Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - "Gridiron Insights: Iowa's Depth Chart Unveiled & Kirk Ferentz at Big Ten Media Days"
Episode Date: July 25, 2024Welcome to the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast with your host, Trent Condon! Join us as we dive into the latest headlines surrounding Iowa football. In this episode, we break down the newly released depth ...chart and analyze Coach Kirk Ferentz's key insights from the Big Ten Football Media Days.We'll also discuss the impact of Hawkeye wide receiver Kaleb Brown's suspension for the season opener against Illinois State due to his recent DUI arrest. What does this mean for the team's strategy and depth at the receiver position?Stay tuned as we provide in-depth analysis, expert opinions, and fan reactions to all things Iowa football. Whether you're a die-hard Hawkeyes fan or just tuning in, the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast is your go-to source for comprehensive coverage and insider perspectives.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.eBay MotorsFrom brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM and add a big win to your summer bucket list!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)
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Discussion (0)
The new Iowa football depth chart has been released at Big Ten Football Media Days.
What do we do?
We overreact today.
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Well, in a way, we check another kind of one of those check marks off
as we make our way through Big Ten football media days.
It all began yesterday on Tuesday as we got to hear from six of the 18 coaches.
Today, Kirk Ferentz and five other coaches were in the spotlight.
And I'd start to Deshaun Foster and what he had to say with UCLA in his opening statement.
But that aside, Kirk Ferentz was up second.
he had to say with UCLA in his opening statement. But that aside, Kirk Ferentz was up second,
but got to hear from Kirk, got some thoughts on some of the things that came out with him a little bit later on. We'll also talk about the suspension handed down to Caleb Brown, officially a one game
suspension as anticipated. But my favorite part of the day, it is the release of the depth chart.
When we get our hands on this one, and I think some interesting circumstances for this. Now, Kirk Ferentz has told us in the past that he's been surprised
at times when something on the depth chart has been brought up to him. It's not worth
a ton. It's certainly, I don't think just though a glimpse into what Iowa football looks
like right now, guys that are coming back, some experience, and I think some new names
that bear mentioning here today. Maybe the biggest aspect and the biggest surprise and eye-opener
for me was when the depth chart came out, seeing the offensive side of the football
and three wide receivers being listed as starters. That means a two deep of six players.
I can't remember a time that I was ever listed three different starting receivers
in that mix.
And I think that's where we start the conversation here today at that wide receiver position.
Caleb Brown listed as a starter.
There's no surprise on that one.
He is a starter at one of the three wide out spots.
Now, they didn't break this down, slot receiver, X, Y, anything like that.
They're just all three listed as the wide receiver position.
But we get six names.
And I think it tells us a little something about this group. Mention Caleb Brown. He is the star of this group. The guy that has a chance to be an impact type of player this season. They'll be
without him for game one against Illinois State. He'll be back after that. And he's going to be
hugely important if Iowa's going to have the kind of successful season that they have a chance to.
Other starting wide receivers. The other wide receiver listed as a starter, Seth Anderson.
Saw him a year ago. I thought as the season went on, disappointing in a way, and he can't put that
on a single guy. And certainly as putrid as the offense was a year ago, there's a lot of blame to
go around. From an inept play caller and offensive coordinator to quarterback play as bad as I was seen in my 44 years on this earth. It is absolutely,
it was dreadful a year ago, an offensive line that though was better, still was not good,
not even close to an elite level offensive line. You have all those components working together,
the injuries at the tight end position, Luke Ley going down then Eric all going down and Addison Stranga I think certainly set himself up and set himself up well for the
future but you were decimated at that spot so Seth Anderson this is not blame on him had the
touchdown early uh first play down the field in the opening game last season and got the excitement
going but just didn't see a ton of him throughout the course of the year and making the kind of plays that you'd certainly hope for, for a guy that
was very productive in his first season at the FCS level, still getting bigger. And that's a
component too. So Caleb Brown listed at 5'10", 200, Seth Anderson, 6'1", 185 for him. And then
one other starting wide receiver listed, and that's Jared Bowie. And this is incredibly intriguing.
