Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: Is this the end of the Kirk Ferentz era?

Episode Date: November 2, 2023

Trent Condon returns with the latest Locked on Hawkeyes with a look back at the Kirk Ferentz press conference and talks about the possibility of this being the end of the Kirk Ferentz era at Iowa after the firing of Brian Ferentz.Thoughts on the press conference and the uncomfortable nature of it, some additional comments during Kirk's radio show and a release on social media about his future.What needs to change if Iowa is going to end with a successful run during the final years with Kirk Ferentz as the head coach.Then a peak ahead to Northwestern and what the Wildcats bring to the game at Wrigley Field.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsWith all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.Athletic BrewingGo to AthleticBrewing.com and enter code LOCKEDON to get 15% off your first online order or find a store near you! Athletic Brewing. Milford, CT and San Diego, CA. Near Beer.PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedoncollege and use code lockedoncollege for a first deposit match up to $100! Daily Fantasy Sports Made Easy!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelScore early this NFL season with FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook! Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your team wins!  Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are we looking at the final stretch of the Kirk Ferentz era 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 get podcasts. You can also find us on YouTube.

While you're there, make sure you hit that subscribe button. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 Moneyline bet. That's $150. If your team wins, visit FanDuel.com slash locked on to get started. Well, we start today after yesterday's press conference from Kirk Behrens and certainly one that was eye-opening at times.

Now, we never got the moment. There was no a few good men where we had Nicholson going with Cruz back and forth. You can't handle the truth. There was nothing like that and certainly didn that, anything like that going into things. Kirk is always buttoned up in these press conferences when we get, you know, the times where Kirk Ferentz is a little bit lib, a little bit frustrated that comes out. And that certainly came out yesterday, but for the first time in a long time, one of my big takeaways was that Kirk Ferentz was uncomfortable. He was not comfortable in the spotlight there.

And you can understand the reason why. We're talking about his son. We're talking about a conversation about his son not being able to do the job and not doing it effectively enough. And maybe more importantly, for the first time in two decades, Kirk Ferentz had somebody that was actually going to push back at him, that he actually has somebody that he has to answer to. Under Gary Barta, Kirk Ferentz could do basically whatever he wants. And during the course of his career and the missteps that have been there, Gary Barta has been mainly the athletic director

that he had to quote unquote deal with. And there wasn't a whole lot there. Gary Barta has been mainly the athletic director that he had to quote unquote deal with. And there wasn't a whole lot there. Gary Barta was never in a position where he was going to push back on Kirk Ferentz and probably so be it because we saw what kind of athletic director he was and the problems that he had in his own office there at the athletic department. So because of that, you could kind of understand that the way that it was. And Beth Goetz did the uncomfortable. The firing of Brian Ferentz was an uncomfortable situation. It was a situation that was set up by Kirk, handing the reins over to a guy that was not

qualified for the job, that had no play-calling experience, that had absolutely nothing on his resume that would lead you to believe that he could be a competent offensive coordinator. And though there were high moments, you go back in his first season, putting 44 points up against Iowa State in the first game against a power conference team, the Ohio State game in 2017, and on and on. Those high water marks, there were so many lows. And those lows cratered over the last couple of seasons of what we've seen. You can blame quarterback development.

You can blame offensive line play, but ultimately all that lies at the feet of the offensive coordinator. That's the job is bringing in players, putting together a system that works for them. And Brian Ferentz was not able to do that. And Beth Getz made what was an incredibly, incredibly difficult situation. She ripped the Band-Aid off. And it's something that needed to be done because there is not another coordinator in the country that would have had a season like Brian Ferenc did a year ago and would have been brought back, coupled with a 2021 that wasn't very good in its own right.

