Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: Linebacker Legends: Iowa's Unstoppable Tandem, another OWI arrest

Starting point is 00:00:00 there's no doubt Iowa has the best linebacking tandem in all the country, but they also have the deepest linebacker group. Maybe across all the land. We talk linebackers. We talk Iowa football camp begins and another arrest all today. Locked on Hawkeyes. You are locked on Hawkeyes. Your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Starting point is 00:00:26 Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, welcome in on remote today. 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, hit that subscribe button. Just takes a moment if you're over on the podcast side.

Starting point is 00:00:49 Listening audio only, five-star reviews greatly helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode of Lockdown Hawkeyes is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKDOWNCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Well, today we are going to talk about the best one-two punch in all of college football as it pertains to the linebacking group. But it's not just the linebacking group and what we have with Nick Jackson and Jay Higgins,

Starting point is 00:01:18 the accolades, the fanfare that comes in with both of those guys. It's also the depth of the position that I think is incredibly interesting. And we're going to talk a lot about that depth and the future of that spot for Iowa football coming up today. But before that, a disappointing weekend story that cropped up, and that was Cade Broderud, who is a offensive lineman from Southeast Polk, went to North Dakota, played very well for the Fighting Hawks now, I believe, up there, not the Sioux anymore, and did a really good job in his freshman campaign, was a freshman All-American at the FCS level. He's a guy that we've touched on from time to time.

Starting point is 00:01:54 He's undersized as it pertains to height. He is an interior guy. He's not a guy that's ever going to be a tackle. He wasn't a tackle really much at even the high school level. He was an interior offensive lineman, but went out there, proved himself, and then made his way to the University of Iowa. See, he gets popped in Central Iowa for an OWI. That in its own right, again, individually disappointing, sure. But, hey, we're talking about 18- to 23-year-old guys. Mistakes will happen.

Starting point is 00:02:22 And this was a mistake and a major one. This is not to dismiss the crime. That's not what it is, but we know that the way that it has been set up really for the last 26 years, this is going to lead to a suspension, a one-game suspension, and then an opportunity to get back in the good graces of the coaching staff. And that's what it is. But for a guy that is coming in and trying to unseat some veterans, right? And that's what Bo Root is trying to do. You're talking about interior offensive line. Connor Colby's now going into his fourth year as a starter. We've talked about Bo Stevens, who was listed as a starter coming out

Starting point is 00:02:54 for the first depth chart that was released back in Big Ten football media days. So you have two guys. You have a lot of experience on this line. You're just trying to find a role at minimum. And maybe for Kate Bo Roroot, for him it is, can you become that eighth offensive lineman? On the surface, that might not seem like a ton, but for a guy that still has three years of eligibility,

Starting point is 00:03:15 that could be monstrous because he sets himself up going forward to be a two-year starter for Iowa, a guy that gets some work this season and goes that direction. Now you're putting yourself behind the eight ball, and that's where the concern lies. The other concern for me in this story is about what you have for the second time in a month now, guys being arrested for OWI. We know that they have money. They have money unlike they did for a long time in college athletics. NIL money has changed the landscape. There's also an ability. I remember sitting in the late 90s waiting for a taxi.

Starting point is 00:03:49 There were no Ubers back then. Kids know it was only taxis that you had to wait for. Downtown Iowa City, that could be difficult. Now, we're talking about Borough, and that's not in Iowa City where this one happened, but for Caleb Brown. Lenny Boer, you have a phone always with you. I'm going to anticipate that all guys on this Iowa football roster have a phone that has internet access that can get an Uber or a Lyft or whatever it may be, and it's not a big issue for them. The excuses are minimal. And now for the second time in a

Starting point is 00:04:17 month, this happens to Iowa football players. You hope this isn't leading down a path that we've seen in the past. And there has been times where the Iowa football program under Kirk Ferentz got out of control. The inmates were running the asylum, if you will. The players were all over the place. There were some dangerous situations. There were a bunch of knucklehead situations. And that's going to happen anytime you put together a group of 18 to 23-year-olds. You put over 100 of them together.

