Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: Quinn Schulte returns, Offensive Coordinator importance, Hoops this week

Starting point is 00:00:00 today locked on Hawkeyes Quinn Schulte returns for another season 8 of 11 starters back on the Hawkeye defense why getting the offensive coordinator hire is so incredibly important all today Locked on Hawkeyes you are Locked on Hawkeyes

Starting point is 00:00:19 your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes 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, hit that subscribe button.

Starting point is 00:00:52 Just takes a moment and helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. 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.

Starting point is 00:01:13 Another day and another returner for the Iowa football program as Quinn Schulte made the announcement that is coming back to Iowa City for his final season. A lot of conjecture and a lot of speculation about what his future was going to hold as Quinn Schulte has dental school right around the corner for him. Comes from a Cedar Rapids Xavier program that his father has run for a number of years, highly successful. Another one of the great walk-on stories after the safety position for the University of Iowa and what they've been able to do.

Starting point is 00:01:45 And these guys are really the heartbeat of the program. Now, there are many people, myself included, that were excited about the thought of potentially Cohen Entringer taking over the safety spot that would be vacated by Quinn Schulte. But that's not to diminish Quinn Schulte and his importance to this team. Over the last two seasons at the free safety position, Schulte back in 2022, 71 tackles on the season, had six pass breakups and an interception against Illinois this past season. 65 tackles, four passes defense and an interception against Rutgers throughout his career. Three interceptions, but it's more than just what Quinn Schulte does statistically that is about his importance to this Iowa football team. And it's something when

Starting point is 00:02:30 we've heard Phil Parker talk about him and talk about what he means to this defense and getting everybody aligned, getting everybody right. There's a reason. I mean, the guys not only have to be physically good, but to play for Phil Parker, you have to be mentally solid. And there's very few players that are as mentally sharp as Quinn Schulte. You hear the term a lot, the quarterback of the defense, those kinds of things. That is certainly the case of Quinn Schulte. And now Iowa brings back eight of their 11 starters from the number seven defense overall a year ago in all of college football. They were number one in the country in yards per play given up a season ago. And that's just another incredible part about this Iowa football team and

Starting point is 00:03:12 what they are when you look at what they were a season ago. Average giving up 4.08 yards per play. It's elite. It's the best in the country. Second in the country, Penn State at 4.16, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame. That comprises your top five in yards per play allowed from a season ago. Ohio State's going to be very good next season. Penn State going to lose Chop Robinson, a couple other names off that defense. Michigan very well could lose a ton off of last year's national championship squad. But for Iowa, bringing back 8 of 11 starters, we talked about this a lot yesterday, every day, as you know, just how high I am on this Iowa defense, coupled with Phil Parker, guys that are just plug and play. And the ascension

Starting point is 00:03:55 that we saw from this group a year ago, a lot of new faces from what we saw the year previous. And I thought you saw Y.A. Black play his best football as the season went on. Nick Jackson, And I thought you saw Y.A. Black play his best football as the season went on. Nick Jackson, who's coming back for another season. His ability, changing positions, moving outside, and how good he was during the month of October and November and what you saw there. And now you bring back a defensive backfield that was your defensive backfield over the final three games of the season. Last year, they shut down Michigan, allowed very little in the passing game

Starting point is 00:04:24 against the Wolverines. And though Tennessee got theirs at times, it was more of the scrambling ability of Nico Amileva that really provided the issues in that one. Overall though, it's a great one here. I'm with you. I would love to see Cone entering her, but he's still going to be able to do special teams and do those kinds of things. And another year of him coming back and another year of learning behind Quinn Schulte and what they're going to do. Plus the depth that this provides having a guy like entering her, what you can do defensively with him. Yeah. I think he can slide in and help out at the cash position with Castro.

Starting point is 00:04:57 If there is another injury at the safety position, Xavier Wampa played with that cast on his hand all season long, Him, health-wise, him and Schulte next season. It's a really good thing. And this may have come as a surprise to a lot of people. It certainly did for me this year because statistically, it was such a quiet year. I talk about pro football focus a lot here. It is just something that I like to use as if my eyeballs are matching up with what's happening out on the field.

