, you know. All right, and we're going to stop right there. That will do it for part one of our interview with Frank Garza.

Again, a big shout-out to Frank for joining the show. Really appreciate him taking the time out of his day. It was a Friday, and we talked for a very long time. So really appreciate him doing that and talking about his relationship with with Luca and getting into some of the details about the Iowa basketball team and you're going to see on part two as we start getting into more details about you know what what really sparked you know Luca coming back and why that was important to be a part of this team and and what Frank loves about you know this Iowa basketball team kind of going forward so we're going to cover that on tomorrow's episode of the show.

And then we're going to jump in a little bit as well as to some of the great efforts Frank is making to help out teachers across the country and also help out our youth with their L of A sports programs. So make sure to check out Let the Peacock Fly. He has some fantastic designs up there. And the proceeds do go to a teacher foundation and then also a scholarship they have for teachers and then also going to help out children in their L.A. sports program. So make sure to check that out and make sure to check out our episode tomorrow where we cover part two of the interview with Frank Garza. Thank you all for tuning in to today's episode.

If you did like this, again, make sure to like, review and subscribe. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And make sure to follow Frank on Twitter as well at FrankDarza57. Thank you all. Have a fantastic day, Hawkeye Nation. And let's go Hawks. We'll see you next time.