Kirk Ferentz talks 2024 season opener

While Kirk Ferentz will not be with his team on Saturday due to a one game suspension, the Iowa head coach will be leading his team, as he always does, until late in the evening on Friday night. Ferentz met with the media on Tuesday to discuss the season opener against Illinois State.

KIRK FERENTZ OPENING STATEMENT

Welcome to game week, finally here. It’s good to end of camp and begin preparation for Saturday.

As i indicated last Thursday, the guys have done a good job during camp, and I thought the last week went really well. Saw some sharper execution out there. Overall we are pretty healthy. Phil (Parker) really is the worst injury we had, which we will try to keep him safe this week.

Happy with what we’ve seen. I think we’re getting good leadership and pretty consistent on that for most of the year. It’s been consistent as we’ve moved forward.

Then the challenge over the weekend and then starting this week is transitioning into normal student life. A lot more activity in Iowa City this past week or so. Our guys are out there with the student body now, they’re back in classes, and we’ve had a spike in heat, too. So a couple things going on that way.

Anyway, good to be in game week, that’s for sure. I think the team’s excited about having a chance to play in Kinnick. First game challenges are always a challenge. If you have veteran players who are a little more used to it, for a lot of the new guys, it’s going to be a totally new experience, having fans there, and then your first game, there’s a lot of unknowns with your opponent. But that’s kind of where it’s at.

Moving forward to the game, our captains are Jay Higgins, Quinn Schulte, Luke Lachey and Cade McNamara.

Transitioning to Illinois State, obviously a good program. They were 6-5 last year. Of those five losses, four of those were by eight combined points. Played in a lot of close games. Coach Spack been there since ’09. I’ve known Brock for quite some time. A lot of respect for him as a player back in the ’80s when he played at Purdue, outstanding player for them there.

He’s had a great career in coaching. Certainly is a big part of the success Purdue had when Joe Tiller was the head coach there. When we got there, they were awfully tough to beat, and Brock was a big part of that, being the defensive coordinator.

I’ve gotten to know him over the years. An outstanding person and a good football coach. And then if you look broader, a lot of the guys on the staff have experience Illinois State. Yeah they have an identity, its no big surprise. It’s a veteran staff for the most part. I think they have a good idea what they want to do, what they want to accomplish. A lot of respect for them that way.

Football-wise, they have a lot of returners back on both sides of the ball plus special teams. Their specialists are back for the most part. Pretty balanced offensively, run/pass. They get the ball pretty quick, so it’s hard to get to their quarterback. Defensively, it’s a little bit of a different preparation because they have a three-man front, and we’ve been practicing against four basically all camp. So some adjustment there.

As you might imagine, they have a good pressure package. I think we had one of Brock’s blitzes up on our board for about three years, I think it was ’02, ’03, ’04, one of those memorable ones. Again, I’m sure we’ll see some things on Saturday that will be a challenge for us. And as I mentioned, their specialists are back on special teams.

Good football team. We expect them to be a tough, competitive football team like they have been in the past. That’s what we have to get ready for.

Finally, we are thrilled that the Kid Captain program is still going. I think it was 2009 when they started that. It’s just a really good concept, and a nice way to honor special people. This week it will be Carter Schmidt who is from Coralville. His grandfather, Kent Ellis, was a captain here in 1980, a little connection to the program that way.

Carter had a rare form of leukemia early in his life and had a bone marrow transplant right before his first birthday and has been treated since. Looks like he’s in great shape. He’s been pronounced clear and cured. So really happy about that. He’s an active 8-year-old right now, who likes to ride his bike. Very involved in sports.

Then the last thing, just want to pay tribute to Don Suchy, who played here in ’56. Don passed away earlier this month from Belle Plaine. Played center on the ’56 team, second team All-American, first team All-Big Ten. Served as an honorary captain back here in ’04 for our Kent State game and just a first class guy. Had a long and productive life. Our feelings to his family certainly. Just a great guy.

I’ll throw it out for questions.

Q.The depth chart that just came out, Kamari Moulton at RB 1, who’s probably the splashiest update there. Sort of how has he ascended to that spot, and what are you looking to see from guys like Leshon and Kaleb?

