Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: Kirk Ferentz Spring Press Conference, Tony Perkins to the portal, Women's Sweet 16

Starting point is 00:00:00 Iowa spring football practice is underway. We had an opportunity to hear from Kirk Ferentz yesterday, a breakdown of what he said in the press conference. Plus, Tony Perkins has entered the transfer portal for Iowa basketball. Fran McCaffrey's got work to do today. Locked on Hawkeyes. You are locked on Hawkeyes. Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Starting point is 00:00:21 Part of the Locked On 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 find podcasts. 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. Well, it was a busy 24 hours since we last spoke as there is a ton going on in the world of Hawkeye athletics. Of course, the Iowa women onto the Sweet 16. We'll touch on that a little bit later in the program today. Tony Perkins has entered the transfer portal. What does it mean

Starting point is 00:01:09 for Fran McCaffrey and the Iowa basketball program? We'll talk plenty about that when we kick things off with a little Iowa football. Spring practice underway. Four practices already in the books for the Hawkeye football program and a lot of interesting nuggets today from Kirk Ferentz in his press conference. Now as we go in to 25 years of Kirk Ferentz and listening to a whole lot of these throughout the years you have to at times maybe read between the lines of parse a few things. One thing though as Kirk has aged there are at least certain press conferences that you get some good stuff and I thought this was certainly one of them here today in a season of a lot of change in a college football environment that continues to look a whole lot different than when he

Starting point is 00:01:52 began his coaching career. You're able to, I think, pull some things out that are incredibly interesting. Started at the top in his opening remarks where he was talking about Caden Proctor. And though he never mentioned Caden Proctor by name, which was interesting, I could tell a little bit miffed about the way that this all went down. He said it very bluntly and something that I know a lot of you on the comment side have said over on YouTube and people have reached out on

Starting point is 00:02:18 Twitter saying the same kind of things that you don't want to be here. There's nothing that you can do. You want guys that are invested, guys that are invested, guys that are invested, to paraphrase, in your football program. And certainly sound like Caden Proctor was not one of those guys. We talked about some of the wishy-washy aspects of Caden Proctor in his two months with the Iowa football program. And he's not going to be here. And we can sit here and we can bitch and moan and complain about it and how impactful it's going to be to the offensive line because I do believe on the field

Starting point is 00:02:49 it is going to be significant but you're not going to change it you never took a snap never went through a practice did off-season workouts for a while and that was it and that's all you got out of Caden Proctor and you know the for football players, for the mentality and the culture that Kirk Ferentz built and continues to build year after year, there's something to be said about that. Look, the raw pieces are not as good as a lot of their brethren in the Big Ten, but they compete game in and game out, year in and year out. And we can get frustrated and we can get disappointed and those things are going to continue to happen.

Starting point is 00:03:23 But one thing you cannot argue with is the culture building that he's done. And when a guy comes in like that with all the fanfare, all the excitement and what looked to be an ability to really solidify an offensive line that has been nothing short of bad the last couple of seasons, that was exciting from a fan perspective, from a media perspective. It was fun to imagine what this thing could look like in Tim Lester's first year as an offensive coordinator with a competent offensive line. And I think Caden Proctor would have done enough to solidify that. That's off the board. So it's right back to the drawing board. And the drawing board and really one of the main considerations that we've had on this offensive line has been the play outside. The tackle position just hasn't

Starting point is 00:04:03 been good enough. Mason Richmond regressed last year. I believe that injuries are a large part of that. He was banged up through most of the season, and I think you saw that. I do believe that he can be, at minimum, a solid tackle in the Big Ten. Now, if he's going to play at the next level, it's not going to be outside. It's going to be at the guard position, but in the here and now, Iowa needs him, and they need him to play the left tackle position at a high level if Iowa's going to make a big jump forward this season on the offensive side of the football. A couple other things early on. One of the first guys that he mentioned was Jaden Harrell. That's something that you always have to listen a little bit closer when Kirk brings up a player unprompted. I really, really want to solidify in that. Now,