Starting point is 00:05:23 if my eyeballs are matching up with what's happening out on the field. Quinn Schulte this past season, he finished as the third best player in their metrics at Pro Football Focus. That says a ton right there. Quinn Schulte coming back for another season. That is a good thing, no doubt about it, for Iowa football. There are other things, though, that continue to brew here. And as I mentioned, the National Championship game now in the rearview mirror the Big Ten gets a champion well you could argue they were going to get a champion regardless of the outcome of this one with Washington coming in next season with USC

Starting point is 00:05:53 UCLA and Oregon who are going to be among them and next year is going to be an absolute bear you look at the top of the conference of college football next season It is littered with teams from the Big Ten and from the SEC. It has become a power two, and with the introduction of Oklahoma along with Texas next year in the SEC, the four newcomers in the Big Ten, it is going to be an incredibly difficult path to navigate throughout the course of the season and get to a Big Ten championship game. However, the argument should not be about getting to a Big Ten championship. That's all well and good. And obviously you want to play for a championship.

Starting point is 00:06:29 That's a big part of what you do. That's why you step foot on the field. That's why you play sport, right? To win. That's ultimately what it's about. Next season, Iowa's schedule is not as daunting as I think a lot of people maybe believe. You're not playing all four of those teams. You're not playing every single year,

Starting point is 00:06:47 Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, and on and on and on. That is not the case. And when you break down the Big Ten schedule next year for the Iowa Hawkeyes, I don't know if you could get much better one, obviously, without the Big Ten West being a part of it anymore. So this is how it opens up for Iowa next season. Their nine

Starting point is 00:07:05 game Big Ten schedule looks like this. First Big Ten game, they travel up to Minnesota. I think there's going to be just a little bit of revenge on the mind of the Hawkeyes after that brutal defeat at the hands of the Gophers a year ago, no doubt about it. You know they're going to have their heads screwed on straight and they're going to be ready to go for that one. After that, it's a bye week before they depart and make their way to Columbus. Now that's going to be ready to go for that one. After that, it's a bye week before they depart and make their way to Columbus. Now that's going to be an incredibly difficult game. Ohio State, most everybody has in the preseason top five in the way too early top 25s that are out. Many people believe that this is a team, again, that's going to contend for a national championship.

Starting point is 00:07:39 Will Howard makes his way from Kansas State to Ohio State for his final year of eligibility. He'll be the quarterback. They still got some dudes at the wide receiver position. Reagan, the best player in the country, coming in next season at wide receiver. Abuko will be back for another year. They went out and got Junkins, the two-time 1,000-yard rusher from Ole Miss. He got the bag, him and Henderson in the backfield. They're going to be good, and that defense should be, once again,

Starting point is 00:08:04 very solid for Ohio State this upcoming season. Look, they're going to be a huge underdog in that game. However, after that, they come home, and they welcome in Washington. Washington, Michael Penix will not be there. You will not see Roma Dunze. They lose a ton off of next year's team. Then it's Michigan State after that. A road trip up to East Lansing to take on the Spartans, year number one of the new regime with Jonathan Smith. After that, back-to-back home games against two teams he beat a year ago on the road, Northwestern and Wisconsin.

Starting point is 00:08:39 You go to UCLA, Chip Kelly very well could be dead man walking. You wonder if he's looking for a way out of UCLA with what awaits him and the likely firing that's going to come after this season. You go to Maryland, they're looking for a new quarterback. As Tungalo Voa is in the portal. And you wrap up at home against Nebraska. Again, that is not an overly daunting schedule. Is it easy? No.

Starting point is 00:09:02 Is it what they've had in the past? It's not. But there's a real path next season to make a big step. The defense has a chance to be elite once again. Eight starters back from what they lost a year ago and what they turned into. They're going to hit the ground running next season. And when you get into those games early against Minnesota, against Ohio State, even on the road, those are going to be two defenses that are going to be ready to go. However, TC, they need an offense. Yes, they do.