We've talked about Bowie a little bit in the past.
He was part of the travel squad a year ago.
He was a guy that was able to play his four games and still maintain his redshirt status.
And for a wide receiver with a little bit of talent, Iowa definitely needs that.
So Bowie being listed up there, I guess that's a little something.
that. So a buoy being listed up there, I guess that's a little something. No, just that, excuse me, that small component that you're looking for, for a freshman that I think has a chance to be
a good receiver. And he's got good size too, 6'1", 200 pounds.
That's something you got to be happy with having him out there. But here's the backups. And the
backups are, I think, another component to this. Behind Jarrett Bowie is another redshirt freshman in Dayton Howard. And why the intrigue
is there for Dayton Howard is his size. He's big. He's 6'4". And Iowa hasn't had that big,
solid, prototypical X-wide receiver. Brandon Smith wasn't a way. He wasn't absolutely a
monster. He was in terms of
thickness, but we're not talking about a six, four, six, five guy that we're looking at here
with Dayton. How you have a guy that has an absolute opportunity to be that guy.
Recruiting profile is not great. Kansas, Kansas state, Missouri. He's a Kansas city area kid,
and they didn't offer him. So that's something I think that at least bears mentioning there, but that was a good one there to see those two red shirt
freshmen show up on the depth chart. Also on the depth chart at the wide receiver position,
another very intriguing wide receiver is Terrell Washington Jr. We saw him a year ago as a running
back during his true freshman campaign. He was out there, another guy that maintained his redshirt status. So he was
able to go out there and certainly help out in a big time way. He's a guy that I think there are
some intriguing elements to him, both as a ball carrier and what he can do. Does he fit kind of
into that role where you have a guy that can work on the jet sweeps, do those types of things,
and then kind of also add another element.
Speaking of adding an element, that's Caden Weijin,
who is listed as the backup as well to Seth Anderson.
Weijin, we know about the speed.
That's what he is right now.
Saw him on those jet sweeps a year ago,
but can he add a little bit more here?
So that's a wide receiver position.
Again, three listed there.
The tight end position, there's no surprise on that one. Luke Lachey is your starter. Addison Stranga is
the backup. Both those guys are outstanding. Luke Lachey, a potential All-American season this year.
I think Addison Stranga is going to have a bigger season than we saw at least as a pass catcher a
year ago, and you hope the development continues for him. 6'4", 251 now for Addison Stranga,
and you hope the development continues for him.
6'4", 251 now for Addison Estrenga,
6'6", 247 for Luke Lachey,
who was in Indianapolis for Big Ten Football Media Days.
And of course, the quarterback position.
The quarterback position is another one that I thought people were wondering about here.
Cade McNamara is the starter,
and Cade McNamara will be the starter.
We've been talking about this now for weeks.
Some people that have had an opportunity
to get their eyes on Brennan Sullivan. The gap is pretty significant. Now,
McNamara knew the system, learned it in the spring, even though he wasn't practicing in a
full-time role or able to go at 100% during the spring. He's got a big leg up there. He's also
got a leg up in terms of the leadership component that is so important to Kirk Behrens. He has all
those things. He took his team, Michigan, to the college Behrens. He has all those things.
He took his team, Michigan, to the college football playoff.
He did it for a program that hadn't won a Big Ten championship since 2004.
Think of that.
They went 17 years without a Big Ten championship.
Michigan, we're talking about here.
Not Iowa.
Michigan went that long without a Big Ten championship,
and he was the guy that was able to lead them there
and to the college football playoff.
He can play at a high level. He can play in a system.
I believe that Tim Lester is going to implement this year in a big-time way.
I think we're going to see a lot of good things out of him.
The backup, though, I think that's where the surprise was.
It was not Brendan Sullivan. Instead, the listed backup is Marco Lyonnes.