Starting point is 00:04:44 when Kirk brings up a player unprompted, I really, really want to solidify in that. Now, Jaden Harrell likely, in almost any other era of Iowa football, he'd be starting at this point. He's been a backup at the middle linebacker position, but because of the COVID season this year, he's sitting there again. Now, Jaden Harrell could go to a number of programs. He could transfer down to the FCS, go to a good Missouri Valley Conference football program, probably be a starter right away, get a ton of reps, get his tape out there and go that direction. But when Kirk brings up a guy like that, they're not only excited about him, that's an aspect that is always there, but also in this environment, in today's day and age with the transfer portal and the ease of these guys transferring, just a little bit of a gold star, if you will, when you hear that one.

Starting point is 00:05:25 And that one came up early on. Really, the big picture, though, is about the offense. We know the defense has a chance to be elite once again. All the returning starters from a year ago, all the guys coming back for the bonus season. Mention, of course, Jay Higgins in the middle, Nick Jackson coming back for another season. You get outside, obviously, the play of Sebastian Castro and how he has kind of taken that cash position and made it his own, how good he was. Quinn Schulte on the back end, Jabari Harris. They got dudes, and we've talked about the defensive line. That was brought up, and we'll get to that in a moment, but more than anything, we know the defense is going to

Starting point is 00:05:59 be solid. You anticipate special teams, at minimum, will be adequate, and you hope to be even better than that because that's been a great equalizer for Iowa football really over the last 10 years. And since we've seen LeVar Woods take a hold of the special teams and how good it's been on a year-in, year-out basis. It's about the offense. It's what we want to talk about. It's what we want to break down.

Starting point is 00:06:19 It's the most exciting aspect of football. And we talk about all the parts of it and it coming together. So a couple of notes as he was talking about Tim Lester. First, this quote, basically, we're just taking his playbook material and going with it. Unquote. Right there. I've tried to tell everybody out there. Yes, there are philosophies. Yes, there are certain things that Kirk wants to do. But to think that this is just going to be the same offense that you've seen over the last seven years of Brian Ferentz is wrong. Because the Brian Ferentz offense was different than the Greg Davis offense,

Starting point is 00:06:52 was different than the Ken O'Keefe offense. Each of the coordinators were different. And if you can't see that, you don't know crap about football. I mean, it's simple as that. If you can't watch an Iowa football game from 2004, watch another one from 2011, and then watch another one from 2020, and you think that they're the same offense, I don't know what to tell you. You've got to give your head a shake here. Come on. Be better than that. about that. But to think that it's just going to be the same garbage that we've seen the last two seasons is idiotic. It's not true. Because we've had three different coordinators under Kirk Ferens, and they've all philosophically been much different of what they want to do. The biggest component to

Starting point is 00:07:35 me is figuring out how to fix this passing offense. Quarterback play is benetrocious. You go from Spencer Petras to the garbage that was trotted out there a year ago after the Cade McNamara injury. Even when Cade McNamara injury. Even when Cade McNamara was playing, he was not good. He was also injured, but he wasn't good before that. You have to fix that. I mean, the route concepts that they are running, that they were running, they just don't work. And is it moving away from the tight end is a way to get the ball out quicker? Whatever it is, hey, that's not for me.

Starting point is 00:08:02 That's not for me to decide. That is up to Tim Lester. But that is number one, what needs to be done. We've talked about RPOs and the ability in the run pass option. Is that something that could work at Iowa? I absolutely believe that it is. But Kirk said it right there. We're taking his playbook material and going with it. A little bit further here on Tim Lester. This quote, yeah, I think it's going to look different, but I think philosophically we're in line. Not that it was a prerequisite, but he's been a head coach, and I think he understands how all three things function together. We played good defense here pretty much 20-plus years.

