‘Doesn’t surprise us at all’: Kirk Ferentz comments on Charlie Jones’ departure, play at Purdue
One of the biggest storylines this week for Iowa (4-4, 2-3 Big Ten) at Purdue (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) is the Hawkeyes getting a firsthand look at one of their old playmakers, wide receiver Charlie Jones.
Jones, originally a transfer to Iowa from Buffalo, caught 21 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns last season with the Hawkeyes. He was named the Rodgers-Dwight Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year in 2021 after returning a kick 100 yards for a touchdown against Illinois and averaging 25.4 yards per kickoff and 7.7 yards per punt return.
The 6-foot, 188 pound receiver stunned Hawkeye fans when he transferred to Purdue following spring practices. With Aidan O’Connell as the Boilermakers’ starting quarterback and trigger man, Jones has enjoyed his best collegiate season. Coming into the contest versus Iowa, he has 72 receptions for 840 yards and nine touchdowns.
Naturally, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was asked about Charlie Jones’ impact at Purdue and his thoughts on his departure from Iowa during his weekly meeting with the media. Here was everything Ferentz said about Charlie Jones this week.
If Iowa was surprised when Charlie left as late as he did and the type of impact he's had at Purdue
Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK
“Obviously you look at the stats. He’s playing well. He’s a good football player. Doesn’t surprise us at all. ‘Surprised’ is probably a strong word. I think the way college football is evolving right now, if you’re surprised by much that happens in terms of player movement and those types of things, probably shame on you.
“I don’t know if ‘surprise’ is the right word, but the timing. To me, if you think a guy is going to leave a program, you would do it back in the wintertime, get there, go through the spring practice, start learning the offense, that type of thing, also their system, get to know his teammates.
“Doesn’t seem like it’s affected him. He’s playing really good right now. He’s a good football player. We’re going to have to try to do a good job of defending him on defense and also the special teams aspect.”
How Iowa recruits and retains wide receivers when they look at what Charlie Jones did at Iowa and then now at Purdue
Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK
“We’ll never know what would have happened if he was here. We saw him make great improvement I thought this spring. We were really excited about that. Then he’s not here. There’s not much you can say about that.”
If Iowa should have used him more the last two seasons
Bryon Houlgrave/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK
“I would argue he’s a much better player than he was. I thought he was a much better at the end of spring practice as a receiver. Upper echelon return guy. He’s been really good. Obviously that was very evident going back to early 2020. But he’s really progressed as a receiver. Not saying he was a bad receiver then, but he’s a much better one, much better in April.”
If they think Charlie Jones' ascension could negatively impact Iowa's recruiting
Bryon Houlgrave/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK
“We’ll worry about that later on. Right now, we’re just trying to worry about Purdue.
“It’s hard to quantify all that stuff. Again, I would just suggest, me personally, I think he’s a better receiver, was a better receiver at the end of spring practice than he was at the start. Like a lot of our players. A lot of our players grow and develop as they go through their careers. Same thing about Jack Campbell. Talk about good players, he’s a better player now than he was two years ago, going through every phase. It’s important.
“You think about Charlie, started out at Maxwell. I don’t know if he walked on up there. I think I heard that. He’s a guy who has just done that, ascended. Shift over, George Kittle, was a good player when he left here. I would argue he’s a much better player now. Good players ascend. That’s part of the process.”
If there's one particular area Charlie Jones has improved in to go from 21 catches to 70-plus
(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
“No. He’s playing well. He’s playing in this system where they throw the ball a lot. They had a really good guy that graduated, got drafted. He has kind of filled that void, I guess. I don’t coach there, I don’t want to say he’s that guy. Seems to be the most prominent receiver right now.”
What Charlie Jones does well, how he can impact Saturday's game
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
“He’s always been fast. You saw that as a return guy. Plays with reckless abandon. He’s very courageous. Good running skills. Very evident. Good judgment as a return guy.
“To me at least, this is one person’s opinion, I think he’s refined his game as a receiver with each phase. It wasn’t all in the spring, but it’s been a process for him.
“Obviously he’s playing really well right now. He’s got a good quarterback throwing it to him. One of the better guys in the conference. That’s not to compare quarterbacks, I don’t mean that by any means. He’s done a great job.”
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