Now, remember back, Lyonnes got a majority of the snaps.
He was taking all the snaps with the number two and number three teams back in the spring.
So he got a lot of experience, a ton of reps there, knew the system.
I wasn't surprised to see Sullivan listed third and Lyonnes listed as the backup at this spot.
But a push came to shove, and there was another McNamara injury.
Something happened, be it a cramp and he's got to sit out a series
or something more significant.
I think we all know who the guy is going to be in going into the game.
That's going to be Brendan Sullivan, regardless of what the depth chart says here.
Now, if it's his helmet comes off and he's got to come out for a play,
that could be different.
I don't think it will be though.
I think it'll be Sullivan will be your guy at backup but finally all this doesn't matter and the offensive side of the football without the
offensive line we'll talk about that maybe a mistake made in the starting group and a name
that we haven't heard a ton about also listed as a starter we'll also tackle the defense and take a
look at the starters in the two deep over there. The depth chart is out.
We break it down.
Plus, we break down what Kirk Ferentz had to say at Big Ten Football Media Day.
The suspension to Caleb Brown.
We'll do that as we continue.
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Trent Conant back with you once again here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.
Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes
your first listen every day.
We roll through the depth chart
and let's continue on the offensive side
of the football and the most important part
here for this season. If this offense is going to take a big step forward this year, it doesn't
matter how superior Tim Lester is a play caller. It doesn't matter if the quarterback play increases
infinitely from what we saw a year ago, and there's nowhere to go but up from what we saw
last season. The wide receivers start to pop. If the offensive line stinks, they might be better.
They're still not going to be very good.
And we saw a lot of good things in the running game a year ago. Was it as consistent as it needs
to be? The outside zone play just doesn't work in today's college environment. And certainly the way
that Iowa under Kirk Ferentz wants to run it without the inability now to be able to cut block
inside the box. You just can't do it. And certainly can't do it at a high level unless
everything is absolutely perfect. And on top of the team's not playing a seven, eight, feels like
a times nine, 10 man box out there. I know that's ridiculous, but there's times where it feels
they're just stacked up against them. And there's a numbers game with the Iowa football team.
The two guys that we knew were absolute mortal locks in fact really there's four guys here so
it is mason richmond at left tackle he had said if hayden proctor was going to stick around that
he was going to be moving likely inside not the case mason richmond will be a guard at the next
level and i believe he will be an nfl guard and get an opportunity at a pretty high level one
he's not a great tackle at the next level, but he's as good as Iowa has,
and he's back out there at left tackle.
Really banged up last year.
Need him to have a healthy season and put it all together.
Connor Colby, I thought maybe was their most consistent
offensive lineman a year ago.
He's their starter at the right guard position.
Also Jennings Dunker out at right tackle.
We talked about him after hearing from him last week.
Jennings Dunker got up to 350 pounds last year. Now down in that 315 pound range,
an ability at the tackle position where he's going to be able to move a lot better. And I
think that's important against some of the speed rushers that he's going to see at over the course
of the season. Now, Logan Jones, I'm just not a huge fan. I think that the consistency has not
been there. I know there's been some high level plays. I know there not a huge fan. I think the consistency has not been there.
I know there's been some high-level plays.
I know there was a ridiculous call two years ago against him for blocking too hard,
which was asinine against Michigan.
That one still sticks in my craw.
But that aside, Logan Jones, when Tyler Ellsbury's in there, I'm just always impressed.
Ellsbury's a guy that comes in there.
He's come in a couple of times for Jones,
and he has opened my eyes every single time that he has been out there.
Just have not seen that kind of high-level play out of Logan Jones.
Will it finally all come together?
Look, he was put in a tough spot. He really was.
He was put in a spot with the emergence of Tyler Lindelbaum, what he did,
moving from defensive tackle over to offensive line, playing the center position.
They tried to do the same thing for Logan Jones.
