Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - MEDIA DAY TAKEAWAYS: Iowa Hawkeyes Injury REPORT, Tyler Brown’s Return, and Wide Receiver Room SHINES

Starting point is 00:00:01 Back from Iowa City, Iowa Football Media Day delivered major takeaways from Kirk Ferrets to the assistant coaches and players. We got the biggest news, the clearest answers, and what it all means for the Hawkeyes heading in to the season. You are Locked on Hawkeyes, 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 Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, your daily. Iowa Hawkeye podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by Fanduel. Join all the action at fanduel.com to play daily dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer this MLB season. Coming up today, we're going to hear a little bit from Kirk Farrant's, a question that I posed to him talking about

Starting point is 00:00:53 leadership. The lack of seniors on this team, 11 seniors overall, just eight scholarship players, how Kirk Farrants answered that and thoughts as we go into this football season. That is going to be much different than what we're used to for Iowa football. Also be joined by Tom Kakert from hawkeye report.com. A lot of football talk with him as we get ready. Media day here happening earlier on Friday and, of course, Kids Day on Saturday, just how big that's going to be, as we'll get our only glimpse at this Iowa football team coming up this season.

Starting point is 00:01:22 But we begin today with a look back at what I heard today in Iowa City, being there with an opportunity, did my radio show from Jetros and Iowa City on the Coralville strip and then jumped over to Kinnick Stadium. and got to hear from Kirk Ferrence and a bunch of different players. A couple of things. Let's start on the injury front. And I guess the best news is there is nothing significant at this time. Nobody that you'd point to and say is an absolute starter.

Starting point is 00:01:47 The biggest one would be Tyler Brown. The James Madison transfer played in the college football playoff a year ago with James Madison and one of the top guys that they targeted in the transfer portal. He said it wasn't major. It's not minor somewhere in between. Kirk did bring up that name also. And what we've also learned as he has been stepping aside and not been practicing here lately because of that injury, that Anthony Hawkins, another one of the guys that they got out of the portal, 6'3, 208 pounds, a rangey safety, kind of different than really what I was normally had back there. He's been the one that has been manning the strong safety position.

Starting point is 00:02:24 You know, a takeaway from that and something that I do ponder. If Anthony Hawkins continues to show the improvement and if they feel very comfortable with him, We know the versatility of Zach Lutmer and what he can do in that defensive backfield. He was so good a year ago at the cash position. And there's a part of me that also wonders if that is his best spot and if it is, and they feel comfortable with Brown coming back from the injury, coupled with the emergence of Anthony Hawkins. If they make the decision, let's move Lutmer back to the cash spot and then go with those two

Starting point is 00:02:54 back and free and strong safety. Just something to ponder in and to put in the back of your mind, though, but the biggest injury news is certainly Tyler Brown. and getting him back out there. A couple of other injuries. A couple of walk-ons, Kyler Gerardi, a safety who was the emergency quarterback a couple of years back.

Starting point is 00:03:10 You remember when the injury bug hit the quarterback room incredibly hard, along with Lance Begley, who came in from SMU, a walk-on wide receiver. Both those guys looks like they're going to be out a significant time. And another name that was hopeful, maybe could help out with the question marks at defensive line.

Starting point is 00:03:27 Lance Ingold, he's going to be out for quite a while, maybe back by the middle of the year coming up for him this season. Another takeaway for me, talking to a couple of the assistant coaches. One Tim Lester, the other, John Budmeyer. So the offensive coordinator and the wide receiver coach, respectively, with those two guys. One thing that stood out, both of them, when Evan James came out,

Starting point is 00:03:48 they talked about his speed. And Tim Lester talked about him now kind of learning how to get through traffic, how to get down the field, and when there's things there, and there's impediments in the way it might be a linebacker, might be a safety, but how to do that and get up there. the field, but he absolutely loves the speed and something that Tim Lester has been hoping for in this offense of getting more speed out there. And with Evan James, coupled with Tony Diaz, absolutely it feels like they're going to be in good shape there. Another component to that

Starting point is 00:04:15 as we talk about the wide receiver spot talking with Tony Diaz, and you can tell this guy, he's just got some juice to him. There's just, there's something there. He is clamoring to get his opportunity. Remember, he was not out there with the last spring practice that we were able to see. so he didn't get a chance to get a glimpse of Tony Diaz. Sounds like he's going to be out there on Saturday at Kids Day. He's pumped up for it. I also had some fun with him, joking around, asked him about his first Iowa winter.

