2022 Big Ten Media Day: Iowa Hawkeyes’ Kirk Ferentz previews the college football season
One of the hallmark signs that the college football season is just around the corner got underway on Tuesday. On the first day of the 2022 Big Ten Media Days, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was flanked by linebacker Jack Campbell, defensive back Kaevon Merriweather and tight end Sam LaPorta to preview the Hawkeyes’ upcoming season.
After being introduced by Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren, Ferentz opened up with the following statement before taking several questions from the media. Here’s everything Ferentz had to say on Tuesday.
Opening statement
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
“Good afternoon to everybody, or good morning I should say. Appreciate everyone’s interest in our program, certainly the Big Ten and college football overall. I feel really fortunate and thankful to be starting my 33rd year at Iowa. I was a nine-year assistant back in the ’80s, and then starting my 24th year as the head coach now.
“I’ve long considered Iowa one of the best places to coach, and really it’s pretty much the majority of what I know during my time in coaching. I think the one commonality, whether it’s the ’80s or certainly the last 20-plus years, just the quality of the people. And that’s coaches that I’ve worked with, also the players, most importantly the players. Just outstanding people and outstanding leaders. So I feel very, very fortunate about that.
“I think probably like most everybody that stood up here thus far and will continue to come up here, there’s a real love of the game that I think all of us possess and certainly a love of coaching.
“That being said, I think probably I would not be the only person to say I’m really concerned about the path that college football is on right now and eager to see where it heads and what direction we end up taking, but it’s a great game. It was a big thing in 1980 when I went to the University of Pittsburgh as a grad assistant. It was big when I went to Iowa in ’81. If anything, it’s just grown bigger certainly. It’s always been big, and it’s bigger now.
“But with that, I think you just have to think about our players, think about the voices that they hear, the things that they have to deal with, the hands that are on them, the noise that they’re listening to, and most of all, I think the pressure and that’s certainly a concern I have as I think about our football team and long have felt that way.
“I think sometimes we lose sight about just how young our players are and just how recently they were maybe in the backyard catching a pass or out playing in the street playing touch football. It goes quickly for those guys. Everybody that plays in the Big Ten typically is probably the best player on their high school team or certainly one of their best, but all of that being said, it’s still a big jump going into college football just like it is if they play beyond.
“All of that being said, I think our focus at Iowa, or at least in my 33 years, has been on development of our players and trying to help them grow and prepare for lives after their college experience. A small percentage will get an opportunity to play in the NFL, a much smaller percentage will have a career in the NFL. But for the most part, the reality is most players, their careers end when their eligibility expires.
“That’s really kind of the reality of what we do and I think that’s why it’s so important when they’re in college, they’re doing more than just learning their plays or developing their skill set. To me, the best part about football in college football is just learning to be part of a team and what that really means and just having respect for other people and realizing there’s a lot of other things that are bigger than you. To me, that carries our players well as they move into their adult lives.
“Our message this year for our team in 2022 is the same as it’s ever been. Just wanted our guys to focus on the love of the game, love of the work that’s involved, which is significant, and most importantly, the love of the people you’re with. To me, that’s the best part about sports and certainly the best part about football. If you do that, my experience is the player ends up being a better player, but more importantly, a better person and is better prepared to move on into adult life. That’s the ultimate reality for most of our players.
“A couple words about our team. It’s pretty much like every year, we have a really good group of veteran players back. We had a good football team as commissioner Warren cited last year. So we’ve lost some good players, too, and have voids to fill. We’ve had a chance as coaches to watch the guys who we anticipate to move into those positions working behind the scenes if you will, or on the practice field an awful lot. Just excited to see where they all go, how they grow, how they develop, how they meet the challenges.
“Certainly, a lot of excitement for everybody this time of year, fans and coaches as well, but also some anxiety in that you’re never quite sure how a player is going to react when they come out of the tunnel and the Swarm, 70,000 people there to cheer them on. You’re just never quite sure how they’re going to go, but we’ve seen growth and just excited to see what it looks like here as it unfolds starting next week.
“Defensively real quickly, we lost three really quality players on the back end, Matt Hankins, Jack Koerner, and Dane Belton. Three outstanding players. Up front, Zach VanValkenburg. So, we’ve got some work to do in the back end certainly and then up front I think collectively we’ve got a good group of guys that really grew last year, and hopefully they’ll continue to grow and fill in those voids.
“We’ve got some veteran players certainly coming back at the linebacker position. Jack Campbell is here. Kaevon Merriweather in the back end. Riley Moss is one of our better players. Those are some of the guys that we’ll be leaning on to help the younger guys move forward.
“Then offensively, unlike the defense, or not unlike the defensive line, we were young last year. We had one of the best players in college football in Tyler Linderbaum, but overall we were a pretty young group. We lose Tyler, but I think collectively we feel good about the group and anxious to see how they develop.