Starting point is 00:04:44 Look, yes, there's going to be knucklehead moments. It's going to happen. It's just the way that the world is in the way that I guess we're built here as men right or wrong. It's the reality and living in reality. That's going to happen. But again, for this to happen for the second time in a month, now we're looking at a pattern here. And if we get one more, say before the start of the season, after they wrap things up with August camp getting started here, it's going to be an incredibly difficult spot. And it's going to be something I think we're going to be left looking at and saying, what's going on here inside Iowa football? These things happen, but when they start to pile up, that's when the

Starting point is 00:05:17 questions began. The other component to that is just, it's been so rarely recently. We just have not seen this. There was a summer back going back before the 2002 season where it felt like every other day there was somebody arrested. There was somebody getting picked up, somebody getting a ticket. It was happening all the time. It eventually led to Benny Sapp, who was going to be the starting cornerback on one side for that Iowa football team, getting kicked off the team. There's been plenty of those types of things that have happened,

Starting point is 00:05:42 and we've seen it go the wrong way. The city boys and all the money on the table and the stacks of cash and just, well, again, knuckleheads. We saw plenty of this in the past. We've seen guys get in trouble, but we'll see. Borut, just another line, him along with Caleb Brown about that. Let's get into the linebackers today. I'm excited to talk about this group as we go position by position.

Starting point is 00:06:03 We're flipping back and forth. So if you look back and you find the old podcast here or about what the last week and a half, two weeks now, we started things off talking about the quarterback position. We've moved over to defensive line. We've done that deep dive. We hit wide receivers early this week with the Monday podcast. And here today, we're going to talk about linebackers. That means we still got safeties to go. Defensive backs, corner, probably do the defensive backfield as a whole. I would anticipate still got to get to the tight end position, the offensive line, but we've talked about all these a ton. We like to dig a little bit deeper. So here at the front with the linebacker group, let's start with the

Starting point is 00:06:37 big two. And they are just that. I believe the best tandem in college football is Nick Jackson and Jay Higgins. We know the accolades, obviously, for Jay Higgins and what he built himself into. And we saw Jay Higgins out in special teams his freshman, sophomore year. He came in a couple of times with injury. I think there was one time Jack Campbell had something that he had to step out of. And honestly, he looked a step slow. He looked like, at minimum, he was just going to be a guy. Yes, he was going to be the heir apparent for a year to Jack Campbell. He'll take over that middle linebacker spot. And my hope was at best, he'd be fine. He'd be okay.

Starting point is 00:07:16 And he obviously surpassed that and went to another level. All American honors, all big 10, everything that you could hope for, for a linebacker. He was that. He was not just a guy. He was not a for for a linebacker. He was that. He was not just a guy. He was not a guy that looked a step slow. He was aggressive. He got people in the right spots. He was everything that you're looking for in a replacement for a guy like Jack Campbell,

Starting point is 00:07:35 not just production on the field, which is incredibly important, and he did that, but also the leadership that went along with it. Because when you heard Kirk Ferentz talk about leadership and it's something that Kirk loves it's something that is paramount for his football program and the way that he's does things is you have to have leaders he believes that that is a huge component to building a football team and he's done a great job of that well one of the guys that he talked about in season in during their career about those leadership qualities more than anybody I've ever seen before was Jack Campbell. And Jay Higgins had to replace that component and did an incredible job. And then you have Nick Jackson in this one-two punch. So Nick Jackson comes in from Virginia,

Starting point is 00:08:14 three-year starter there, put up a ton of numbers. They are changing, a lot going on. They had the shooting that happened inside the football program. There was a ton that was happening at Virginia. Fresh start, makes his way to Iowa. He could have gone a lot of other places. I know Oklahoma was heavily involved. There were a couple other blue blood programs that were looking at Nick Jackson. He eventually chooses the Hawkeyes though.

Starting point is 00:08:35 So we get last season and he looked lost. The first month of the season, the Nick Jackson that we thought we were going to get, we didn't get. And the reason is twofold. And probably more than just two, but the two main elements of, we should say first, he was changing position. He was going from being a middle linebacker, Jay Higgins had that spot and moving outside. That was a component. The way Iowa does things too is completely different. You're going into

