Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Why the transfer portal has impacted the Iowa football team the least | Iowa Hawkeye podcast

Episode Date: February 2, 2022

The transfer portal has been quite a ride for all college football teams, but the Iowa football team has seemingly survived unscathed and, in some instances, is thriving. We break down what has gone right for the Iowa Hawkeyes in utilizing the transfer portal and analyze all transfers out of the program in the last three years including Deuce Hogan, Oliver Martin, and DJ Johnson.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.GetUpsideJust download the FREE GetUpside App and use promo code SCORE to get 25 cents per gallon or more cash back on your first tank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back Hawkeye Nation to a Wednesday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Podcast Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade. And on today's episode, we have an entire episode dedicated to the transfer portal because Iowa is the only team in the NCAA Division I football arena that does not have a transfer portal or transfer portal

target committed to them. So we're going to be talking about why that might be and also talk about all the guys who have transferred out over the last three years, all the news and things coming out about Iowa or people trying to talk negatively about Iowa. I think it's important to look at what has happened in the past and how that actually shines a positive light on the Hawkeyes. So we're going to be talking about all that here on the show today. But first, I want to thank you all for making the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast your first

listen every single day. You can find the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get podcast app. And as we talked about a couple of weeks ago, the advisory council was going to basically be kind of reorganized, essentially, right? But the news that came out from the Gazette was that it was being taken away. It was being shut down, and they really didn't give it a very good journalistic integrity view on it. They did a pretty crappy job, all things considered, on the reporting of that situation. But the negative feedback that came out of that was the program hasn't fixed anything.

The program is still terrible. The program is still operating the way it did back in 2020. That's what the narrative that some people wanted to shine on the Iowa Hawkeyes was. Now, I'm not going to say I'm in the locker room every single day, right? But I can tell you that when you listen to the players speak and you see the different things that they have physically enacted, the program has certainly changed since 2020. And when you actually listen to the advisory council and the former head of the advisory council, I would did everything they recommended and suggested.

And you talk to former players like Jordan Lomax, who served on that council and also as close to the program. They're happy with the progress this program is making. They're really excited about the progress that this program is making. And I think when you try to spread that negative connotation on the Iowa Hawkeye program, all you need to do is look at the players who have left or haven't left. When you look at the fact that the Iowa Hawkeyes have one of the lowest transfer amounts this year, it speaks volumes to the kind of program they are operating.

They're one of the top 10 least amount of transfers coming out of the program this year. I think that speaks pretty well to how good this Iowa Hawkeye program is these days. One of the lowest amounts of transfer out of the program. Just look at the numbers. Now also, Iowa happens to be the only school that hasn't taken a transfer in. Now part of that is because of the fact they haven't lost a lot of guys. Not a lot of guys going to the draft. A couple surprises returning.

Sam Laporta, Jack Campbell, Riley Moss. And when you only have five guys entering the transfer portal over the last couple surprises returning, Sam Laporta, Jack Campbell, Riley Moss. And when you only have five guys entering the transfer portal over the last couple of months, you feel pretty good about your roster. Now that doesn't mean that Iowa is content with the roster. It means they feel pretty good. And it also means they have the ability to be a bit selective and they want to find the right guys. Iowa does not believe in building their program through the transfer portal.

They never have. They probably never will in the Kirk Ferentz era. They believe in finding guys who believe in the Iowa way and working hard, being developed, and being as good of a person off the field as you are a player on the field. They want to find the right fit for the program. And that's not easy to do in the transfer portal unless they have a pre-existing relationship with them or unless they do a significant amount of due diligence and it fits a position of need. Now, Iowa has had a lot of success in the past with the transfer portal.

Look at Zach VanValkenburg, all Big Ten defensive end, who's going to be hopefully playing on Sundays next year. Or look at Charlie Jones, the Big Ten Return Man of the Year. A pretty unheralded transfer target. He transferred as a walk-on out of Buffalo the same year that Oliver Martin transferred into the program. Oliver Martin is no longer in the program. Charlie Jones is Return Man of the Year. We saw Jack Heflin perform really well as well. Coy Cronk came in, We saw Jack Heflin perform really well as well. Koi Kronk came in, had a few games, but really couldn't get over the injury bug.