Starting point is 00:04:42 Didn't sound like he handled that one very well. He said it was zero degrees when he showed up the first day he was on campus, and he said his second year in the winter will be a little bit better than that. One other on the wider receiver spot talked with Jared Bowie. And Bowie is a guy that I've talked about a lot here this week. talked about some of the numbers, asked him about that vertical leap, and he said, yeah, he's still at first in that one, 44-inch vertical leap, just a ridiculous specimen. But also talking to the coaches about him, both Budmeyer and Lester, the one thing that stood out, and it was specifically with John Budmeyer, he talked about what he's gone through over these last 18 months. And now the maturity that he's had dealing with multiple injuries during that time period, a lot of guys would have tuck and run, right?

Starting point is 00:05:26 In this transfer portal environment, we would have saw a guy more. move on, find a new home, go somewhere closer to home. That was not the case with Bowie. He stuck around, he's put in the work, really enjoyed the conversation. And speaking of those conversations, we're going to have those spliced in here throughout the next week or so as you're having an opportunity to hear from a number of the players. And I think you're all going to really like Jared Bowie.

Starting point is 00:05:46 Put it all together. He was out there a couple of years ago. Now a veteran in that wide receiver room. And now healthy is a big component. If they can get that, this might be a guy that we haven't talked about a ton that could be one of those good stories for Iowa. Iowa football. The big question, everybody's wondering, what about quarterback? Look, it's unsettled. It really is. One thing I noticed from Hank Brown and, you know, hearing from Hank before

Starting point is 00:06:09 the first couple of times that he was out there in these kind of environments in front of the media, he just feels so much more comfortable out there. He has that feel of a big time quarterback. He has that feel of just a quarterback that is more used to now speaking to the media, and he can definitely get that. You get some good vibes out of him. Jeremy Hedglinsky didn't have nearly as much time over on the side talking with Hecklinsky, but really like some of the things heard from Hank Brown. We'll see. Tim Lester said it's still too close. There's still so much that they're installing into the offense. They haven't fully installed to everything at this point. Didn't want to make any determinations at this point. Kurt Ferrence had the same to say about that.

Starting point is 00:06:47 No surprise. We will wait and we will see exactly what's going to happen on that one. So this is what coming up, all those interviews that I mentioned, we're going to have them. Most of them, between two to four minutes, something in that range, some a little bit longer when it comes to the players. Had an opportunity to talk with Kamari Brown, Devin Kennedy, Yosea Pinesse, Will Hubert, Darian Jones, the freshman cornerback, KJ Parker, Anthony Hawkins, Emmanuel Alabaggio, I'll tell you, that dude in person, they're all big dudes, especially compared to me. But this dude is at a completely different level. He is just a mountain of a man, and hopefully he's going to be able to figure it out, a guy that hasn't played a ton of football,

Starting point is 00:07:27 that size now up to 319 pounds boy he could be an important cog in the middle mention hank brown jeremy hecklinski Bryce hawthorne tony d s k j parkerett booy dj vonani vonami kamari moulton brevindal rys van der z evan james talked with all those guys and we'll have those interviews here for you make sure you hit subscribe so you don't miss any of those interviews a lot of great nuggets coming in from all those player interviews and then on the coach's side as well phil parker tim leicester abdul ha Calvin Bell, Jay Norvel, and John Bunmeyer a little bit from all of those guys also coming up here over the next week. Hit subscribing for watching on YouTube so you don't miss any of that.

Starting point is 00:08:07 We got Kids Day coming up on Saturday and we'll have a recap after I get back from Iowa City on that front as well. But let's get ready for football season with our friend Tom Kakert from hawkeye report.com. Biggest concerns for Iowa football coming into the season and a whole lot more. As Tom joins us, stay right there. This is Locked on Hawkeyes. Baseball fans, if you think you know who's hitting a homer today, Fanduil's giving you a free chance to call your shot with Daily Dingers. It's easy to play.

