Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: Brian Ferentz in all black, Recruiting updates, Iowa hoops rolls

Starting point is 00:00:00 Today we take a look at recruiting. Brian Smith joins us as we break things down. Nick Brooks, the big four-star offensive lineman, has decommitted from the Hawkeyes. What that means. And there will be a new offensive coordinator. Does that give hope to recruiting some skill position talent? We break it down today.

Starting point is 00:00:18 You are Locked on Hawkeyes. Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, welcome in. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you get podcasts.

Starting point is 00:00:51 You can also find us on YouTube. And when you're there, make sure you hit that subscribe button. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. We're going to talk a little bit more about the Iowa matchup against Michigan. The chances seem incredibly slim for Iowa to pull off the shocker against the Wolverines. We'll continue to break it down. I'll be in Indianapolis for the game and possibly watching the bludgeoning in person. But we kick things off today with a little recruiting talk. Our recruiting analyst here on the Lockdown Network is Brian Smith,

Starting point is 00:01:19 and our conversations all season long with Brian are brought to you by LinkedIn jobs. Brian is always good. Catching up with you. Talking the world of recruiting. How's everything down in Florida? Probably warmer than it is in Iowa. That would be my guess. No, no doubt. Well, we got up to the forties yesterday and that meant getting the Christmas lights up for me. So yeah, yeah, we, we were enjoying it, had the shorts on yesterday and things are a little bit different, no doubt. Well, Brian, the biggest news here recently in the recruiting world is the loss of Nick Brooks. Nick Brooks,

Starting point is 00:01:55 a four-star offensive lineman, played in Georgia for the last couple of years, family back here in Iowa, moved back for his junior campaign, played at Cedar Rapids. Kennedy committed on, I believe it was his 16th or 17th birthday back earlier in the fall at offers from Alabama and Georgia. The who's who of college football became a hot guy for a moment at the very least. And a couple months later announced his decommitment, took a visit down to Texas Tech and away we go. Let's just start first with him as a prospect. Kind of what you've seen when you watched him. A big, big young man. He can be a kid that just leans on people.

Starting point is 00:02:33 He needs a lot of technical work, but he's 340. I mean, I was standing next to him this past weekend. I was at the Iron Bowl. He was at Auburn. And I'm like, holy cow, who is this guy? And I saw he's from Iowa. And I'm like, oh cow, who is this guy? And I saw he's from Iowa. And I'm like, oh, I got this name tag. I got to look this kid up.

Starting point is 00:02:50 But, I mean, he is just – he was as big as any person in the stadium. So he's a junior in high school, and he's at the Iron Bowl. So I just think he's going to end up being a big offensive guard, possibly right tackle. I mean, Iowa, obviously, they're famous for developing players like this, but they usually don't get pieces of clay with this much upside. So they need to find a way to get that kid. You just can't lose kids like that out of your backyard if you're the Hawkeyes.

Starting point is 00:03:16 You know, a big part of this, Brian, is what happens, speaking of being in Alabama, Caden Proctor. And though this is much different than the Caden Proctor situation, Caden Proctor, two days before signing day, no longer gonna be a Hawkeye. I mean, really, he was going to be Iowa's right tackle this year. He was Alabama's right tackle this year.

Starting point is 00:03:34 And they didn't have anywhere else to turn. You know, that's not something where very quickly you can kind of on the fly find another four or five star kid to bring in there and be a day one starter. So it hurt Iowa. It doesn't hurt Iowa in the same scope with Nick Brooks this is still a kid that's just a junior long day away before we get to his signing day we're talking about 13 months away before he'll be signing on the dotted line and I was not out of it either when it comes to him but I think that

Starting point is 00:04:00 Caden Proctor part of it kind of spooked some Hawkeye fans. And this is a different situation, though, than what they dealt with with Proctor. Yeah, because you're talking about a situation where he's not originally from Iowa. That makes it uber complex. Where does he want to live? I mean, that's not something you can really fix if you're Iowa. So I don't know what his living situation will be long term, but he's got family in both parts of the country. That makes it very difficult to project. So only thing you can do is keep recruiting him.

