Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Hawkeye Sports Major Offseason Questions

Episode Date: June 29, 2024

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Though it is the Hawkeye offseason, there are so many big questions still happening. We talk about your questions. It's a mailbag edition, Hawkeye, basketball, football, and a whole lot more 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. Welcome in.

I'm Trent Condon and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown 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, make sure you 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 as playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up all customers, new and existing, with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long. Visit

fanduel.com slash locked on to get started. Well, it's about that time as we are sitting here in the off season, getting ready for the finishing up of June. I know probably a lot on the to-do list around the yard. Maybe you're got the earbuds in right now and you're just listening on that way as you're on the mower or pushing things along. Maybe you're on a long drive. You're on vacation or doing something like that. We have so many questions that come in here to Lockdown Hawkeyes. And why not have a chance to tackle them?

That's what we're going to do right now. See the background here today. Pretty good view for me if you're watching on YouTube. If the audio sounds a little bit off, we'll be back in studio next week. But I'm on vacation this week with my family celebrating parents' big big anniversary for them and really enjoying our time together as our whole family. But that aside, so let's get into the questions. And there are a ton of them. We got some football to get into, basketball, baseball, wrestling question also in there.

We'll basically try to tackle as many of these as we can. Most of these come from YouTube. You can always send those along there on the comment section. After each and every episode of Lockdown Hawkeyes, you can also find us on Twitter, or X I guess is now what it's called, at Trent Condon or at Lockdown Iowa. We follow there. We're also on Facebook, Instagram, haven't quite got there, TikTok, and not so much. Maybe I'm too old for that. That aside. All right, let's get into it here. And let's start off with the questions. Let's start with the latest ones, the ones that have come in here most recently. This comes from our episode talking about Cade

McNamara being medically cleared to play. Bobble W says medically cleared to get injured again. You know, and Viking Hockey responds, that's what I'm afraid of. We're all there, right? I came back to Mara, the opportunity that is in front of them for an offense that is competent, that is okay. And I think they can do it without him if injury crops up again. But don't we all just want to see what he is, what he can be after having last season just screwed up from the

beginning. Coming in, went through spring practice, all right, everything good, and that falling apart. And then you go to the next step, and it's just one after another, one domino that just keep going and falling and going the wrong direction and just not hitting for McNamara. Let's hope that it's not that way, Bob, That's not just medically clear to get injured again, that we actually get to see a full 12, 13, 14, 15 games. I guess 16 would be the max, right? Of games for Cade McNamara coming up this season. This is from Tony Walker. A comment from him. I had a dream last night that I talked to Tim Lester about the offense. He said they're coming out slinging the ball. I believe in dream, Tim Lester.

All right, so that one's a little out there, and that's okay. We can be a little goofier during the offseason, right? But honestly, slinging the ball around, that term, and when we think about that, I think we've been, all of us, so beaten down here recently of what we've seen and what we've watched out of this football program that anything that resembles okay is going to be so exciting. Anything that resembles average is going to be such a step forward. I just went back in and watched a couple weeks ago.

I was watching the game from, what have been, 2018? It was a game that Minnesota came in undefeated. And the Iowa wasn't great that day, and they had a couple of breaks that went their way and beat what was certainly the best PGA FLEC team and one of the better ones. But that offense, there were times that it was frustrating. But especially last year, after the McNamara injury, even before, like in the Penn State game, it just looked like they had no clue. There was no hope. And getting to that kind of level, getting to a level of competency is going to be such

a huge step forward. And slinging the ball around, it might look like that. And Iowa, in a given game, might throw it 28, 30, 32 times. But if it's just a normal offense where you're looking to get off 75, 80 snaps a game, it is going to look so foreign to us. Let's hope it is on a good level. One more here on the football front, some of our latest ones. And this one comes in after the news earlier this week of the Caleb Brown arrest.

Obviously, incredibly disappointing news. And a guy that is so important for Iowa football, not just the wide receiver group, but he can help out in so many different ways. His ability to touch the ball, to be a game breaker, to potentially be that number one guy, leadership in a very young and green wide receiver group. I mean, you need all these things, and then to have this play out, it's incredibly disappointing. This comes in from Jeffrey Pierce, and he says, drunk driving is a very serious crime that should carry mandatory jail time and at least a four to six game suspension, including practice.