Starting point is 00:09:31 We'll talk about that offense, what needs to happen, and why it's so important to get this offensive coordinator hire correct. It is the biggest story of the offseason for Iowa football, and we'll talk about it as we continue. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by Jace Medical. I know we come to sports to escape

Starting point is 00:09:56 from some of the crazy realities of real life, but just for a moment, we're going to talk about preparing for real life. According to the FDA, pharmacies are running out of antibiotics like amoxicillin right in the middle of the worst flu season in over a decade. Crazy scary. I can't imagine a more helpless feeling than having your significant other, one of my kids, if they got sick because of a supply chain issue, keeping them from

Starting point is 00:10:22 life-saving medication that they needed. Thankfully, we're going to be okay. And you can as well because of Jace Medical. The Jace case is a pack of five different antibiotics to treat a long list of bacterial illnesses, including UTIs, respiratory infections, sinus, skin infections, among others. This is something that can happen to any of us. Visit jacemedical.com and complete your physician encounter. It will be reviewed by a board certified physician and your medications will be dispensed by a licensed pharmacy

Starting point is 00:10:55 at a fraction of the regular cost. It's never been more important to be prepared than today. Go to jacemedical.com. That's jacemedical.com and use offer code LOCKDOWN to get $20 off your order. Once again, at jacemedical.com. Trent Conant back with you once again here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Your team every day. That's what we do here on the Locked On Network. A ton going on in the world of sports.

Starting point is 00:11:29 MLB hot stove heating up. Doesn't matter if it's the Twins, the Cubs, the Cardinals, or anybody else, we got you covered in MLB. The offseason is here for many teams in the NFL. 18 of them to be exact on that one. Locked on for your favorite team. NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, all the college. Locked on for your favorite team, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, all the college, locked on Big Ten,

Starting point is 00:11:52 locked on bets, locked on you name it. We got it here for you, your team every day. Let's get back into your team, the Iowa Hawkeyes, and the importance of getting this hire right at the offensive coordinator position. Now, there's a working theory out there. I don't know how much credence I want to get it. I want to hope. I want to believe.

Starting point is 00:12:08 I don't think it's true. But this thing is drug on. Kirk Ferentz has had 10 weeks now to figure out who the offensive coordinator is going to be. And he said he didn't like the way that it was handled. The in-season firing of Brian Ferentz, he was allowed to continue on. Didn't come up for much of a game plan

Starting point is 00:12:25 in his last two times out as the Hawkeyes were shut out and the losses to Michigan and Tennessee. But he's gone. And with it, Kirk Ferenc needs to make a decision. The early names that were bandied about, obviously, Joe Philbin, the connections,

Starting point is 00:12:38 former offensive line coach at Iowa, a longtime offensive coordinator in the NFL and a head coach. He's got the pedigree. He's got the connections to Kirk Ferentz. That's one that would make a whole lot of sense. You look at Paul Chris, what he did at Wisconsin, not only what he did as a head coach, but maybe more importantly, what he did when he was the offensive coordinator and those elite level offenses that he put together game in and game out, season in and season out as an OC,

Starting point is 00:13:06 that's one that would make a whole lot of sense. But there is one that very well could be a pipe dream, and it's Ryan Grubb. Ryan Grubb is the offensive coordinator at Washington. Helped lead the Huskies to the national championship. They do it with a different style, certainly than what you see in Iowa, and that Kirk Ferentz would be probably really excited about, but Kirk understands. Kirk has to know that this offense needs to evolve and needs to change.

Starting point is 00:13:30 We saw evolution this year in the running game, a move away from the outside zone play, a lot more online blocking, a lot more one-on-one, hat-on-hat, a lot more counterplays, isos, those kind of things. We saw more of it this season in the run game. The passing game needs to be fixed. It is broken. And that is going to be a huge compliment. And the reason that Ryan Grubb would make sense. First of all, we're talking about a guy that turned out in Alabama a year ago, a guy that has had overtures of places like Notre Dame. He got a big raise to stay at Washington, but he is an Iowa native, and that's where you start.