Nobody in the country would have come back from that, except for Brian Ferentz, and the only reason is because of his last name. That's it. It's as simple as that. Kirk Ferentz has fired other coaches. But back to the press conference and the uncomfortable nature of it. And as it was progressing and talking to a number of people on the Hawkeye Beat this week, talking to some connections and people on the Hawkeye beat this week, talking to some

connections and sources inside the program. One thing that early on in the week, as we found out what was happening and Brian Ferentz was going to be relieved of his duties, is that many people maintained that, well, Kirk's going to stay on. And after the press conference, that tenor changed. It had changed so much that here on Wednesday evening, as we talked to you, Kurt Fares had to come out with a statement, or Iowa football had to come out with a statement talking about his intentions of remaining the head coach at the University of Iowa. This is the release that was put out on social media from the Iowa football account. While my immediate focus is on finishing the season strong, I love coaching, and my intent is to

continue coaching here at the University of Iowa. We have built something very special here and I plan to coach until I am no longer passionate about the game, players, or coaches. All right, so there's the statement. A little bit weird putting coaches there at the end, but that aside. All right, so that's what we got, right? That's what we have, and I'm going to guess that after the press conference on Tuesday, a lot of people, a lot of recruits are probably looking around saying, what's going on here? Kirk was asked point blank, do you anticipate being back next season? And he was noncommittal, and you can't do that.

You just can't. For an aging head coach, you cannot put things like that out there. You just can't. For an aging head coach, you cannot put things like that out there. You just can't. And he had to react, and he did just that. Also, earlier this evening here on Wednesday, he also had his weekly radio show. And on his weekly radio show, he also talked a little bit more about this side of it. Because, again, it's something that you have to do. He made his bed, and that's what it is.

This is what Kirk Ferentz said on his radio show. This quote comes from Scott Dockerman of The Athletic. I enjoy coaching. Fortunately, I feel really good. The doctors told me I'm okay. I hope they're right. And I hope to keep doing this for quite a while. And I've always loved being here.

I've been here 34 years now. I got to tell you, when the wind's blowing like it was this morning or yesterday morning, that may or may not give you a little second thought, but outside of that, I like what I do. And most of all, like young people, we've had a chance to work with, unquote. That's Kirk Ferentz. That's the Kirk Ferentz that we respect. That's the Kirk Ferentz that we look at as the leader.

We're going to get into a little bit more here. That legacy and how it's been tarnished during the last couple of years. The inability to see past the shortcomings of his son. And what that means going forward. And if what Kirk said here is true, and he's ready to tackle this one more time and become Kirk 4.0, and we're going to get another run

and get to see him right off into the sunset and complete his career with a high, complete his career with one more strong push of getting to a college football playoff, to getting to that Big Ten championship game that seems impossible in the new 18-team structure, to have one final run, or maybe just a run where they win nine games against an incredibly difficult schedule and go off on a high note and is carried off the field in his final game in his 70s.

I'm hopeful that we get to see that. Will we see that? Remains to be seen. I'm hopeful that we get to see that. Will we see that? Remains to be seen. And it's going to start with what he is going to do, not these last four games.

I know that's his focus, as it should be. That's what you want your head coach. But is he willing to adapt? Is he willing to change? Is he willing not to go out and bring in some offensive coordinator that's going to run the air raid? Because you know what? That wouldn't work here. That wouldn't work here with a perfect coach for the system

because you can't recruit those kind of guys. I was best, Pat, to be in the new Big Ten, the 18-team structure, where you're playing Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State, a whole lot more, where you're facing off against USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, where you're not seeing as many games against Purdue, Illinois, and the like. The best path forward for Iowa is to do what they once were. Become the bullies of the Big Ten again. Bring that physicality back.