Starting point is 00:08:36 That's a building block coming in. But playing complimentary football and not being reckless with the football is a big part of that and being good on special teams. They were reckless with the football a year ago, and Deacon Hill was one of the most reckless quarterbacks not only that I was ever had the Big Ten and maybe college football has ever seen his turnover rate was through the roof. They kept trotting him out there which is something that I will never be able to wrap my mind around. Somebody like Kirk Ferentz that talks about complimentary football. Somebody that talks about turnovers and and how they are the hugest

Starting point is 00:09:06 bugaboo that you can have in football. He kept trotting them out there. Maybe that's a concern about Marco Lyoness. We got more football that we're going to talk about coming up here throughout the course of the week. Talk about the portal, what I was going to be looking for when the next portal window opens up. Some talk on

Starting point is 00:09:22 the depth chart. Cade McNamara, we got plenty on that. Defensive line, offensive line. A ton of great stuff coming out of the press conference, but we got a little bit of everything here today as we continue Lockdown Hawkeyes. Tony Perkins has entered the transfer portal. And Iowa, Hawkeyes only have two guards

Starting point is 00:09:38 on the roster for next season. Hey, if you've been watching March Madness, this just in. Guards win in March. Guards win in college basketball. And Iowa, they only have two of them. A concern. We'll talk about that more as we continue. A little hoops talk when we come back. Locked on Hawkeyes. Today's episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you

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Starting point is 00:12:20 Trust me on this one. To learn more, visit amazon.com slash lockdownedOnFireTV. That's Amazon.com slash Fire TV. Trent Conant back with you once again on the LockedOnHawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making LockedOnHawkeyes your first listen every day. Time to get into the hoops. Tony Perkins has entered the transfer portal. Now, this isn't a huge surprise, something that we have talked about here recently on Lockdown Hawkeyes over the last couple of weeks. And from time to time, we've been taking a look towards the future.

Starting point is 00:12:56 Tony Perkins put together a great season. Second team all Big Ten this year, average 14 points per game. And the likelihood that I was going to find somebody better in the portal, in the guard position, is not real high. Now, we talked about TP, and I never believed he was a full-time point guard. He had a couple of great performances, but 15 assists in a game against Nebraska, had another double-digit assist game. He's put up the big performances.

Starting point is 00:13:20 I think he was banged up at the end of the season. We certainly didn't see the best of him over the final four games of the year. But that aside, Tony Perkins is a guy that I think Fran McCaffrey got about the most out of his talent. Remember, this is a mid-major guy. This is a guy that was destined to play in the Horizon League, in the MAAC, Missouri Valley, something like that. And Iowa came along.

Starting point is 00:13:40 They were the only major conference team that gave him a scholarship offer coming out of high school. And he took it and ran with it. And you could see right away there was something special about him. Now, he's never been a great shooter. He's not a full-time point guard. He's that combo guard that doesn't shoot it really well. He's an okay defender and maybe in a better defensive system,

Starting point is 00:13:59 he can be a better on-ball defender. We'll see about that and where it ends up. But definitely a guy that I think, Frank McCaffrey, when you're talking about some of the great developmental stories that he's had, and there's been obviously a ton of them in Frank McCaffrey's tenure, this is going to be up towards the top of the list. You can't fault him, though, for looking around. It's a guy that's not going to play in the NBA. There's not going to be a guy that's going to command some kind of big salary playing

Starting point is 00:14:25 overseas. He can make a living and put a little jingle in his pocket and I think carve out a nice career just because of the work that he puts in, all the good things that you get with Tony Perkins and just a really easy guy to root for. But this might be the last opportunity for him to get a big payday. He's going to be one of the more sought-after guards out there. I mean, we go back to, remember Isaiah Moss, what, five, six years ago now? Tony Perkins is immensely more talented than Isaiah Moss. He ended up at Kansas. Moss played

Starting point is 00:14:56 25 minutes a game for a Kansas team that was excellent. Tony Perkins is going to find a home, and a big-time home. Now, will it be back home? Will it be in Indiana? Will it be at Indiana? Will it be at Purdue? Will it be somewhere else in the Big Ten? Will it be maybe even a bigger program than that? Don't be surprised, though, when you see Tony Perkins land at, if not a blue blood, a very good institution, certainly on that front. I was now left with just two guards. Brock Harding, who we don't know if he can be a full-time point guard, and we talk about some of the physical limitations that he has with the size, how is he going to be able to defend if he is a full-time 25, 30 minutes a game kind of player, how is that going to look on the defensive end? You can argue, well, they don't play defense

Starting point is 00:15:38 anyway, so what's the matter? You might be onto something on that front. But it's him and Josh Dix, and I know there's rumblings out there that maybe Creighton is trying to get involved with Josh Dix. Obviously, a Council Bluffs kid. He's on the right side of the river growing up in Council Bluffs. But still, Creighton program still playing in the Sweet 16. A ton of success that they have had. Here's the big component.