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Starting point is 00:09:29 dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer play ball and swing for the fences on fan duel an official partner of MLB close he is tom kakert from hawkeye report dot com who joins us tom as always appreciate the time where are you and uh getting quickly here to hear him from the head man and i know we got a lot of questions for him yeah still have not left home but we'll be leaving shortly to head iowa city with kirk uh speaking at 145 today so looking forward to hear hearing from Kirk and especially looking forward to hearing from the assistant coaches and the players because we'll find out what's going on in practice because it's been pretty quiet so far. It really has. Yeah, we've seen a bunch, excuse me, on that front, Tom.

Starting point is 00:10:21 And as we talk about this team, we've broken it down. It feels like we've kind of hit every level that you possibly could about this squad. There's a couple of intriguing names that pop up from time to time. We've talked so much about the question marks up front and what it looks like. And I think it's specifically at defensive tackle. I want to start with the known commodity, the guy that we know the most in Bryce Hawthorne, who was at minimum part of the rotation a year ago. Now year number two of the system after transferring in from South Dakota State, really love his upside,

Starting point is 00:10:51 really love the opportunity that he's going to have. And we know if there's anybody that's going to play a bunch of snaps, it's going to be him. Is there another level to him? Is this a guy that can be, you know, pushing for second, third team, all big 10? Do you see that kind of upside in Bryce Hawthorne? Potentially, he could. You know, we didn't, he was probably their, you know, third, fourth guy last year along the defensive line, and he's going to have to make a significant lead to being a guy that maybe, you know,

Starting point is 00:11:24 plays 45 snaps a game. I don't see a lot of guys playing that many snaps this year up front based on what Kirk Francis said and, you know, talking to Seth Wallace this summer. It just seemed like they were going to try and run a lot of bodies out there this year. But Hawthorne is going to have to be one of those core guys, I think, for them to kind of build around along with, you know, Will Huberg or Luke Dachny, the three veteran guys that are up there. And then, you know, you get a Bryce Deveson or Devin Kennedy, guys like that, but they're

Starting point is 00:11:58 going to have to really lean on, I think, this year. A couple other guys defensive tackle. Alibajou who came in from North Dakota, he definitely looks the part. And he's added even more weight since he showed up, at least according to the roster, that he had at North Dakota a year ago. This is a big, big dude. And with the teaching that Kelvin Bell definitely can provide the hand placement, all the things that are not exciting to talk about,

Starting point is 00:12:22 but that is the stalwart of what they do up front. I think of a guy like that, if he can be even a guy that gives him 20 snaps a game, a Devin Kennedy that I think we're all waiting for the light bulb to turn on. I guess the good news is there's a lot of options. Now it's just figuring out which one of those options can play. Yeah, Alabajou is an interesting guy because he does have the frame and the size and everything that you kind of look for.

Starting point is 00:12:45 Just not the experience. He played up in North Dakota. So it'll be a leap up in class. But the interesting thing is he and Bryce Hawthorne went to the same high school. So they've played together. So maybe there's some chemistry there between those two guys. So we'll see if they can get something going from the defensive tackle position. One other thing that I would look for, and I'm going to be curious at kids today,

Starting point is 00:13:13 if we see some of those, you know, Phil likes to do some different things. Phil Parker likes to do some different things on third downs, you know, maybe do some move at detackle to detackle and get some brushline creation there. One of the things that they were kind of kicking around that spring was with Drew Campbell, Jack Campbell's younger brother, at a detackle position, thinking if he can make some headway there. So I'm going to be watching that. Also, you know, Bruce Feldman does his Freaks list, and he does the 101, I think with 101 guys

Starting point is 00:13:50 this year on the freaks list, and there were three Hawkeyeye players. One of them was Kamari Brown. Yes. And he started to hear a little bit about him at the end of Springball, just like, yeah, we think we got something here. And that's a guy, they need some pass rush this year with, you know, with Hurtig gone and the well and gone. So maybe that's a guy that starts to develop that pass rush kids transferred in from Elon. And, you know, first half of Springball, you know, I think he was probably just trying to get himself going a little bit.

Starting point is 00:14:25 But now it seems like he's ready to go. And maybe he's a guy that can create some fast rush for him. I like that one a lot. In fact, I did my bold predictions on my podcast yesterday, and one of them was that he'd be the first guy since A.J. Appanessa to get to double-digit sacks. Now, I think that's out there a little bit. Maybe I'm stretching it just a little bit to get there, but elite athleticism. And that's the thing. With Herkitt Llewellyn, neither of those guys are going to be, you know, thought of it like an A.J.

