Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football Nepotism Reaches new levels, Can the Run Game be Fixed?

Episode Date: October 24, 2022

Trent Condon and LeShun Daniels return for the latest episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast after Iowa falls to Ohio State 54-10.The guys open the show talking about the elephant in the room, Brian Ferentz and the conversation about nepotism inside the football program.LeShun talks about the last time that the Hawkeyes had a big program wide reset after the 2014 season and what they did to lead into the undefeated 2015 season. They also look back at the bowl prep going into the Gator Bowl against Tennessee and what they worked to do.Then a break down of the Ohio State game and the opening play that resulted in an interception from Spencer Petras rolling left. Then some talk about the run game and if there is any hope that they can put together any semblance of running the football in today's college football environment.Kirk Ferentz has always said that all bowl games are good. Iowa needs 3 more wins to get to bowl eligibility. That could change this year. Can Iowa get to 3 wins? And would it be better for the program to miss a bowl game in set up a reset.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!SweatBlockIf you or someone you love is experiencing embarrassing sweat or odor try Sweatblock. Save 20% with promo codeLocked On at sweatblock.com. Also available on Amazon.LinkedInLinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at Linkedin.com/lockedoncollege Terms and conditions apply.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Underdog FantasySign up on underdogfantasy.com with the promo code LOCKED ON and get your first deposit doubled up to $100!SimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnCollege to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trent Cotton, LaShawn Daniels with you on today's Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Iowa is facing nationwide criticism of nepotism inside the program. Can Kirk Ferentz work to fix it? The run game certainly needs fixing. We talked to LaShawn about some ideas that can be done. And zone blocking, is the scheme dead in college football? And Iowa needs three victories to get to bowl eligibility. Where will those three victories come from?

And would missing a bowl game, would that be a good thing for this Iowa football program? All today on Locked on Hawkeyes. Our Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back once again to the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

I'm Trent Coddett. That's LaShawn Daniels as we talk Hawkeyes here with you. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. I'm Trent Condon. That's LaShawn Daniels as we talk Hawkeyes here with you. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen each and every day. This episode of Locked On Hawkeyes brought to you by Sling TV. Don't miss this week's matchup as Iowa gets ready to face off

against Northwestern right on Sling TV. Sling TV, the norm TV you love at the price that you'll love. Try it today as you can find the matchup on ESPN2. Well, LaShawn, as we get ready for things going on here this weekend, we look back to what happened over the weekend past, and boy, frustration abounds as Iowa falls 54-10 to Ohio State. Unfortunately, it's something that we both saw coming, I think,

but that fashion. The defense played lights out for long stretches of game, really slowed down that high-powered Ohio State offense, but the defense, well, I don't know how much we'll talk about that. It's going to be about the offense. No offensive touchdowns. How about this?

28 straight possessions now for the Hawkeyes without a touchdown. Something seemingly unthinkable yet here we are today yeah it was a overall just just tough watch um on Saturday obviously you know the talent disparity right it is what it is but just overall kind of just the performance from you know the offensive side of the ball was just very, very disappointing. It really was. And you look at the numbers, they jump off the page to you.

They try to have time to bring in Alex Padilla. We got our first look at him so far this season. It didn't go well. He fumbles the first snap of the game. Third play, tip ball intercepted. So two turnovers and three plays when he came into the game but at that point i mean the game was over and you know what might have helped i don't know like i never played quarterback at the division one level i played it at the high school

level i'll tell you maybe may have taken a snap before game seven of the year not doing in front of 105 000 people i don't know maybe that would have helped him out there that he doesn't fumble away the first snap. That's a simple play. You still got to make that play. I get it. But you know how frustrated I am, LaShawn. I'm sure it's frustrating watching it as a former Hawkeye player,

watching this thing just continue to crater and getting worse and worse. And now we have the nationwide criticism that continues here after the game. Doug LaMere, who long-time columnist in Cleveland, cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. Guy, I'm sure you probably read many articles of growing up and followed the Buckeyes for a long time before he started in the columnist route. You know, he went to the press conference. He asked a lot of tough questions of Kirk Ferentz.

