Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - MOMENTUM? Hawkeyes’ new Wide Receiver Tony Diaz Surprises, Kirk Ferentz SIGNALS Wide Receiver UPGRADE

Starting point is 00:00:01 Kirk Ferran sounds excited about the wide receiver position and why we should be two. Wide receivers take a step forward in 2006. 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 Locked on Hawkeyes podcast, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. A lot of football talk here today. We also talked some Iowa basketball coming up a little bit later on as we get ready for the transfer portal to officially open.

Starting point is 00:00:41 Big news on the women's side with the departure of Addie Deal. Talked about that a lot yesterday. We'll get into the men's side of things a little bit and potential targets for the Iowa basketball program. We'll also be joined by Elliott Club from Hawkeye Insider.com. Get his perspective. He was at the Kirk Barron's press conference. We'll talk a lot of football with Elliott and also get a glimpse into the portal with him coming up here in just a little bit. We begin today, though, with Kirk Barents in his annual spring football press conference,

Starting point is 00:01:09 as things kicked off there, at least from the media side, though they've been practicing for a little bit here and culminating at the end of the month with their spring open practice. Certainly a lot of news and notes to take away. And I start with, I think, the biggest headline. And something that definitely caught my eye, caught my attention listening to Coach Ferrence earlier in the week. And that was him coming out and talking about a player, talking about a wider. receiver and Tony Diaz. Now, Tony Diaz is a player that we talked about a ton in the transfer portal,

Starting point is 00:01:40 getting him coming in from down at Texas Rio Grande Valley, a guy that Alabama had offered. He was, in fact, targeted to go out of visit to Alabama, and yet Iowa swooped in, got the first visit, got him to commit, and he didn't take that visit to Tuscaloosa. That's number one, to get you excited. Not very often that we see Iowa beating Alabama for the services for anybody. but certainly not at the wide receiver position. And then this is what Kirk Farrants had to say when he was asked about both him, Tony Diaz, and also Evan James. And he talked specifically about Diaz.

Starting point is 00:02:18 Quote from Kirk Farrant's, I'm a done line coach, but the receiver's first job is to catch the ball and he likes to catch balls. No matter where they're at, he'll find a way to catch it. He runs well and he has a good attitude, unquote. Whoa. Now, I know a lot of times you're going to hear coaches blowing sunshine all over the place. But I think we all know throughout the time that we've been hearing from Kirk parents,

Starting point is 00:02:42 that is not something that he does. He is not effusive with his praise and certainly not with an incoming guy. That is the rarity that I took away from this and doing it at a position that has obviously been a big need for Iowa football. The concerns that we've seen throughout the years with the offense and the passing game is that wide receiver position just has not popped in such a long time. And when you hear something like that, I think it gets the juices flowing. He also said at the end, both of those guys talking about both Diaz and Evan James,

Starting point is 00:03:14 who comes in from Furman, we're off to a good start. We'll keep our fingers crossed. Again, it's Kurt Ference. He's not going to be talking about guys. I think he's going to be an All-American. That's just not what he does. But when you get a conversation like that with Tony Deez, who a year ago in his first season on college campus, in college football after sitting out his first season as that program was just starting, 67 catches, 881 yards, 11 touchdowns, and a guy that is getting all kinds of conversation.

Starting point is 00:03:46 We'll talk a little bit more with Elliott coming up with him. That's incredibly exciting. And the wide receiver position, there's going to be a couple of veterans coming back this year. You start at the top with Reese Vander Z. After yet another injury plagued year, still we saw those highlights. moments. We know he can go up there and make the big plays, that big bodyed receiver. Speaking of big body receivers, we saw a couple of good plays this past season as well from Dayton Howard. I don't have Dayton Howard's ever going to be a guy that's out there playing

Starting point is 00:04:13 50, 60 snaps a game, but another big target that you can use, a guy that has shown an ability to catch the ball up there in traffic, had that huge catching year ago against Rutgers, made a couple other plays throughout the course of the season. KJ. Parker, the young guy that we've heard a whole lot about another year of maturation for him, possibility that he's going to pop in. When we're talking about newcomers, I think we have to mention it again, and that is Xavier Stinson,

Starting point is 00:04:38 who comes in and has been talked about a ton, a guy that the anticipation for a lot of people is going to be able to step in as a true freshman, at a minimum, that Xavier Stinson's going to be a guy that is going to get playing time in his true freshman campaign at wide receiver. I don't. We've heard it before.