Starting point is 00:16:00 An NIL program at Creighton that Iowa can't compete with. An NIL program at Indiana that Iowa can't compete with. An NIL program at Indiana that Iowa can't compete with. And that is the concern coming into this offseason, because there's no doubt. You look up front, they're in good shape. Peyton Sanford, we anticipate, at minimum, is going to test the NBA draft waters. If he comes back, though, for his final season, you put him with Owen Freeman, the young two freshmen coming in with Cooper Koch and Chris Tajot.

Starting point is 00:16:28 Price Sanford showed some things. We saw some things out of DiBalle. You know, the front court looks good. Positions three through five, you're in good shape. Maybe you'd like another backup center. Riley Mulvey likely is not going to be the answer as a backup center and maybe a rim runner, a guy like that, a guy that can block some shots, do something defensively, somebody that you compare at different times with

Starting point is 00:16:49 Owen Freeman. And that's, I think, something they're going to be looking in the portal. But you can't go into a season with two guards. You just can't. Well, maybe Price Sanford is not a guard. Come on. Let's stop trying to put these square pegs into round holes. We've seen this too many times. You need guards. You need dynamic players. You need guys that can get to the rim. You need guys that can shoot it from the outside. We talked about this a lot this season.

Starting point is 00:17:13 It's not a great three-point shooting team this year. And as good as they were offensively again this season, they are not a good three-point shooting team. You need more from the outside. I believe that Iowa needs to get at minimum two, maybe even three guards going into next season to feel really good. In order to do that, you have to have a war chest.

Starting point is 00:17:32 You have to have money. These guys cost money. And every time somebody enters a portal and you see right away that list of schools and if Iowa's involved, if Iowa's not involved or at least has reached out for interest there, the big question is, does Iowa have the finances to compete?

Starting point is 00:17:46 We know the NIL program at Iowa with the swarm is good. It's solid. They have built money. It needs to be better. And certainly as 80% of the money goes to football, they're in really good shape. The way that it was originally structured, 80% of the money goes to the football program for NIL, 10% to the men's program, and 10% to the women's program.

Starting point is 00:18:09 Now they've added all the other varsity sports also into the mix that are getting a cut of the proceeds. We need Daddy Warbucks. We need somebody with some deep pockets in order to help this thing out. Because going right for a good, solid player and one of those top 25 type of players in the transfer portal, you're talking $250,000, $300,000 and up from there, Hunter Dickinson, a million dollars last year to go from Michigan to Kansas. That's what you're talking about here in the portal. And Iowa and the collective does not have those kinds of finances.

Starting point is 00:18:43 Football, great shape. And they did it bringing back all those COVID year guys for another season. They use their funds, I thought, very well in order to do that. They don't have the same for basketball. So make those donations because you can hate it. You can complain about it. But it is reality. In order to compete in today's college environment, you have to have money. And Iowa, though they're not a sad sack,

Starting point is 00:19:06 I mean, they can still compete. They can't compete at the highest levels. What is Iowa going to do? This is one of the most important off seasons for Fran McCaffrey. Pressure's on. We saw the attendance figures dwindle. Two levels I'd never thought we would see inside Carver Hockey Arena for men's basketball.

