Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Leshun Daniels & Trent Condon meet as co-hosts, Iowa Football expectations and quarterback play

Episode Date: July 15, 2022

Leshun Daniels and Trent Condon get together for their first podcast together. They get to know each other a little bit better, talk about what Leshun is up to these days and his career with EA Sports along with Coaching High School football.Then they talk about the Iowa Football Quarterback spot. Does Spencer Petras have what it takes? What kind of improvements can be made late in his career. What about Alex Padilla?They finish up talking about the Hawkeye athletics as a whole and where the expectations are for the team in 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, an introduction. LaShawn Daniels and myself, Trent Condon, talk Hawkeyes, get to know each other. We talk quarterbacks, expectations, and a whole lot more. Welcome in. It's a new edition of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast with you late in the week as we get ready for the start of football season. Big 12 football media days concluded earlier this week. Next week, SEC football media days get started on Monday. And right around the corner, it'll be the Big 10 media days concluded earlier this week. Next week, SEC football media days get started on Monday,

and right around the corner, it'll be the Big Ten media days. That'll be happening in Indianapolis. I'm Trent Condon, joined by LaShawn Daniels, who joins us. Hey, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're free and available wherever you get podcasts. Well, I'll tell you, our first opportunity to talk a little bit. We're co-hosting. Excited to have you aboard for another football season as we get ready for the 2022 Hawkeyes. How are you doing today?

Doing fantastic. Doing fantastic. Anytime I get to hop on a podcast and talk about football, talk about my Hawks, it's always a good time. Well, for maybe some new people that are joining us as we get restarted here with the podcast, a lot of subscribers that have continued on, and thank you to that, and giving us a chance to get your ear each and every day here as we'll get locked on,

starting in August on a daily basis. I'll tell you, remembering your career, I grew up a Hawkeye fan. I grew up in the state. I lived up in North Iowa, went to Osage High School, went to school at the University of Iowa, and I've lived in the state now for 42 years. It's my home, but different for you and certainly different as it pertains to being a Hawkeye, being on that field and what it means. So take us in a little bit as we and I get to learn a little bit more about you. First, what led you to Iowa City and the decision to become a Hawkeye?

Yeah, for sure. So, for starters, for everyone that doesn't know me, hello, I'm LaShawn. I was a running back at Iowa from 2013 through 2016 football season. I'm originally from Warren, Ohio.

Football's really kind of been in my blood from, you know, multiple members of my family. And then, of course, myself and my younger brother, James. And, you know, really what kind of led me to come to Iowa was, well, growing up, I always knew I wanted to play college football. At first, it always ended up being, yeah, I wanted to go to Ohio State and play there.

Obviously, growing up in Ohio, we have parents that both went to Ohio State, and your dad played at Ohio State. It was kind of like the thing, right? But, you know, once you get into high school and you start getting recruited and things like that, all that stuff ends up changing, right? You never know, you know, what teams are going to want to have you and things like that. And my recruiting process was pretty basic.

It wasn't too complicated. You know, I was committed to Boston College for a while. You know, I had a really good senior year. And, you know, Coach Brian Perr came down to to talk to me and the coaches and then you know next you know um coach uh her parents offered offered me and you know i took a visit to iowa and really like pretty much the rest was history i mean i knew i wanted to play play golf football and especially want to play in the big ten obviously you know watching it um growing up and you know really just kind of fell in love with the city and the environment.

And, you know, I noticed that when I did commit, they were coming off of, you know, a tough football season. But I figured, you know, why not be part of a class that has to help get things back on track. So that's really how I ended up, you know, out at Iowa. And, you know, obviously, it's probably now he's probably the best position I ever made. It certainly worked out well. Besides being married.

Yeah, hopefully your wife's not listening to that. That'd be a problem there. Don't want to get in trouble already here in our first episode together. LaShawn, a great career. You concluded in 2016, run for over 1,000 yards, have 10 touchdowns. Your junior season, the immaculate undefeated 2015 year, a great career. And then you had a chance and an opportunity a couple of different places. You weren't drafted in the NFL, but went through the process.