He went to Gary Barden, asked the question. So there was certainly a lot there. It's unfortunate it took a media member from outside the program to ask these questions. But I put it this way. We know what it is, right? We know that the obviously having a son there, how difficult this can be when things go bad. And it's going bad right now. Can Kirk Ferentz fix it? You know Kirk incredibly well.

You've seen him evolve you were there during the last evolution as things change going into 2015 so you've been a part of it can he do it again yeah yeah it's a that's the million dollar question i mean um coach ference has obviously had his back against the wall multiple, multiple times, right, throughout his tenure here at Iowa. And every time, right, he's battled back, right, and performed exceptionally well really that following season and, you know, for several years after that, right?

Like it's almost like routine at this point. But right now, obviously, it's tough, right? Like, it's almost like routine at this point. But right now, obviously, it's tough, right? I don't think he's – he hasn't been in a situation kind of where he's at right now, right, where, you know, you come off of a Big Ten West title, right, and then now you're moving into, you know, the following year when, again, you have your son as your offensive coordinator, you have a quarterback who has struggled, you know, really his time starting quarterback for the Hawks. And now because your offense hasn't been able to advance and really help your

defense and play complimentary football, now it's like all the type of criticism is coming from every which way direction, right? Because again, like it, it's tough. It's definitely has coach parents in a tough spot, especially when you have your son as your offensive coordinator, right? When it's in the family, right. It just makes that entire situation so much more difficult. Right.

I'm glad that I'm not the one that's in that position right now, because like obviously. Right. You've got to do what's best for your family. Right. You never want to throw family or anything like that under the bus. Right. And really kind of cast them off wayside. But then again, you also have an obligation and a duty, right, obviously, to, you know, the team, the university, you know, fans, obviously make sure that you're putting together a product. So come Saturdays, right, it's representative of what everyone stands for and the type of play that you want to see on Saturdays. And fortunately, right, we haven't – offensively,

haven't been able – haven't been getting that this year. And, again, it ends up falling back, obviously, on the head coach's shoulders because at the end of the day, day right he's the one who ultimately chooses his staff right and um puts those people in in the places where you know he puts them so it's it's a million dollar question see if he can bounce back right it's it's going to take obviously you know a lot of soul searching from from him um other coaches um basically everyone in the building like is this is this how we want want this ship to go down or we're going to make some changes um you know moving forward so i want to kind of go back to

that last evolution that we saw 2014 ended with the loss in the gator bowl to tennessee just a bad one jonathan parker making the play. JP tried to throw that football in the end zone. You know, the game before the end of the regular season against Nebraska, let a big lead slip away there. Kirk in the postgame press conference just comes up with the Vats football, and a lot of people just really didn't like that response. Afterwards, the football program, they hired their own public relations firm. There was a lot to be done, but there was obviously a lot to be done, most importantly, with the football program they hired their own public relations firm there was a lot to be done but there was obviously a lot to be done most importantly with the football program i know you guys changed your practice schedule at the time what else was happening inside the football

program though talk about what was changing what kind of changes you saw as you guys as kirk i think realized that things needed to be different not for media guys like me and the way that he talks to the media things like that but the tangible things that you guys were doing inside the football offices and on the practice field what made things different going into 2015 yeah so um for starters like that bowl prep season like sucked that was probably the worst that was probably by far the worst uh by time when i was there it was essentially like they took spring practice and mixed it with fall camp and that was our bowl prep that year like we were literally like every single day like we were

hitting knocking heads like it was literally every single day like um like i'm not gonna say he couldn't have cared less like what happened in the bowl game but it was some things like like in the building, right? I think that he was just trying to weed out, right? Get in everyone to honestly have some more accountability and, you know, how the direction that the program is going, right? All the way from players to coaches, right? And really trying to get that eye-w kind of kind of back in the building.