Starting point is 00:14:09 Played football at Buena Vista, got his coaching career started up in northwest Iowa at Kingsley Pearson before moving on and did great work at University of Sioux Falls with Kalen DeBoer, who is the head coach of Washington. Moved along and has continued his career and now the play caller with Washington. The only way that this makes a lick of sense, the only way that you could absolutely see something like this happening, I know that there has been communication. There has been things that there's been overtures at the very least. Are you interested? Those kinds of things. Now, did they come from the athletic department office? Did they come from the football offices? That I don't know. But at minimum, there has been at least a feeling out process to see what it would be.

Starting point is 00:14:49 Well, their season's done now. And maybe that is the reason behind it. It could be as simple as hoping that Kirk Ferentz wants to have a conversation with Ryan Grubb, maybe a real interview. I'm not exactly sure. But for Ryan Grubb to take this job, A, he's going to have to get paid. We were talking about in the ballpark, two and a half, three million dollars a year. And if you're paying that kind of money to your offensive coordinator, you do need to do the same with the best defensive coordinator in college football this past season in Phil Parker as he won

Starting point is 00:15:17 the Broyles Award. So you have to do in step. The money's there. TV money continues to skyrocket. Iowa has the money. The Big Ten has money. And we're seeing this happen across college football. We've seen coordinators move for what look to be on the surface lateral jobs as coordinators, as position coaches in the Big 12, in the ACC, to go to the SEC and to go to the Big Ten. That is a component here. You couple that with the Ascension. And that's why I believe the only way that this is a realistic possibility, if there is a real belief, if Ryan Grubb could come in and get this offense fixed and get them to a competent level, top half of college football,

Starting point is 00:16:01 top 60 in the country, something like that. Coupled with the defense and the style of play that Kirk Ferentz is still going to want to play. If he can do that, you have your next head coach. And I believe that's what it would take to get Ryan Grubb to come back home and to come to Iowa. It would take, if you do this right, if this goes the way that we hope it does, you're going to be the new head coach. Now, is that going to rankle some people inside the football offices? Probably. This is something that was in place way back in the day when Ralph Regan had Maryland rolling in the early 2000s. And when that happened, it was James Franklin that was the heir apparent. Now he ultimately left and things went awry and the program took a step back and Maryland went a

Starting point is 00:16:44 different way. I'm sure maybe they were kicking themselves for a while as that played out, but that's something that has happened. We've seen ascensions that have been in place in many different programs in the past, and it certainly would make a whole lot of sense to do that. Is it a wink and a nudge? Is it something that's actually in the contract? Does he become an associate head coach?

Starting point is 00:17:03 What does that mean for a guy like LeVar Woods, who has been a special teams coordinator and an elite one at that? But many people think that LeVar Woods very well could be the heir apparent. There's a lot to be figured out. There's a lot to happen. But I believe the only way that Ryan Grubb would come here is at minimum with an understanding. If this goes well, you're going to be the next Iowa football coach. And the Iowa football coach job, it's a great one. It is one of the best jobs in college football. Certainly a top 20 job, and I could argue even higher than that, because we stick around, right? You look at the way that the coaching carousel goes year after year, and season after season, the firings that happen, how quickly

Starting point is 00:17:45 change needs to happen. And if you don't get it done early, you're basically toast in college football. That has not been the case at Iowa. Two coaches in my lifetime. I'm 43 years old. I only know two Hayden Fry and Kirk Ferentz. That's it. You go out there, you do a good job. You run a clean program and you win enough football games. You go out there, you do a good job, you run a clean program, and you win enough football games, you're going to stick around. Now you got to sprinkle in some elite seasons in there, and we've seen that. And Kirk Ferentz was able to do that. Hidden Fry was able to do that as well. That's what you have to do in order to maintain. I think that is something that a lot of coaches out there would absolutely love. Arkansas, maybe he's got a little bit more money with the