Starting point is 00:04:30 And he's probably going to have a chance to play pretty early. I would guess a red shirt year, then he'd be a starter. Maybe he's a kid that could play as a freshman, at least a little bit. I don't think he's as far along as Proctor was at this point, but still the frame is just ridiculous. So, yeah, walking by him, I was concerned he was going to put me between two slices of bread and make me a snack. So he's a big old boy. That he is.

Starting point is 00:04:54 Watching him throughout the course of this season, you know, he's still got a lot of work to do. You mentioned probably not close to as far along as a guy like Caden Proctor. He was such a road grader his sophomore year even playing at the big school level here in the state of Iowa. You look at him and what needs to be worked on and with that frame you know 370, 380 pounds he's a guy that needs to lose some weight too. I mean he needs to probably get down to that 340 pound range. Would that be fair when you watch him? I think that's very fair uh 320 would probably be better you know it's the difference between a high school and a college environment as they

Starting point is 00:05:32 watch your calories is the difference between night and day so like they will basically feed him wherever he goes alabama iowa doesn't matter so that's something to think about. As far as technique, his hand placement, his timing, when he bends and when he reaches, like he gets up over his feet sometimes. I take advantage of that. I don't care what level it is. You make a mistake up front, I'll find a way to take advantage of it. You go to play in the SEC or the Big Ten, they'll really take advantage of it. So, yeah, it's just technical stuff.

Starting point is 00:06:03 And O-line is a lifelong learning skill. That's why Iowa football, to me, is still interesting, even all their offensive struggles, because they keep putting guys in the NFL, and they'll go up against the front, and you're like, yeah, they've got to pass here, and they'll get five yards running the football, because they're just well-skied. They're well-blocked. So that's what this kid needs.

Starting point is 00:06:22 He needs to be around those kind of guys. But that's probably going to take a couple years. Speaking of scheme, the scheme is likely to change going forward. At least there are going to be some tweaks to it. A new offensive coordinator will be coming in next season for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Ryan Grubb is the apple of everybody's eye out at Washington because he's from Iowa. Now, the likelihood that Kirk Ferentz is going to be hands-off and say, Ryan Grubb, do it everyone offensively, not very likely.

Starting point is 00:06:49 But regardless of who it is, you know, Paul Crist has been bandied about. There's been plenty of other names that are out there. The tenets of Iowa football are going to remain the same. Kirk Ferentz is not going to go air raid. We know that. We're not going to see a complete change to what they are. Running the football is going to be a baseline that you start with things. But when you look at a new offensive coordinator,

Starting point is 00:07:08 regardless of who it is in the recruiting world, what kind of buzz is that to create? With Iowa known as the worst offensive college football the last couple of seasons, but knowing in the past that it's been pretty good, what can a new offensive coordinator do in recruiting? Change the concept altogether. i mean everything they can't go conservative coordinator look i'm just gonna say they can't do it man can't do it and i know everybody likes the head man he's a good guy

Starting point is 00:07:39 kirk's been around forever he's very loyal if goes and hires, like he wants to hire a conservative Gordon, this is just me. I'm not talking about other people. I would remove him. That would be it for me. You got to go. And I know that's not the friendly thing to say, but that's 6-6 football because the league is –

Starting point is 00:07:59 the Big Ten West is terrible. They're not going to go 10-2 with what's coming in. They're going to go 6-6. That offense will get worse recruits, And you're playing UCLA and Oregon. They'll get mauled. He has to throw the football willingly. And that's not what he likes to do. So unless he changes, I think this is going to go poorly. You know, there's been gears and you go back to early in his regime. Ken O'Keefe was the offensive coordinator. Yeah, they threw the football. So it's not that he's completely against it. I think has he become more conservative the older that he's got?

Starting point is 00:08:31 I think absolutely. But more than anything, and this is something I've screamed about for the last seven years, Brian Ferentz running the offense is the route concepts are just so archaic. I mean, it is so old school. I don't know schematically seven years in what they're trying to do in the passing game outside of try to get the ball to tight ends. Well, you can still do that

Starting point is 00:08:50 while also having wide receivers be tentative of your offense. So I think that's going to be a huge component to this, of what this passing tree, what they look like concept-wise. Is it an easy fix with the right coach and with Kirk being willing to, yes, we're going to be a little bit more hands-off here.