Starting point is 00:04:55 I've fallen in to the line of thinking that wide receiver is going to be different, but maybe just maybe this year is going to be just a little bit different at that wide receiver position. Now, all that matters, though, you got to get a quarterback that gets it to him. And after what we've seen at the quarterback position now for, what, six years, the frustration, certainly at the beginning of the year from Mark Garnowski, we saw the growth out of him coming off the shoulder surgery, the slow start to last year, the struggles against Albany, how much he struggled against Iowa State. And even after the injury that he sustained against Indiana, the way that he's sustained against Indiana, He came back and was building, and by the end of the year, it wasn't just his running ability that obviously was elite,

Starting point is 00:05:34 but it was also what he was doing with his arm and making plays in the passing game that gets you excited. It's year number three for Tim Lester as the Hawkeyes offensive coordinator. And with that, this is the time now that it all needs to come together. The excuses are done. And though you will have a new sporting quarterback back there with either Jeremy Hecklinsky or Hank Brown. Your number three of a system, your quarterbacks are going through spring practice. something that he has not been able to have over the last two seasons at the quarterback spot.

Starting point is 00:06:04 You're going through it. I still believe it'll be Hecklinsky. I think he's going to be the guy, but that's another thing that definitely jumped out from the press conferences. When Kurt Ference talked about the spot, he said it's 50-50. He said it's incredibly even at this point. They are completely different guys. Hank Brown is your typical pocket passer, big body, strong arm.

Starting point is 00:06:24 We saw him against Indiana year ago before Hecklinsky surpassed him. and became the backup quarterback for the rest of last year. The exciting part about Hecklinsky, and though he is not a runner, he certainly built completely differently than Mark Garnowski. You go from Garnowski at 235 pounds, and then you have Hecklinski, who is listed at 5'10, 511, excuse me, he's listed at 511.

Starting point is 00:06:47 And people that have stood next to Hecklinski say, that's probably not reality at 188 pounds. That offensive line has also got to be up to stuff to make that happen. We'll talk about that coming up as well here with Elliott Clough as we break down a lot of Iowa football. Football conversation is spring practice is underway for Iowa football. We'll continue at Elliott Clough from 24-7 SportsHawkeye Insider.com. He'll join us on the other side as we continue. Stay right there.

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Starting point is 00:09:57 And obviously Kirk Farrant met the media yesterday. An area I know is going to, sure, quarterback, that gets all the, the attention. But I was been really, really blessed when it comes to special teams, specialists. And obviously, there's going to be a ton of change over there with returners and kickers and punters. This is an area, and probably more so for August as we get closer to September and realize that the season is upon us, that's probably going to get more focus on it at that time. But I was been spoiled here, I guess, is where I'm going, Elliot, over the last few years. Yeah, they have. I mean, Kirk finally, well, he might have said it during the fall,

Starting point is 00:10:40 but finally said that Weegean was about as good as returners as he's had since he's been coaching. So finally given some praise there and, you know, in comparison to some of the other returners. I mean, losing Wegin, in my opinion, is probably the biggest one. I mean, he's electric, man. Like, I haven't seen a returner like him. I mean, like Cooper obviously had a couple moments in there. I never got to see Tim Dwight, but like, I mean, he's the greatest returner in Iowa history in my mind. So he's the biggest loss in my opinion.

Starting point is 00:11:14 I didn't think Reese Bacon was all that great. I think Eli Ozick was consistent for North Dakota State. He had his season long. I can't remember how far it was, but it was outdoors. It was not in the Dakota Jones. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:11:28 Yeah. So I think that was an Indiana state, if I'm remembering correctly. of course we'll see with with hunter between philpot and the um the offy kid that they're bringing over but um between kicker and returner i i mean i think they'll be already at kicker i think returner they always figure something out it'll be interesting to see how chris polisi kind of puts things together and you know we see the difference in development between he and a guy like levar wood because obviously woods was awesome and and he was uh poached there by by michigan state pat fitzgerald for a reason But I think returner-wise, I think you're going to look at Zach Lutmer at punt-returner, kick-returner a bit more open up in the air.