KIRK FERENTZ: I figured that might get everybody’s attention, but it’s more a by-product of what’s going on. Leshon missed some time. He’s had an injury that nagged pretty much throughout camp, so Kamari got a lot of work this August.

The other component there is Kamari’s done a nice job. I mentioned that or alluded to that back in December. He started to look comfortable and did a lot of good things, did a good job in the spring and has just been consistent all the way through August.

They’re all going to play, but he’s really done a nice job. Leshon has only been back maybe 10 days, and it looks like he’s good to go. It’s just he had a long, nagging injury that took a while to work through, but happy he’s back.

The other guys have done a good job too. I feel pretty good about the group. I’m eager to see them play, and Kamari especially, we haven’t really seen him go in game activity.

Q.I think this off-season you alluded to Michael Penix Jr., in the context of Cade, and like Michael Penix was someone that had major surgical repairs and came back. Not that those two guys are exactly the same, but could you just kind of expand on the context of maybe how you see guys coming — the ability to come back from multiple major injuries.

KIRK FERENTZ: I’ll put it in the context that I’ve sat in a lot of meetings, medical meetings and academic meetings, but a lot of medical meetings, since, you know 26 years now. We had one last night.

I don’t pretend to know anything about medicine, but you listen, and you pay attention. Then also you witness things. I can go back just the contrast between the ’80s, ’90s, and now. The way all injuries are different now. Certainly an ACL repair is much, much different than it was 40 years ago. Labral surgeries have come a long way. Most of them are arthroscopic. The bottom line is this, ACL repairs, it’s our experience it just takes time to get them back.

Koen Entringer came back from his in record speed. That’s one end of the spectrum. Sometimes they’re slower. I think they’re different for every individual, just like any injury.

But the bottom line is a player has to get confidence in his body and confidence that he can do what he has to do to perform whatever his position may be.

Nothing’s routine medically, but it would be unusual for a player to be deterred from an injury like Cade had, and it was a very clean repair. Again, I’m no expert on medicine, but it’s always good when they say everything’s clean, really nice repair, and that type of thing. It’s a matter of time for the physical component and then also where a player gets the confidence.

I think that open scrimmage is really the first time I saw him look like he just kind of put it aside, and we’ve seen a lot of those pictures since then. I think he’s more than ready to go and really confident in his body.

Q.Obviously a little different this week with you not being there on Saturday. How do you prepare for that, and what’s your approach at the wide receiver spot in terms of who’s spending the most time with them?

KIRK FERENTZ: A couple things. Those are things we’re working through this week and haven’t really talked much about. I’ll start that tomorrow. Thursday is really our day to talk about all those things.

I can think of one good thing about this, at least I can blame, if something happens Saturday, I can say I don’t know why they did that. Something stupid. So there’s a positive in this whole deal.

In all seriousness, no, I think it’s going to be pretty much business as usual. Tim would be the guy I go to to refer what do you think about this, this, and this on offense? Phil, LeVar, and Seth will do the same thing. We talk about a lot of things on Thursdays about what we do fourth down, four down territory, all those kinds of things, this situation, that situation.

The only missing part is, when you get in a game sometimes there’s a feel that flies in the face of maybe what you decide on Thursday, and sometimes you’ve just got to make a call and go with a gut instinct. If that be the case, Seth will do a great job with that. He’ll have the final say on all of that stuff, but we’ll talk a lot of those things out. And the receiver thing, we’ll work out internally.

As I said last week, we have a really good staff, and the guys, young and old, the full-time coaches, but also the GAs, part-time guys, and we’ll get it done. We’ll cover that.

Q.Kirk, TJ Hall listed as cornerback too. There’s no doubt John Nestor is probably going to get significant time and Deshaun Lee, but what were the one or two things that kind of gave TJ Hall just the extra edge over the other two?

KIRK FERENTZ: Probably the consistency. It’s gone back and forth. It’s a little like the running back position. Difference is most of those guys have been available, the four corners have been competing and practicing. Probably a little consistency thing, but it’s still really close.

We have a lot of positions right now where we’ve got to start somewhere Saturday and start somewhere this week when we practice with our first team. I will say this, it won’t surprise me, especially in certain groups, where it may take a month to figure out like where we’re at.