And were with the Patriots for a while, the Chargers, the Redskins, and the Packers. Take us through that a little bit and just the grind. Being an undrafted guy, just trying to get those opportunities, give yourself a chance and and then after that what you've been up to since yeah yeah it's definitely a grind uh for sure uh it's very similar to you know obviously coming in as a as a freshman and you know you're really just you're trying to make a name for yourself right except this time um now it's like it's really like your livelihood, right? It's your job. And, you know, definitely a lot of the things that I've learned from, you know,

playing at Iowa and making sure I was paying attention to the details and putting in the work, right? Even when, you know, people aren't watching you, just so you know when those opportunities come and you're ready for them. So coming in as an undrafted guy in the NFL is not for the faint of heart, that's for sure. You know, being released and then being signed

and going through those roller coasters and being in on games on Sundays on through all that roller coaster is definitely not an easy task, but it was something I dreamt of doing. So I would say it would have loved, you know, for my whole career to be much longer, but, you know, that wasn't in the cards for me, right? But definitely that work ethic and the grind that she learned learned when i was at iowa

definitely carried on um helped me stick around just a little bit uh in the nfls for for a little bit longer even if it was for an extra day or extra week right um so that's that's really what i have to say about that experience and i've seen seen that a lot of, you know, people who I grew up watching, which is even crazier to think about when, you know, you have teammates now that have been playing football for, you know, almost as long as you've been born. Like that's something that's really, really crazy to think about. And, you know, as far as, you know, right now, you know, live out in the Chicago area and work at EA Sports, helping out on the new college football game.

Nice. So that's really, really what I've been up to now. And I also coach high school football in the area as well. And that's been a blast. That is cool. You work for EA. See, I didn't realize this as we're getting to know each other here today on our first edition of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast together.

LaShawn, that is awesome because I know I am not alone. I am already clamoring. I don't want to hit fast forward in anything. I'm in my 40s now. I've got to slow things down a little bit. But if I could hit a fast forward and get to July of next year and get the NCAA football game in my back pocket,

I'd be pumped up about that. It's been a long, long time, obviously, since that came out. NCAA 14 I think was the last edition. It's been a long grind here. I'm going to have a ton of questions on this. In fact, we might have to do a podcast just dedicated to that here this summer before we get to football season because I to have a ton of questions on this. In fact, we might have to do a podcast just dedicated to that here on this summer before we get to football season

because I got a ton of questions for you. I love the game. Is that we're still shooting for it? Before I get too excited, July of 2023, is that realistic? I'm going to be able to go and buy that thing or maybe get a free copy from you. I can't spill any beans. No beans, no nothing.

You just have to wait and see. But we're definitely, the entire team and everyone, we're excited to get that rolling and have the thing to obviously get back to playing a couple of games. I mean, I know I loved them growing up. So to get that back out is going going to be it's going to be pretty awesome and also coaching high school football i absolutely love that i'm heavily involved in

high school sports here in central iowa and across the state of iowa as i broadcast a ton of games every year upwards of sometimes over 100 games a season baseball wrestling basketball football i've done a lot of them i've done soccer soccer. I've been all over the place, volleyball, doing it all. And I'll tell you, LaShawn, opportunity to still be around the game in that level, still for me to be able to watch these games and some of the great athletes that we see come through here. And the coaching side, I was a teacher before I went full-time into radio, so certainly understand that.

How's it been making that transition from a player into being a coach now? It's interesting. You definitely, like, start to understand why coaches will get upset, like, real upset sometimes. Because it's like you go over things, like, so many times. You rep it out, rep it out. And, you know, when one of your players doesn't get it right, it's frustrating.

But that also ends up coming back on you as a coach. You're like, okay, well, now it's not just me being told what to do as a player. Now I actually have to strategize, think of a way to effectively communicate this to the players so they can get a better understanding so that they can actually a better understanding so that they can actually go out there and execute these different things um in practice and on game days

right so um not only that they have success as a player but we can also have success with teams so it's definitely a different lens being on um for sure uh but i love it i love it um and you know like you said earlier uh you know being having a chance to be around the game still i think is is is good is awesome for me because i mean now something like when i wasn't playing um that was really something that was something that like that i missed kind of like being around being around a group of guys, really working hard to commit to one goal. Whereas winning games on Fridays, making it to the playoffs, all those different things.