Right. And obviously we saw that the following season. Right. I mean, guys stepping up when when numbers were called. Right. Seeing that that smart, tough, that physical football basically all the way throughout that football season. So and obviously a bunch of players starting to take accountability, actions that are happening on and off the field. Right. I think that was a big, big thing for, for us and the entire 2015 team. And, and, and all that stuff put together really allowed us to come together as a team. So, you know, when the season got started, right. And then, you know, we're starting to get wins and we're winning these close games, it all kind of fell back, like, fall back on, you know, the work that we put in, you know, really starting from that 2014 bowl prep for the Tax Sl of accountability on the players, right? Trying to figure out what is that Iowa way,

what does Iowa football really look like? And it all ended up falling back on being that smart, that tough, that physical football team. And, you know, a bunch of us, really the entire team, kind of took that and ran with it. And, you know, obviously it showed on Saturday's come 2015 season. You know, we talked a lot of big picture stuff. We're going to continue.

We're going to talk a little bit more here about the Ohio State game and look back the run game, the fixing that we've talked about a lot here, zone blocking. We've talked about it throughout the season. I'm at a point now where I wonder it's untenable. Those things, the changes that you went through, LaShawn, at the time in the football program went through, I don't want to say they're cosmetic,

but it was more kind of some stylistic kind of things. It feels like this thing needs a complete overhaul. We're going to do that as we continue here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Well, LaShawn, we have our partners at Nissan right now working with us to create a new segment across the Locked On College Network titled Thrilling Moments. We're going to highlight the most exciting plays from the Hawkeyes game this weekend or throughout history. This week's thrilling moment came early in the game for the Hawkeyes as they got it done early in the football game with the defense. Of course, the scoop and

score into the end zone. Joey the Bull, Joe Evans gets in there. Great play on C.J. Stroud. That defense played absolutely lights out. And for a moment, I took a screen grab of it. I took a picture of my TV as the Hawkeyes were up for the game, 7-3 there. Other than that, not a whole lot of thrilling moments, but we had it at least early on as that defense was playing lights out. This segment has been inspired by the thrilling new designs across Nissan's new lineup of vehicles.

Pursue what thrills you in the all-new Frontier, Armada, or Pathfinder today. Available now at NissanUSA.com. All right, LaShawn, we continue here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast and Iowa 54-10, the final against Ohio State. So first, an overview of things. You come out after the bye week. Yes, Ohio State was also on a bye week,

but you're hoping, all right, they're going to adapt. We're going to see some wrinkles. We talked about a few things. Last time you guys went out to Columbus in 2013, saw the three tight end set that you guys utilized. So you're waiting for something. First play of the game, Spencer Rowling left, which is a dead play. He just does not have the requisite athletic ability to make that play again. That play for a right-handed quarterback is so difficult. Again, for somebody

that played low level quarterback, I understand get your hips. They're getting your footwork, right? Getting everything there for a guy that lacks athleticism. It's a difficult play. And we've seen that now throughout his three-year career you come with that and then he throws it right to his safety just sitting there just sitting in coverage just like oh boy here we go again it went from bad for worse that peters had another bad play in the game it was just so frustrating that that is what you come up with out of a bye week doing yeah yeah it's definitely definitely was not the ideal start to a game especially coming out of a bye week right like um you would think going into a football game like that right you're going to at, at the very least, try to play to the strengths of your football team. And right now, obviously, offensively, we don't really know

where that is right now at the moment, right? It seems like there is no true strength or identity right now offensively, right? And it's really been like that for the past past over a year to be honest right that's what it feels like at this point right it's been there there really is no true identity and obviously i've gotten away from a bunch of things that that we've done well and you know obviously it's not just one part of the offense right it's not just the quarterback right it's not just the receivers the offensive line or you know offense coordinator right it's all that um in tandem with each other and um right now it's like and it's an Iowa football offense that has no identity and again they're they're still trying to find it and it's frustrating to see from obviously from a fan