Xavier came in at the cornerback position last year. Wasn't able to do a ton, but Iowa has had success going into the transfer portal and finding one or two guys that make sense for their program. And right now their eyes are on Hunter Norzad, the interior O-line target from Cornell, and Steven Solanos, the tight end target out of Lafayette University. Both those guys would make a lot of sense in the program. Steven has to balance the fact that he's probably going to be battling for playing time

with some very good tight ends. Meanwhile, Hunter has an opportunity to learn under one of the best offensive line tutelage programs in the entire country at a position where he doesn't have a lot of experience for a team that plays Power 5 football. Both those guys took visits on campus this past weekend, and now we're just waiting to see what is going to come out of that. Are they going to commit to the Iowa Hawkeyes? Obviously, Hunter Norzad committing to the Iowa Hawkeyes would be a bigger grab for Iowa, as they do have some concerns at the interior O-line and I would argue across the board on the offensive line but you would

like to get a guy with experience coming in to play that interior especially when you lose a Kyler shot and a Tyler Linderbaum. Steven Salenos I've talked about this before having a third tight end in this system really helps the Iowa Hawkeye football program and the offense move forward. We saw it with TJ Hawkinson and Noah Fant. They had Nate Weeding as that third tight end. He got a lot of snaps in that season. So there's still opportunities even for that third tight end. And I think when you look at the tight ends that Iowa has, bringing Sam Laporta back after looking at the NFL, having Luke Lachey, who is going to be a stud at some point, and then having a Steven Salenos, that gives Iowa the opportunity to run those three tight end sets

with a bit more consistency than maybe they have in the past because they haven't felt comfortable with the depth that they've had. Speaking of depth, Iowa did lose a tight end in the transfer portal this offseason. They lost five guys, Deuce Hogan, Tyrone Tracy Jr., Desmond Hudson, Josiah Meinman, andavon matthews we're going to be talking about all those guys here in a few short moments before we get to that though with the new year comes new year's resolutions and if yours or one of yours new new year's resolutions

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So go to Bilt.com, that's B-U-I-L-T.com and use the promo code LOCKED15, that's L-O-C-K-E-D 1-5 and you'll get 15% off your next order. Use that promo code LOCKED15, L-O-C-K-E-D-1-5, and you'll get 15% off your next order. Use that promo code LOCKED15, L-O-C-K-E-D-1-5, for 15% off at built.com. And I can thank you all for making the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. You can find the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Locked On Hawkeyes. So the first part of the show, we talked a little bit about the transfer portal and where Iowa's in, what they're looking at as far as players go.

I want to talk more about the guys who have transferred out. But before we get to that, I want to talk about why it's a big deal. As you're going to see with a lot of these guys, they aren't finding a lot of opportunities welcoming them. Now that's not a knock on these guys, but it just goes to show you that when we see a guy leave, there's more to every single story that kind of pops up. I think it's important to take a look at that holistically. Obviously, I wish every single guy who transfers out of the Iowa program, nothing but success. But as you're going to see, as we go through the list of these guys, there's a varying degree of success from all these players. You're

going to see some high level quarterback recruits. You're going to see some under the radar finds that just didn't work out. And it's kind of interesting to take a look at where these guys ultimately ended up at. We've had some really cool success stories, especially out of Miami of Ohio with guys going there and having a lot of success and translating that into NFL opportunities. But nevertheless, let's get into it. Talking through 2022, Deuce Hogan is the first one we have to talk about, right? He was the four-star quarterback out of Texas. You know, a guy who did a fantastic job of recruiting other players in that class of 2020, unfortunately couldn't make headway in the quarterback competition. He couldn't surpass Alex Padilla.

