Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Leshun Daniels & Trent Condon talk Iowa football running game, NIL & Big Ten Football Media Days

Episode Date: July 22, 2022

Leshun Daniels & Trent Condon talk Iowa football running game, NIL & Big Ten Football Media DaysLeshun Daniels & Trent Condon go in depth on this episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast with talk about NIL and what it means for the Hawkeye football and basketball players with the new collective Iowa Swarm.Then it's a breakdown on the Iowa Football running game. What is it like to run in the zone blocking scheme. And thoughts on the Iowa football running backs and offensive line coming into the season.They finish up with a look at the upcoming Big Ten football Media Days and some big questions that will be there for Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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 “LOCKED15,” 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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coming up this week on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, myself and LaShawn Daniels take a look at Iowa football, the running game, a new NIL talked about a little bit yesterday. We go deeper from a former player's perspective, and we wrap things up next week. It's Big Ten Media Days, all coming up on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the On Hawkeyes podcast. Our Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Trent Condon, LaShawn Daniels, back with you. Another edition of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. We're presented today by BetOnline. LaShawn, I'm a big gambler. Now, big as it pertains to volume. I love betting.

I've been doing it for a long time. In fact, I started way back my freshman year at Mayflower. That's the dorm I lived in back in 1998. Doing a little bit there. It's for the last 24 years I've been a gambler each and every day. Well, it's now legal in our state, which is a great thing and great opportunities out there, including BetOnline. LaShawn, have you dipped your toe in? You're in Illinois. You can gamble over there.

Have you dipped your toe into the sports wagering world yet? No. Most I have in that sports wagering world is just fancy football um nah my friends are definitely into it though but i i just have not gotten into it it's just something about losing money well that's why you get good at it and you don't lose money at least that's the theory behind it i'm a small wager though and i'm the same kind of way now when i didn't have much money and I really was scary, I probably bet a little bit more than I should have.

But anymore, I bet every single day. I bet baseball. I bet a ton of football, basketball. It doesn't matter the sport. I've been known to dabble in a little golf wagering. It doesn't matter. There's always something every single day for me to fire at. But I play $10 a game.

I just play it that way and make it a little easier. And if I go through a losing streak, look, it's not going to cost me a house payment. My mortgage is not going to be in trouble, anything like that. So that's the way that I do it, but a lot of different ways to get involved. And you can go betonline.com and find out more information about our partner here with the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Well, I want to talk to you a little bit today. Yesterday, I hit it just a little bit, LaShawn, and that was the new NIL collective. There was a press conference earlier talking about that this week,

talking about the collective with Iowa Swarm and iowaswarm.com. I thought it was very interesting that all three coaches that are going to be involved with this, this is for football, men's and women's basketball, the head coaches were there. So the backing was there for this. When you first heard about NIL and became part of the sports landscape here in college athletics where it was a year ago compared to where we're kind of seeing a trend today, just your overview of NIL. Honestly, I mean, it's definitely long overdue. Like if we're being like completely honest, yeah, there's probably needs to be some type of rules and some type of regulations kind of around it. But I'd much rather have it like this. I mean, these guys have the opportunities to, you know, make money off their own name, right? their own name right so that honestly honestly a huge huge fan of it um because i mean there's a lot of these people that kids that come from you know all different types of backgrounds and you

know not being able to honestly like make money while you're in school it's probably um you're not the most ideal situation for for a lot of players so it's i think it's an awesome opportunity that uh players now that have now have that opportunity to do so yeah it's an awesome opportunity that the players now have that opportunity to do so. Yeah, it's something that has been a long time coming. I don't think there's any doubt about that. And the anticipation of what it was going to be compared to what it's really morphed into. And we see in places like Texas A&M, Texas, every offense alignment, as they commit getting $50,000 right away and getting that kind of check.

