Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Pt 2 - Former Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi joins the show to talk about life, football, and the Iowa Hawkeyes

Episode Date: May 31, 2019

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You are listening to the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering the Iowa Hawkeyes for the Locked On Sports Network, hosted by Andrew Wade, editor at dearoldgold.com. Welcome to our Friday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. I am your host, Andrew Wade, editor over at dearoldgold.com, and today we are bringing you part two of our Ricky Stanzi interview. So if you didn't get a chance to, make sure to check out Wednesday morning's episode with Ricky Stanzi. If you are listening for the first time, no need to go back right now.

But make sure to check that out because we did give you part one of our interview with him on Wednesday morning. And it was a great conversation talking about pretty much everything. Life after football, playing for the Hawks, playing in the CFL and the NFL. All that type of stuff was covered on Wednesday morning's episode and today's episode as well. So I appreciate you jumping in on the show today for the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Today's show is actually brought to you in part by Hotels.com.

Don't hate like your friend's trip. Book your own with Hotels.com and get rewarded basically everywhere. Hotels.com, be there, do that, get rewarded. All right, so if you are tuning in for the first time, make sure you do like and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at. You can get this podcast, the Lockdown Hawkekeyes podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts,

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We've also had some great guests in the past. So if you are, again, joining us for the very first time, make sure to check out some of our past episodes. We've had some great guests on the show. We've had two Iowa Hawkeye recruits in the class of 2020, Deuce Hogan and Elijah Yelverton. We've been doing a great player preview series for the Iowa United, the team that is consisting of all four major universities in the state of Iowa and playing in the $2 million winner take all tournament, the basketball tournament TBT for short.

We had Marcus Fize, the number four overall draft pick. He's going to be on that team. He was on the show. We have Matt Tybee, a former UW Milwaukee power forward currently playing overseas in Europe. He was on the show. We had Matt Tybee, a former UW-Milwaukee power forward currently playing overseas in Europe. He was on the show as well. And we had former Iowa Hawkeye Nicholas Bayer on the show. We've also had Nick McGlynn, a Drake Bulldog, who was going to be playing overseas next year. He's also going to be on the basketball tournament's Iowa United team. So lots of great stuff we've had. And if you love the Iowa Hawkeye quarterbacks, you're going to love our Drew Tate interview that took place last week as

well. Also, you can find us on social media. If you're on Twitter, find us at locked on Iowa on Facebook at locked on Hawkeyes. And if you are on Twitter, we're doing a fantastic giveaway for a hundredth episode, which is going to be Monday morning.

Our hundredth episode is airing Monday morning, and we're going to be giving away a brand new autographed picture from Kevontae Martin Manley. And brand new is kind of a weird way to say that, but it's true. It's a Kevontae Martin Manley autographed picture. He is the all-time reception leader in Iowa Hawkeyes history. He was also on the show a few months ago and was kind enough to give us a few autographed pictures of himself. And it was a great opportunity for us to give it away as kind of a thank you to all the great listeners of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. We're going to be giving that away on the Monday morning episode, so make sure to tune

into that. The way you get into this contest, though, is by going to our Twitter account at Lockdown Iowa and retweeting our pinned tweet that basically says the exact same thing, kind of the rules of the contest. Retweet that and I'll pick a lucky winner on our Monday morning episode. So stay tuned for that. That being said, we have covered all of our housekeeping items. Let's jump into part two of our interview with Ricky Stanzi. Let's get to the Iowa Hawkeye career.

I think a lot of fans look back on your career very warmly, very excitedly. When you talk to anyone about Ricky Stansy, they love it. Those three years were great in Iowa football. And you mentioned that you came in and you weren't a very highly-touted recruit. You were battling some other guys. You also didn't even have the starting spot in your sophomore year. It looked like Jake Christensen, I remember him, he started the year before you and then came in as sort of the starter.