He couldn't surpass Spencer Petras. And by everything I've heard, fantastic player, great arm, great in the film room, just not good at the mental processing. And what I found really interesting is that the market was kind of dry for Deuce Hogan. Those quarterback recruits in that 300 to 400 level who haven't had a lot of experience or playing time people aren't people are looking for them so he had to walk on to kentucky uh very interesting to see if he is able to land on scholarship they have several high

profile guys there already so have his work cut out for him as he tries to get a spot into the kentucky program tyronerone Tracy Jr. was expected to transfer, right? When you saw how his playing time dipped throughout the season, you kind of knew the writing was on the wall, right? Tyrone Tracy Jr. was going to be out of the program. Tyrone Tracy Jr. deserves all the credit in the world for helping turn this program around. One of the main guys who was the voice and face of the Iowa Hawkeyes, and I will forever love and respect Tyrone Tracy Jr. and appreciate what he was able to face of the Iowa Hawkeyes. And I will forever love and respect Tyrone Tracy Jr. and appreciate what he was able to do for the Iowa Hawkeyes on and off the field.

Now he transfers to Purdue. We'll be able to face him every single year. Makes a lot of sense closer to home for him. Also a fantastic offensive system, which is unlike what he's been dealing with the last two years for the Iowa Hawkeyes after having a fantastic freshman season for Iowa. So I wish him the best of luck. Hopefully he does not torch us at Purdue this upcoming year. Desmond Hudson, a guy who a lot of people are really excited about from a vertical perspective, being able to be a big-time jump ball type of receiver. He is transferring to UNI, so just up

the road. So wishing the best there, staying in the state. Josiah Myman, coming out of college, Josiah Myman had offers to almost every single Big Ten school. He looked like the kind of tight end recruit. Excuse me here. Tickle in my throat. He looked like the kind of tight end recruit that was going to be a big time player for the Iowa Hawkeyes. A guy who could end up being a TJ Hawkinson-like guy for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Unfortunately, had some off the field issues. was not able to crack the two deeps, was struggling to get on the field, and ultimately transferred out of the program during the season, actually. He is now on his way to Florida to play at Florida International University. Now, we talked about the wide receivers. Several wide receivers are out of the program, and Quavon Matthews is one of them as well. Transferred out in October, but hasn't actually gone anywhere to this point. There is nothing updating as where he's gone.

My guess is likely a JUCO route. Coming out of school, though, coming out of high school, he had two offers from UNC and Southern Miss, so it's kind of drying up a little bit, but wish Quavon Matthews the best. Let's get into that 2021 class and then we'll go on to 2020 because there's definitely some interesting things you'll find from this 2020 class and what they were able to do in this Iowa or out of this Iowa football program. But the class of 2021, Jake Karczynski, a guy who had several small D1 school offers, has not found a home yet. So you're going to see that kind of play out quite a bit with some of these guys. Noah Fenske, a guy who couldn't crack the two deeps either for Iowa,

which is shocking considering how much we struggled at the offensive line position or the offensive line group this year, transferred to Colorado. The three-star recruit coming out of New Hampton did see action in three games for Colorado. He's expected to start this upcoming season for the Colorado Buffs. Calvin Lockett Jr., again, we're going to see a lot of wide receivers being transferred out as Iowa has continued to find these really talented younger guys. Arlen Bruce and Keegan Johnson did not help the situation with Desmond and Quavon leaving because they saw the writing on the wall.

They were not going to get a lot of playing time with two freshmen with more eligibility getting the playing time already. So Calvin Lockett Jr. ended up at Delta State University. Moving on to some kind of athletic athlete running back types, Keontae Luckett was a big-time preferred walk-on recruit, ended up transferring to Upper Iowa and put together a really nice season. 97 attempts for 439 yards, four touchdowns, seven catches for 59 yards. Shadrick Bird, another one, a skilled position player, 132 carries for 583 yards at the University of Charlotte, a 4.4 yard per carry average, three touchdowns, plus 20 catches

for 248 yards. I would love to see where Shadrick Bird be at in the Iowa offense at this point, right? Because Tyler Goodson has now declared for the NFL draft. We see Ivory Kelly Martin is also leaving the program as well. Would Shadrick Bird finally have gotten his opportunity to start? Or would we have seen LaShawn and Gavin, Williams and Williams, a lot from there, would they have been able to surpass him? That is something that's going to be very interesting as well

to kind of think about futuristically if that would have ever happened. As we talked about earlier, Oliver Martin, the pride and joy of the transfer portal targets earlier on in this process a couple of years ago, Iowa lands, Oliver Martin gets in initially, Hawkeye fans are pumped. Couldn't find his way onto the field.