So to be part of that again has been pretty fun. That's awesome. Well, Sean Daniels, Trent Condon here. As it's the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, we're going to talk a little bit more about our expectations for the upcoming season. And LaShawn, he is a great presence here. Obviously a former Hawkeye player. He went through some quarterback controversy himself when he's on the playing field.

We'll talk about that coming up. Spencer Petras, Alex Padilla, maybe a young gun. We'll do that when we continue on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. BetOnline.net is your number one source for all your betting needs and sports information. We got the British going on. Final weekend of Major League Baseball before the All-Star break, Home Run Derby, everything going on. BetOnline is your continued source for all your sports wagering information, live betting,

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kind of where I am expectation-wise with this Iowa football team. Obviously, if you don't love the defense, I don't know what's wrong with you. Phil Parker, what he does on that side of the football feels like they have a chance, even with some of the defections from a year ago, they could be even better. And they were at elite level a season ago. They're going to be good there. Offensive line, you lose Linderbaum, but those young guys, a chance to step forward. The running game, the Williams, what we saw out of those guys last year in the bowl game, you're excited about that. Two really good receivers.

Laporta tight end. But, well, it is the most important position, not just in football, but in sports. It's the quarterback spot. We saw a lot of struggles a year ago from Spencer Petras. We saw it in his first year as a starter during the abbreviated 2020 season at times where he had those struggles. And I'm at the point now where I've got to see it. Put me in Missouri, it's a show-me state down there.

I'm at the spot now until I see it, not at the Peyton Manning passing camp where he's unchucking a 70-yard touchdown down the field in shorts and a t-shirt. Doing it on the field with defenders coming at him, I have to see it. Let's start right there. When you hear somebody like me, a media member, a guy that probably doesn't know a whole lot in comparison to what you do on the football field, when you hear that, where your mind goes

with Iowa's quarterback spot this year? No, I mean, everything that you said is valid, right? I mean, it's all valid criticism. I mean, at this point, I mean we've seen uh spencer two years now um as a guy and he's obviously had his fair share of struggles right um there's no there's no secret to it right everyone everyone knows everyone sees it um and obviously we we've heard you know rumblings of obviously improving and things like that, but all that stuff, it really doesn't matter,

like how much, you know, you improve, right, and shirts and shorts, right, throwing the ball, right, during the games look great, right. It really doesn't matter if it doesn't translate onto, you know, a football field on Saturday. So everything that you said is valid criticism, and obviously everyone knows how the quarterback position for the Hawks last year was, I mean, really, really a mess, right? I mean, it really got towards the end of the season.

You really had, there was really no direction, kind of like what we were feeling, right? It was like, hey, well, is Spencer hurt or is he not? Right. Now we got Alex in here. You know, he's made some fast plays, but he's missing a lot of guys right um making mistakes right and things like that so figuring out like how that gets settled is going to be very important and i felt like um granted i wasn't as you know up to date with them on the spring as maybe I should have been.

But what it seemed like is it almost seemed like there wasn't that jump that we were really hoping to get out of that quarterback position throughout the spring. There really came of no definite answer of what's it going to look like during the season. And now, obviously, that battle is going to continue through fall camp and in a few weeks here. So it's an interesting topic,

and it's going to be a topic of discussion, really, for the rest of the year. But we know that those guys are working hard and all that jazz, but we know that if Iowa wants to take that jump, right, and to be able to win these Big Ten title games, right, and to be competitive against, you know, the Blue Bloods, I guess, of college football, right, that quarterback position is going to have to be fantastic

or all that stuff is going to end up falling back on the defense like it did last year. And, you know, as great on the defense like it did last year and um you know as great as the defense was right there are times where uh you know as offense you gotta step up and that's going to be led by the quarterback position you know we talk so much about the quarterback spot but a part of it obviously is what's happening developmentally wise and now brian ferentz becomes not just what he was as the offensive coordinator now he's also the quarterback's coach now he doesn't have a background I don't think Brian's a guy that's going to be sitting there and working on mechanics and things like that

he'll reach out they have people a butter coming in from Wisconsin a former Badger quarterback that's I think a good move and a guy that can work on more of that mechanical kind of thing but having the quarterback coach also be the offensive coordinator, something that happened early in the Kirk Ferentz tenure when Ken O'Keefe was both of those jobs before he went on to the NFL, before coming back. Do you think that's important? Is that something that can end and help out a little bit here?