Starting point is 00:19:23 You could say that a part of that is the success of the women's program and the sellouts for all season long, and I think there is a small percentage of that. But the fan base, for the most part, has checked out. They're sick of the lack of success come March. They're frustrated about the direction of the program, losing games in the same way,

Starting point is 00:19:42 disappointments in the NCAA tournament, one-and-dones in the Big Ten tournament. They're frustrated overall with the program, losing games in the same way, disappointments in the NCAA tournament, one and dones in the Big Ten tournament. They're frustrated overall with the program. And I argue the merits and how good it's been. And my concern is who's going to do better. That's where I am. That's another part. You bring in another coach, you still got to pay. You still got to put that money up. They're not going to be using their salary to pay NIL to bring guys in. Can't do that. Maybe you should be able to. Conversation for a different day.

Starting point is 00:20:12 Iowa needs money. Iowa needs money to compete in the NIL space. And that means donating to the Iowa Swarm. And if you want to earmark it towards men's basketball, more power to you. You have the ability once you hit a certain threshold in order to do that. But that's the way that it is. Two guards. I would love to see an elite level shooter, a guy that, you know, that 6'4", 6'5", two guard that can really fill it up

Starting point is 00:20:35 from the outside. And I think a real point guard needs to be had. A point guard that we just have not seen much of here recently. That is my wish list. Another big, fine. I think they're okay inside. You know, Tajio is a guy that can come in and deliver right away. If Cooper Koch is a guy that comes in right away and can score at a high level. You got Sanford coming back. All these different things.

Starting point is 00:20:57 A two guard that can score and a real point guard. You put that together coming back with Dix and with Harding. Now we're talking. And at minimum, I think a team that is back on the NCAA tournament bubble next season. The other side, Peyton Sanford decides he gets a guarantee from a team. Hey, we're going to take you in the second round. He departs. The portal dries up.

Starting point is 00:21:17 Oh boy. It could be an ugly season for Iowa basketball. Shaping up to be a great season on the women's side of things. We'll talk about that as we continue here. Locked on Hawkeyes. Getting ready for the matchup against Colorado in the Sweet 16. Are you watching Fox

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Starting point is 00:21:50 Locked On Sports Today brings you can't-miss analysis, opinions, and news streaming 24-7 on YouTube or on the free Fire TV channels app. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Talking women's hoops, getting ready for the matchup against Colorado as we continue. This is Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Talking women's hoops, getting ready for the matchup against Colorado.

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Starting point is 00:23:51 Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay guaranteed fit only available to U.S. customers. 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. You can find us on YouTube. Hey, hit that subscribe button right now. Helps us out if you're on the podcast side. Five-star reviews that we're looking for and help us get in front of more Hawkeye fans.

Starting point is 00:24:19 Wrapping up with some women's basketball talk. A little bit later in the week, we're going to break this game down a little bit deeper, but mentioned it in the Instant Reaction podcast after the win against West Virginia in the round of 32. This Colorado team read a couple of things from them after they found out yesterday that it was going to be Iowa in their press conference. Would have been Tuesday afternoon, talking a little bit about the matchup

Starting point is 00:24:44 before they made their way to Albany. It wasn't like West Virginia, their coach saying, we're going to end Kaitlyn Clark's career in our home floor. It wasn't anything like that, but you could tell this is a Colorado team that is ready. Colorado started off the year, a huge win against LSU, not just beating the defending national champions, throttling them in that game. They played in the Pac-12 this year. Though it's going away, the Pac-12 was outstanding. We'll still see a number of teams still alive in the NCAA tournament, played as difficult of a schedule in conferences you're going to find, and had a lot of successful wins here. Not only that,

Starting point is 00:25:20 Colorado, they know Iowa. Not only did they play the Hawkeyes a year ago in the NCAA tournament in the Sweet 16 matchup out in Portland, in that game, four of the five starters are back. The fifth starter has been at Michigan the four years previous, and obviously knows a whole lot there. They're going to be ready. They're going to be physical.