And he struggled throughout his career to get onto the field consistently. At Nebraska, over two years, has played in 10 games, only 16 catches, 246 yards, and one touchdown. And that wide receiver group at Nebraska is not something to write home about. Not something overly special by any means. Deron McKinneyney transferred to South Dakota.

Julius Brents, a former four-star corner, transferred to Kansas State and has played really well there in 13 games, 49 tackles, one interception, two passes defended. He was just a product of kind of getting stuck behind a few guys, right? He wanted to get playing time, but it wasn't going to be until potentially this year. Now, granted, with Matt Hankins getting injured, with Riley Moss getting injured, Julius Brentz would have been a fantastic player to be on this team. But he was dealing with injuries,

dealt with being third or fourth on the depth chart. It made sense for him to check out and explore other opportunities. Matt Lorbeck, actually another guy who transferred into the program from NIU, has transferred out, no longer has a home at all at this point, so wishing him the best as well. The most interesting one on this list for the class of 2021 is Yahweh Judy. Yahweh Judy, a late recruit in that class of 2020, I believe, and he left the program midway through the season.

Sounds like there was some controversy there. Wasn't exactly fitting into the program midway through the season. Sounds like there was some controversy there. Wasn't exactly fitting into the program. And he's still in Iowa City and was recently arrested for dealing cocaine. So definitely an interesting path there. Obviously not finding a home in the football world. I hope Yahweh Judy can turn his life around with what's kind of going on currently for the young former Iowa Hawkeye football player. Coming up, we're going to get into the class of 2020 and wrap it up with that. Some interesting stuff.

There was a former starting safety for the Iowa Hawkeyes that is no longer in football, plus a running back who couldn't even crack the top six running backs. He just scored 13 touchdowns. We're talking about all that here in a few short moments. But first, I want to remind you that BetOnline.net has you covered all season long with more props, odds, and lines than ever before as football continues its march through the playoffs right into the big game, into the Super Bowl in two weeks. BetOnline.net remains the best spot for all the sports scores, podcasts, and news this season. And it's not just football.

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Now let's turn our attention to 2020 transfer portal guys. And starting with the main guy, Dylan Doyle. Dylan Doyle, what's interesting about Dylan Doyle, obviously he transferred out of the Iowa program for good reason, right? His dad was let go, you know, somewhat controversially, depending on who you ask, who you talk to. I think it was the right decision. But Dylan Doyle really just made sense, right? Just start fresh somewhere else. He

transferred to Baylor and has been starting the last two years. Last year, 89 tackles, two passes defended, a two-time honorable mention, all big 12 linebacker. What I think is interesting is that Dylan Doyle was the starter over Jack Campbell. Who would be the starter today? I would argue Jack Campbell is a better linebacker than Dylan Doyle, but would he have had an opportunity to crack that lineup? Where would Seth Benson be? And where would Justin Jacobs be? It's quite a butterfly effect of that linebacker position for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Imagine the fact that we had Dylan Doyle in that room. We had four or five starting linebackers in the Iowa Hawkeye linebacker group,

which is pretty darn impressive. Another former starter, Donald Johnson. This was a really interesting transfer, one that kind of came out of nowhere. You don't typically see starters transfer midway through their collegiate career, but Donald Johnson, otherwise known as DJ Johnson, was a huge loss leaving the Iowa Hawkeyes. He ultimately transfers to Purdue, but he's no longer on the roster. So that's quite interesting.