So what was that like for you as far as building that confidence enough to kind of overtake him as the starting quarterback and then hold on to that job for three years yeah that was you know Jake and I were really close and and we were good friends and he was so helpful to me and we still keep in contact his dad and him are his dad taught quarterbacks and is doing what I've what I'm starting to do. He's been doing that for 20-plus years, and he's great at it. And so they're a high-profile clientele, and so Jake and I are in communication often, just kind of bouncing ideas off on how to train guys.

And so that kind of transition there was wild for me. The summer leading up to that year, I actually was when I kind of separated my AC joint really bad in an off-season workout. And so I kind of was like sort of hampered going into camp that year. I didn't really get a full camp and I was kind of trying to work back. And, you know, thankfully, and and Coach O'Keefe uh were willing to give me an opportunity to to get on the field and to to try to show my stuff and you know it was a situation where um you know we had kind of a tough year before that and we were in sort of a transitionary phase and um you know I just am forever grateful for that moment in time when Kirk really just kind of gave me the reins.

He let me mess up. He let me have three turnover games. He let me stay out there on the field and work through the ups and downs of being a new starter. I've always been really grateful to Kirk for doing that because I'm sure he was probably shaking his head on some of those days when you fumble once, you throw a pick, and then you throw a pick. And so it's like, it's easy for a coach to kind of yank the chain right there and go back to somebody who's older and more experienced.

So for me, that was a, you know, it was a transition, transitioning phase for me to kind of, okay, time to be a leader. It's time to be a full-time starter. And so it's time to kind of knock the rust off and become a focal point of this team. And so I was very fortunate to obviously be at Iowa, to have been recruited there, to have Coach O'Keefe as the guy who recruited me, the guy who coached me every single day, who was there for me the whole ride, and then having Kirk never leave and always having

that that solid coaching staff and then not only that my teammates I mean like our defense was outstanding right get shot we had Sean Green like people try to forget how good Sean was like Sean had 100 yards every he was a beast we knew yeah we knew every game Sean was going to get 100. He won the Dope Walker. So the pressure wasn't really on me. You know what I'm saying? So I was able to operate that first year with a lot of help. Our defense was super outstanding. Sean was leading the way.

And I was able to kind of learn and sort of try to mold my game and try to get an understanding of what kind of player I wanted to be. I tried to mold my game and try to get an understanding of what kind of player I wanted to be. And then that next year, I kind of came out and sort of took the gunslinger approach. I was kind of going after it and trying to be the leader. Made more mistakes sort of in that second year. You could almost make that argument. And then the third year was kind of this approach like, all right, I've got to tune the mistakes.

I've got to cut out the turnovers. And so I tried to take that mindset of being super efficient. So the three years for me are kind of different years. You know, the way that they sort of evolved is one process. But I can kind of look at them and kind of give a snapshot of each year and how it kind of went. But the whole way, always had a great defense, always had a great running back. You know, Sean being the leader that first year, and then the next two years was really running back by committee.

You know, we can go back and name some of all those names that were big back then. Adam Robinson, Brandon Wager. Yeah, Adam Robinson, Marcus Coker. So, like, it was running back by committee, and those guys were good. Like, I mean, you can remember some of those guys and what they were able to do on the field. So, Kirk had a plan. Like, Kirk, it wasn't just random stuff being thrown out.

You know, Kirk was – he was a well-thought-out technician about how we were going to approach every game, how we were going to take it literally one game at a time. We don't get ahead of ourselves. You're always staying in the moment, and that's going back to that, you know, the way Kirk teaches and the way Kirk coaches, it correlates to everything in life, because he's always trying to tie things back to, listen, this is just how you approach things. Like, you go one play at a time. You go one moment at a time. Every game day was so positive. You know what I mean? It was like, we worked, we grinded during the week. And then when it was game day, like, like I said, remember

the Indiana game in 2009? Like, I threw five interceptions before, before the fourth quarter, and we won. So it's like, if you can think about that conceptually, like, how many times does a quarterback throw five interceptions and his team is still able to win well that's because we were a team like we were literally i was in a position where i could come off the sidelines after throwing a fifth pick and i still have teammates and coaches that have my back and that still believe that we're going to win the game and so i mean that was why we were able to have success was was because of that formula, because of that culture, and because there wasn't one piece.