Iowa, I don't think they're ever going to compete with that ridiculous level of things the lamborghinis for recruits and the quarterbacks things like that that's not going to be the highway and certainly not the way that kirk and company want to run the program and the way it works out this is going to be a little bit different there's going to be an opportunity first of all for every scholarship athlete that's going to get a check uh from each and every month, which is great. More money in the pocket for these student athletes. But then also the component for the guys that are the stars, that are going to have more opportunities that are going to be available to them working with local businesses. So not just the charitable arm of it, but also the financial arm with the business community

here. Looking through this and hearing a little bit more and learning more about what Iowa Swarm is I think it makes a whole lot of sense and doing it I guess the right way if you will not a surprise though coming from the University of Iowa trying to do it when graduate do it right or the mantra from Barta you can see at least what they're trying to do here and it seems like they are doing it the right way yeah I agree I mean um because obviously you're gonna have your you're gonna have your superstar athletes right on campus who are obviously gonna have opportunity to make a lot

more money than you know maybe guys who are towards the bottom of your roster i mean that's just uh reality that's just how it is so creating something that honestly gives a lot of all the athletes kind of some equal opportunity, I think is really awesome moving forward. So, so, so guys just don't, don't feel left out in a sense. If you were able to, I don't know, get a check for an extra thousand, 1200 bucks, something like that, not like changing money, but anything. But I mean, I think back in, that was a long time ago, a lot longer back than when you were in college. But thinking back to that, even for me, if it was an extra 500 bucks a month, just what that could have meant for you and just going through things,

trying to get things figured out, boy, that would have been huge. It's got to be great for these guys now, even if it isn't that huge amount, just knowing that you want to go out and you want to get dinner, take your girlfriend out, do something like that, or go out and have a couple of beers. And you know what? I don't have to go and get the cheap pitchers. I can get a really good beer. You know, those kinds of things, those simple little things that just become so much easier just with, you know, an extra thousand dollars a month in these guys' check. It's got to be a great thing for them. Yeah, for sure. For sure. I mean, because if you think about a lot of times uh you know like for scholarship guys i mean your stipend whatever monthly basically just goes to

um you know your rent utilities and then um you know whatever extra food that you can get so you know having you know those extra few dollars would have definitely come in handy right if you want to go go out have a little fun or you know even just go out and get some new clothes, right? Instead of wearing, you know, I would brand it stuff all the time, right? So that money is definitely going to be very helpful for a bunch of these guys. And I'm happy to see that I'm starting to implement something

to, I guess, try to compete in this NIO landscape. Because obviously it's going to be tough, right, as being in Iowa and not having, you know, the amount of crazy NIO deals and stories that you hear that come out from some of these other schools. Well, it's going to be a good thing. Certainly, iowaswarm.com is where you can go for more information on that. A lot of different tiers. You know, The baseline, the lowest level is $200 a year. So an ability to go out there, know that you're helping these guys out. And that's the other thing. I write my check for my tickets or I donate to the iClub.

And you wonder ultimately, where's that money going to? Is it to pay a salary? Is it to help somebody else out? Is it just going into the coffers of a bartering company? You don't exactly know where this money is going. With this, you know it's going to the student athlete. And I think that's going to make it a lot more palpable for a lot of these people that want to donate. And the other part, though, that I do wonder is for people like me, you're not writing big checks by any means, but you're writing a check to the university each and every year. How much more difficult it is going to be for the university and the athletic department to get those checks and get those people that are willing to donate a couple hundred dollars, even the people that write a check for a couple thousand dollars a year. Well, suddenly if that

money is going to a collective like Iowa Swarm, if that's suddenly how different that's going to be for the athletic department to try to get money, the good news is, well, they got a hundred million dollars a year coming in TV money. That's going to go a long way. Yeah, I was about to say, I mean, it's definitely going to be, there's definitely going to be a lot of changes and a lot of, you know, adaptations that that like department's going to have to make. But I mean, I think, you know, the university is going to have pretty much have that covered. And obviously, we got these $100 million TV deals. I don't think money is going to be too big of an issue. Yeah, they're going to be all right, no doubt about it.

Well, we're going to continue our conversation here. We're going to get into some Iowa football today. I want to go deeper into the run game with you, LaShawn. Take a look at that zone blocking scheme. Maybe some changes that we've seen lately. It is not all zone blocking all the time. We saw that a year ago. Some more straight-up blocking.

What it's like to run behind the line and your thoughts on the new guys that are going to be taking over. We'll do that as we continue on here on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast, Trent Condon, LaShawn Daniels with you as we continue on in a moment on the podcast. Mentioned gambling earlier today, betonline.net, the fastest and easiest way to get in on all your betting needs. Find all your favorite sports and events at the number one online source for odds, lines, and games. Find reviews, news of every league, including MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, combat sports, esports, even golf.