Starting point is 00:12:10 I think I may have told you guys this before, but Weegean actually told me that Braden Jackson, a walk-on running back from this last year's class, is a guy that he would watch at kick-returner. So that's really interesting. Of course, Brevindal back and you want to see more of him. But, yeah, it's kind of an interesting group to follow. Oh, I can he kid. Yes, caught Ken's eye right away and Fred Jackson's son. Oh, of course. For a very long time.

Starting point is 00:12:37 And I called a lot of Braden's games and he's good. I watched a lot of his dad's games. Absolutely. Get him as a walkout. Well, we talked earlier about praise. Kirk Ferrence is not one to throw praise around. It took two almost historic seasons before Wichin kind of got his flowers from Kirk. But he was thrown around a little praise yesterday for Tony Diaz, the incoming wide receiver.

Starting point is 00:12:58 To hear that for a new guy on camp. campus, just very uncirk-like. Take us into that one just a little bit, Elliot, and some of the buzz and excitement that is being created by Tony Diaz. We have definitely heard quite a bit of buzz about him out of skills and drills, but also in the early bits of spring practice so far. He's a guy with a wide catch radius, kind of one of those playmakers, that Iowa hasn't really had at the receiver spot in quite a while.

Starting point is 00:13:27 I mean, like you said, and just generally, Kirk isn't one to hand out big time compliments, but to compliment a wide receiver say, what? So he's definitely one that I'm personally really excited about, has gained a lot of buzz. I think the quote was, I tweeted it out. I can't remember what it was, but it was something to be effect of, I mean, he catches anything in his general area. And we've seen some of those clips so far from Iowa Social, maybe he's going to be one that's fun.

Starting point is 00:14:00 He's going to be one that I think fans really, really fall in love with. And whoever plays quarterback is going to be very happy that he's on the roster, I'm thinking. And I think a lot of the throws that we've seen, well, I guess the one deep shot that was a pass that Tony Diaz was from Hank Brown. But how about Jeremy Hecklinsky

Starting point is 00:14:20 and all the publication he's getting on the Iowa football socials, huh? Yeah, no, it really is. would you say he's the leader in the clubhouse at this point? Ference didn't want to be committal. Why would he? He's got a long time before it needed to be decided, as he said. But do you think if Ference was to tip his hand, leader in the clubhouse, it would be Hicklinski at this point? And I don't know.

Starting point is 00:14:46 Everything I've heard right now is that it is really a legitimate competition. They, Heklinsky and Hank Brown obviously bring different skill sets, different physical tools to the table. I think, I think people want to see the exciting stuff from their quarterback. And I mean, I'm one of them. Like, I want to see more of Heckinsky. I want to see what he can do on the fly. Hank Brown probably more of a safer option, more willing to take the check down instead of making tough throws. So that sounds more like a Kirk Farrant's quarterback to me.

Starting point is 00:15:18 but Heklinski is the one that I think could be a guy that takes this offense a step forward. But right now it really does appear to be dead even between these two in spring ball. And again, that's what we're hearing behind the scenes. So one of them has a chance to separate themselves here in the spring and into fall camp. But if I had to give one of them an edge personally, it would be Hecklinsky. But I still very much a wait and see right now. I'm, it's trouble. It's difficult to read between the lines at this point.

Starting point is 00:15:53 Offensive line in front of them. You lose a lot of big pieces, but great building blocks. So Trevor Lalkin, what he did as the first year of a starter, and obviously Cade Peeper, who had an opportunity to move on and stuck around in Iowa City for another year. Some of the other guys, though, I think we anticipate. We're going to see a lot of Jack Dotsler, Algeyer's a young guy that's been talked about.