No update at this point of where he is at in his football career. Speaking of big-time recruits, Ezra Miller was a four-star tackle. Had some things going on, medically retired from football. But then he was ready to come back and it sounds like due to the medically retiring he was unable to do so at iowa so he had to transfer ultimately transfers to nebraska where he still hasn't been able to crack that lineup for the nebraska cornhuskers maybe this upcoming season with a lot of big losses on the offensive line they have an opportunity to do that another offensive offensive lineman, Jeffrey Jenkins,

just left football entirely. Initially, people thought he was in the transfer portal. Nope, he just retired from football all around. Joe Ludwig, former fullback, transfers to Utah and has played in 14 games at fullback for Utah. Pretty exciting stuff there. Former running back, Henry Geal, a guy who Iowa was very high on. We saw him get some snaps for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Transfers out of the program. Ends up at Indianapolis Community College or Indy Community College. Excuse me. You might know Indy Community College from Last Chance U. Goes to Indy Community College. Ultimately now is out of football as well. He's not

on a single roster that I can find. Another former running back, Samson Evans. This one's the really interesting one. Samson Evans was a huge dynamic athlete coming out of Illinois. I believe Prairie Ridge off the top of my head, definitely that Crystal Lake area. Samson Evans, dynamic athlete, played quarterback in high school at Illinois, comes to Iowa, cannot get on the field at all. And then during spring practice was left off the 110-man roster.

Obviously, he decides to transfer. He transfers to Eastern Michigan. You're going to love this stat, though. In two years, 124 carries, 518 yards for a 4.2-yard per carry average, and 14 touchdowns, including 13 this past season plus 25 catches for 153 yards clearly that's one of those interesting situations where was it him could he not make could he not make it on the roster is it just having an opportunity is it how eastern michigan is using him i can only imagine there's a spot on an Iowa roster for a guy who can score 13 touchdowns at the D1 level. But Samson Evans,

a very interesting case of a guy who's experiencing significant amount of success outside of the Iowa program. Another guy experiencing quite a bit of success, Jaden McDonald, who transferred to Troy, was second on the team in tackles in 2020. This year dealt with some injuries and whatnot. Still finished with 34 tackles, two sacks, and one interception. Doing a really great job at that linebacker position for Troy. And finally, Peyton Manziel. Peyton Manziel battled Spencer Petras, lost that battle,

and here we are with Spencer Petras. Peyton Manziel was a guy people were really excited about, had a lot of good athleticism. But everything we heard prior to him transferring was that Spencer Petras. Peyton Manziel was a guy people were really excited about. Had a lot of good athleticism. But everything we heard prior to him transferring was that Spencer Petras was the future, right? Spencer Petras, a four-star guy who broke all of Jared Goff's records, big-time arm, was going to be the next great quarterback for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He beats out Peyton Manziel. And we are in a very interesting spot from a quarterback position. Now, Peyton Manziel transfers to we are in a very interesting spot from a quarterback position. Now, Peyton Manziel transfers to Texas.

He's from Texas. Transfers to Abilene Christian University, an FCS school, and has been in a quarterback controversy over the last couple of years, has struggled to be a full-time starter, and has struggled with turnovers. In the last two seasons, 10 touchdowns, 12 interceptions. He has thrown for 2,200 yards and has had a completion percentage of 62%. But the most impressive thing about Peyton Manziel

is he has been on point from a running perspective. In fact, one of the games against Lamar, he actually had over 100 yards and on the season averaging 5.9 yards per carry with 10 touchdowns. Now, I don't know if I'd want all those turnovers, but I'd like to imagine that he could have done some pretty great things and extended some plays for the Iowa Hawkeyes this season.

So it's always fun to kind of look at the guys who have left, see where they're at, see what's going on. Gives you kind of a perspective about the guys who have left the Iowa football program, seeing what kind of success they've had, seeing why they transferred out and what they did prior to transferring out. And as we, if something more happens on the transfer portal front, we'll make sure to cover that.

If it's Hunter Norzad or Steven Salenos, they decide to go to Iowa or not go to Iowa. We will make sure to cover that on tomorrow's show. We're going to be giving you a full preview of Iowa versus Ohio state. It's a crossover episode with Jay Stevens of the locked on a Buckeyes podcast. So stay tuned for that. And just a reminder that if you want some help on wagering, you have to check out the Locked On Bets podcast hosted by your boy Q

and handicapping expert Lee Sterling of Paramount Sports. They do a great job of breaking down three to four games every single day, letting you know who you should bet on at betonline.net, so make sure to check them out as well. Hawkeye Nation, I appreciate you tuning in. Have a fantastic Wednesday, and as always, let's go Hawks.