perspective and i'm sure the players are frustrated too but you know you come out for bye week um you spent all that time preparing and trying to get your bodies back and these things and then you come out and play like that offensively is very very frustrating it was a game plan that wasn't going to work against this ohio state team it's a run game that just feels like it has no chance. So you watch the offensive line. One thing that I've heard from a few people that certainly know line play a little bit better than I do, LaShawn, is that it's not just schematically, it's just guys missing blocks. It's missing, you know, finding out some of the simple things that you need to do

in the zone blocking scheme. I've told you my theory here at this point. I just think that the zone blocking scheme with the way that Iowa runs it, it doesn't work anymore in college football. You can't cut block. You can't do the same level that it works so well in the past. And Kirk's unwillingness to adapt and change with it has just set this offense back so far. And this is what you're left at right here. You've talked about it before, but let's go a little bit deeper here. When you look at this run game, what they're trying to do, yes, it's a young offensive line but boy do you look at it and say you just can't win with this scheme anymore you can't you can't run the football effectively game in and game out trying to run this system anymore are you there yet so

so there's a couple there's really really there's really two big areas I'm looking at when it comes to our football run game right now. And the second one might be may or may not be a little controversial, but we'll get to that in a sec. So for starters, right. When you're watching these other teams around college football or around NFL, NFL, the biggest thing when teams have successful run games is that the defense is essentially forced to, you know, guard the entire field. So what do I mean by that? So for starters, right, you look in college football, a lot of teams that have successful run games, they have typically will have a quarterback that is able to run the football, right?

So they'll have, so when they are running, you know, zone schemes, right, they have that read option ability, right? So they have the ability to, for are running, you know, zone schemes, right, they have that read option ability. Right. So they have the ability to for the quarterback to obviously keep the ball and run with the football. And why does that help your offensive line? Because, one, you're typically leaving a guy unblocked. Right. So you're leaving a guy unblocked. Right. So you're essentially taking him out of the play. And second, you increase the number of numbers, you increase the numbers to the play side of you know the run run play right so if we're not blocking the defensive end right we're running a zone reach game i hand it off right because the defensive end decides to stay home those

offensive linemen can climb up so they can get double teams on the interior linemen they can move up get up and get more to those linebackers more successfully and then if they're just crashing down right quarterback can keep it and run and do whatever right um and then you look in the nfl even teams successful teams like uh you know like the ravens or like the eagles right they have the ability to to run the ball with their quarterbacks but also a bunch of teams um they have the pass options off the run plays as well. I mean, just last night with the Steelers and the Dolphins, early on in that football game, Tua was, hey, he snapped the football, realized he has a matchup on the receiver for a run play, throws the ball out there. And essentially that becomes that run play.

Right now, the defense has to respect that. They can't necessarily just always fly to wherever we're running the football, right? So what that looks like in Iowa football terms is, hey, like, we've got to do different things when it comes to running the football. Obviously, if we're under center, right, you've got to be able to either throw some bubble screens, you know, kind of stretch the field a little bit so teams can't just kind of crowd in um inside of the um inside of the box right and uh you know make those plays and another thing with with the zone run scheme is you got to have you you really do have to have people movers on the inside of your offensive

line right because uh especially if you're running inside zone because you've got to get on those double teams. You've got to displace these D linemen vertically, and then you've got to get up to the linebackers as well, right? And right now we're not able to do that. That's part of the reason why on Saturday we had a little bit more success running the outside zone plays just because you don't necessarily have to move the defensive linemen as much because now you're just – you're kind of running these guys laterally side to side