Starting point is 00:16:11 What can you tell us, though, about Michael Mislinski? Because it looked like, sound like all systems go. He's going to come back at an extra year, eligibility with all the entries he has dealt with. Then there was some talk maybe. It wasn't on the roster. I saw yesterday. They had the roster he was on there.

Starting point is 00:16:25 What can you tell us about Ms. Linsky? Because it feels like at minimum, he's going to be starting for one of those interior spots. Well, I'd love to tell you more than what you just provided. But that's about all I got to. Okay.

Starting point is 00:16:38 I really would. I don't really know what's going on at this point in time. That was the last update that I got to. I think, you know, you get him back. Obviously, our Matt Zenith, the CBS Sports reported that Cade Peeper is going to play center this year. I don't know that that has completely been, you know, set in stone at this point in time, at least at the very least, the possibility. Having Ms. Winski there at that right guard spot would be big.

Starting point is 00:17:07 But at the same time, I mean, you throw in presumably Layton Jones will be that left guard spot. But, I mean, you brought in Trent Wilson from James Madison. you mentioned Allgaier. I think Allgaier was more of a villain just because they didn't really have anybody at that spot. I mean, who knows? Maybe he does take another step forward and he's the guy there. But if I had to guess, if Ms. Winsky is back,

Starting point is 00:17:32 that'll be his spot, right guard. If not, I think it'll probably be Wilson. James Madison, Grant Burr. Big dude who was a punisher in the staff he got it at JMU last year. And again, that's just an educated guess at this point in time. I'm not entirely sure what that's going to look like. But the way I say it, it's Ms. Wenski's spot. You guys mentioned Diaz and how Ference was effusive in his praise.

Starting point is 00:18:00 Let me ask about L.J. Phillips, because I know he was asked the question, so it's not like he went out of his way to bring him up. But he certainly had lots to say about the South Dakota transfer, a lot of positive things to say. What seems to be on the surface, a pretty deep running back room. Your thoughts on L.J. Phillips and where Ferris, perhaps, believes he can fit in. Yeah, I've heard that LJ is like a smoother Jazz Patterson.

Starting point is 00:18:26 So you lose Jazz Patterson to the portal, but you gain a guy that's probably a better runner than him. Of course, he's that, you know, that battering ram type, but a guy that can get in and out of cuts and make defenders miss a little bit more easily than just trying to run through their face. And a guy that I had a ton of yards rushing for South. Dakota in the MVFC last year. So I heard a lot of good things about him. I think he and Moulton will get the majority of the carries this this fall. I think they'll compliment each other

Starting point is 00:18:59 well, but also they have similar enough skill sets where it's like, damn, I got to tackle this guy again, kind of a bowling ball way of running at times where they can run you over. That's not the only part of their skill set, but they have that in their toolbox. So I think that's where he fits in. I would, frankly be incredibly surprised if those two aren't splitting the majority of the carry. Over defensively, I know Kirk was asked about the defensive line. And that's the biggest question mark with this group. You know, we'll see how linebacker shakes out. It's all that young talent we've been talking about.

Starting point is 00:19:34 It feels like for the last couple of years. Defensive backfield, even with new faces, you feel like they're in good shape there. What are your thoughts up front, what this defensive line and maybe specifically inside is going to look like this year? Yeah, I think defensive tax. has to be the biggest concern at this point because you lose Aaron Graves and you lose. Oh my gosh. I've been so focused on basketball and forgetting football players' names. The Central Michigan defensive tackle.

Starting point is 00:20:02 Jonah Pace. Yeah, Jonah Pace. Golly. Sorry. Jonah Pace, you lose both of them to graduation. I mean, you got Bryce Stevenson or not Bryce Stevenson, Breit Hothorn in there, Stevenson as well. but Hawthorne in there as a returner at that tackle spot,

Starting point is 00:20:21 and he'll be a presumed starter. But then you've got Olaq Bajou from North Dakota and Stevenson, like I mentioned from Holy Cross. But to me, you just don't know what you're going to get from those two at the FCS level. I've heard Oakh Bajou, somebody described into me as like the Hulk. He's just a big jack dude. Now can you put it together on the football field? That's the question.