Anything less denies the seriousness of the offense. You can argue that, Jeff, but what we've learned under Kirk Ferentz's program is that's not the way that it is. And not just Kirk Ferentz's program, but the University of Iowa and their policy state that that's not the case. And that's not to diminish the seriousness of the offense and went with it. You couple that in today's day and age, where we just haven't had many of these incidents happen, which is great because of the perflation of Uber and Lyft and the ability to get a ride. Now, 25 years ago when I was in college, just trying to get a taxi from downtown and get someplace else afterwards was difficult.

And I know there's times that it's still not easy and there's surge pricing, but we also have to remember these guys have a lot more disposable income than they ever have before. These kind of things shouldn't happen. The good news is they haven't happened often, but that doesn't change what we get with Kayla Brown. That's what we are on that front. Jeffrey Pierce, good stuff out of you. We'll continue here. We got a few more football questions for you on the mailbag edition of Lockdown Hawkeyes. We also have a little bit of basketball, wrestling, baseball, a whole lot going on here as we take you through the weekend.

Lockdown Hawkeyes, stay right there. We're back with more in a moment. Passion, drive, and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights, and more. Whether you're into speed, power, or style, eBay Motors has you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for.

And with eBay Guaranteed Fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back. Because with eBay Motors, you're burning rubber, not cash. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit, only available to U.S. customers. Guaranteed fit only available to U.S. customers. Trent Conner back with you once again here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.

Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every single day. All right, let's continue here in the mailbag edition as we jump around to some of your questions and comments that have come in throughout the course of the last couple of weeks. One more on the football front here from the Cade McNamara medically cleared episode. This is from Lieb 9905. Everyone's talking about Sullivan, but he doesn't even know the playbook. Marco is our number two QB. Lieb, I couldn't disagree with you more there. We saw Marco Lioness being basically the only healthy quarterback throughout the course of spring football. Yes, Deacon Hill was here and yes,

Deacon Hill got the starter reps, but eventually Marco Lyon has got all the number two and number three reps and he wasn't able to solidify the number two job because after spring practice, what did they do? And what they continue to say is that they wanted to get more depth in the room at quarterback and they go that direction. They not only brought in Brandon Sullivan, who I think not only is your solid number two quarterback, even without quote unquote, knowing the playbook, like these guys are incredibly smart. The Iowa playbook, they're going to be able to pick this thing up.

They're going to be fine. And you couple that with also what they brought in in the portal. And they went a couple of directions. Remember, they brought in two quarterbacks here. And so they've done that during the portal time. Now, I'm sorry, Marco Lyon, as we could get excited about what we saw from him in the bowl game and the limited reps, should he saw more playing time last season? There's no doubt about it. I think it was coaching malpractice that we didn't see him at least sometimes on the field last season, as awful as the offense was

and how many issues that they had. Excuse me. So those are, I think, two different conversations, but I don't think that's the case right now. I'm sorry, Lee. I don't think that Marco is the number two. I think he is your number three, maybe your number four at this point in time. Question from Jeff Brown.

Ask where we are in Colorado here on the vacation. Hanging out in Steamboat Springs. What a three-hour drive, I guess it was, from Denver. We had some troubles coming in to town. Our flight back, coming back on Sunday, was actually canceled from Steamboat to Denver and then Denver back to Des Moines. So had to divert things a little bit. Instead, just rented a car, made the drive from Denver, and we'll do that back.

I'm making our way back on Sunday. But, yes, a lovely area. My brother-in-law has a place up here, my sister, and celebrating my parents' anniversary. And thanks for that one and checking in where we are. I didn't get to mention the new women's coach. Yeah, we'll get into that one a little bit more. In fact, we got a podcast that just went up speaking a little bit more on that, on the new coaches for the women's basketball program.