Starting point is 00:08:59 a scheme with a 4-2-5 look when they go cash or 4-3, where you're asked to do a whole lot more things. And he was asked to be more sideline to sideline than he'd ever been at that point in his career. But by the time we got into October, and certainly in the last five, six games of the season, you saw Nick Jackson go completely to a different level. That guy, put in the tape and watch him against Iowa State, where he looked lost at times, and then watch the game against Wisconsin watch him against Nebraska see how he plays the downhill nature that he was able to exude and just play exactly what you're looking for not only that Nick Jackson this season has an opportunity to set the record for most tackles in a career and you can put the caveat

Starting point is 00:09:41 in there well yes he got to play more games than a lot of people of the guys of the years past and the sixth year of eligibility and all these things. And that's all well and good. Still, it's an accomplishment. And your name's at the top of the record books. That's something certainly to me. One, two, Jay Higgins and Nick Jackson. They're going to be great.

Starting point is 00:09:59 But what else is there? We got some young guys. We have some guys that stuck around. And this group of freshmen, Scott Dockerman of the Athletics said, it is the best incoming group of linebackers that Iowa football has ever had that he has ever seen. Pretty high praise from a guy that doesn't really live in hyperbole very often. We'll talk about the depth of the linebacker spot, plus more, including the Big Ten basketball tournament making its way Vegas. All to come as we roll through.

Starting point is 00:10:26 This is Locked on Hawkeyes. Today's episode of Locked on Hawkeyes is brought to you by GameTime. GameTime is an app-authorized ticket marketplace for Major League Baseball. It makes getting tickets faster and easier. How about this? Prices on the GameTime app actually go down the closer it gets to first pitch.

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Starting point is 00:11:59 for $20 off. Download GameTime today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Today's episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast is also brought to you by Factor. Well, we are making our way through these summer months and there are so many great things that they have set up for you. Fuel up with Factor's no prep, no mess meals. I love the sound of that. Meet your wellness goals in time here throughout the summer and looking for football season. Look trim for that first tailgate of the year. They have options like Calorie Smart, Protein Plus, and Keto Factors Fresh. Never frozen meals are dietician approved and ready to eat in just two minutes.

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Starting point is 00:13:47 Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. So we're out in the Black Hills here for the week and appreciate you jumping on board with us here once again for people watching on YouTube, wondering what that background is. Just got some pine trees over the shoulders. We're good to go. And we got plenty of Hawkeye football content for you. As camp has begun, I love the sound of that. A great video up on Sunday into Monday with the

Starting point is 00:14:10 guys making their way in, including one of the guys we talked about at Jay Higgins joke today. Well, it's not a joke. He was being truthful just with the chuckle in his voice. Camp number six. Yeah, he's been there for quite some time. As I see a ground squirrel coming after me here. That's for bringing the broadcast to you outside. All right, let's get back into it in the linebacker group. So, yes, Jay Higgins, Nick Jackson, studs, right? It kind of goes without saying. We know these guys are amazing.

Starting point is 00:14:37 But then you look at the depth here. When you look at the depth in guys that have been around for a while, that's one of the components that also talks to me about team building, the culture of Iowa football. Two guys in particular, really three, Kyler Fisher coming back. Look, Iowa morphed away from the 4-3 defense into the 4-2-5 with the cash position, what, five years ago now? In the past, Kyler Fisher, we'd be talking about a guy that was likely a three-year starter at this spot. Not the case. He sticks around. He's going to get, what, 15, maybe 20% of the snaps, and he'll be fine with it. But he's a guy that's been around a long time, he tried to say. That makes sense. Two other guys, though. Jayden Harrell. Jayden Harrell

Starting point is 00:15:22 saw him last year against Northwestern. He was in on the goal line stand. He's a guy that could be starting a lot of places in college football. 6'2", 237, your prototypical middle linebacker. Still has a couple years of eligibility, but time's starting to run out. And with Jay Higgins coming back for another season, it would have been so easy for a guy like that to put his name in the portal. And he could be starting not just at a place like the FCS level. There's going to be plenty of FBS level.

Starting point is 00:15:48 I think Power 4 programs that would have looked at Jaden Harrell, and he would have been a starter for them. Carson Shire is another one. He's had injuries up and down his career. When he's healthy, they absolutely love the upside of Carson Shire. I've heard some people equating him to pretty good outside linebacker in the past, Chad Greenway, before the injury started to hit. That was kind of what they were thinking they had there, a starter kit like that. Now, has he dissipated because of it? Perhaps.