Starting point is 00:20:46 Two to watch are Brad Fitzgiven and Devin Kennedy, young guys, Fitzgiven a redshirt freshman, Kennedy, a redshirt sophomore that was part of the 2024 class, a Penn State legacy, Fitzgiven a kid from Central Methodist in Chicago, one of the better football leagues in the Chicago area, that Catholic League. So I heard some really good things about Fitzgiven. Obviously, you're hoping Yosea Epinessa is starter at that. defensive end spot and then Kenneth Meriweather, hopefully

Starting point is 00:21:20 he can take a leap forward. He's got that physical frame that you love to have at defensive end and of course Camari Brown from Elon. So that group will be definitely intriguing. It's not a first day thing more often than not that you

Starting point is 00:21:36 plug and play in that two gap system on the defensive line under Kelvin Bell. So yeah, that's probably the biggest concern for me too because I mean, you look at the linebacker group, they've got experience, they've got use. The defensive backs, I mean, I love, love Tyler Brown and Anthony Hawkins coming in. Of course, you got Zach Lutmer back.

Starting point is 00:21:58 Of course, you got Deshawn Lee back, that Jalen Watson and Rashad Godfrey competition should be fun. But yeah, defensive line to me is the biggest concern. Ellie, my last thing for it, I think it was the last question of the presser yesterday, when Ference was said, and I'm paraphrasing, you knew who you were going to play, didn't know where they were going to sit on the schedule. And Ferrence's response, and then he was asked to comment on it, his response was full disclosure.

Starting point is 00:22:23 I had no idea. Which just, I guess it just kind of blew me away, right? Because as guys that just are, you know, for what Trent and I do, for fans out there that just live and breathe, Hawkeye footballers,

Starting point is 00:22:35 whatever your team is, we can't get enough of these things yet in year. What is it? 27? It's just, I really didn't care. It's kind of what he said. which, you know, as I reflected on, I thought, you know what, that's pretty cool.

Starting point is 00:22:49 I wonder if he's always thought that way. Maybe not, but I would venture to guess. That's like a Kirkism that it's finest. I mean, like, he's focused on springball right now. That's just Kirk right now, especially when you don't have your quarterback set in town. That's definitely, that was definitely a Kirk's parenthism of not caring about the the schedule and not even, I would venture to guess it's not even taking up one iota of his brain power right now. Finally, you mentioned, Elliot, that you've been in basketball mode. We'll get ready

Starting point is 00:23:28 for the portal opening up here soon. In our final minute, just kind of set the scene what you anticipate is there going to be a surprise, a lot of speculation about Alvaro, what fool Garris is going to potentially enticing the portal, just exactly what you think this is going to look like when the portal opens for men's basketball. And, uh, That's a really good question. I think the speculation is fair regarding Alvaro. I mean, the thing about this time of year is a guy like Alvaro can say, man, I want to be here.

Starting point is 00:24:00 And then that can change after a blank check gets signed, right? By somebody who reaches out and whether they do it in the binding rules of the NCAA or not, somebody reaches out to his camp and said, hey, we're going to offer you X, Y, Z amount of money. Like, things can change in a drop of a hat. And that doesn't just go for Alvaro. Granted, he's the guy kind of in the spotlight right now of people wondering what he's going to do.

Starting point is 00:24:26 But he would be the one that I think I would, I don't know, expect is the right word. I don't think expect is the right word. That has the most likelihood maybe to enter the portal. If you're Ben McCollum and you really want to win and win soon, you know, maybe you look at some of those end of the bench guys as, as ones that's like, okay, you know, we appreciate you for being part of the scout team this year, but we're going to need you to move on because Ben McCollum's going to do what it takes to win.

Starting point is 00:24:57 And, you know, he said it himself, they need some size. They really need some playable sides. And they need a lead guard to take over that spot from Bennett 3rd. And, you know, there's no replacing Bennett's third. Like, Bennett was special and what he did this year. he's going to be a first round NBA draft pick. So you've got to go out and get somebody, hopefully with a couple years of eligibility left.