There was multiple pieces that really fit nicely together, and that was all coming from the top. That was coming from Kirk, and that was the way he had set things up. And if you weren't buying into that culture, you weren't going to be a part of that culture. And so it all goes back to Kirk, and he's the reason for all the success, especially in that span of three years. Yeah, I mean, and you had a ton of success in that three years

when you look at it from a statistical and a record standpoint. I want to get to that in a second, but I pulled up a few stats while you were mentioning that. The Indiana game, you threw for 337 yards yards which is a lot for an Iowa Hawkeye quarterback and you guys still won 42 to 24 um I'm also looking back at these stats yeah and I'm looking back at these stats and you're so your sophomore year you're absolutely right Sean Green almost had as many yards running as you had throwing and then you're which is which is nuts your 2009 season you threw 15 interceptions and 17 touchdowns.

Yep. Obviously led the Hawks to the Orange Bowl, though. But then the final year, you went off. You threw for 3,000 yards, had a 64% completion percentage, and only threw six interceptions. So it's funny when you spoke about it, I was like, I'm going to look at these stats and kind of compare. And it's pretty crazy to see that.

Yeah. No, it's funny because it's like and i each year was sort of like an adaptation of okay that didn't work or i liked what was going on there let's try this and so i was sort of you know you're always surrounded by good people in iowa like dave rye i'll bring up dave rye because he was sort of like in this like you know helping out phase where he was just a young um uh you he was sort of like in this like you know helping out phase where he was just a young um uh you know intern sort of like GA position I believe he's still with the Packers right now but like Dave spent so much time with me in the offseason like teaching me how to watch

film like you know you think that that's just something oh I watch film no there's like there's a technique there's a way to maximize your time in front of the screen. And so, like, Dave spent so many hours with me helping me out. That's like, you guys probably never even really heard his name. Nope. I don't know who he was. He was a player and then became, like, an intern. I think he was part of the Orange Bowl team back in those days.

But, like, there's just so many resources there to help you. And so it was always like if you needed help, if you wanted to get better, they're there. You know, you've got to put in the effort. But there's people there to help you. And so, yeah, it's funny you mentioned those stats because they probably lined up exactly with what I was saying. 100%.

It was just sort of an evolution of me as a player and trying to make myself better. You know, by the time I got to that third year, I was like, all right, like, I kind of have the idea of how I need to be efficient. I see how I can work inside of this offense and understand this offense as best as I can. And, you know, like I said, going back to freshman year, I remember sitting in the meeting room with, you know, Tate, Christensen, you know, all these other cats that are in there. And Coach O'Keefe hands out this, what we call a checks and alerts page, which is basically like, if the defense gives you this, then you got to go

do that. Whereas like when I was at Lake Catholic, my high school, there was none of that. Like, it was just go out, we'll call the play, and you run the play. So there was no, like, at the line trying to figure it out. If there was any of that, you'd look over to the sideline and coach would give you a thumbs up or a thumbs down. So everything was off your table. And now you're at Iowa and everything's on the table.

And so it was like there was a lot of demands on us as quarterbacks from a mental standpoint. And, you know, especially Kirk, Iowa likes to run the ball. There's no, you know, hobbies. Everybody knows that. And so that being known, we have to be able to sort of adjust to what the defense is giving us and not, you know, be common sense, you know, use our common sense and say, if they've got a bunch of guys over to the right, maybe we should run over to the left.

So sort of understanding that as best you can as a quarterback and knowing when plays are bad and knowing when plays are good. And so that sort of speaks to those three years and evolving and understanding how to run an offense, you know, how to efficiently work inside of an offense and not just look at it as a collection of plays, but sort of look at it as a compilation of what Kirk's thoughts were on how we can maximize our potential, you know, what I'm saying by that.

