Rough quotes
Opening Statement
Good afternoon gentlemen. First, it's a tremendous honor for Coach Ferentz to call upon me to start where Reese left off. I can't thank Reese enough not only for the last three years as his assistant defensive line coach, but going back my days as a young head coach. I was a young OL coach at Cornell College and sat down with Reese to talk about slide protection on the video. He's the guy I went to and helped set the foundation. I had no idea that 6-7 years later I'd be back on the staff with him. He's the type of person and coach that I want to be. He's been coaching longer than I am old and that kind of longevity is something I want as well.
I'm in an extremely unique position being the defensive line coach here having graduated from the University of Iowa and also being a former player and being back here, it's special. It's exactly where I want to be. I couldn't think of a better place or better people to be working for than Coach Ferentz and the entire staff here.
Q: A lot of competition here, a lot of DL in the NFL.
KB: Absolutely. Iron sharpens iron. On our wall, we've got our All Big Ten and All American players. I have all of those guys numbers and know all of those guys. There's a standard to uphold. It started long before I got here. It's a tremendous responsibility and it's important to me.
Q: How have Epenesa and Golston developed?
KB: Physically you've got two guys that are really well developed. Now it's a mindset of being an every down player. Then increasing their leadership and bringing the DL group as a whole together.
Q: What kind of stamp do you want to put on this?
KB: There's a standard. We kind of raised it last year with our depth. I'd like to increase that and increase our versatility. Not necessarily think of themselves as DE and DT, but DL that can move around and play as a group. That team mindset is what I want to build and leave my mark.
Q: Maybe not get to 8? Probably not right now?
KB: Honestly, last year during the spring, if you look at 2017 and 2018, you lost Bazata, but we didn't rotate 8 guys before that, so it was about development. Every rep is earned. It's an ongoing process. That's how we can get to 8. There's probably 8 bodies right now, but whether they deserve the reps remains to be seen.
Q: Amani Jones?
KB: It gives our defense a little bit of a different look. It's a little bit of a 3-4. Things happen a lot faster down there close to the ball. But his energy gives us something. He wants to be good. I think of him as an edge defender more than a DE. So far, so good. He's doing everything that I've asked him to do. He wants to play.
Opening Statement
Good afternoon gentlemen. First, it's a tremendous honor for Coach Ferentz to call upon me to start where Reese left off. I can't thank Reese enough not only for the last three years as his assistant defensive line coach, but going back my days as a young head coach. I was a young OL coach at Cornell College and sat down with Reese to talk about slide protection on the video. He's the guy I went to and helped set the foundation. I had no idea that 6-7 years later I'd be back on the staff with him. He's the type of person and coach that I want to be. He's been coaching longer than I am old and that kind of longevity is something I want as well.
I'm in an extremely unique position being the defensive line coach here having graduated from the University of Iowa and also being a former player and being back here, it's special. It's exactly where I want to be. I couldn't think of a better place or better people to be working for than Coach Ferentz and the entire staff here.
Q: A lot of competition here, a lot of DL in the NFL.
KB: Absolutely. Iron sharpens iron. On our wall, we've got our All Big Ten and All American players. I have all of those guys numbers and know all of those guys. There's a standard to uphold. It started long before I got here. It's a tremendous responsibility and it's important to me.
Q: How have Epenesa and Golston developed?
KB: Physically you've got two guys that are really well developed. Now it's a mindset of being an every down player. Then increasing their leadership and bringing the DL group as a whole together.
Q: What kind of stamp do you want to put on this?
KB: There's a standard. We kind of raised it last year with our depth. I'd like to increase that and increase our versatility. Not necessarily think of themselves as DE and DT, but DL that can move around and play as a group. That team mindset is what I want to build and leave my mark.
Q: Maybe not get to 8? Probably not right now?
KB: Honestly, last year during the spring, if you look at 2017 and 2018, you lost Bazata, but we didn't rotate 8 guys before that, so it was about development. Every rep is earned. It's an ongoing process. That's how we can get to 8. There's probably 8 bodies right now, but whether they deserve the reps remains to be seen.
Q: Amani Jones?
KB: It gives our defense a little bit of a different look. It's a little bit of a 3-4. Things happen a lot faster down there close to the ball. But his energy gives us something. He wants to be good. I think of him as an edge defender more than a DE. So far, so good. He's doing everything that I've asked him to do. He wants to play.
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