And do it with a competent offensive system. Nobody's asking, at least I wouldn't think, to Iowa to go the air raid and throw it 50, 60 times over the game because you're not going to be able to recruit the type of athletes necessary to be able to do that at a high level. Complementary football, something that talks about a lot. That can still be done, but the passing scheme has to be different. The run game has to be different. The way that Iowa does it has to be different. The run game has to be different. The way that Iowa does it has to be different. You can still be a power team, but it has to be different than what we've seen over the last three years with Brian Ferencz as the coordinator. He's gone. Now is Kirk willing to

make the changes? We'll continue talking about that legacy, about Kirk Ferencz. What is the future for Iowa basketball? We will get into that. And of course, break down. Yeah, there's a game this weekend. It seems crazy. They're going to go back out on the football field. Feels like a lifetime ago since they took on Minnesota. It was a while back. We'll do that as we continue.

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Again, FanDuel.com slash LockedOn for your shot at the $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 Moneyline bet. Trey Conant back with you again on on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. As we roll through here, talking about legacy, talking about the future, and really setting up what this is going to look like, what this is going to be for the next version of Kirk Ferentz. As I said during the press conference,

it felt like maybe we were coming to the end of the Kirk Ferentz era. And after the statements on Wednesday evening, both on his radio show and on the press release that came out from Hawkeye Football, I think that tenor's changed. I think you can see that Kirk is willing to come back. So what is he willing to do? Because this is going to go one of two directions. This is going to be like we've seen from so many coaches that get to this point in their career where they're not willing to make the adaptation. You look in

the NFL right now with Bill Belichick. And I thought it was really interesting. I heard Mike Sando earlier this week talking about this, who's covered the Patriots for a very long time. And Bill Belichick at this point, at least in his opinion, is not willing to coach his coaches anymore. He's still happy in the day-to-day grind of coaching football. It's very similar to what we hear from Kirk Ferentz, but coaching coaches, understanding and working these guys and bringing them in and teaching them how they want to ultimately teach football. And that's why you continue to see the retreads going back to New England. I was going out in the recent hires, Abdul Hodge, Liddell Betts, two former players have played for him and have done good jobs.

In fact, of the offensive staff, I think those would be the two guys you look at they'd hope to keep around. But is Kirk willing at this point to go outside of his comfort zone? That's difficult to fathom. Look, Kirk fans cannot just go back here and hire John Budmeier to be the offensive coordinator. He was a disaster at Colorado State. He has proven nothing as a quarterback coach,

though he is just an analyst. We know that he is hands-on with what he's doing with the quarterbacks. That has been a disaster during the two years. Is Kirk willing to go out there, not just hire somebody with a background that can do the job, but most importantly, is he willing to let them do their job? We talked about Ryan Grubb, offensive coordinator at Washington. He's done a great job out there. Iowa native, that's who everybody wants. Now, the guys turned down overtures from Alabama. Might be a difficult get. Whoever it is, take Ryan Grubb out of this. Just a competent

offensive play caller. A guy that has proven to be able to do this and do it with the way that Kirk wants to play. Again, physical running style and bring a passing scheme that works. Is he willing to be hands-off? Is he willing to be just the CEO? Just be the ringleader at the top and let the other coaches do his job? That's what he allows Phil Parker to do. That's what he allows LeVar Woods to do. Is Kirk willing to do that with the offense? That remains a great question. Because if he gets this hire right, if he brings in the right person, if he brings in somebody that can at least get this offense even back to average, Phil Parker stays around. And Phil Parker, boy, the job that he has done with this group,

go back to the beginning of the season. This defense was not anything special. And they've been special lately. Against limited offenses, absolutely. In Purdue, in Wisconsin, in Minnesota. But he's done an incredible job with a group of guys that, a lot of new faces out there. He was a couple of guys to the NFL draft, including a couple of first-rounders, Jack Campbell, Lucas Van Ness.

And they're out there again playing at an elite level. Not a good level. An elite level. Once again, he's that good. LeVar Woods is that good. And on the offensive side, knowing that the zone blocking scheme in college football, outside zones don't work anymore. Not the way that Iowa does it.