Starting point is 00:14:52 Epinessa or a Matt Roth. They didn't have that quick twitch that you think about from your traditional speed rusher off the edge. And if Brown's able to provide that coupled with what you're going to have, Mary Weather's played a lot of football already. We know about the upside of Appanessa. Suddenly he start to get pretty excited about things. We know Zach Lutmer's going to be in the back end of this defense, and he's going to be a star this season.

Starting point is 00:15:12 However, the rest of the defensive backfield, he got some new faces in there, Tyler Brown, and continue here more and more here during camp, Anthony Hawkins, the big, rangy safety that came in from Villanova. Everybody had Brown penciled in. He's going to be the starter at strong safety. but Hawkins feels like at minimum, maybe he's figuring things out a little bit. And with that kind of size, you kind of get excited that he could be potentially a guy that can help out and do some different things with his size at one of those safety spots.

Starting point is 00:15:40 Hawkins has got that really unique size at 6-3 and, you know, coming in from Villanova. I know Tyler Brown was one of the guys that they were really, really liked when they were able to get him. He was one of the top targets on defense. And you have those guys back end. The thing that would be interesting to me is if one of those, if they could potentially work a brown hawkins at the safety positions, one of those guys takes over at free, then that moves that chest piece of Zach Lutmer around a little bit more

Starting point is 00:16:14 where he's not kind of bottled and bottleneck back at the back end where maybe your opportunities are a little more limited to make some big plays. And then, you know, Lutmer, maybe he's moving. in at cash. And that really changes things for them defensively. If Lutmer's that at cash, I think. And I think that decent backfill is trying to figure out the best five put out there. Is it going to be Jacob Wallace at cash and Lutmer at free?

Starting point is 00:16:45 Or is, you know, is Jalen Watson going to be one of the corners? Or is that going to be wallets? Or is it going to be Shod Godfrey? Or maybe the freshman Darian Jones? is another guy to watch too. So he knows Sean Lee's going to be out there with that defense. But, yeah, that other corner in the cast position are still open for business. I'm excited about Jones.

Starting point is 00:17:11 You mentioned him coming in from Omaha. And, you know, with Darien Jones, you look at it, a little bit of size at cornerback because we know what's looming in that first home big 10 game after they go to Michigan, come back home for the Buckeyes and that wide receiver group. Would be nice to have a cornerback with a little bit of size against the Buckeyes. Yeah, it would. You're going to have to have some size with the way that they're going to run the ball and the way that their receivers are built. It's going to be a, it's going to be a big task for the Iowa defense against Ohio State for sure. I remember a year ago out in Vegas for Big Ten football media days, and Kirk's mentioned it, I think, like three different times.

Starting point is 00:17:49 He likes this team. They still had questions, but you could tell he likes the team. And you get pretty good vibes for him. Now, I wasn't able to make it to Chicago this year. So give me the vibes. And now the vibes we're going to be looking for for Kirk today. And after Kids Day practice on Saturday, kind of the vibes that you were getting from Kirk about this year's squad. Kirk was really loosey-goosey for him. You know, I'm just so used to over the years, he was always just so buttoned up as it had me today.

Starting point is 00:18:20 It didn't seem like he enjoyed being there. and just was, you know, just kind of just wanted to get done with it and move on. And last couple years, he's just kind of been like, I'm just going to let it fly a little bit and say some things and interesting. And, you know, the most interesting thing is that, you know, Tony Diaz was, you know, throwing his name out there with Bob Sanders

Starting point is 00:18:45 and Marshall Yonda. You know, hear that from Kirk. It's usually the guy who's trying to tamp down height, not throw gas on it. And he definitely threw some gas on the Tony Diaz type machine. So we will see, I'm really anxious to see Tony. We've talked to him, but I want to see him on the field. We saw a highlight yesterday that the university put out of BF making a great catch,

Starting point is 00:19:10 but we haven't seen him on the field when we've been out there. So we just don't get many opportunities out there. And that final practice, Diaz was not playing. So we get our shot to see him and see if the hype is met. And if it is, well, look out. Those boogeyman shirts are going to be flying off the NIL shells in Iowa City. Love that. Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:19:32 Love that for him. An exciting time at the wide receiver position, perhaps for Iowa football coming up this year. Tom Kaker, joining us from hawkeyearport.com. Tom, let's jump over to that offense. In order for Tony Diaz to have a nice season, he's got to find somebody that can get him the football. Hank Brown, Jeremy Hecklinski, around, around we go. It is something that I don't anticipate. We're going to get an answer. Certainly today.