Starting point is 00:18:25 Walmart money. Maybe their NIL is in better spot. But what coaching job would you rather have? I make an argument, certainly Iowa. Look across that middle tier of the SEC. Hell, look at the middle tier of the Big Ten and many of their brethren. How many coaching changes we've seen at Illinois and Michigan State, places like that, even Wisconsin and the coaching turnover that they've had. The stability of the Iowa program and what it has been over the last four decades tells you just how good this Iowa job can be if you get the right guy in there. Wrapping things up with a little basketball talk hoops this week as Iowa goes on the road

Starting point is 00:19:02 to Purdue on the women's side coming up on Wednesday at the men back home in Carver-Hawkeye for their second straight home game after getting win number one of the season in the Big Ten against Rutgers. Can they make it two in a row against Nebraska? Quick peek ahead to that as we continue. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of Locked on Hawkeyes is brought to you by FanDuel.

Starting point is 00:19:28 The NFL regular season has wrapped up, but playoffs are here and there's still time to get in on the action. With FanDuel, it's America's number one sportsbook. Right now, new customers get 150 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet. You heard me right. 150 bucks in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet. You heard me right. 150 bucks in bonus bets.

Starting point is 00:19:48 Win or lose. You're not going to find a promo much better than that out there. The app, so easy to use and so many different ways to play. I like to bet. Same game parlays. A chance to bet a little and make a lot. But not only same game parlays before the game, they have live same game parlays. You can find bets in their new explore tab.

Starting point is 00:20:07 See what other people out there are betting. Make a parlay in the parlay hub. It's the best way to find the most popular parlays that are out there. Or keep it simple. Just bet on games. They got that and a whole lot more. So visit fanduel.com slash locked on and make your first bet an easy one. That's FanDuel.com slash LockedOn. FanDuel, official partner of the NFL.

Starting point is 00:20:36 Trent Conner back with you one final time on the LockedOn Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making LockedOn Hawkeyes your first listen every day. As we put a cap on things here, a busy week in the world of Hawkeye athletics as the basketball team continues in their Big Ten slate. For the women, it is a road trip as they will make their way to Purdue. Purdue, a season ago, gave Iowa a little bit of a tussle, if you remember, in the Big Ten tournament. So gave Iowa a little bit of a tussle, if you remember, in the Big Ten tournament. They are a team that is a little bit down, though, from what we saw a year ago. It is a road trip. It's going to be banged out.

Starting point is 00:21:12 There's no doubt. It's Caitlin Clark effect. I mean, it just continues here. And with the game, with the matchup here, you're going to see a banged out building. A lot of people that are going to be incredibly excited to see Caitlin Clark. Speaking of that, how about Caitlin this week? Getting her own sealer cereal. What is it? Caitlin Clark's crunch. Something like that. Ivy has got that one. How good that is. So right now for Purdue, it is Abby Ellis is their leading score. They also have Madison Layden. They got four players that average in double figures.

Starting point is 00:21:45 One more, one of their post players, Mary Ashley Stevenson, who averages nine per game. It's been a bit up and down, though, this season for Purdue overall, nine and five on the season, though they are undefeated at home. Now, who have they beat at home? Southern Texas A&M. There's a decent win. Dayton, that was actually a road game.

Starting point is 00:22:08 Valpo, lost to Minnesota in Minnesota. We saw them last week, got blown out by Notre Dame. It's been ugly at times for Purdue. Look, this should be another easy victory. This should be another one where Iowa cruises to the win, but it's a road trip. Another one on Peacock. Get your Peacock

Starting point is 00:22:25 ready again. The Iowa women are going to be there a bunch throughout the course of the season. Want to see more out of the post play? We've talked about that quite a bit. We saw in the blowout win against Rutgers on Friday night, a little bit more playing time for Addison O'Grady and Sharon Goodman. I think they're going to be incredibly important. Great to see Gabby Marshall also be able to knock down some shots. And he saw the confidence, a little bit of smile that came out from her. That's going to be important, obviously, for this team going forward. But it's going to set up with a victory, a showdown,