It obviously has not worked at the same level. And then finally, the new starter out there
is Bo Stevens. Now Bo Stevens has started a couple of games in his career. He was all banged up all
last season, just didn't get to see a ton of him. I know they love him and his opportunity going
forward. And then your backups, let's start at left tackle is Jack Dotzler. That's a guy that
they have high hopes for,
that he's going to be the heir apparent at that position now in his sophomore campaign.
Cade Pieper, we've talked about him a ton, still has some size to grow, listed at 275 pounds.
But a guy last year got some reps at offensive line as a freshman.
That says a lot, certainly, about him.
Ellsbury's the listed backup.
You got Nick DeYoung listed at right guard.
We know his
versatility. He can bounce inside and outside. Need to see more from him in the sixth season.
And then finally, Trevor Lauk. And good to see him listed. He was a big-time prospect out of
Indianapolis a year ago. A lot of big-time programs wanted his services, and Iowa was able to nab him
out of the Indy pipeline. That's going to be an important one. And he very well probably is going
to be out there. I believe him and Dotzler are going to be an important one. And he very well probably is going to be out there.
I believe him and Dotzler are going to be fighting for those tackle spots
next year alongside Dunker on the right side.
That is going to be what we're going to see coming up on the offensive line.
Let's jump over to the defense and not nearly the amount of question marks.
We talked about the lack of depth at defensive tackle.
That's probably my biggest concern with this Iowa defense.
And hearing Kirk
Ferentz today, I think he agrees with that sentiment. We know the starters, Deontay Craig
on one side, Ethan Hurkett on the other, inside Aaron Graves and Y.A. Black. There's no concerns
there. All those guys are outstanding. All those guys have shown an ability at the Big Ten to be
playmakers, and some of them have shown even more than that. Y.A. Black played his best football
after his injury last year.
Hurcate has made a couple of huge plays for him.
Deontay Craig, we saw him as a sophomore, just how good he was,
and I think he's going to bounce back and have another season
where he's approaching double-digit sacks.
And then Aaron Graves.
We need to see another step forward from him,
but the concern lies with the backups.
Now we've seen a little Maxwell, and he's been out there,
a rotational piece, you're all right with that. Well, and he's been out there a rotational piece.
You're all right with that.
Brian Allen,
he's looked good in open practices.
Now it's time to actually see it on the hardwood,
on the actual field during a game for a Brian Allen.
I think it's there.
Certainly can get to the quarterback and maybe that's all it is where he is
more of a third down rush end.
And he maybe substitutes in for her cat at times or do something like that,
but getting him some reps, 15, 20 20 i think that's going to be important a couple other names on
there good to see kenneth merriweather a redshirt freshman out of michigan uh that comes in a guy
that didn't have a ton of fanfare as a prospect but a guy i know that the iowa staff was really
high on and already showing up as a redshirt freshman on the depth chart that says a lot
also caden crawford listed as on the other. So they got 12 guys listed overall, three deep
at all of these positions. And then we get into the question marks, defensive tackle.
We've talked about Jeremiah Pittman. We've at least seen him. Needs to be more from him
than the other names, Jeff Bowie, Will Hubert, and Luke Gaffney. Honestly, I haven't heard a ton
about any of those three guys.
Could be a good thing.
Could be a bad thing.
Take it whatever you want to go.
Linebacker spot is set.
You got Nick Jackson on the side.
You got, of course, in the middle, Jay Higgins.
And we saw Nick Jackson, who I thought had a slow start to the year a year ago,
really start to settle in.
And he played his best football in October and November.
That's a guy that had to
kind of learn a new position, was a middle linebacker at Virginia, had to move outside and
and I was 4-2-5 scheme. It felt like at times he was almost thinking a little bit too much,
but we did see I think a big step forward from him in the back half of last season and that's
great to see because a guy that has an opportunity this year to potentially set the all-time record
for tackles in a career, that'd be quite the accomplishment.
We know Jay Higgins.
He was there in Indianapolis.