Starting point is 00:19:55 Does this thing linger into the season? Kirk, we know. I've said it before. I feel like his brain is broken when it comes to quarterbacks. I don't know if it was if it was Jake Christensen and Ricky Stansy. I don't know if it was Bethard and Ruddock, but whatever it is, he hates making change at that position. This is different now and he's got a different offensive coordinator in Tim Lester. Whoever the starter is, do you anticipate both the guys getting real rips? the first couple of games of the year? I actually do, and I think it's motivated by Tim Leicester. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:20:29 Because I'll caveat that with unless one of the two guys just clearly separates and clearly wins the job, I think Tim Lester wants to check a box. And that box is, how are you doing when the bullets are flying? how are you doing when when it's real and it's not just the practice setting even if it's a scrimmage and you're really going at it with a really good defense you're i think he wants to check a box and just kind of know that with with both guys and find out if one of the guys yeah he might be great in practice but boy when the lights get right he kind of shrinks you know is that the case and i think he wants to just make sure of that and he's comfortable doing that. And here's the other thing. The indications I have gotten from talking to people around the program is that this is really Tim's decision.

Starting point is 00:21:30 Now, he's going to have to get Kirk on board with it, but I think this is really Tim's decision. And so, you know, he wants to get it right. Tom, I'm very excited about the upside of this offense. And we've seen them be able to. to put it together and what Coach Barnett has done on the offensive line the last couple of years. I still think they're going to be excellent up front. And it's not just the return of people in Loughke and that's a great starting point. But you look at a guy like Leighton Jones who they really

Starting point is 00:22:00 didn't miss a beat when he went in a year ago because of the injuries and what we saw up front when he went in there, there wasn't a step back. We know Ms. Linsky. He is a guy that they were intrigued by all the way back to high school. And I know Tom, we've talked about that before. I mean, this is a guy at what a Texas and a Florida offer coming out of the state of Florida. and chose the Hawkeyes if he can stay healthy. They have depth there also, a guy like Trent Wilson coming in, also from James Madison. There's so many pieces to be excited about what Kail Winter is going to be.

Starting point is 00:22:27 I think this offensive line is going to be really good again. And if you have a good offensive line coupled with those stable of running backs, I think the offense is taking yet another step forward this year. They might have to, though, because that defense could take a step back. Yeah, the defense is going to be the big question, Mark, but I think you're right about the offense. You know, you got a line that that quarterback just comes. come through like just to be solid um you like on paper like heard about the offense and the playmakers

Starting point is 00:22:58 with you know we've mentioned Tony Diaz the boogeyman uh Evan james transferred in um who they really like from Furman and um he he's really talented too and I think he can make an impact Reese Vander Z when if he's healthy he's been really productive and he's He's a great red zone target with his size and athletic ability. Again, DJ Venami, he is really good, a potential NFL player. As early as next year, he's got Thomas Meyer. You've got Addison Ostringo back, Zach Ortworth. He's got a really good depth in that receiver core now, and you've got some talent there.

Starting point is 00:23:45 I didn't even mention Dayton Howard. He really started to come along at the end of last year. So they've got some, and then you've got Nathan McNeil from come along at the Afghan press, Carmine Moulton, Xavier Williams, you know, down the list, L.J. Phillips. You've got backs. So I think there's some real potential with the offense this year to score a lot of points.

Starting point is 00:24:15 One thing that I still ponder when it comes to Tim Lester in this offense is how much involvement we're going to see out of the tight end position. And we saw that change when they went from Ken O'Keefe into the Greg Davis offense and you got the horizontal and the horizontal routes that went with it. It just didn't feel like it married very well with what Iowa wanted to do. I love what Tim Lester's done in the run game, but I still wonder how big of a part. When you have a guy like DJ Vonami and we know the talent that that guy has, Thomas Meyer, who continues to extend. Ostranga coming off the injury, but you hope can have a good, solid, productive year. You got a stable back there.