Starting point is 00:25:39 Now, the game plan's not out. It's not that West Virginia suddenly did something that nobody knew that you want to do against Iowa. You know you want to play in physical. You know you want to guard them. You want to get up. You want to make Kaitlin Clark frustrated. You want to do all those things that West Virginia, I thought, did an incredible job of doing. And Colorado knows that, has the game plan. Now, Iowa is not going to play a backcourt with the speed and the physicality that we saw of West Virginia. with Harrison and with

Starting point is 00:26:06 Quinn early both of those players are just so so good on the defensive end of the floor and the hand check and the bump you and the grind you and they'll do all those things and they're just not a whole lot of teams that have just the raw power able to do that even the diminutive stature stature of both of those players they They are physical, very tough defenders, and not many teams are going to be able to replicate what we saw from West Virginia. But Colorado can guard you too. And Colorado, after playing Iowa a year ago,

Starting point is 00:26:35 Cato was great in that Sweet 16 game. Sonato, I believe, also good in that one. We'll dig in a little bit more to what we saw a season ago and see if that can kind of bring us back to anything. But they're also good on the offensive end of the floor. It's going to be a tough matchup. And our friends over at FanDuel put the line up. I saw it first thing.

Starting point is 00:26:53 It would have been Tuesday morning the first time that I saw it. At the time, Iowa opened up as a nine and a half point favorite. That thing's been bet down to seven in some places. That shows you a lot of Colorado money early in this one, at least to cover the number. I was still a big favorite on the money line, but still a lot of Colorado money coming in, myself included. I definitely fired at that nine and a half number when it came out. I think this is going to be a tight game. I think it's going to be one that comes down to the wire. We'll see if I was ready to go because what stands between them and the Final Four this year is a whole lot more difficult path than certainly what they saw a season ago.

Starting point is 00:27:30 And one final thing, I forgot to mention this, had this in my notes from yesterday's game against West Virginia, a Monday night's game against West Virginia, excuse me. And it's about the, just the crowd, you know, the fan base. And we talked earlier about, obviously, what we've seen this season, just how beloved this team is, how the fan base has embraced them at a level that you just don't see very often. It's one thing to sell out a building, but the way that the fan base is so enamored with this team, and though there were a lot of tense moments, and we talked about that yesterday, every day, as you know this, about how you could feel the tension in the air, just watching the

Starting point is 00:28:09 game on television, as most of us did outside of the 15,000 that were inside the building. You had that feeling just like that, the tension that was there and building throughout the course of the fourth quarter. But at the end, Iowa gets the win and nobody wanted to leave. quarter. But at the end, Iowa gets the win, and nobody wanted to leave. There was no big ceremony. There was no senior day festivities. But we knew this was the last time that we'll see Caitlin Clark playing a game, at least in a Hawkeye uniform, in Carver Hawkeye Arena. That could it be. They come back, play an exhibition game for the WNBA, or even a regular season game. Probably be smart. But that aside, this is it.

Starting point is 00:28:48 The last time for Kate Martin. Gabby Marshall, who talked about Harrison, one of the great guards from West Virginia, the other night. What she did to her and for the first time in a month that she was really held down. That was incredibly impressive. And to see those three, the core three for Iowa women's basketball, what they meant to this program and the building blocks and them coming back for another season to play with Kaitlin one more time, what we've seen and just how incredibly fun it's been to follow this group.

Starting point is 00:29:15 And the fan base, credit to you. I mean, you were, there maybe were 10 points in a 10-point victory. That's how good the crowd was and the love that you show for this program. It's great to see. We got a whole lot more previewing the matchup against Colorado throughout the course of this week. We got to get into the depth chart for Iowa football. Tons more on the Kirk Ferentz

Starting point is 00:29:35 press conference. A lot of other nuggets to come out and we will continue to be with you. Your team every day. That's what we do here on the Lockdown Network and thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Lockdown has launched the first ever National Sports 24 streaming channel on YouTube and now

Starting point is 00:29:51 it's available on Amazon Fire TV in the free Fire TV channels app. Lockdown Sports Today is here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of Lockdown plus our national shows covering every league. Find Locked On Sports Today now available on the free Fire TV channels app.

Starting point is 00:30:11 We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Lots more to get to. Oh, it is a fun time, as it always is, to be an Iowa Hawkeye. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: Kirk Ferentz Spring Press Conference, Tony Perkins to the portal, Women's Sweet 16

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