Brian being with those quarterbacks even more now as an offensive coordinator, coupled with what he's obviously doing, calling the plays and making what they do go offensively uh i would agree so i mean i feel like it definitely it makes more sense um you know just from a coaching perspective uh for your offensive coordinator to also really be your quarterback's coach right because um you know offense is going to be running through your quarterback's coach right because um you know offense is going to be running through the quarterback right so it's going to make it make sense to you know have those guys really pretty much around each other all the time and i know that you know as an offensive coordinator even if you are coaching other position groups

you're still going to be with the quarterbacks um pretty often but if you are coaching other position groups you do have to kind of shift your focus a little bit, you know, to make sure that your other groups don't fall off, right? So making, I believe, I think making that move to putting, rooting Brian as the quarterback's coach, since he is going to be the offensive coordinator, does make the most sense from a coaching perspective so hopefully that does help really the quarterbacks a lot out a lot by helping them play faster right so they

can help see things much better because I know at some point in time in the podcast last season I don't I don't remember it might have been after the Big Ten title game, I kind of talked about the offense a little bit, how it can be difficult for quarterbacks to, you know, learn and adjust with the offense because, again, it is a pro-style type offense. So there's a lot of different reads and checks and things that go on, you know, pre-snaps. So when you have the quarterbacks being able to be with

their quarterback coach more often to go through these things so that they can play faster is going to allow them to at least be able to make decisions quicker so that they can obviously take care of the football and put the offense in a better position to put points on the board.

50 days until we get to the opener against South Dakota State. And LaShawn, I think we're going to talk a lot more about this quarterback spot going forward. It's going to be a conversation that dominates the conversation here, when they're at media days, August camp, and leading up to that

opener against the Jackrabbits on September 3rd. Which NFL stars move the betting line the most? Starting July 18th, Locked On gives you the 50 most valuable players in the NFL from the oddsmakers at BetOnline. Available July 18th on Locked On NFL, wherever you get your podcasts, and on YouTube. Rolling through here on a Friday, the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

Glad to have you aboard with us. I'm Trent Condon. LaShawn Daniels, my co-host here. As we talk, I will football with you. We're going to get into expectations, but I mentioned Iowa football. You're a Hawkeye alum. Love your Hawkeyes. And of course the team that you played for LaShawn, but what else? Are you a big basketball guy? You like the baseball team. You like to watch those wrestlers out there on the mat? Besides football, what else gets you going when we're talking about Hawkeyes?

You know, I watch the Iowa basketball team quite a bit. I definitely followed them a bunch this past season. They obviously had a really good year. Didn't finish the way that they would have liked. um they obviously had a really good year didn't finish the way that they would have liked um but i would say i probably watched basketball um if there's no sport that's probably when i watched the most uh outside of football even though i don't i don't watch it like that often but if i see that game it's on i definitely tune in and let's try to follow players that um happen to go on to the next level so um it's been a blast watching uh keegan in the

summer league he's been uh absolutely just tearing it up so uh yeah i enjoy watching the iowa basketball team a little bit and then but pretty much anytime i see um you know hawkeyes on my on my feed or anything like that i always try to to support, you know, liking posts or retweeting posts, things like that. So you're a big guy. Running back, your brother a bigger guy, your little brother James. No wrestling? I mean, Ohio's got wrestling. They've got good wrestling out there.

Never wanted to get out there on the mat? Interestingly enough, my high school didn't actually have wrestling. Really? Yeah, my high school didn't actually have wrestling really um yeah my high school didn't have wrestling uh so like in that winter time like we just ended up we just did indoor track until the outdoor track season and like that was it um i know my brother my brother watched wrestle in middle school though um and then you know just didn't didn't continue um you know when we got to high school.