I love that golf. I got a couple of guys going this weekend into the 3M Championship up in Minneapolis. BetOnline continues to be the top online resource for your sports wagering information from live in-game betting scores and podcasts. They have you covered. Head to BetOnline today or use your mobile device to learn more about the action happening today. BetOnline, where the game starts. Well, LaShawn, as we talked about here, the collective and what's happening, we morph into our conversation about the Iowa running game.

And this Iowa running game, certainly this season, it's going to look different. I don't think there's any doubt about that. It's going to be a different look for the running backs, a new kind of running back back behind the offensive line. Starting with Tyler Goodson. Tyler, one of the more dynamic playmakers that we've seen for the Hawkeyes in recent history, but behind an offensive line that dealt with injuries a year ago, outside of Linderbaum, the other positions, both guard and offensive tackle, they had their struggles. The running game this year,

though you don't have an All-American in Linderbaum, I think the offensive line has a chance to be a lot better this season. Zone blocking. You need five guys working together. Just take us a little bit deeper there. And when you looked at the guys blocking in front of you, just the importance of having that group together and the ability to practice together week in and week out. Yeah. Zone blocking scheme is definitely an interesting scheme, and you usually got to have some pretty mobile and pretty good offensive linemen to be able to run it, right? So you know that all five of those guys really have to be working together

in unison for you to create the type of offense and create the positive plays that you're looking for, right? And no matter how good both Tylers were last year, right, two players out of, you know, really seven guys, right, you got five non-linemen and tight end and then running back. If all those guys aren't really working together, no matter how good, you know, a couple guys are, it's not going to make a difference, right because um everyone has to be working in sync right um each there's double teams that require guys to to block and get up to the second level right to make it easier for the running back to make reads and then in zone blocking schemes when there's pressure um you know early on in the play it very it really makes it very very difficult um for you know you to have success as a run game because zone blocks take a little bit of time to develop, right?

It's not like, you know, a gap scheme where things are hitting like almost immediately. Zone schemes take a little bit of time, especially when you're trying to run stretch or outside zone type plays, which is really, you know, since Coach Terrence has been in Iowa, really kind of been, you know, the bread and butter when it comes to the run game. So fast forward to this season, it's going to be interesting how the run game looks because I feel like even though we lose Tyler on the offensive line, I feel like bringing a lot of guys back that really were just starting to get

their feet wet playing football last year at this level is really going to make a huge difference in their development this year. They got a lot of reps last year. A lot of guys got a lot of playing time, so it should look much different. They should be much more comfortable out there and being able to play off of each other. Then in the backfield, I feel like Tyler was a dynamic, dynamic running back. He could pretty much hit a home run from anywhere on the football field. But at times I felt like, you know, his running style didn't compliment the offensive line, you know,

as much as, you know, maybe the younger guys might have, right? Because, I mean, the guys that are really going to be taking the reins this year are a lot more type of downhill type running backs. It's just really it's just like stick their foot in the ground and try to get, you know, four yards every single pop. Right. These guys aren't necessarily looking for the for the home run like like Tyler was able to do last year. So I feel like this year, this should be a little bit more complimentary play when it comes to, you know, the zone blocking scheme and the guys that we have in for this fall year.

Yeah, I'm right there with you. And that's how I see it. And that's why I think this running game is going to be better. And, you know, the Iowa offense is never going to be known as a dynamic offense. It's not going to be considered, you know, a top flight offense. It's complimentary football. And Kirk talks about that a lot. And Brian Ferentz has talked about that, you know, playing top flight offense, it's complimentary football. And Kirk talks about that a lot. And Brian Ferencz has talked about that, you know, playing complimentary football and, and also making it easier on your defense and not having them have to be out there on the field because you're going quick three and outs and those types of things. But for Iowa, you know, a year ago,

how many times they were looking at a second and 12 compared to even a second and eight where the Tyler B out there, he's looking to make that cut back in the big play and he gets hit for a two yard loss. You played in this offense, you know what it is just the difference between a second and second and second and 12 where if i was second and 12 it feels like this drives over that you're not coming back from it yeah yeah a lot of times like especially like when when the offense is struggling um like like when it comes to the pass game like it's like you get second and 12 like you're like you're behind behind the chains it's like well might as well just try to get what we can to get the uh punt team in a better position right i mean because i felt like we we kind of

had this similar thing um back in 2016 right i mean there was a lot of times i mean we had guys that were out in the receiver position we We had to find guys that step up. You know, CJ was really, really banged up. And so we couldn't really pass the ball quite as well as we would have liked to. So it was like any time that, you know, it was a no gain or negative yards play on first or second down, it just felt like, man, it's like this drive is practically over. And we saw a lot of that a lot of that last year even no matter even though that they still won 110 football games