Starting point is 00:16:16 That could absolutely be something they are looking at there. And then you go past that depth, and the other part is this freshman class. I mentioned what Scott Dockerman had said to me back a couple months ago as we were talking about this group coming in. So you have this linebacker group. You got Preston Reese who comes in. Reese is the kid from Monticello. And you also add into the linebacking crew Cam Buffington from Winfield Mount Union. All right, another stud. And then Derek Weiss got from Williamsburg. I mean, you got this triangle of Eastern Iowa, small communities surrounding Iowa City. And to get all three of these guys,

Starting point is 00:16:53 people in the scouting department consider all these guys top 50 linebackers nationally. These are guys that are big time players. And if they grew up in Kansas City, Dallas, Tampa, all three of these guys, I think, would be much more highly regarded if they would have played the camp circuit or the same thing. But these guys all, they want to be Hawkeyes. And this is going to be something that I think is going to be incredible to watch. Now, do any of these guys have the ability to eventually put their hand on the ground? Because again, we're talking about a linebacker group.

Starting point is 00:17:28 And when you go through and you talk about the linebackers that are listed, there's like 20 some linebackers. Now, a couple of them are walk-ons too. And that goes hand in hand together. But you have 20 linebackers for two spots. Yes, they play a ton of special teams. They are the kind of athletes you need. But also as you project forward and you look,

Starting point is 00:17:46 can any of these guys play something else? Are we going to see one of these guys maybe be able to have the speed to be that cash position? Could that be something that they go to in the future? Does anybody have that kind of speed? We'll see about that. Highly unlikely, I think, and what I was certainly felt in the defensive backfield,

Starting point is 00:18:03 you don't anticipate that's going to happen. But more likely is they're going to have somebody that becomes a rush end, right? Somebody that can get out there, get to the quarterback and get a little bit of speed. That's going to be a component that you look at and hope that this is going to happen with this group. It's a fun group. It's a team that is going to be together and just the sheer volume of them, they're going to make plays. Depth is there. That is a good part of this too. I think Iowa's in really, really good shape at the linebacker spot.

Starting point is 00:18:31 And not just with their top two. It goes a whole lot more deep than that. That is our preview of the Iowa linebacker group. The best tandem of linebackers and maybe as deep as anybody. Here's another reason they might be the deepest of anybody in college football. I don't think anybody else has 22 linebackers on the roster anymore. You just don't see that anymore. Yeah, 1987, sure.

Starting point is 00:18:53 Got to have a lot of linebackers, right? Not the case anymore. Wow. All right, we continue here. Lockdown Hawkeyes. We got a little basketball for you as we wrap things up. Plus, camp has begun. What does that mean for Iowa football? Hoops and football as we roll through. Lock Plus, camp has begun. What does that mean for Iowa football?

Starting point is 00:19:05 Hoops and football as we roll through. Lockdown Hawkeyes continues in a moment. Today's episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by eBay Motors. 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

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Starting point is 00:20:18 Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Hey, are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day? Do you have to turn the volume down because of all that shouting? Well, it's time to make the switch to Locked On Sports Today. It's a free 24-7 sports streaming channel programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all that screaming. Locked On Sports Today brings you can't miss analysis, opinions, and news all streaming 24-7 on YouTube. You can also find it on the free Amazon fire TV channels app, all part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day, wrapping things up with some news and notes and mentioned at the top,

Starting point is 00:20:55 the players are now sequestered into their hotel for the next couple of weeks. It will be camp season now two, as we once called them because that was the reality of what they were, those are no more. There are certain restrictions that are in place on what they can do, what happens on the field, and then what happens off the field in terms of learning, scheme, different things like that. Those are all the components that you have and all the pieces of this Iowa football team. Any team that returns 18, 19 starters from a year ago, depending on the way that you count it up and the way that you count returning starters, Iowa has a leg up on the competition. This is going to be a camp

Starting point is 00:21:36 though to implement this offense. And in most years, when you're going through a new offensive system, you expect growing pains. You absolutely do. And with Tim Lester's new offense, there are going to be those moments, but there's nowhere to go but up. They were so putrid, so dreadful the last couple of years. You have that component, getting in place and being able to do it in the early going. Be able to have this thing not fully implemented because that's not realistic, but to have them have the goal that they're going to go out there and they're going to have the ability to compete offensively, not just defensively, offensively right away is going to be a huge, huge piece of this. As we look at things excited, uh, talking to people that have gone through this camp before. It's not fun. It isn't a lot of work. It is a lot of boredom.