Starting point is 00:09:07 Is that something that Iowa can do and suddenly become at least competent throwing the football? You can do it in one spring. I mean, the spread offense is actually a little simpler. But now here's the key. To do what I'm talking about, he would also have to be open. I'm not saying he's going to get cam-moored when he eventually enters the portal out of Washington State. But you've got to be open to a quarterback that's going to take some risks.

Starting point is 00:09:33 There will be more opportunities for turnovers, which makes him angry. But, I mean, it's just – I get it. You don't want to – you've got to – you know, I've got to force the ball down the field a little bit. When Alabama was winning big and just bludgeoning everybody, when Clemson kind of took off, you gotta yeah you know i gotta force the ball down the field a little bit when when alabama was winning big and just bludgeoning everybody when clemson kind of took up they had a high risk offense but they beat alabama and it changed college football and then 218 everybody just started throwing everywhere yeah that's that's the everything just changed iowa doesn't have to go forebode like what clemson did but they at least got to approach some of that and kids will come

Starting point is 00:10:03 they only need one or two guys a year outside the numbers at receiver that open up the running game. Then you got the quarterback run, quarterback draw. You got quarterback scramble. The offense would go up a hundred yards a game just overnight. So yeah, I don't think it's that hard. It's about wanting and willingly doing it. And we know who I'm pointing at here. No doubt. Ryan Smith, joining us'm pointing at here. No doubt.

Starting point is 00:10:25 Ryan Smith joining us, our recruiting analyst here on Lockdown. You can find him on Twitter at FBScout underscore Florida. Brian, as always, enjoy the conversation. We'll be talking more here coming up as signing day is right around the corner. And of course, Monday, the transfer portal opens. You're ready for that, right? Oh, look, man, that thing is buzzing already. It's incredible.

Starting point is 00:10:46 I'm sure Iowa will be involved as well. No doubt about it. Thank you, Brian. Take care. Brian Smith joining us as he does here. Our recruiting analysts and our recruiting conversations are brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. We continue here on Locked On, Hawkeyes.

Starting point is 00:11:01 We get ready for the matchup coming up against the Michigan Wolverines. It's the Big Ten championship game. And on the sidelines for the final time, at least in a Big Ten game, it'll be Brian Ferentz. We talked about him, the Hawkeye offensive coordinator. Well, what does it mean? What we've seen from him over the last month of the season,

Starting point is 00:11:21 wearing all black. Some thoughts on that and the game. Plus, Iowa men's basketball got a win last night against North Florida. We break things down and take a look at the Hawkeyes and their win at home, putting over 100 on the board. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of Locked On Hawkeyes is brought to you by eBay Motors. Passion, drive, and patience.

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Starting point is 00:12:44 Well, we mentioned it going in and, you know, one thing that we see here with Iowa football and Brian Ferentz on the sidelines is him wearing the all black getup. It's been since the game at Wrigley Field where Brian is wearing all black, no Hawkeye emblem, no Tiger Hawk. And in the grand scheme of things, it's a nothing burger, right? This is nothing to completely freak out and lose our minds about and to go crazy. That's not what this is, but it is disappointing. It's disappointing that Bryant has to be a petulant baby on his way out the door. Look, there's not an offensive coordinator in the country that would have been brought back

Starting point is 00:13:23 for another season outside of Brian Ferentz. With the numbers that he put up, the cratering in 2021, followed by the ineptitude of 2022, there's not another offensive coordinator that would have been brought back. It's as simple as that. But because of nepotism and because, yes, of the relationship, that's the only reason that Brian Ferentz was given another season. And it cratered again this year. It was brutal and it was awful. And anybody else that would have been fired after the Minnesota game where the Hawkeyes put 12 yards of total offense up

Starting point is 00:13:54 on the field in the second half, after the Cooper to Jean punt return that was wiped off the board by an inept and a sticky situation,'ll say, with the Booth review. Kirk still frustrated about it. Anybody else, when they're fired at that point, would not have been allowed to maintain their job through the rest of the season. Not the case at Iowa. It's different. And for a guy that wore the black and gold, for a guy that grew up around the program,