I say that in a positive way because I think we have a lot of young guys right now that we’re going to learn a lot more about them. John Nestor is a good example. He hasn’t played an awful lot. We’ve seen him on special teams. To see him in game action, we’ll learn a lot about them. Our receiver room is a lot like that.

The back thing will probably sort itself out, but I think we have a lot of guys that are capable. That’s part of the process as we move forward. It will be interesting to see what it looks like six weeks from now as opposed to just this Saturday.

Q.You’ve been at this for 25 years at Iowa, 28 in total as a head coach. In your opinion, what are the most important jobs for the head coach on game day itself? I know you’re probably going to give a self-deprecating answer here. For Seth, what does he need to do the best on Saturday?

KIRK FERENTZ: I’m chuckling because he gave me a report on what I do, and there’s more there than I thought, I guess. You just kind of do what’s natural in your position.

I guess some of the decisions we talked about are part of it, but if you think about over the course of 12 weeks there aren’t that many decisions you make that are really critical, I don’t think. You try to keep things in an even flow. I think probably try to keep everybody’s mood or approach on an even flow too.

If we’re getting a little bit hot here or down here, you have to try to balance things out a little bit and make sure everybody is focused on what they do.

Really in all seriousness, and I don’t mean this to low key it, but it’s probably what you do during the week is more important, I think, and then certainly during camp and just year long, just trying to make sure everybody’s kind of keeping their eyes on the target, what we think is important.

Once you get to game day, I say this in all honesty, players do win the games. They’re the ones out there competing. We can’t do that. There are times when we maybe do something that’s helpful, but overall, it’s how the players play. It really is.

They’ll do great. We have a good leadership group here, and they’ll do great. There’s going to be some challenges, there’s no question about that. And there are going to be some things that we don’t expect. We have to stay centered and stay on course here.

Q.I saw that Kade Pieper is the backup center now. He’s a guy that’s received a lot of praise from his fellow offensive linemen. Is that where he’s firmly entrenched now is just at center, or will we see him anywhere else on the Offensive line?

KIRK FERENTZ: He can play anywhere on the interior. That’s a good question because it kind of opens up — we do have some flexibility this year, which is kind of nice going into this. We’ve trained him a lot or worked him a lot at the center position. Logan’s not going to be here forever, so he’s really done a good job there. Tyler jumped in last year. Elsbury jumped in and did a nice job.

Tyler has worked all five positions. It’s not often you can say a guy can do that, but I think he can do that pretty effectively. He’s got a lot of experience and practiced well. Nick Young’s got the capability of playing a couple spots.

Those would be our top eight guys with the five starters. We probably have a little more versatility and flexibility than we’ve had in the past, which is good, and we have some younger guys that are moving along, and we’re going to try to keep them growing too.

Those would the top eight guys. Kade was quote, unquote, undersized when we recruited him, but he’s a lean guy, and he’s still lean. He’s really done a good job, and he’s done a really nice job on the field.

Q.When you have a new offensive coordinator, new offensive schemes, what are some realistic expectations for you as the head coach as you enter Game 1?

KIRK FERENTZ: It’s like every game, you want things to go smoothly, and you want the flow of things to go good. Things that stop offenses are negative yardage plays, unforced errors, penalties, false starts, those kind of things, alignment errors. Just playing fundamentally sound that way would be a good starting point. Keeping the ball off the ground is always a good thing.

Regardless of what you’re doing, there are going to be things that are going to pop up and some things we’re trying to get cleaned up in practice right now. We had Saturday off. Sunday we didn’t do any football stuff. We just let the guys stretch and jog a little bit. We got back in the football game yesterday, and we took two whole days off without helmets on, and it looked like we hadn’t practiced in six weeks.

All of a sudden, you’re right back to trying to get the guys in there, plus you’re trying to deal with some things that maybe you haven’t seen.

All that being said, I think good effort obviously playing fundamentally sound and not doing things that are going to beat us would be a good starting point. Then if we can get a little momentum going and hit a couple plays, that’s always a good thing, too. That’s usually what it takes for offensive production.

Q.It feels like, as far as level headedness goes, you have a unique approach to every single game. You treat every single game the same, whether it’s an FCS team or Georgia, you guys treat every game as a unique challenge. As a coaching staff, how do you uniquely motivate your players every single week to treat every single game the same?