But sort of just learning how to operate that. You know, what do you hear in the NFL? Oh, this guy's a game manager, right? So, like, that's the idea of being able to manage the offense. So that kind of speaks to the numbers in a sense, is just being able to adapt and understand as you grow up and you go through that molding process of learning what Kirk was trying to do on offense.

Absolutely, man. I mean, I think that's really interesting, taking kind of us inside what it's like in that quarterback room because you're absolutely right. I think sometimes Iowa quarterbacks get a bad rep because they're playing in an offense that is very predicated on the run. But like you said, there's a lot of things that go into it that a lot of college quarterbacks don't have to do.

Like you talked about with your high school, giving you the thumbs up or thumbs down. Now it's just showing a big play chart with four pictures on it and saying, here's what we're doing. Do really fast and you're going to do well. So I think that it's really interesting to kind of talk about that. I'm assuming that Nate Stanley is getting some hype coming into his senior year. I'm assuming some of those things are going to be things that are going to shine

very brightly during the NFL draft process for him next year. Yeah, I'm big on Stanley. I think he's awesome, man. He's done a great job. He's fun to watch. He's got some moves back there in the pocket. He's got a little wiggle to him. He's got a big Ben-esque.

Yeah, I think that's a great comparison because he looks like Big Ben, like, from a physique standpoint. And he shows some stuff where you're like, oh, he's not just a statue back there. He can move. He can throw. He's got a good fastball. You know, I talk with my quarterbacks about, you know,

putting the throws on arcs, sort of like a one ball being a fastball, two ball being sort of playing pickle in the middle, and then that three ball being I want to go over the top of the whole defense and I want to get it downfield. And so I think Nate's shown that he can do all those things. He's going to have not only Kirk's mindset being downloaded on him, but also Brian. Brian's spent a lot of time with the best organization in sports,

arguably being the Patriots. And so, you know, there's a lot of knowledge that Nate's going to be able to sort of soak up and be a sponge and get to understand. And I think that he'll transition well. I really do. He's got the frame. He's got the size. I think that that concept of are you big enough is story starting

to sort of crumble down but at the same time it's not a knock on anybody if that makes sense yep oh it's just it's just sort of opening the door for a kyler murray and still keeping the door open for a big ben body type or a dwayne haskins right so it's like yeah it's just people are seeing that we can you know we can do it both ways. You can have a small quarterback who's shifty, and you can have a big guy who can sit in the pocket. It's really just sort of finding the right fit for the offense. And that's probably the next big thing for Nate.

It's a lot of when you're transitioning to the NFL, you've got to get at the right place. You've got to have a good fit where you can learn and you can be in a good environment. I've talked to a couple people back here on some radio shows. They were asking me about the draft and the whole Daniel Jones,

Dwayne Haskins dilemma. I point out, listen, Dwayne Haskins may have won because he's walking into what I would consider a better scenario overall and there's less junk going on in that setting to where he can kind of he's walking into what I would consider a better scenario overall, and there's less junk going on in that setting to where he can kind of learn from some really good quarterbacks who are in that room.

Alex Smith, Case Keenum, Colt McCoy. You know, guys who have done it. Experienced guys. Yeah, really experienced guys, and they're great guys. I know two or three of them, and they're outstanding dudes. And so they're going to share knowledge. And so it is a situation of kind of who you know a little bit and sort of getting your feet on the ground

and sort of being able to adjust to the game and get your reps and learn. And so I really hope that Nate finds the right spot. And I'm really just excited for this season and watch Iowa football and see what these guys can do on Saturday. Yeah I mean it's going to be a it's going to be a really fun year I've been writing some articles about it and I truly think that you know this year the ceiling for the Hawks is incredibly high I think the floor is a little bit lower than other teams just because there's a lot of there's a lot of potential but a lot of untapped potential but I think the ceiling is

incredibly high and we could see them be you be maybe even a college football playoff dark horse. It'll be fun to watch this year. Oh, yeah. The thing with Coach Ferentz is you know this, when Saturday hits, those boys are ready to play. This is rarely an occasion, if any, where a team comes in and just beats up on us and there's just nothing to hang your hat on whatsoever. Most of the time, if I can remember, when I played, every game was close.