Now, that was an interesting one, though, and the direction. It's no surprise that Randy Henderson was the one that got the call for the assistant and getting Randy Henderson in here. That was not, I don't think, a huge surprise by any means. It was, in fact, one of the few names that kind of made sense, had the connections going back to early in the Lisa Bluta era. You had that part of it too. So coming back as an assistant coach, and then 17 years as a head coach, two years as a D1 assistant. And I think that's important too. As much as we love Jan Jensen, and we do,

having somebody that does have head coaching experience on staff, I think can go a long ways. Something that's really, really good to see. Somebody that's just been through those kind of battles. And you might say it's overstated. You could definitely understand some people thinking that way. But overall, I think they're getting somebody that makes sense, understands, has been all over the place, bounced around,

and kept building upon her coaching career with Randy Henderson. So really like the hire there and what they did. And again, we had a little bit more on that a little bit earlier. This comes from last week, the Caleb Brown news, as we talked about him becoming a junior. Well, this comes from Zeppelin810. The Caleb Brown portion of this podcast is aged terribly. Yeah, because in the interim, he got picked up for OWI. That was not very good at all. Something about a Trump commercial. I don't have control of that. I

apologize to you one way or the other, as we had plenty of politics and we will stay away from that. Little bro wanted to make his own path. Isn't anything new? Best of luck with what he chooses. That goes into the choice that we saw last week on Mason Richmond, his little brother, making the decision to go to Kansas State. He's not an offensive lineman. He is a linebacker.

And the other thing is, this is not to deride, and this is not to go into what we see a lot of times from fan bases when they don't get a recruit. Well, we didn't want them anyway. That's not what this is. This isn't sour grapes, but it's just in general, the way that Iowa has stacked up in linebacker recruiting over the last couple of seasons, it certainly wasn't a need position. And when you look at the way that the younger Richmond's development is and kind of what he projects to at the next level is that's what you're looking at. They brought in three outstanding guys that are part of the true freshman class this season. And that's not alone what they've already done this year. It just wasn't a huge need. And that's why it didn't

bother me at the same realm. When you see a legacy that goes somewhere else, yeah, that's going to be a little bit wild, a little bit crazy, right? And you're like, what's going on? And you start to try to peek behind the weeds a little bit more and see if there's more to the story than is what is actually there. I don't think that's the case here with Richmond. And you couple it with what Kansas State has continued to do in building up their NIL collective. They're at the forefront of that, certainly in the Big 12 and one of the best, one of the top ones, which was incredibly surprising to me, according to Matt Norlander from CBS Sports, in all of college football. That was a definite eye-opener with what Kansas State is doing there. We continue here with the Locked On Hawkeyes Mailbag Edition. We got a couple more

coming your way, including a little basketball talk and some baseball. We'll do that as we continue. Stay right there. This is Locked on Hawkeyes. Well, I love sports. I love them so much. I just never want them to stop. But as the playoffs have wound down now in the NBA and NHL, you get fewer games. And the sports just aren't

sporting like I want them to. FanDuel, they're going to let this continue though in a good way. They're going to keep this sports going however I want. All I have to do is open up the FanDuel app and dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood. 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. So head over to FanDuel.com slash lockdown and start making the most out of your summer. Maybe you're jumping in on the Iowa Hawkeyes to make the college football playoff. That's right.

The odds are up at FanDuel. You can also find some of the game of the year lines out there. Michigan, Ohio State, and a whole lot more for the games of the year. College football around the corner, NFL. We got baseball going on right now. Maybe you're into the soccer, whatever it is. FanDuel has you covered. FanDuel.com slash Locked On. FanDuel, official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball. baseball. Trent Conner back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast mailbag edition. Let's jump into a little more football here. This one comes in from Vince. Vince is my brother-in-law. He's an Ohio State grad and he said what is going to be the score of the Ohio State Iowa game coming up this year? Well hopefully better than 54-10 the last time. Now, if we could return and get another wood shedding,

55-24 on the good guy side, we would definitely sign up for that one. This is an interesting question from this realm and not from a Buckeye fan throwing a little shade our way. Not because of that. It's because of this. Iowa has a real chance of being in the college football playoff this season. Maybe as good of a chance as they're going to have in the foreseeable future. The schedule sets up incredibly well.

