KELTON COPELAND OPENING STATEMENT
I'm extremely excited; my wife and family, we're very happy and words can't express how happy we are and excited to be part of the Iowa family. Looking at this program from afar and getting to know Coach Ferentz before this process even took place, he's a guy I respected in our profession. Basing off what he said about hiring coaches, looking for somebody to hire, we always looked at him as a guy that if you had an opportunity to get to know, you want to get to know him. When the opportunity came to interview with Coach Ferentz and the Iowa program, we were excited for the opportunity, and full-steam ahead. And here we are, so I guess it worked out on both ends.
Q. Kelton, did you have any connections with any of the Iowa coaches that helped you get your foot in the door a little bit?
KELTON COPELAND: Yes, sir. Coaching is always about networking, and a lot of things happen through recruiting. You meet coaches along the way. I met a couple coaches on different occasions, being down in South Florida, met a couple guys, being in Detroit, Chicago, you just meet different coaches on the staff and in different ways you kind of build that relationship. Working with each other sometimes, sometimes even working against each other, sometimes in the recruiting process you get to know each other and that whole deal, and that's how this whole thing started. Just getting to know coaches that way. Then Coach Kill and Coach Ferentz they have a relationship, and Coach Gary Kill is one of my mentors that I have a lot of respect for, and he reached out. Then I reached out to him expressing my interest and asked if he would help me throughout this process. Then a couple more coaches that knew coaches on this staff and then knew my background and had worked with me and had mentored me throughout my whole process as my career.
Q. You talk about the experience as a coach, you went from I think graduate assistant to wide receivers and then linebackers and spring coach. You did a little bit of everything down there?
KELTON COPELAND: Yes, well, long story short, I'll keep it as simple as possible. But, basically, a week after I got done playing, I was on staff as a student assistant. They knew from my third year of playing that they knew I wanted to be a coach. So they started grooming me towards that goal even when I was playing. When the opportunity came right after I got done playing and my career was over, like I said, I was on staff the very next week. So, I worked my way up, got my graduate assistantship, worked with linebackers, actually, first. That was a totally different world for me. Playing quarterback and being on offense my whole college career, that was a totally different mindset, totally different nature all together. But I took it in stride, learned a lot, and still learning from my experiences even back then. After that I moved over to offense. They put me back on offense to coach receivers and running backs, and then moved on after that from Florida State.
Q. How would you say you fit into the Iowa culture? Because that's an important thing?
KELTON COPELAND: That was huge. In the interview process that was huge. That was something they hit on quite a bit, and that question came up quite a few times to be honest with you. Honestly, I can tell you, our values, our core beliefs are parallel. Like I said, it started before any of this opportunity came about. When I watched these guys play and I watched and I hear about Coach Ferentz and how he runs things and how he treats not only his players but his staff, the core values run parallel together. The things you're talking about, winning off the field. Only winning on the field, yes, that's important, but developing young men, right? Being honest, being loyal, doing things the right way, treating people the right way. And when I came to my interview process and we started talking and we got to know each other a little bit, we found out pretty quick that our core values were similar and parallel. So to me it was an easy fit.
Q. What was your perception of Iowa football before you started the interview process?
KELTON COPELAND: It's a program that I respect. Put it this way, when I was coming up, Coach Kill is a big mentor of mine. I played for Coach Kill and he used to always say we want hard-hat, lunch-pail-toting people. It's that blue-collar mentality. That's the way I was brought up as a kid, that's the way I was brought up as a player, and when you watch Iowa football, that's how they play. It's blue collar, hard-nosed, tough, physical and relentless. That's the way I love to coach, and that's the way I love watching guys play.
Q. What about Iowa City? Have you been here before?
KELTON COPELAND: No, sir, I haven't been in Iowa City a whole lot except with the exception when I was at NIU and we played in 2013 here. But as far as getting out and about and seeing all of that Iowa City has to offer, I have not had a chance yet. But I've heard great things and I'm looking forward to getting my family moved here. So if you have any ideas and spots that I need to be looking at to get us moved in, let me know because my wife's grilling me right now.
Q. I know you've come this far with your job duties here, but where do you feel comfortable recruiting, and where do you see yourself recruiting?
KELTON COPELAND: I feel comfortable in all aspects, to be honest with you. I've recruited, obviously you've checked out my bio and my resumé, and I've recruited a lot of different areas: South Florida, Chicago, Kansas, Kansas City area, Detroit, Indianapolis, so forth and so on. So to say is one more area more comfortable for me than another? No, absolutely not. I'm born and raised in Miami, Florida, so obviously if I have the opportunity to recruit down there, so be it. I'm totally fine down there. If it's Chicago, if it's Kansas City, wherever Coach Ferentz and the rest of the staff decides to put me, I'm confident in my abilities. I know what we're looking for. I know what our goals are with this program and the type of kids we want here. And wherever I'm placed, I feel like I'm going to do a great job getting those guys here and helping us win championships.
Q. What kind of challenges does recruiting players to the Midwest present?
KELTON COPELAND: The biggest challenge is distance and lack of knowledge is probably the easiest way to put it. Myself, I take myself for example, when I was a 17-year-old kid coming from Miami, Florida and you would have said Iowa, first of all, I probably wouldn't have been able to point Iowa out on a map, and, secondly, I would have thought that's the other side of the world. So that's probably the biggest obstacle getting them to understand, yes it's a different way of life, but it's still a good way of life. In a lot of ways, to be honest with you, it's a better way of life. So that's probably the biggest obstacle.