Like every game is close, especially that 0-9 season. I remember all the fans being like, oh, you're giving us heart attacks. And I'm like, that's just the way the Big Ten is. So you have to be able to win the tight game. You have to be able to, you know, kind of put your hard hat on and go to work. And if there's anything you can, you know, lay your head on the pillow at night knowing that it's going to be taken care of is that Kirk's going to have the boys ready to play.

Like, they're going to be fired up. They're going to be ready to defend Kinnick. They're going to be ready to go on the road. And they're going to be ready to perform no matter what the situation is. Because, like I said, that's just the culture there. And that culture hasn't changed. And, you know, good players have come and gone. And there's going to be more good players that come through there.

Because, I mean, look, the first round of the draft, you know, you've got Hockinson and Fann. I mean, it's like that's just what Kirk does. He does a great job of cultivating the talent he has and getting the most out of his guys. Definitely, man. I couldn't agree more. I'm really excited for this year. It should be a really fun time.

And, you know, Ricky, I've taken up a lot of your time, so I just have five kind of quick get-to-know-you questions before we kind of conclude, if that works for you. Yeah, sure. Awesome, man. So what was your favorite memory at Iowa? If you had to pick one, what would be your favorite memory? Wow, favorite memory. You know, you had to pick one, what would be your favorite memory? Wow, favorite memory.

You know, I got a – it is tough. There's a lot. Loaded question. Loaded question. But I would have to go back to the 2008 Penn State game. Just for, like, if I'm going to be talking about my scenario, for me that was like just – Penn State was number three in the country they were in Kinnick you know we had to go down and we had to drive to get that late field goal by Murray

and so that game was just like nuts I had never like experienced anything like that like you know you got the whole nation watching you're playing a top five team um it's a nice game the students rush the field so So it was just a lot of things at once for me being a young kid. And so that was just such a fond memory. And to get to share that with my best friends. And I mean, that's one that my dad and I and my friends and I always talk about. It was really cool. It was surreal. Yeah, I mean, so I went to Drake. So full disclosure, I'm from Iowa, so a big Hawkeye fan. But I went to Drake. But my best friend went to Iowa, and he actually told me all about rushing the field

and just how incredible that game was, and he was so excited. So he's going to get a kick out of that when he listens to the podcast. Favorite place to eat or drink at Iowa? Obviously there's a ton of great places to do both. Yeah, there's a ton of places to do that. But for us, I guess the favorite place to drink and go hang out was always the sports hall, right? Yes. We always sort of found ourselves.

There's so many good Erie's. Where did we go? I forget the name of the one place. But there was Baldy's. There was a place called Baldy's when we were there. And it changed the name, I think, by last year. But Baldi's was this place that had, like, we wouldn't even talk about it. My buddies and I would get together for a boys' trip in Arizona every year, and we would talk about Baldi's because they would do, like, it was like a cheeseburger in a wrap.

And so it was like, you get this, like, double bacon cheeseburger in like a, almost like a Ponchero's bun. Ponchero's is another one to shout out. But you get this like in like a burger in sort of like a Mexican wrapped up burrito style. And I just remember, like whenever I got the chance, I would go and I would go to Baldy's in between class and try to get one of those things. But they kind of changed the menu and it became more of a burger spot. But I always loved those, like, burrito burger things that they were coming out with because nobody else did that. I mean, everywhere else was pretty much bar food, right?

Everywhere else was a bar. So it was basically you were going in. I remember the Airliner. Airliner had amazing food. Their cheese curds were out of this world. Delicious. Delicious. Delicious. So, like, I think anywhere you walk into Iowa City,

you're going to have a good meal. Yeah, man, it's funny you mentioned Baldi's and, you know, just talking about that. So, I actually had talked to Drew Tate a few days ago, and his favorite place was also Baldi's. It is now Short's. And his favorite bar was also Sports Call. Yeah, Short's.