right imagine how much different the football season would have been right if some of those plays that went for negative minus two yards went for you know plus two or plus three right i mean it would make a huge huge difference and it would made it a lot easier on the offensive line as well as on the quarterback. So that's something I'm really going to be looking forward to this year, how much more improvement we can have in the run game, especially in the early downs. And obviously with Brian for Aaron looking to mix it up and play calling, right, not trying to be as predictable this This year, I think, is going to be something that will help the offense and prevent them from being towards the bottom of the conference on offense. So we saw Gavin Williams along with LaShawn Williams last year

in the bowl game against Kentucky. Both guys certainly had their moments. And also intrigued by the new running backs coming in. Caleb Johnson, just a big behemoth. The guy from Ohio. I'm sure you saw that one and had your ears perk up a little bit when you're hearing about him. And then Jazz Patterson from down in Florida. A smaller guy, that quickness that adds a compliment to the running game here. Four different guys I'm sure that they feel really comfortable with. Also the kid from Des Moines North in Hilson. So they got

five guys back there. An opportunity. It sounds like everybody's healthy. Everybody's going to go for camp. And just those different elements. How important is it in this scheme also to have running backs that do have different styles? That you do have maybe that quicker guy to go along with a behemoth, a big, strong running back. How important is that in the zone scheme and having those different styles yeah i i honestly feel like feel like it helps helps a lot um because i mean a lot of times and especially like if you have backs that can play um you know really all three downs uh it really really adds um you know more difficulty to the defense right because um when you got guys that can interchangeably come in and out and can play all all phases of the offensive football game um it allows you to have

fresh bodies in there prevent the defense from really kind of teeing off on on you know certain personnel and certain looks because you know you never know what you're going to get and having the ability to have you know different guys that can come in and can provide a different spark and and different type of energy every single time that they're out there on the field, I feel like is huge for the offense. Right. It just allows you to do a lot more different things. It forces the defense to think a little bit more beyond their heels because they know that, hey, it doesn't really matter what type, which back is in there. They're going to get a very, very similar result to the guys that's already been in there. And a lot of times, right, these guys can hit home runs from a lot of different places on the football field. So having guys that can complement each other, that can come in and, you know, run an inside zone or run a power play

or can take a toss play or run a stretch or catch a screen and do all those different things um really really adds a big big um you know wrinkle wrinkle to to your to your offense and prevents defenses from from just you know just teeing off right i mean a lot of times last year felt like um you know at times you know they were just able to tee off just because just because a lot of times we were like behind the change. Right. We weren't getting positive momentum offensively. But, you know, looking at this year, if we can get, you know, a lot of positive momentum in the run game. Right. And, you know, we can keep backs in and we can rotate backs in and still get very, very similar results. Because I felt like last year, you know, it was really kind of this Tyler or bust, honestly, for most of the year, which which I totally understand. Right. I mean, he was a phenomenal running back.

But I feel like being able to keep guys rotating in, keep those guys fresh and keep them healthy, I think is going to be huge, huge for our offense and really keeping that train moving forward. Great stuff there. As we look at the Iowa running game, we'll continue to break things down here leading into August camp. And, of course, get you ready for the opener against South Dakota State. Which NFL stars move the betting line the most? Starting this week, Lockdown is giving you the 50 most valuable players in the NFL from the odds makers at BetOnline.

Available starting earlier this week, the Lockdown NFL Podcast Network is going to take you around the NFL. You can get that wherever you get podcasts and also on YouTube. So one final thing as we wrap things up here with LaShawn and myself, Trent Condon, and Big Ten Media Days starting next week. Jack Campbell going to be there. Kayvon Merriweather, Sam Laporta will be the three players that are in Indianapolis. It's going to be certainly a deeper look at this Iowa football team.