Starting point is 00:25:24 And, you know, the way it's looking, they're going to add another freshman to this 2026 class year soon, too. So how many roster spots do you have? And that goes for Tavion Banks as well. Where does that ruling go? Is he back? Is he gone? What's going to happen?

Starting point is 00:25:41 So a lot of questions right now for this roster. It's going to be an interesting one to see how Ben McCollum manages it and how things go. We're going to learn a lot about McCollum's offseason and how he operates this offseason. That's Elliott Club, joining us here as we get his perspective, hawkeyeisider.com. Elliot, David Ikeld, Sean Bachd, that group does a great job over there, hawkine insider.com. We continue here on the lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Let's take a deeper look at the portal and some potential news right around the corner. that's next as we continue,

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Starting point is 00:27:34 Treg kind of back with you one final time on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast, your daily Iowa Hawkeye podcast. If you're watching us on YouTube, make sure you hit that subscribe button. If you're on the podcast side, five-star reviews, all that helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. things up with the portal. Jaden Coon, the freshman, incoming freshman for next season from Storm Lake has made his visit to Iowa City. All indications are things went incredibly well. A lot of speculation that he is going to make his commitment very soon to the Hawkeye program. We'll see what else is out there. No other other scheduled visits at this time, but it certainly feels very good. If you saw Jayden Coon at the state basketball tournament, you saw a guy long 666, 6, 7, a guy that has a physical build to him, a very good athlete from the outside.

Starting point is 00:28:20 Now, shot just 29% from three, but also had a lot of defenses that were definitely keying in on him. I think the skill set, when you look at him, the way that he certainly plays, works really well in the McCollum system, a shot that, you know, you think a 29% three-point shooter, oh, it can't. It looks good. I mean, it looks good. The free throw shooting was not an elite level, but think of a guy like we saw with Tate Sage, a guy that was not a great shooter at the beginning of the season and how much he improved, of course, was making three pointers at the end of the year. Cooper Koch, who went through that long shooting slump.

Starting point is 00:28:52 But I feel confident that that is something they'll definitely be able to figure out if they can get the services of Jaden Coon. If that happens, you're looking for that lead guard. You can play somebody maybe with Kale Combs like we saw this season. Nobody's going to be Bennett Sturts. And Elliott just mentioned that with us as well. But find that lead guard to go along with the big guy, a rim protector. A lot of names out there in the portal.

Starting point is 00:29:11 We'll see exactly where Iowa is targeting. what it's looking like, but excited about this portal period. And last year at this time, we're going through who's going to stick around. It turns out to only be Cooper Cotch, along with Jacob Cook. That was it. Who was a walk on? But now in this new environment, after the run to the lead eight, it's going to be a whole lot of fun.

Starting point is 00:29:31 And on the women's side of things, it's going to be wild because it's not just going to be about going after some top flight players, going out there and finding, obviously, another shoot or something that we talked a bunch about, and finding different kind of replacements that they're going to be able to pluck in. But that roster has been hit hard and they have a lot of open slots. So going to be a lot of news. And it's not going to be just going out there and trying to accumulate as much top end talent as possible.

Starting point is 00:29:55 That's a part of it. But also building a roster, building roster of practice players, players that are going to be okay, not playing in every game and not being a big part of the rotation. You're still working to fill that part out too. And that's going to be the job in front of Jan Jensen. That'll do it for today. Back with you tomorrow here on Lockdown Hawkeyes. As always, thanks for being with us and making Locked on Hawkeyes your first listen every day.

Starting point is 00:30:18 Again, don't forget, we have the Everydayer Club out there, add free episodes of our show. Make sure you use the promo card March right away. Still works for you, even here in the month of April. You'll get Locked on Hawkeyes for free for a month with the Everydayer Club. Just go to lockdown hawkeyes. Dot supercast.com. Have a great day. We'll talk to again tomorrow.

Starting point is 00:30:40 Until then, go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - MOMENTUM? Hawkeyes’ new Wide Receiver Tony Diaz Surprises, Kirk Ferentz SIGNALS Wide Receiver UPGRADE

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