Starting point is 00:14:23 for a guy that almost lost his leg, he loves Iowa. He loves the football program. He obviously loves his dad. And to have this just lingering out there, it's a bad look. Again, it's not something that is, in the grand scheme of things, anything very important. But for a guy that's made millions of dollars, for a family that's made tens of millions of dollars because of Iowa football,

Starting point is 00:14:51 to do that, to be so sophomoric, and it shows you the kind of person that Brian Ferentz is. I've said for a long time, Brian Ferentz has all of Kirk's bad qualities and not very many of the good ones. And you see that showing up again in this spot. It's a bad look. It just is. And to do that and to have this not saying anything, it's nothing that's been talked about. It's nothing that's been brought up in press conferences with Kirk Ferentz we know Brian will not answer questions because he's Brian and he's on his way out the door

Starting point is 00:15:31 we've seen over this last month of football after the firing a fan base that has come together a fan base that has stopped the bickering, stopped the frustration, stopped the ugliness that had grown inside the Hawkeye community. It was back and forth. It was yelling. It was bad for the program. It was bad for the fan base to have this lingering doubt of what is going to happen with Brian Ferentz.

Starting point is 00:15:59 And if Beth Goetz did not make the decision after the Minnesota game and the push from school president Barbara Wilson. I don't think we're going to be talking about Brian Ferentz out the door. He would have come back next year because they would have chalked it up to injuries like they did a year ago. And the excuses would have been there. And they went in and made a portal haul. And we thought it was going to be better this year and it wasn't.

Starting point is 00:16:23 Injuries are a part of that, yes. But every team has injuries. Every team has things that don't go the way that you anticipate. But how many programs have an offense this hideous? Brian, it's disappointing. It's disappointing for you to be out there and not wearing the black and gold. The all-black get up. It's petulant.

Starting point is 00:16:44 It's sad. But it's not surprising. Continuing on here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, Iowa gets a win last night and bouncing back after a bad performance against Oklahoma, got the second win down in San Diego against Seton Hall. It was a tomato can, it was North Florida, but what did we see? Well, maybe a star is being born. I will tell you right now, Owen Freeman, what a stud that young man is. A great performance out of him.

Starting point is 00:17:11 We'll talk about that and a whole lot more. Breaking things down, reaction to Iowa's win against North Florida as we continue. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of Locked On Hawkeyes is brought to you by PrizePix. What is PrizePix? Well, it's the largest daily fantasy sports platform in North America. The easiest and most exciting way to play DFS. It's just you against the numbers.

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Starting point is 00:19:21 night. Big Ten Network, if you're not a weirdo like me and yes, have to subscribe to BTN Plus and get all the different things. It was good to see the Hawkeyes back out there on the hardwoods. So mention Owen Freeman. And this is becoming not an issue. That's not a fair thing to say. It's not an issue. It's a good thing to have a player like this. However, Brent McCaffrey now needs to find a way to get him involved even more. 19 minutes last night, he was incredible. He puts up a line of 16 points, 5 rebounds, an assist, 3 steals, 5 block shots. Had the incredible run with the 3 block shots on 1 play. 6 of 8 from the floor, 4 of 4 from the free throw line. Look, Ben Crick is a good player.

Starting point is 00:20:04 He is skilled. He is a good player. He is skilled. He is a good offensive player. But if I was going to be at their best, if I was going to turn into an NCAA tournament team, something that I think is a possibility this year, and maybe more than certainly I thought coming into the season, A, because this team is playing better than I anticipated, and secondly, the Big Ten stinks.

Starting point is 00:20:24 Woof. Big Ten after Purdue, it is some better than I anticipated. And secondly, the Big Ten stinks. Woof. Big Ten after Purdue, it is some ugly, ugly basketball across the board. And there's a real possibility where Iowa can finish in the top half of the league, the top six, seven, something like that. And it'd be good enough, that 11-9, 12-8 in the Big Ten, to be an NCAA tournament team. But that aside, if Iowa's going to be at their best, Owen Freeman's got to be an even bigger piece of this. And Fran has really liked what he's done going out there, basically bringing in the second unit with the four freshmen along with Josh Dix. I don't think that can be the case. If I was going to be at their best, their best lineup is going to be

Starting point is 00:21:00 Kricke at the five, Owen Freeman playing the four, Peyton Sanford out there, Tony Perkins, and then one other. Now it might be DeSante Bowen at times, could be Brock Harding at times at the point guard, could be Josh Dix who continues to play at a high level. And you can see his confidence continuing to grow as he works his way back from the broken leg. Played last season as a true freshman coming off that bad injury, and you're seeing him continue to elevate. He's a guy that can shoot it from the outside. He can run the point for you. Tony Perkins last night was incredible.