How does Iowa, a team that is so dedicated to running the football, and that's what they want their identity to do. How come play-action passing doesn't even work anymore? It's because your system is broken. Kirk has to get out of the way. He has to do that. And how this shakes out for his legacy. Again, the two paths.

Is it going to be like Bobby Bowden? Is it going to be like what we saw with Snyder at Kansas State? Is it going to be like Belichick is turning out to be in New England? Is it going to be that? Or is he going to adapt with another guy that he coached with, Nick Saban? Nick Saban won a ton of games, won national championships, but he also realized that he had to change and evolve if they were going to stay at the mountaintop. We're not talking a mountaintop here. We're talking about a

big hill. That's what Kirk's on top of. Not Mount Everest, but the biggest hill in America. How about that? In Poteau, Oklahoma. My dad used to live there. That's the only reason I know that. So he's at the top of this hill, but is he willing to stay there and to be a very good, solid program that's going to win you eight games a year and with the right breaks and making a couple of plays can win 10 games? With those kinds of things, even in a more difficult schedule going forward,

is he willing to do that? Because if he doesn't, this is going to end poorly and it's going to tarnish the legacy. When we think of Hayden Fry, we think of so many of the great moments. But you also remember the end. And you remember the decision to come back

and make it a go one final time with Tim Dwight and Davian Banks and Matt Sherman and that group. And it didn't work. You lost an incredibly difficult game to Michigan in 97. A game that you absolutely could have won. Tavian running up the sideline wide open, ball doesn't get to him.

Could have beat the national champs that year, on the road. Gave the Wolverines their most difficult test until the Rose Bowl. But it didn't work. And then the wheels kept falling off. And then 98 happened, and off. And then 98 happened. And the cratering of that season. Now Hayden was also going through cancer treatment. And that made things a little bit more, a different type of conversation.

But that's still part of the legacy. Did he hang on too long? And if Kirk doesn't get this right, we're going to be having the same conversations about him. You know, the uncomfortable nature of yesterday's press conference and the frustration you could obviously hear and see from Kirk during it, it leads you down the path of wondering where he is. He wanted to just talk about the last four games.

That's not what this was about. And one other thing, credit to Beth Goetz for being there, for answering questions afterwards, from doing it on the side, not going behind the lectern, and doing it away from the football side of things. Not having the football backdrop there, but going off to the side and doing it that way. She answered all questions. She was professional. professional she was outright and she didn't duck she made a

tough choice and she was there to answer the questions it's not an easy thing to do Beth was able to do that what are we going to see on Saturday the Hawkeyes get ready yes for a game against Northwestern we'll take a peek forward here against the Wildcats. Coming into the season, we thought this was going to be an absolute laugh for her. Not the case anymore. In fact, Northwestern, they're fighting for bowl eligibility. We'll talk about the matchup against the Wildcats at Wrigley Field. Kirk wasn't real pleased about that either. We'll talk about it as we roll through.

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Trent Conant back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Coming up on tomorrow's show, we will be taking your comments and questions, a mailbag edition of Lockdown Hawkeyes. And then coming up on Friday, we will be coming to you from Merkel's. That is the Hawkeye Bar in Wrigleyville. If you're a Chicago native, you certainly know that.

You've been to Chicago for a game and you're in the Wrigleyville area, you know that is the place to be if you are a Hawkeye fan. Myself and former Hawkeye running back, LaShawn Daniels will be there. We'll be hanging out about two o'clock. We're going to go live with it. Stop on by.

And that should be a really fun time. Apologies, get a little swig here. All right, so, Merkle's. That is where we're going to be again Friday and also Saturday. A little pregame there. Going to do a pregame show from Merkle's on Saturday morning. 2.30 kickoff on Peacock. If you're in the Chicagoland area or if you're going to Chicago for the game,

make sure to stop out, hang out with us. We're really looking forward to it. Should be a great time at Merkle's. So what about the Wildcats? So obviously, Wood Fitz was fired this summer. It looked like this was going to be an unmitigated disaster. Look, it was a team coming off back-to-back, very poor seasons. That was kind of where you started the conversation, right?