Starting point is 00:22:55 win or lose against Purdue with Indiana coming to town with Mackenzie Holmes. Great, great matchup there. Big Fox will have it on Saturday night. And speaking of peacock for people that don't have peacock and are trying to find the chiefs game on saturday night well i'm not going to subscribe so be it i'll watch the highlights you're bouncing around the channel how many people are going to find their way to fox as they're searching for the game on saturday night and suddenly say no i guess i'll watch this c this Caitlin Clark. I think you're going to see plenty of people in that boat.

Starting point is 00:23:27 Iowa on the men's side, it's Nebraska. Now this Nebraska team's played pretty well. They got run out of the gym by Wisconsin. No surprise there, but Rank Mast, if you remember that name, it was the guy that Iowa was looking at along with Ben Crickey in the transfer portal. He comes in from Bradley is where he began his career. Ultimately, Iowa decided to go with Crickey.

Starting point is 00:23:50 Massa has put together a really nice season. He's a guy that can shoot a little bit from the outside, fill it up inside. He's averaging big numbers this season. He's knocked down 14 three-pointers, 6'10", 250 pounds. It'll be masked against Crickey. Those two guys know each other incredibly well from their days in the MVC. Maybe the best player though on the roster right now for Nebraska is a UNC Charlotte transfer in Bryce Williams. He's put up some big numbers this year.

Starting point is 00:24:16 Domenaga is back for another season doing his thing, hitting shots from the outside. They're getting a healthy season from a Juwan Gary something that hasn't always been the case as he came in a year ago from Alabama did some good things there this is a better than we've seen in the past Nebraska team and Sam Hoiberg he's played a little bit not what he did this past season this is a good Nebraska team this is going to be a more difficult contest than you'd anticipate and remember I was had some struggles in the past against this Nebraska team. Have to get this win.

Starting point is 00:24:48 This is another one. Yes, you hate to say must win as we sit here at the beginning part of January, right? On January 9th, there are must wins. And this is a must win. I really believe Iowa still has to win two more games to even start to think about anything crazy here. And we're not even close to that. And also what's going to happen with Patrick McCaffrey.

Starting point is 00:25:08 Fran said after the game that with the illness, Patrick's going to be back. Do you put him in a starting lineup? Do you run him off the bench? You go with the starting five that won the first big 10 game of the year. That's what I would do. I would maintain and continue and see maybe coming off the bench, if that's something that could accelerate and jumpstart, what's been a disappointing senior year for Patrick McCaffrey. That is what is out there coming up this week with the Hawkeye basketball team. Thanks as always for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're with you every single day, but not only that,

Starting point is 00:25:41 we got a lot more happening here on the Lockdown feed with your team every day. Lockdown has also just launched the first ever National Sports 24 streaming channel on YouTube. It's called Lockdown Sports Today, and it's here for you 24-7, covering the top sports stories of the day with local experts across Lockdown, plus all of our national shows that cover every league. Go to Lockdown Sports Today on YouTube and make sure you hit subscribe to the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel. While you're hitting subscribe, hit subscribe here. Lockdown Hawkeyes, your team every day. We got you covered on the Hawkeye front.

Starting point is 00:26:19 A lot more going on in Hawkeye athletics. We'll keep an ear out if we hear anything more. It feels like the decisions are in. Guys coming back for another season. We'll see if there's anything else out there. And of course, waiting on the offensive coordinator hire. It is a big one and incredibly important for the future of Iowa football. We will talk to you again tomorrow. We got hopefully Jace lined up to come in later this week. And of course, on Friday, it'll be former Hawkeye running back LaShawn Daniels as he stops by talking everything happening in the world of Hawkeye athletics.

Starting point is 00:26:51 Your team every day. That's what we do here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: Quinn Schulte returns, Offensive Coordinator importance, Hoops this week

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.