“We’ve got two quarterbacks that have won games for us and played well on the field. We expect both of them, anticipate they’re both going to play better this year in Spencer Petras and Alex Padilla.
“And then the running back, receiver room, both of those groups are young. We’ve got a lot of young players in both of those outside of Nico Ragaini, who’s a veteran receiver, but the rest of the guys are really young in both positions. The Williamses at the running back position. And then Arland Bruce, Keagan Johnson, just to name a couple of receivers, so it’ll be interesting to see how they develop here in year two for those guys and grow.
“And then the tight end position, we feel good about with Sam LaPorta is here with the group, and Luke Lachey is I think a really good football player as well. Certainly, we’ve got some work to do there and some growing to make and improvement to make, but we’ll see how that goes out.
“Special teams, kind of the tale of two cities. We’ve got Tory Taylor back as our punter for his third season. A really unique young person, a really good football player. But, we lost Caleb Shudak, an outstanding placekicker, so that competition is open right now and can say the same thing about the return game. We’ve got guys auditioning for that.
“We’re excited to start. We’re excited to get back on the field with our players and see what August brings, and we’ll know a little bit more about our team certainly at the end of the month. That being said, I’ll throw it out for questions,” Ferentz said.
Impressions of Brian Ferentz taking over as quarterbacks coach in addition to offensive coordinator
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
“He’s done a great job. Really, I think we have an outstanding staff right now, and selfishly one of the nice things, we have five former players. Means I’m getting old, I guess. We have five former players on our staff.
“I think he’s made the transition well. He’s worked hard and worked hard at it. Jon Budmayr joined our staff as an analyst, so he’s been a great resource as well as have some other people.
“I think the key component there from my vantage point was to have our play caller be coaching the quarterbacks. I think just trying to minimize some opportunities for confusion or that type of thing and try to get a little bit more clarity in what we’re doing. So, so far, so good,” Ferentz said.
If Iowa's struggles on offense were why Brian Ferentz received the smallest percentage raise in salary among assistant coaches
Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK
“Not necessarily. I think he’s been compensated pretty well. Bottom line is, I feel two things, I feel like our staff, the numbers, there’s reasons for everything we do, and we have private conversations regarding that. I feel like the staff salaries reflect levels of experience, contributions to the program.
“The other part about it—and that was important as you probably know—I signed a contract back at the new year and there were two things that were important to me. Most important was just making sure our staff was well compensated. I just got done saying I really feel good about our entire staff. If we end up losing a coach, I want it to be for really good reasons, not because we’re not able to pay them enough.
“As a head coach, it’s important to me that we’re able to keep guys, retain guys, and hopefully it’s an attractive place for them to work. As I said in my earlier comments, it’s been to me one of the greatest places ever to work and I hope our staff feels the same way. But, I think we’re in a good place with everybody on the staff,” Ferentz said.
On linebacker Jack Campbell
Bryon Houlgrave/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK
“He’s got a skill set that’s unusual, just his height and range. That’s a little bit unusual for us, at least historically. I don’t know the exact numbers, but I’d say he’s probably our tallest linebacker probably in 23 years I’m guessing.
“But, beyond that, he just plays smart and plays with unbelievable desire. I think the first thing I would cite with Jack—and that’s probably true of a lot of the really good players I’ve been around pro, college, or high school, or good coaches I’ve been around—he’s extremely humble. He’s not about taking credit for anything.
“He deserves a lot. He is a leader in his way. But he’s authentic, he’s humble, and really driven to do his best, and he’s doing it for all the right reasons. He’s got great pride in what he does, but he also feels a responsibility to really be at his best for our team. As a coach, you just value that so much and appreciate it,” Ferentz said.
The relationship with SWARM collective CEO Brad Heinrichs
Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK
“I just had the good fortune of meeting Brad here in the last two months. I’ll share this, and I say this often, one of my biggest fears about coming back to college football 23-plus years ago was donors. It’s been one of the most, greatest fortunes in my life the donors I’ve got to meet and get involved with. When I say donors, I’m talking about people who just really support our program.
“Brad has just done an unbelievable job. I can’t imagine how much time and energy he’s put into this. As I mentioned, I just met him inside a window of two months. Just an extremely impressive person. I never knew what an actuary does, nor did I really understand how you become an actuary. Everybody I knew in college that was going to become an accountant, they wanted to jump out of windows all the time, and actuary is probably about ten times harder. He’s a pretty smart guy, I think it’s fair to say that.
“Got a great personality, great resilience. He was an athlete. I’m so appreciative. I don’t want to speak for other people, but I think I speak for everybody on our campus’s behalf who is just appreciative of his interest and his willingness to help. I think we’re doing it in a way that fits our program, the values, and the way we see the world. I’m extremely appreciative to Brad’s willingness to get involved and his contributions already,” Ferentz said.
[listicle id=7008]
[listicle id=6939]
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Josh on Twitter: @JoshOnREF
Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.