Starting point is 00:21:30 Great first half from him. Played well in the second half. Playing with a heavy heart after the passing of his grandmother. Great to see. Tony Perkins is just such an easy guy to root for. You would love to see Tony Perkins be able to be a guy that can iron out some of those uneven games that you have, because not only when the shots aren't falling, and not only when he's not getting the points and not being involved on the offensive side, sometimes that translates

Starting point is 00:21:58 also to the defensive end, and he just can't afford that. He really can't. Dembale, I thought for the first time, looked like a freshman out there in the game. But overall, this team is fun. They're entertaining. The attendance does not show up with it. What a sad state of affairs. Growing up in the 80s, Iowa basketball was such a huge thing.

Starting point is 00:22:21 I've said it before. For many times, it was my only opportunity to watch sports during the course of the week.. For many times, it was my only opportunity to watch sports during the course of the week. During the winter months, that was it. We didn't have ESPN. Growing up in Little New Haven, Iowa, we didn't have the satellite dish. We had none of that. So it was back then, Thursday nights, Iowa basketball. That was it. That's all you got for sports. That's different today. I get that. But you also knew that Carver-Hawkeye Arena was going to be banged out.

Starting point is 00:22:51 And they were going to go in there and watch Greg Stokes and B.J. Armstrong and Roy Marble, and it was going to be packed. Not the case anymore. And it didn't matter if it was a Big Ten conference game or if it was a game against it also ran. The Hawkeye fans were going to be in there. I know know late start eight o'clock look I couldn't get over there I want to take with my kids over get home at midnight back to Des Moines that's just not going to happen I know it's difficult but to see that

Starting point is 00:23:15 attendance last night to see 10,000 empty seats just sad what it's turned into I know for Fran it's going to take a run in the NCAA tournament. There's going to be a portion of the fan base that will never be able to get over some of his rough edges, the times that he freaks out, flies off the handle. I know there's people that can't get past that too, but most importantly, Iowa's had a good run here. Iowa's had a great run for Iowa basketball, a run that they haven't had before as it pertains to being a tournament team. Yeah, the March success has not been there.

Starting point is 00:23:50 And the frustration, losing to Richmond, losing to Oregon in the round of 32 with Garza. I get that. And I think we're at the point now in year number 14 where even a run to the Sweet 16 probably is not going to be good enough. I love Fran. I love this program.

Starting point is 00:24:11 I love that we have interesting, exciting basketball to watch. Are there frustrations? No doubt. Just a sad state of affairs to see what Carver's turned into for men's basketball. That'll do it for today here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Also want to mention what we have going on also on our YouTube channel with Locked On Sports Today.

Starting point is 00:24:38 Locked On Sports Today, it is a 24-7 streaming channel where you can see everything going on in the world of sports. It's the first ever national 24-7 streaming channel where you can see everything going on in the world of sports. It's the first ever national 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. For you all day long, the top sports stories of the day with all our local experts on Locked On, plus our national shows covering every league. Go to Locked On Sports Today on YouTube. Make sure you hit that subscribe button to the first ever National Sports 24-7 streaming channel. Hey, also make sure you hit subscribe here on Lockdown Hawkeyes. Thanks for

Starting point is 00:25:10 making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Love what we're doing. We're going to be in Indianapolis. Looking forward to that. Hope if you see me out and about, stop, say hi, we'll talk some Hawks and maybe hoist a cold ale or two in Indianapolis. We will see you over there coming up tomorrow on the program. LaShawn Daniels will stop by, former Hawkeye running back. We'll get LaShawn's perspective on the Big Ten Championship game and make our picks presented by FanDuel. That's coming your way for you every dayers over tomorrow. That'll do it for today. Thanks again for joining us. Go Hawks!

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: Brian Ferentz in all black, Recruiting updates, Iowa hoops rolls

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