But the biggest questions, I think, are about the conference as a whole. You know, I've been to these media days before. Kevin Warren's up there before it was Jim Delaney. And there might be a question or two that was interesting this year. Boy, there's so many questions from the TV contract and where they are. Obviously, the expansion with USC and UCLA. What the future of the Rose Bowl is going to be the college football playoff this year more than any this is the most excited i've been for a media day and being able to hear what the commissioner says because normally you

know for somebody like me it's just going there talking to players so hearing from kirk those kind of things i'm actually excited to hear from the commissioner this year. Yeah, I'm very interested to hear, honestly, more what kind of went into their decision on, you know, acquiring, you know, USC and UCLA. And really kind of what does that look like, right, for the future of Big Ten football, right? Is it something that's just going to end up just becoming, you know, just a national conference, basically just making it like a huge mega conference or what? So it'll be very, very interesting to hear kind of what went into that decision. What else?

Who else are they possibly looking to add, right? Is that it? And so on and so forth. So, yeah, I i'm really really curious because usually a lot of times i don't really like ever listen to the commissioner too much yeah i mean i guess i guess like before like the covid season kind of try to get an idea of like what was going to happen but for the most part you never really pay attention so um it's gonna be interesting um to hear what he has to say because uh if if i'm being completely honest

i'm not the biggest fan of of the uh conference realignment um you know obviously it would be nice to be in la sometimes right and in november right when it's cold in iowa but um for the most part i mean it's like i like i feel like it's just i guess just moving away from you know you know from traditional college football where you have rivalries built in with these conferences and things like that. Then you have the rivalries built into the bowl games. What does the future of the Rose Bowl look like now? Things like that.

I'm going to be very, very interested in what he has to say. I'm right there with you. That's going to be a fun part of it. There'll be plenty of questions. Laporta is going to be asked about the quarterback spot. You know, is it going to be Petras? Is he going to be the guy? I think we all anticipate he's at least going to get the start here unless something crazy happens in August. And another part, I thought this was interesting on my radio show earlier today, we were talking with Tom Kakert. I know you know Tom from your playing days from Hawkeye Report. He was there at all the press conferences. And he was talking about Kayvon Merriweather was down with that trip of college players that went down to Selma. And

hearing a little bit more about that, you know, the social part of things and social justice. And it sounded like it was quite the event. So Kayvon is such a great guy just to listen to. He's an incredibly smart football player and just a great guy to hear, give the overall perspective of where he's coming from. So that'll be a cool angle coming from Kayvon and what he was able to do. I think him and Logan Lee were the two players that went down for that. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's going to be – I mean, anytime you can hear him talk,

I think he does a phenomenal job and obviously is a phenomenal leader for the football team. Obviously, there's been a lot of changes um you know throughout the Iowa football program really over the past past few years and um obviously he's been very vocal you know about um several different things and you know I feel like he's done a fantastic job of being a leader and then obviously taking part in these experiences and things like that is obviously um you know you know, helping him grow even more. So, uh, you know, anytime you get an opportunity to hear him talk or read, um, you know, things that he said, right. You always walk away like, man,

like this is a really, really, really smart kid. Um, no matter, you know, what this future, uh, football future looks like, right. He's a guy that's definitely going to be all right. So, football future looks like, right? He's a guy that's definitely going to be all right. So definitely, definitely always give hats off to Kayvon for sure. Yeah, and while you play defensive back for Phil Parker, probably going to have a pretty good chance of playing at the league. We've seen that year after year, year after year.

Hey, LaShawn, a lot of fun here today. Appreciate you joining me once again. I'm going to be on vacation starting Tuesday next week, so if the schedule lies, hopefully you and I can get together on Monday, get one more out before I depart for my vacation. And then when I get back, it'll be August and we'll be all systems go a couple of times a week. We'll be back at it here daily with the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Looking forward to it. Looking forward to it. Well, I'm in Iowa City getting ready to call the state championship game in high school baseball here tonight with Johnston and Dowling on KXNO, the radio station I work for.

But I got a chance here. Well, I got to get out of my hotel room in the next 16 minutes. But before that, I'm going to head downtown and check out Iowa City. So I'll give you a full recap on Monday. How about that? And I'll let you know the changes downtown and how different it looks down there. Yeah, definitely let me know. Let me know. Because I'm going to have to make that trip, definitely let me know. Let me know because I'm going to have to make that trip in a few weeks here.

I'm going to have to. We'll be making that happen, no doubt. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. You can also know what your team is up against in the Big Ten with Locked On Big Ten. Every day, Nate Dickinson and local experts on Locked On take you across the Big Ten in 30 minutes. Make Locked On your second listen, Locked On Big Ten. That'll do it for today.

Thanks so much for everybody out there. Thanks to you, LaShawn. We will do it again next week. Thanks for joining us here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.