and then the back can easily choose the hole to stick their foot in the ground and get some positive yards so let's see right now if i'm looking at a run scheme right you might want to change up a few different things and they do it a little bit but i feel like we've got to do it a little bit more whether we go back to you know doing like single back power plays or running pin and pull um run schemes right or running counter plays right just things to use the auto already built in leverage based on our formations to make it easier for our offensive linemen to block versus just having them hey line up uh head up on on these guys um and move these guys vertically and the second piece and it kind of ties into that a little bit is that so i don't want to necessarily call the offensive

lineman like soft because obviously they're not soft but right now there's no there there really is no physicality at all right um when it comes to the guys up front, right? I feel like it's something that's been missing all year. Like, there's no kind of, like, nastiness, right, to offensive line that I'm seeing right now. Like, obviously, like, last year, right, like, Tyler held it down for offensive line, always had nasty finishes, finishing, you know, through the whistle, all these different things. Right now, you know, we're just not seeing that. Right. And obviously, I know the offensive line is young and they're still obviously developing. But a bunch of these guys, there's a there's there's still a ton of starts under under their belt.

some point at some point that that mindset um shift has to happen right where you got to bring that that nastiness you know out of out of you right especially knowing how we run the football and how we play our brand of football right if you look at a bunch of successful teams um and i was past i were able to run the football um successfully right like that was something that these offensive lines had, and it showed up on tape every single Saturday, even when we were going against teams that, you know, may have been more talented or better, right? Right now, I feel like that's something that's really, really been missing up front,

and I'm hoping that that's something that can be changed. And I feel like, obviously, that will help the offense, you know, as a whole. It's really good stuff there, LaShawn, and a really good breakdown of this run game and what possibly can happen. The depth chart comes out today listed either or for the quarterback spot between Spencer Petras and Alex Padilla. We know Padilla can give you a little more of that run element,

something we'll talk about certainly here throughout the week. Want to say thank you for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen today. For your second listen today, check on Locked On Sports Today for the games that matter. For the most and biggest stories in all of sports, go beyond the scoreboard and behind the scenes with local experts and insights on Locked On that they can provide. Locked On Sports Today, available on this app, YouTube,

or wherever you get podcasts. LaShawn, when we come back, Iowa sits at three and four. They need three more victories for bell eligibility. Kirk Ferentz says there is no such thing as a bad bowl game. I hope they get to one this year. That one might be put to the test. We'll talk about that. Can Iowa get to three victories as we continue on the Locked On Hawkeyes

podcast. Pam, she'd hide in her office bathroom every 30 minutes to dry off her armpits so no one would see the wet circles under her arms. She finally has her life back because of sweat block. Pam was able to fix her problem.

Try Sweat Block. Save 20% with promo code LOCKEDON at sweatblock.com. Again, 20% with promo code LOCKEDON at sweatblock.com. Also available on Amazon. All right, well, Sean, let's finish things up here to look at the bowl game possibilities for the Hawkeyes. Iowa needs to get three more victories to get 2-6 and get bowl eligibility. Obviously, this week with northwestern huge opportunity there i was favored by 11 points in the game northwestern stinks i was things too i don't know if you saw this uh my friends out at circa they put out the first college lines every

week and uh their opening line at iowa favored by nine they're up to an 11 point favorite now they have a total at 31 and a half when it came out. It's already been up to 36, but oh boy, that was an absolute shocker for me. Obviously, if I was going to get to a bowl game, it feels like you have to win this game at very minimum and then find two more wins here. But I want to go more big picture. Yeah, you beat Iowa, Northwestern, excuse me, Nebraska, maybe beat Wisconsin, Minnesota, I don't know, whatever it is, whatever combination. You talked about after 2014, it was a lot of work about you guys, yourselves, and a lot of physicality going into bowl prep.