Starting point is 00:22:21 It is sitting in your room. It's getting sleep, getting recuperated, and getting right back up the next day. Takes a special guy. Now, guys have made it through it. Some guys have tried to do other ways to sneak away and do that. But that aside, it's tough on these guys. And tip of the ball cap for going through it because, well, we love Iowa football, right? And we definitely need these guys to be at peak performance. And we're going to have the kind of season we anticipate in 2024.

Starting point is 00:22:47 Mention one final thing, and that is the Big Ten Basketball Tournament will be making its way to Las Vegas coming up here in a couple of years. Now, this is not a surprise by any means. In fact, it's something that we have alluded to here on Lockdown Hawkeyes going forward. So coming up this season, the Men's Basket's basketball tournament will be in Indianapolis once again, a place that it's been many times in the past. Fall league season will be back to the United Center, back to Indy again in 2027. And then it's their first foray into Vegas, March 8th through the 12th at T-Mobile Arena

Starting point is 00:23:20 in Las Vegas. For the women's side, it'll be the next two years in Indianapolis, 2027. They'll get the first crack at Vegas in March of 2027. And then the women's tournament will go to Detroit, giving Detroit a bone there in their new arena, Little Caesars Arena. It's been around for a few years now where the Red Wings play. And that will be at the beginning of March coming up in 2028. I'm excited for it. And look, I love Vegas. I know it's not for everybody. Not everybody is a degenerate like myself. So you maybe don't have the same love of Vegas. But we also have to realize that this is an entertaining product.

Starting point is 00:23:54 And Indianapolis, that basketball arena is excellent. It's set up beautifully. Still Indianapolis. You've been there a few times. It's a nice city. But let's not make it out to what it is. Chicago is a nice city. Let's not make it out to what it is. Chicago is a great city, but it's also Chicago or around the United Center,

Starting point is 00:24:10 not exactly the best locale for going and hanging out and being for three, four days if you want to make the whole sojourn your way through the Big Ten basketball tournament. Vegas is great. I love Vegas. I know it's not for everybody. I'm excited for it.

Starting point is 00:24:24 I have a feeling I know where I'm going to be coming up in March 8th through the 12th, 2028. I'll put that one on the calendar. We'll be ready to go. This Iowa basketball team has a chance again. Remember the new structure this year of the tournament as well. We're going to have a couple of teams that are going to be left home. Iowa, though, shooting for certainly a bye. And that means finishing in the top eight. I think that's a realistic goal for this basketball team in an 18-team league. I think they're going to be up there. It's probably going to come down to a couple swing games, right?

Starting point is 00:24:54 A couple of coin flip games. Maybe it's against Wisconsin or Nebraska in some of their double plays. Maybe it's a weird road trip. Whatever it is, can you find a way to pull off the sweep when you go on a road trip and you go out to USC, UCLA? Something like that. I mean, goofy things are going to have to happen, and there's going to be all kinds of tiebreakers that are going to be involved.

Starting point is 00:25:12 You've heard me complain about the concern I have about college football and the tiebreakers. Basketball's different because ultimately, most everybody gets a chance to play it off and get their way and play their way into the NCAA tournament. Football's a different one there. I think this Iowa basketball team is going to be good. Get the bandwagon going for 2024-25.

Starting point is 00:25:31 Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Again, hit that subscribe button if you're here on YouTube. Five-star review on the podcast side. Really appreciate all of you doing that. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen of the day. For your second listen, enjoy the Lockdown College Football Podcast. Spencer McLaughlin gets you ready

Starting point is 00:25:51 for an exciting season on the gridiron with discussion on the upcoming season and the ever-changing landscape of college athletics, including conference realignment, the transfer portal, NIL, new college football expanded playoffs, and more. Lockdown College Football is available on YouTube and wherever you get podcasts.

Starting point is 00:26:09 All part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. We got you covered on the Hawkeye front. We'll be back with you again tomorrow. Appreciate you joining us here today. Until then, go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: Linebacker Legends: Iowa's Unstoppable Tandem, another OWI arrest

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