KIRK FERENTZ: With all due respect, I just explained to our guys, the people that think they know what’s going to happen, most of them don’t have to go out there and compete. Somebody said experts are people that aren’t accountable to anybody, so it’s good to be an expert, I guess.

We’ve got a lot invested. Everybody’s got a lot invested. One thing I’ve learned in 20-plus years of being back here, it’s no different than the NFL, although in the NFL, everybody’s good in the NFL, everything starts with respecting your opponent. In college football, anything can happen. Last weekend already illustrated that. There were at least two games that went the opposite of what people would have predicted.

It’s just the nature of college football. We’re talking about young people. They have a lot on their minds and a lot they have to deal with. They do go to class, they’re trying to earn a degree. If they’re not careful, you can get off the track and lose the concentration that’s necessary to be good at this level.

Winning is hard. I think it’s harder than it’s ever been in college football, and that’s a good thing. It’s competitive. But you have to appreciate that, and you have to understand it’s week by week. I think I said this somewhere in the last couple press conferences, we’ve only got 12 that are guaranteed. So it’s really not that much, compared to you all the time we spend preparing and practicing, training. It’s just such a small percentage.

So to think you can’t be ready 12 times, there’s really no excuse for that. That’s everybody’s job.

Q.Just wanted to ask you about Xavier Nwankpa, obviously a five star recruit coming to Iowa. How has he handled those expectations, and how has he grown throughout his time here?

KIRK FERENTZ: He’s doing great. I know five stars and all of that, we don’t get a lot of those, but you would never know with him in the building, five star, three star, two star. He’s a quality young guy, first and foremost. Really does a nice job that way.

It’s been fun to watch him improve each and every turn, so he’s really doing well. He dealt with a little bit of an injury or medical situation during camp, so he missed some time. He’s not maybe as far along as he would be in normal circumstances but has done a really good job and expect him to have a really good year this year.

Q.I wanted to ask you about earlier today there was a documentary that dropped on Connor Stalions from Michigan. There was a segment that showed him with the game ball from Kinnick Stadium from two years ago, had his name placed upon it. What are your initial thoughts now that it’s there, it’s not a rumor anymore? And then secondly, do you have any opinions on what should happen to the University of Michigan based on this?

KIRK FERENTZ: I’ll let somebody else figure that out. I just heard about it maybe an hour ago, something like that, and got an email. It’s so far out of mind — it’s history right now. Whatever happens happens. The appropriate parties will deal with it.

Our eyes are forward right now. On that whole scenario, I never spent much time worrying too much about it. We got plenty to worry about right here. That’s kind of been my attitude. Thanks.

Q.Wanted to ask you about Reece Vander Zee and his appearance on the two deep as a true freshman. Kind of dovetailing off of that, any other true freshmen you’ve decided you’re going to put out there on Saturday?

KIRK FERENTZ: Nobody firmly. I think I’m correct in saying that. I think I probably should know. Nobody firmly. I think we’ll be able to protect a lot of guys in that redshirt mode with the four-game rule.

We’ll see how that all goes. Two things in Reece, there’s opportunity at the position, and secondly, more importantly, he’s done a good job. It’s kind of frustrating because he had some stuff he was dealing with through the summertime medically, but that cleared up, I guess, right before camp, I guess it would have been.

He’s done a really good job. He’s learning quickly. He’s done some really good things out there on the field. He’ll be on the field for sure Saturday.

Q.What’s really stood out to you about Beau Stephens kind of coming back from the injury last year and just through fall camp now?

KIRK FERENTZ: Beau’s had quite a journey since he got here, and that whole COVID class, it’s been interesting. He’s fought through a lot, the injuries, a lot of things that could have gotten him discouraged. I’m not saying make him quit, but just maybe — I’m not saying make or break, but there are some things that he’s just had a tough go. He’s really had to work hard for it.

We’ve had a couple guys really do a great job, but last spring was a big, big period for him. He was able to be out there all 15 days, and he’s had a lot of injury things that have kept him in and out of the lineup and off the practice field. It’s hard to gain traction and really get good if you can’t be out there consistently.

But spring was the first period where he went start to finish, no issues. Same thing in August, he’s really had a good month. I just told him this morning, I said, you really had a good camp, and you should feel confident because he’s worked hard and he’s really done a good job.