You couple that with you do have some heavy heads on the schedule. The one thing you can't afford. Say Iowa does go 10-2 this year. 10-2 and they're fighting for one of the final probably two spots to get in to the college football playoff. 10-2 this year. 10-2 and they're fighting for one of the final probably two spots to get in to the college football playoff. 10-2 looks good. But if you have 10-2 with losses too, say it's Ohio State and let's say I don't want to throw Minnesota in there. I don't want to throw Nebraska in there. Let's say it is to Wisconsin. All right. Just for argument's sake. They lose to Ohio State and Wisconsin. They go 10-2. But if that loss to the Buckeyes is 54-10 again, kiss your hopes of being in the college

football playoff out the window. It's just not happening. They're not putting a team in that's going to be that close. That's not going to have a high level quality victory like Iowa likely won't unless Washington surprises or Michigan State or Iowa State goes 10-2, something like that. You're not going to have a big-time quality victory. And at 10-2, you need a little bit of help. And they're going to definitely need that help at this point in time. A couple more for you. Let's jump into the hoops side of things.

What's a realistic expectation for Iowa basketball in 2024-25? For me, I think it's NCAA tournament. thousand and twenty four twenty five. For me, I think it's NCAA tournament. I think that that is a a realistic place to start. Look, they were on the bubble with the team last year. That didn't look like they should be a bubble team. I think the improvements that you're going to see, even small steps on the defensive end of the floor with better athletes, better ability to get rebounding. Look, Iowa was a bad rebounding team last year, coupled with a bad defensive team. And there's going to be a lot of times that you're going to run into some issues. And because of all of that, I think that is a huge

component to look at with this Iowa basketball team is a little bit better there. Stay at that high level offensively. And I think they will. You're going to run a lot of things through Sanford. That is a realistic baseline. The Big Ten is not top heavy this season. We're not talking about probably any team in most people's preseason top tens, probably two, maybe three teams in most preseason top 20s or 25s. But that next tier, basically teams say 25 through 50, the teams that are in some safely on the bubble consideration,

others on the backside of it, there's going to be 8, 9, 10, 11 of those teams, I believe, this season in the Big Ten. So it's not top level. It's not going to be high level things, but that is going to be a component you need to look at as well. And that's going to be so important, winning those games against other bubble-type teams. And you can't afford a three-game losing streak. You can't afford to dig a hole like they've done so many times in the past, either in the non-conference or early in the Big Ten slate. Have to hit the ground running.

That's going to be a huge part of this Iowa basketball team. One more comes in from Twitter, and that is a question on Iowa baseball and the new hire. I'll be honest, I haven't got to that one yet, and I don't want to jump in and just give you an opinion on the new Iowa baseball hire without having an opportunity to do a little research myself. I'll talk to a few more people that I know involved with Iowa baseball. And since we're out and about here, have not had that ability yet, we will definitely make that happen, though, going forward and get to the forefront of that one when we get there. We'll continue here with more of your questions on the coming weeks. Fun thing to do here during the summer is catching up with a lot of different people. Had a couple of more in here. Let's see what else. Let's see.

AJ's leaving is probably the best thing for Iowa. EJ needs to get his mind right. Let's see, what else? This from Tiaf. Is this going to be Air Hawkeyes? It better be if what I'm hearing is correct. The cakewalk until Ohio State. Maybe 37 will get that game, but who's throwing all the touchdowns up to a past game? A lot going on there with that one.

Need to have a redevelopment of the wide receiver room. For me, Anthony Brooks, you're exactly right on that. This from Rex Kakerts, a consummate professional. I love when we have an opportunity to get him in here and talk with Tom Kakert. Wilco, talk about teams that are always overrated in the preseason, Notre Dame and Iowa State. Well, Iowa State's very rarely rated, so it's hard to be overrated when you're not even rated, but I get where you're going. They're in Notre Dame, no doubt about that one. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day.

We'll be back with you again next week. Appreciate each and every one of you for being with us. We'll talk to you then. Go Hawks.