Bowl prep, it's important. We know that. You get 15 extra practices. With a program that feels like it needs a big reset, and maybe the motivation by Kirk comes not making a bowl game, could you make an argument that maybe missing a bowl game might be better for long-term of the program, the big picture, or is that just a little too short-sighted in my viewpoint? Yeah, so in my opinion, I would say no, just because, again again because we miss out on those practices right

like i feel like that's the thing right now and obviously it's this has been a huge topic of conversation you know the entire year right practice practice practice all this stuff uh right but uh i think that's something that at least on the offensive side of the ball that we can't do without, right? Like getting those practices is something that we need, right? Obviously, there's a lot of young people, young guys that are playing right now that have to continue to develop and get better, right, as a whole. So having those practices is going to be important for us as a program, right? Like the bowl game, like regardless of what the bowl game is, like at this point, like that really doesn't matter, right? Like, yeah, it's important, right? Like you obviously

want to have some kind of reward for, you know, end of the season. But, you know, the goals that we were trying to reach at this point are essentially off the table, right? I think there still is outside chance, you know, to obviously make it big title game. But we obviously know the type of team that we're at right now. Right. Like it's really not not feasible, at least at this time. So getting to a bowl game and having those additional practices, you know, even if we finish at six and six. Right. That's going to be important for our guys to have just because there's a lot of work that needs to be done, not only from, you know, a player standpoint, also from a coaching standpoint as well. Right. Like, like the coaches know that we're getting outcoached at times, but it seems like it's starting to really be that way, you know,

during this year and even at times, times last year, right? So that extra time and extra practice is going to be very important for players and the coaches and everyone as a whole. Just the way that I look at it is Kirk 67, he's going to need a push. You know, he's going to need a push to really, if this thing is going to be changed completely offensively, if they're going to break it down to build it back up and, you know, move past his way of thinking offensively,

I just think that they need to, they got to bottom out. I mean, this thing's got to crater. They got to be four and eight this season. It's got to be that ugly. And he's going to have to make those tough decisions and missing a bowl game. I think if this thing's going to get turned around and they can become an elite level program again, you'll get back to level. I know they played for a championship last year, but we saw the offense last year.

You're not competing for a championship in any other environment. Next year is going to be the final year of the big 10 west and then after that you're back with the big boys and now you've got 16 teams 15 other teams you're competing with and the top two get to the conference championship game you know there's no more that we just got to beat purdue illinois wisconsin minnesota no there's no more of that you got to compete with penn state and michigan and ohio state now usc and ucla to get there and because of that, you've got to compete with Penn State and Michigan and Ohio State, now USC and UCLA, to get there. And because of that, you know I'm not rooting for them to lose games. But if it's going to be turned around, that's where I am right now.

I get the practices. I know the importance. And, you know, if they get in at 6-6 and they've got to go to Detroit the day after Christmas, well, Kirk, let's say there's no such thing as a bad bowl game. Oh, let's see if you put lipstick on that pig. Yuck. Yeah, they end up in Detroit.

Yeah, I promise you it will not be a fun bowl season. No. No, not at all. Well, LaShawn, we'll be back later in the week. We'll break things down as Northwestern is on the horizon. A chance at getting a victory, getting right. We'll talk more about the quarterback position. You brought up a lot of good things with that run game

and the possibility maybe Padilla with some zone read. Maybe this offense can start to look a little bit better. So we'll do that throughout the week. Biz is going to stop by also later in this week also, and a lot of good things here. Breaking things down, tomorrow we get the press conferences. Of course, we'll hear from the players and then Kirk Ferens afterwards. Plenty coming up this week here on

Locked on Hawkeyes. A big thank you again for making Locked on Hawkeyes your first listen today. Again, your second listen, you want to check out Locked on Sports today. It's a great run through. Everything going on in the world of sports. World Series on the horizon. You got the NFL. Everything happening in college football.

NBA, NHL is going on right now. It's beyond the scoreboard and behind the scenes with the local experts and insights only the Lockdown Network can provide for you. It's Lockdown Sports Today, available on this app, YouTube, or wherever you get podcasts. LaShawn, we'll do it again

later in the week. We'll preview the matchup with Northwestern. You have a great week. Yep, thanks. Thanks, you too.