Short's. I totally forgot. That was where it was, Short's. It is now Shorts. And his favorite bar was also Sports Column. Yeah, Shorts. I totally forgot. That was where it was. Shorts. Yep. So that's funny, you guys. I mean, obviously you overlapped a little bit and like the same places. Alright, so there's a nickname for you, Stansy the Manzy. What are your thoughts on it? I mean, that's

great. It could be worse, right? Stansy the Manzy's great. I'll take that. I'm not mad about that at great. It could be worse, right? Fancy the man, he's great. I'll take that. I'm not mad about that at all. Awesome. Yeah, I have another buddy who he loves you as a quarterback, so he's going to be pretty excited to hear that. And then you had a very famous quote after the Orange Bowl.

I have to ask it. If you don't love it, leave it. USA number one. What was going through your mind when you said that? I mean, I watched the replay of it again to kind of get the full context of it, but it was just a great quote, and it's been quoted, I think, probably every week for the last 10 years on some sort of Iowa Hawkeye website. Oh, for sure.

And I think people really ran with it and had fun with it, which is cool. And so, like, to give everybody the context of that quote when we were we were in that that run of like winning games and going on that like i think ricky bobby the talladega night yes come out and so like my friends and i at our house that's all we were quoting and so we were kind of like always using that like Ricky Bobby voice and like just using that same sort of recycled quotes over and over again. And so Love It or Leave It, I don't even think Love It or Leave It's in that movie,

but Love It or Leave It just was like something they were throwing around. And if you see me on, if you have film of it, you probably saw it on YouTube. But right after I say it, I turn around and I follow my buddies and I pointed at them because they were laughing just as hard as I was. But it was really because of a question that Chris Myers gave.

I couldn't wrap my head around the question. It was a very weird question. It was weird, and it's not Chris's fault because I think when I look back on it, I get what he was trying to say. But at the time, I was just like, one of those situations around, like, national television, you don't want to sound like an idiot. I'm sure many people were like, this guy's an idiot.

Because I literally, I came back to my phone and came back to, like, sort of almost like a hate it or a love it situation. Literally, a hate it or love it when it came to that quote. Like, people sort of took it politically. And it was like this, like, then it became this weird, like, situation where I was getting, like, people who were not happy with me and then I was getting people who were really happy with me. And so it was just like this, guys, I think you're reading too far into this. Like, whatever, man. But the people have taken it.

They've run with it. And, you know, kudos to the Iowa fans for taking ownership of it. And I wouldn't have it any other way. It's been fun. People have had fun with it. So it was all in good fun. It's been cool. I mean, there's T-shirts that I've seen people wearing with that saying on it.

So it was fun. It was a fun day. Yeah, I can only imagine. It was a fun day. I can only imagine. What was that feeling like when you finally, sorry, that was actually supposed to be my last question, but I just want to know, what was the feeling like when the Orange Bowl ended and you were officially the Orange Bowl champions? Oh, it was great. I mean, that was just a crazy season.

Like, if you go back to the beginning of that season, we had to block two kicks at the end of regulation. Against Northern Iowa. Against Northern Iowa. Against Northern Iowa. Like, we made them think that they belonged. And so it was like, we were like sitting there and we're like, oh, man. I remember we still laugh about it. We were going to the locker room and Jeremiah Hunter, our outside linebacker, was like, we're going back into the locker room feeling like we lost.

And he was like, this is our year, guys. This is our year. And we were all like, yeah, okay. And then, like, looking back on it, I was like, oh, it kind of was our year. We had a little run going there. So it was a crazy year. I mean, you know, I tore my ankle that year. Like, we went on that long run of never losing.

And, like I said, every game was so close, throwing five picks at the Indiana game. So it was like, you know, the Michigan State game. Like, there was just a lot of things that year that went on that were just really cool. And so to kind of cap it off with that Orange Bowl victory, and our fans were tremendous support at that game. The coldest Orange Bowl game in history, if that's still a stat. Like, it was just, it was a great year.