I’m anxious to see him play. He’ll have some ups and downs like all the guys on Saturday, but he’s a guy that’s got a really good future in front of him. I’m just really pleased for him the way he’s fought through and pushed through.

Q.One position that hasn’t been on the depth chart is returner. Any idea of who’s been working, who’s looking like a starter there?

KIRK FERENTZ: I think Wetjen will be the punt return guy right now. Kaleb most likely on kick return. Got a couple guys in the mix there. That will probably be what it looks like. I’d say that will probably be where we’ll go.

I’m trying to think. Lutmer and TJ Hall in punt return. Lutmer would be No. 3 and TJ No. 2. The kick return thing, we’re still looking at that a little bit.

Q.When we spoke to the players, with one exception, pretty much everyone was not worried about rallying around you as their coach who wouldn’t be there on the sidelines. It’s kind of honestly a little lukewarm. It wasn’t rah-rah. Was that something you instilled in them that first day you told them, and just as a clarifying point, practice this week, this whole week, is it going to look basically the same as any other week with you leading it? Or will you kind of cede some leadership to Coach Wallace?

KIRK FERENTZ: I’ll do what I always do through Friday night. I’ll go to the snack. We tell them a little bedtime story before they go to bed and have a snack. I’ll be there for that. It’s business as normal for me.

I think last year I heard about rallying cries and stuff like that. I made a mistake. I’ve owned it. I stepped on the line. I think the line was a little bit cloudy, a little bit blurry, but nonetheless, I stepped on it. It is what it is.

Just like if a player were hurt, we all go on. We all go on and keep pushing on. I won’t be here. There’s nothing to rally about or anything like that. The idea right now is for everybody to do what they’re supposed to do. I’m confident they will. We’ve got a good group of guys, and the staff will do a great job.

To me it’s almost a non-factor. It could be the same thing if I got hit by a truck or something like that. It’s all kind of the same stuff.

Q.I know you talked about consistency, but where have you seen Kamari Moulton grow?

KIRK FERENTZ: Probably confidence. He’s had a great attitude since he’s been here. He’s got good vision. He’s bigger and stronger physically than he was certainly a year ago, year plus ago when he got here. All that’s good, and that’s one of the benefits of experience. Happy about that. He’s got a tremendous attitude, but he’s got a real good vision, a good ability to see things that maybe other guys can’t see, and that’s been pretty consistent.

Really started showing in December when we were doing more work with the guys. He’d been on the scout team most of the time last year. It seemed like he was maybe a guy who could pop through here a little bit. I think he’s certainly done that in August.

Again, I envision us playing a lot of the guys in the group. Max White’s done a good job, too. I feel like it’s a good group that way. We’ll just kind of see how it plays out as we keep going forward. History would say you can never have too many backs, that’s for sure.

Q.I know we talked a little bit about this in February, but honestly, hiring a new offensive coordinator probably overshadowed it. But you picked Seth Wallace as assistant head coach for a reason. Can you kind of articulate what you see in him that fills the role that you want to see on Saturday? Also, do you want him to kind of reflect what you do on Saturday or kind of be his own person?

KIRK FERENTZ: I’ll start there. He’s got to be himself. That’s the most important thing. If I’ve learned anything in coaching, like my mentor is very different personality-wise than I am, and the coaches I’ve worked for are very different than my personality. So you’ve got to be yourself, that’s first and foremost.

Going back to February, basically, there’s probably a reason I’ve never named one in 25 years because there’s upside, and there’s certainly some downside to it potentially. I don’t want anybody to take it as like picking — I like my fourth son or fourth kid better, my third kid, that type of deal.

He’s just done a great job. He’s really — it’s no foreshadowing, none of that stuff. Just I felt it was time to reward him. He’s had opportunities to lead, and several of our other coaches have as well. It’s still a good way to recognize the fact he wanted to stay with the program. We certainly want him to stay.

I just think it made sense at that time. There’s nothing more to it than that. He’s done a great job, but I have total confidence. We have a really good staff of guys and guys that have been here for the most part for quite a while and have association with the program for quite a while.

I’ve said it before, the best part of my day is walking in there. Outside of being with my wife, Mary, obviously. Is walking in here and being with a lot of good people. We’re different, but we’re all working toward the same thing, and that’s a fun thing. Fun thing to be a part of.