Starting point is 00:24:52 You got a big group of guys, Mason Woods, who they're excited about. There's a ton of tight ends. I just wonder about usage at the tight end position this year. Yeah. Yeah, it's going to be interesting. Well, it all starts with being able to block at that position. If you can't block, then you're probably not going to get a lot of reps. It's just how it is.

Starting point is 00:25:12 And we said DJ bring that along last year, and he has really embraced that. He did with a quarterback in high school. Now he kept blocking and doing well. That's what elevated Thomas Meyer last year, which he showed right away that he can block and be physical. And, you know, you're going to get that from a stringer. So those are the guys. They're going to be out there a lot, I think.

Starting point is 00:25:36 And then you can spot duty with, you know, Zach Fort Worth or with Mason Woods, who, you know, Mason is still filling out. But he's going to be a mismatch problem that you can drop him in there in a slot. He's almost like a slot receiver that you can put on a linebacker, and there's not many linebackers that are going to be able to keep up with Mason.

Starting point is 00:25:56 So they got a lot of interesting pieces, I think, that they, Tim's got a lot of toys he can play with this year, a lot more than he's had in the past. And I think that's going to be a real benefit. to the offense. Secret sauce throughout the years, obviously, has been special teams. Tom, we've talked about this. And I know you're probably not as concerned as maybe some people are about it, pretty confident overall. Is it in place right now we feel good about who the kicker and punter

Starting point is 00:26:28 are going to be? And maybe the biggest intriguing part, Lutmer back there and punt returns is who's going to be returning kickoffs this year? Yeah, I think the kickoff thing is interesting. I think that who's going to be the kickoff person is interesting. And maybe we'll get a lead to you. Chris Police is a new special team's coordinator. It may give us a little nudge in one direction or another about what he's looking at there. Lutner is going to be the punt guy. I think that's almost assured at this point. But yeah, they don't know who the ticker's going to be.

Starting point is 00:27:00 I think it's going to be Eli, Ozick, but you just don't know. We haven't seen it yet. So you think he's going to be the guy, you know, Tanner Philpott could end up being the pun. this year. And last year he was down at Simpson College Clinton footballs and he may be on the big stage this year. We don't know. It's going to be him or Boston ever. I do feel really good about the coverage teams just because of the guys that they have that they're going to be

Starting point is 00:27:28 able to deploy in punt coverage and kickoff coverage with that just collection of athletes at the lineback position and some guys in the defense back field that they're going to throw out there. I think they're going to be excellent in coverage. But who's going to return, how those kicks are going to go? You know, are they going to miss Drew Stevens this year?

Starting point is 00:27:52 Probably at some point, yeah. But you never know. Guys step up. Kirk brought up in Chicago three times how Drew Stevens just sunk it up, his freshman year, you know, going into the year. He was just really worried about it. And then Drew kind of right in the ship

Starting point is 00:28:10 And he had a pretty terrific career except for a little look on the radar in his junior season where he kind of, end of the year where he kind of just lost his way a little bit. But it sounds back with a great senior year. So we'll see what happened. Speaking of special teams, as we've kind of gone around and around talking about that here over the last couple of weeks, Tom, is long snapper. Ike Speltz is the only guy with experience that comes back. And he's a third-year player. So a lot of people anticipate. But take me back to the recruiting world that you.

Starting point is 00:28:40 live in there with On Three, and that is Maddie McLaughlin. Wasn't he rated like by one service the best long snapper in the country? Yeah, he was one of the top. Long snappers get from St. Louis. So they were able to land him, you know, so they'll have a guy that can potentially step in there this year, if needed. But I would guess that Pike's going to be the guy this year. He kind of split it last year.

Starting point is 00:29:09 So we'll see what I'm. happen. And I got a question if we hear from the special teams coordinator, Coach Pallizi, is who's going to be the emergency guy? Who's, who's that third guy if if something devastating happens there if they have to go down? I know, I know who it is. You do? I know who it is. Oh, good. Who is it? Michael. Michael Bert. He worked that. He worked long snap for last year. All right. There's a good one. Put that one and file that one away for later because I still kicked myself a couple of years ago as Marshall Meter was coming, trotting out onto the field. I pride myself in and having everything memorized and for whatever