He was cracking jokes, trying to ask Coach Ferentz a couple of questions up there when
he was on the dance at one point.
Just a good dude.
And of course, we know Dad.
He is one of a kind.
Hawk, hawk, hawk, hawk.
That was good stuff there.
Other backups, names that we know.
Jayden Harrell, who's been the backup.
He was in there in the goal line stand against Northwestern a year ago.
He's their apparent at the middle linebacker spot.
Carson Shire, need a healthy season out of him.
He remains still high on their list.
Those are your starters.
Also at the Leo position, if they go 4-3, that's Kyler Fisher.
Again, another guy that is back.
And then the defensive backfield.
Maybe a big surprise to a lot of people comes at one of the cornerback spots.
We know Jamari Harris back for his final season of eligibility.
He's going to be a starter on one side.
And I think most people assume it would just be Deshaun Lee.
After starting as many games as he did a year ago,
that he'd be listed as a starter on the other
side opposite Jamari Harris. Not the case. Well, of course, Trent, it's got to be TJ Hall, right?
Big time prospect out of California, had an offer from Michigan, decided to be a Hawkeye. He's been
injured his first couple of years, gave up a big play two years ago against Nebraska, against one
of the fastest players, if not the fastest player in the Big Ten that season.
I thought showed some signs last year and another very injury-laden season,
but it's got to be T.J. Hall.
It's not.
It's Jon Nestor.
Jon Nestor is listed as the starter.
He's a guy, if you read between the lines,
you definitely know that this was coming from Marist High School
in the Chicagoland area.
He is a guy that is going to be the next great quarterback, perhaps,
for Iowa football.
High hopes for Jon Nestor this season.
Your starters at the safety spot, again, no surprise,
Xavier Wampa at strong safety.
Free safety is Quinn Schulte.
Schulte, the quarterback of the defense, he can add a little punch too.
He's not just your Tommy Soybean try-hard guy.
There's been a little bit more, I thought, to Quinn Schulte.
Behind them, Cohen Entringer saw the play in the Big Ten Championship game.
I think a lot of people go that way.
And he would add opportunities.
Look, Cohen Entringer could have gone in the transfer portal
and could have been a starter, not at the mid-major level,
not in the MAAC, higher than that.
I mean, he could probably start at safety for, what,
half the
power four programs out there. He decided to stick around, go through the tutelage of Phil Parker.
He's going to be another piece that they're going to be able to use this season. And the backup
behind Quinn Schulte is Zach Lutmer, a kid, Northwest Iowa kid from Central Lion, George
Little Rock up in Northwest Iowa. Another one that just finds their way on the field, don't they?
Every single time.
The one guy I didn't mention listed as the starter at the cash position
is Sebastian Castro.
Again, no surprise.
But how about this?
Jon Nestor listed as his backup.
That was at least eye-opening because a lot of people believed
that Cooper DeGene's best spot probably would have been at the cash position.
But just the way that they were built, the way that they were set up with what they had with Schulte and
Wampa at the safety position, they thought that was kind of the best course of action.
But Cooper Dijon would have been great at cash. He would have been great at quarterback. He would
have been great at wide receiver. Cooper Dijon just great in general. He is one of the few
starters that is not back on that defense. And finally, a look at special teams quickly. Kirk mentioned it early in his opening segment,
his opening comments today at Big Ten Football Media Day. Mentioned the Long Snappers back.
Okay. Luke Elkin coming back for another season. Great to see. Love to see that.
Drew Stevens is back. Has he got back mentally? That will be the question there and then re-staking taking over
at the punter position for tory taylor not a whole lot of surprises not a whole lot of differences
that we saw the defense kind of writes his own but surprising to see those 12 names listed at
defensive line both at the tackle and the end spot six uh excuse me it'd be yeah six on each side
good math trent uh Got that figured out.
That is something to keep an eye on.
And can there be a true freshman that can impact them?
Is there another young name that hasn't got there?