That this team was going nowhere, and then you lose a coach with the kind of seniority that he had. The one guy maybe you felt comfortable could get this thing turned back around. He had done it before, and it didn't happen. They start off the year against Rutgers. That Sunday game that was on CBS didn't look very pretty. They beat UTEP. Who cares? They lose to Duke. And then the Minnesota game. They're getting throttled. And they put up 21 in the fourth quarter and come roaring back. They win the game in overtime.

Hung around with Penn State right after Penn State had dominated Iowa. All right. Then they struggle against Howard. You're not sure. Last couple of weeks, they played a lot better against Nebraska. They were right there against the Cornhuskers. We know how good the Nebraska defense is. And then the win last week against Maryland. Very impressive. They get the stop. First and goal situation. They get the stop there. They come down. They score, make it a two possession game and ultimately win it 33-27. That's a nice win. Well, they put 33 up. I mean, can you imagine that against a Big Ten team? Now, it's still not elite level offense. In fact, they're 119th in the country right now in total offense, but they've been able to sling it around a little bit. They're putting some yards up in the

passing game. And we've seen that throughout theing it around a little bit. They're putting some yards up in the passing game. And we've seen that throughout the course of the season. Where Iowa can win this football game though. Is you look at them defensively. 49th in total defense. But 92nd in the country in rush defense. We know if Iowa's going to win this football game. They have to run the ball.

Iowa's not going to be able to win a game. Where they're out there. You know slinging it around 35-40 times. And try to win it that way. It's just it's not going to work. It isn't. where they're out there, you know, slinging it around 35, 40 times and try to win it that way. It's just, it's not going to work. It isn't. With Deacon Hill at the quarterback position, it's not going to happen. So I was going to have to run the ball.

And against Northwestern, you've been able to run the ball this season. I think that was incredibly eye-opening seeing that number. That is something that Iowa's been really, really good at this year. Also, Iowa likes to win in the margins. We certainly know that. Putty game hasn't really, really good at this year. Also, Iowa likes to win in the margins. We certainly know that. Putty game hasn't been great for Northwestern this year. Those hidden yardage stats that Iowa normally dominates looks like another big opportunity for them there. Now, this is the great unknown, right? The great unknown about how this team is going to react after what happened this week. How tumultuous it was seeing your offensive coordinator be fired,

yet he's still hanging around. That's weird. That's going to be tough. Give Kirk Ferentz credit for this. Throughout his quarter century tenure as the head coach at the University of Iowa, when their backs are up against the wall, when things seem like they're out of control, he has done an incredible job of being able to maintain this team at a high level, have them come out and surprise everybody.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this weekend Iowa comes out and at least looks okay offensively. Not light the world on fire, not put up 450 yards of total offense or anything like that, but at least look okay. Because he has done such a good job. When there's distractions, when there are things that it doesn't feel like Iowa can come back from, he's been able to find a way to get his teams to do that. And I have a feeling we're going to see the same thing coming up this weekend. We'll talk more about the game again. If you've got any questions, make sure to hit us up on the comments section on YouTube. You can also find us on Twitter.

You can find us at LockedOnIowa or just find me at Trent Condon. C-O-N-D-O-N is where you can find me with your comments, questions. We will get to those in tomorrow's podcast and then the Friday podcast coming to you from Merkel's. It's been a weird week. No doubt about it. We will continue, though, talking all things Hawkeyes. In fact, there was a basketball game earlier this week.

We're also going to hit that up in the episode tomorrow. We'll talk a little bit about the Hoopsters and what we saw in their matchup in the exhibition game against Quincy. So a little football and a little basketball. It's that time. It's the crossover time of year. Love this time. It is a great one as we get down to the final four games of the regular season for Hawkeye football in the

beginning of Hawkeye basketball. Thanks as always for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.