Starting point is 00:29:44 reason. I knew it was a transfer from the Mac, Central Michigan, and his name just wouldn't pop into my head. I had to look at the roster for that one. So hopefully that's not going to happen. I see now now, now, now who is snapping now? All right, I'm going to have that one in the back pocket. There it is. Michael Burke. Appreciate that. Tom Kaker, joining us Hawkeyeor Report.com as we come to live from Iowa City at Jethroes, getting ready for Iowa Football Media Day. Finally, Tom, I always like to end here these conversations before football season begins with a little bit of basketball talk with you as we kind of put a end to the summer season open opportunities that you have gone to and been able to see the guys and working out and everything what do you look at this men's

Starting point is 00:30:21 basketball team you look at where you think NCAA tournament team with the expansion i think at minimum that's where most probably everybody's baseline is but what about the upside of this team how good if everything clicks how good can iowa hoops be this year it's a fantastic saying the team because then the columns said in the time he visited with us in summer he said i feel really good about the first 35 it's the last five that i don't know about and that's the bennett sturt's part of the game where benick could be a closer you knew what you were going to get you might not win every game but you know that bennick can kind of navigate those last five minutes and who's going to be that guy this year and is it going to be kind of committee is it going to be

Starting point is 00:31:05 Kel Combs and H. Sage and, you know, Tyreeke Coleman or, you know, we don't know who it's going to be that's going to navigate the Iowa offense in those situations. But I think that's going to kind of define how far this team goes if they can find somebody to close games or get them, get them buckets down the stretch and get them in position to get buckets down the stretch. I think that's going to define the upside of the. this team, if they can find that and they can hit shots and guys that can create shots for themselves or set up their teammates, boy, this team can, you know, it can be really good. It can be a 20 plus winning team. Otherwise, you know, they're going to struggle again in the end to the double a tournament. It can't close games because we know they're going to play those games this year. Tom Kekert Hawkeye Report.com joining us as we take a look at the Hawkeyes and get ready for

Starting point is 00:32:01 Kids Day coming up on Saturday morning. Quick time out back on the other. side. Kirk Ferrence talks about leadership. He always talks about leadership. I let him with the question today. We'll talk about that when we come back. Stay right there. This is your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. And thanks to our everydayers with us each and every day locked on Hawkeyes. Since 1986, the game has been creating classic college hats that fans are proud to wear. Whether you're an alumnus, current student season ticket holder, or simply someone who never misses a game, a great college hat is more than just a peril. It's a way to represent your school wherever you go. This year the game is celebrating its 40th anniversary by giving fans a chance

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Starting point is 00:33:25 That's the gamecaps.com promo code locked on. Celebrate 40 years of the game with 40% off, but don't wait. This anniversary offer won't last forever. Try and kind of back with you one final time on your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. It is Lockdown Hawkeyes. Thanks for being with us as always. Great time in Iowa City today. Back at it tomorrow for Kids Day. Looking forward to that. And with it, of course, we'll get an opportunity to see the guys that we talk to across the board today, get to actually see them out there on the practice field. It is a different feeling season. And one of the things that was brought up by

Starting point is 00:34:03 me today and my question for Kirk Farrants at the press conference, it was about leadership. He talks about it a ton. It is something that is a huge mantra. And he said many of the things you expect. He went into talking about something that didn't have on my bingo card. Kirk Farrant's talking about Jalen Brunson and the NBA finals, but he talked about that in leadership and those qualities that you can see. And it doesn't have to just come from seniors. It doesn't have to just come from veteran players. He's seen it happen with young guys.

Starting point is 00:34:30 He talked about Jade Montgomery when he was early on in campus, and the older guys really respected him. And you can see those leadership qualities that definitely showed out. I still think that is a question mark with this team. Who are going to be those guys? who are going to be the guys that are going to step up. There are a lot of nice guys. That's a good thing.

Starting point is 00:34:47 Good kids inside the program. We definitely know that and the way that they throughout the years have done such a good job, identifying not just great football players, but great people and people and building them into those great people. But something I'm keeping an eye on this year, just eight scholarship seniors, 11 seniors overall on this roster, where that leadership comes from this season. Out of time for today. Back up early in the morning and over to Iowa City for Kids Day. looking forward to that and we got you covered here locked on hawkeyes again hit subscribe if you're

Starting point is 00:35:16 watching us on youtube if you're a podcast listener five-star reviews all those help us get in front of more hawkye fans hope you have a great weekend we'll talk to you again tomorrow until then go hawks

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