We'll start to talk about more of those names as we get deeper and deeper
here into August camp and we start to hear a little bit more.
We continue to mention Kirk Behrens.
Some thoughts on some of his comments and the suspension to Kayla Brown.
We'll talk about all that as we roll through.
This is Locked on Hawkeyes.
Trent Conner back with you one final time on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast.
As always, thanks for making Locked on Hawkeyes your first listen every day.
All right, let's talk a little bit about Kirk.
And if you like to play Kirk bingo, he hit all the hot spots, right?
He talked about complimentary football.
He brought up the 1980s.
He talked about some old players.
He did all the Kirk things and all the Kirk terminology that we are so used to.
And now the 26 years, 26 years that we've been listening and hearing from Kirk
Ferentz. But a couple of things to take out right away. He welcomed the new schools in, didn't seem
real pleased about the four West Coast schools, the changing environment of college football. And
as the elder statesman in all of college football at the FBS level, there's going to be a lot of
those kinds of questions that are going to come his way. We know this is not probably the style of Kirk Ferentz,
but the way that they've used NIL,
not as an inducement to bring in players
out of the transfer portal,
though they did that a lot two years ago,
but it's more solidifying their roster
with guys coming back for an extra season.
And for a program like Iowa, a developmental program,
it just makes a ton of sense. You look at
the returning starters coming back. You think of the guys that easily could be getting ready for
NFL training camp or in NFL training camps right now that decided to come back for yet another
season. There's a ton of those guys that would have had that chance and they came back for another
season of the Hawkeyes. And that's a good thing for this program. Just the way that they do things, the way that they operate,
getting those big guys back for an extra season,
I think is highly, highly impactful.
A lot of questions about Tim Lester, and you get it for both the local,
national, regional, whatever level you're talking about media.
When you talk Iowa football, one of the first things that comes up
is the offense and the aptitude and really how much it has struggled the last couple of years.
Kirk said, not happy with where they were.
Go back to evaluate.
But questions about the system that Tim Lester is implementing and bringing in that Shanahan system
and learning it a year ago in Green Bay and what they were doing up there with LeFleur.
I think you're going to see a big step forward.
I think that they're going to be able to, yes, there's going to be rough moments.
There's going to be a time that they struggle.
It could be early on this season.
It could be somewhere in the middle against maybe an elite level defense like Ohio State
that we'll see right there in the beginning of October.
But to expect that all of a sudden this team that was the worst offense in the country
is all of a sudden great, it was the worst offense in the country is all
again, it's great. It's not realistic. And we like to live in reality. And finally, Caleb Brown,
a one game suspension. This is what we anticipated. We talked about it here,
locked on Hawkeyes every day, or as you know about that, the one game suspension has been
just the way that they've gone about things throughout the years. So not a big shocker on
that front.
Disappointing.
We won't get to see them out there against Illinois State because week number two, it's Iowa State,
an Iowa State team that returns some of the most production
in all of college football coming back next season.
They're going to have a ton of guys back with a lot of experience.
Now, Iowa State normally struggles during the non-conference portion
of the schedule, at least the early portion of the schedule,
because like Iowa, they're developmental.
They just develop at a little different pace over there.
And because of that, they have not been good.
Well, they return a ton this year,
and they think that that's going to lead to a better September coming up for them.
Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day.
Hey, also want to let you know,
if you're watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day
and you have to turn down the volume because of all the
shouting, it's time to make the switch to Locked
On Sports Today. It's a free
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you the biggest stories without all the
screaming. Locked On Sports Today brings you
can't miss analysis, opinions and news, all
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YouTube or on the free Amazon fire TV channels app,
all part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day.
We got your team.
The Iowa Hawkeyes covered each and every day.
We'll have more coming from big 10 football media days coming up the rest of
the week.
A lot of great conversations and a lot coming your way.
The information it's hot and heavy and football.
Can you smell it?
It's in the air.
We'll talk to you again tomorrow.
Go Hawks.