It was a great year it was a lot of fun you know you're you're doing it with your your best friends and your your family's there every weekend so it's just a lot of stuff and looking back on it i i still take that stance of i'm just very grateful for that experience and for those relationships that that came from that experience definitely i will say this i think I personally hate Northwestern more than any other school in the Big Ten because of that year. Yeah, they got us. I mean, we had a tough time. They really had our number.

They still do. They still do. It's like Northwestern had our number, and we had Penn State's number. If you've got to look at it like that. Yeah. It's like Penn State's number. If you've got to look at it like that. Yeah. Penn State couldn't get past us. For whatever reason, Northwestern just passed off to Coach Fitzgerald

first off. They do a tremendous job over there. He's a great coach. I've had friends in the NFL that went to Northwestern and they're like the coolest dudes ever. They're just like us at Iowa. They're hard working guys. They do things right. And so you can understand why they're so tough coolest dudes ever. They're just like us at Iowa. They're hardworking guys. They do things right. And so you can understand why they're so tough to beat.

It's just one of those things like when you're in it, you don't like anybody that you play. And then you go to the NFL and you're like, oh, these guys are cool. They're just like us. It's funny when you actually meet guys that you played. And, like, I've met other dudes from the Big Ten. And we, like, laughed. Like, man, I used to hate you.

I thought you were such a dork or whatever. And I was like, yeah, I can see how you would do that for me. But like, once you kind of break it down and laugh about it, it's all in good fun. Absolutely, man. Yeah, the Northwestern stuff is interesting. They're very much like an Iowa-esque school, like an Iowa-lite.

Like they're coached and taught the same way. So it makes sense they have Iowa's number. But, Ricky, I've taken up a ton of your time. I absolutely appreciate it. This is going to be great stuff. I'm really excited for the fans of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast to listen to this and get to know you a little bit better. But any last departing words before I let you go, man?

I mean, hey, just stay tuned. This is going to be a great year. And, you know, go Hawks. That's all I can say. I think that the Hawkeyes have the best fans in the world, and I really believe that. I mean, I still have people that come up to me and say they're Hawks fans, and I do believe when they tell me that they're the biggest Hawks fan ever.

I always tell them, like, every Hawkeyes fan that comes to me is the biggest Hawkeyes fan. And it really is that way. When you're a Hawkeye fan, you're a Hawkeye fan for life. It's a passionate fan base. It's a passionate fan base. That was so cool to be a part of that growing up or going through that as a young man and being able to play football at Iowa.

So I just got to give a shout-out to all the Hawks fans that are listening. You guys are tremendous. We appreciate the support. We really do. Let's get Kinnick rocking, and let's go Hawks. Hell, yeah, man. I love it, Ricky. Well, thank you, buddy.

Have a great day, and, yeah, go Hawks. Absolutely. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it. No problem. Talk to you later. All right. Thank you.

Yeah, bye. Bye. All right, and that concludes our interview with Ricky Stanzi. Again, a big shout-out and a big thank you to Ricky Stanzi. We really appreciate him jumping on the show, took time out of his day. He actually just got done coaching a mobility class and then jumped on the call with us as he's heading home from his kind of passion right now.

So we really appreciate him being on the show, being very, you know, open with us and talking to us all about life and football and, you know, Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes and his career and whatnot. Love that conversation. Great dude. Great guy to talk to. Make sure to go follow him on his Instagram account as well. And you can also follow us on our social media accounts. We have a Twitter account, LockedOnIowa, a Facebook account, LockedOnHawkeyes. And as I said in the opening of this show, make sure to go to our Twitter account and get into our giveaway contest of a Kevontae Martin Manley autographed picture. You do not want to miss this easy contest. There's no reason to miss it. It's so simple. All you need to do is retweet our pinned tweet and you're entered into the contest that we'll announce the winner on

on Monday morning's episode. All right. So thank you again for tuning on to the show. We appreciate your time. A quick reminder that today's episode was brought to you by Hotels.com. Don't hate like your friend's trip. Book your own with Hotels.com and get rewarded basically everywhere. Hotels.com, be there, do that, get rewarded.

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