We've been to a couple wrestling meets, though, and those are a blast. Yes. I mean, the energy in the building, like, did not sustain. And, like, even though, like, I don't know, like, all the rules and stuff, I was still able to be in the stadium and enjoy it and participate and make the chance and everything. And it felt good. It's definitely a good time. But, yeah, I don't watch wrestling, you know, as much.

Even though I know I was like top of the top when it comes to wrestling. But, yeah, that's really where I's really like where i'm at well we got plenty of time before we get to those winter sports seasons and a lot to talk about on the football field talked about expectations today where the expectations are as i've said with the quarterback spot it's as much as i love this team and i love the formation of what they have and and what they can do on the defensive side of the ball. And LeVar Woods, what he has done with those special teams. And even losing Charlie Jones in the transfer to Purdue. I still believe that LeVar is going to have them in a great spot on that side.

But it comes down to quarterback. And because of that, and because it's so important, it's hard for me to have those expectations that this team is going to be 10-2. That they're going to return to Indianapolis in the Big Ten championship game. That's where I am. Where are you when you look at this team and kind of give that, you know, that thousand-foot overview of what you look at for the season? Where are you at, LaShawn?

Yeah, I'm kind of right there with you, even though I hate giving, like, having that projection or what the outlook is. Because, again, it's still so early. People haven't even been in shoulder pads yet. It's so early in the football season. It's hard to look at, but when you look at

Iowa as a whole, Coach Ferentz's tenure here at Iowa, things that have been consistent the entire time is defense and special teams, right? And then obviously the toughness of the team, right? Like those are the three areas that, you know, when you think of Iowa, like you're guaranteed,

like those are what you know you're going to get, right? And then offensively, you're going to get, you know, solid offensive line play, right? Every now and again, you're going to get, you know, solid offensive line play. Right. Now and again, you're going to have a superstar offensive lineman. Right. Like you have like last year with Tyler. Right. So. But when you look at the times when Iowa has a good, like spectacular year, right. But it typically ends up falling back on that quarterback position right what was the was the guy that was back there really really game changer right i mean it's

pretty consistent um you know throughout his tenure so it's like i feel like it's like i'm gonna be beating in this drum like pretty much like for the entire season but i mean it's gonna come back to the quarterback position but i mean that's something that that you kind of expect though you know when you sign up to play quarterback right i mean like you know people aren't deciding to be quarterback just because you know really like they were forced to do it it was really like like i want to be the guy i want to be the guy that that leads the team i want to have like i want to carry the weight of of you know a program right to to move us forward, right? So a quarterback position is really going to be the difference maker, right?

Because there's going to be times where, you know, it's not the end of the game, right? There's a got-to-have-it situation, right, where, you know, it's a third and medium, right, quarterback's got to make a throw, right, get a first down to either get us, you know, move us in the field goal range, keep a drive alive, right, or just make sure that the other team doesn't get football right so you can win the football game right um those are just those are the situations that come up and you know no matter how good the rest of the team is right if the quarterback can't make those plays um it's going

to be very very difficult for your football team to to win the championships, to get to the level that you want to get to, right? I mean, that's part of the reason why we had to, I see, have a Wisconsin loss last year to make it into the Big Ten title team, right? We didn't have the West won, right? Like, by ourselves, right? Like, we couldn't do it by ourselves, right? We had to get some help, right? And if I was to speak of quarterback play was better last year, right,

we wouldn't have had ourselves in that situation. So, yeah, that's kind of where I'm at. I'll be really, really hoping for the best. I'll be even hearing good things about everyone, right? But all that's going to really matter is, you know, is that going to translate in the practice field during fall camp and is it going to be translated on the football field on Saturdays? That's what we're waiting for. We got plenty of time before that, as mentioned, 50 days before kickoff of the Iowa football season. Know what

the Hawkeyes are up against across the Big Ten with Locked On Big Ten. Every day, host Nate Dickinson and local experts on Locked On take you across the Big Ten in 30 minutes. Make Lockdown Big Ten your second listen. Lockdown Big Ten. Well, Sean, this is a lot of fun. Really appreciate your time. And next week, hopefully we'll be able to track you down again and be able to do it with the video component here of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. But thank you so much for joining me today.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Looking forward to it. And go Hawks. Go Hawks. Awesome.