These are rough quotes and notes from Kirk Ferentz's press conference following the cancellation of the Music City Bowl today.
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Opening Statement
Obviously it's a disappointing turn of events that we learned about. First thing I want to do is wish everyone at Missouri affected by this all the best in their recovery. On behalf of our team, it's extremely disappointing to end the season this way with two games in a row being cancelled. I can't say enough about our group of players this year, really a remarkable group. They wanted to finish the season. Had that conversation last Monday when we got shut down for a little while. It was a resounding yes with the leadership group and from what they heard from their teammates, they wanted to finish this thing out. Unfortunately that's not going to happen, but I couldn't be any prouder of our players. They were out there working out on their own when we couldn't practice and then got back in and started practicing yesterday and today and looked great, so we were right on track. I shared the news with them less than an hour ago, just wanted to have a chance to thank everybody for their efforts and dedication. With this team, it's especially true.
I shared with them that the 2008 and 2004 team started out with bumps in the road and pushed through to the finish line. To me, this team has done the exact same time. Those two teams had great character and leadership and so did this one. I get asked frequently about how you evaluate a season and to me it's about the quality of people and the work they put in week to week. That 2004 and 2008 team are two of my all-time favorites and so is this one because of the dedication that they've shown. If you look at how they've handled things, it's really remarkable. They've handled everything thrown their way and pushed forward collectively. It's a disappointing day, but I'm hopeful at some point they'll be able to appreciate everything they've accomplished since March until now. I want to thank our players, our support staff, and our medical staff. They're really the unsung heroes with the amount of hours they've put in because of the COVID situation. It's unbelievable. It's an illustration of people doing things because they love to do it. Also, want to thank our parents because they've been fantastic. It's been exciting and heartbreaking at different times and they've been extremely supportive throughout, so I want to express my thanks and appreciation to them.
Q: The timeline Missouri talked about suggested a problem at their last game and then going forward since then. Is there a feeling they were irresponsible?
KF: I don't want to pass judgment on anybody. I just know in our case we were disappointed two weeks ago. I feel fortunate being in the Big Ten with antigen testing. To me, that's why we were able to play in eight straight games this season. Then in week nine, our opponent wasn't able to. But we've had our hardships, saw those surface on Sunday, but our guys wanted to push forward. There's some luck involved too. I don't want to get into the game of judging anyone else's actions. We wouldn't have been at full strength this week, but we would have been ready to play.
Q: Did you have any discussions about pushing the game back or finding another opponent? Or hanging around to wait and see?
KF: I don't know about pushing it back at all. The idea of swapping opponents, that probably got some discussion online, but in football it's just not very realistic. I don't know if people fully appreciate how football prep works. It's a pretty extravagant preparation. We've been working hard on Missouri since the day it got announced and I think our coaches did a good job of putting a game plan together. Coming off the practice field today, we were on a Wednesday of game week where it was 75-80% done for game prep. Unfortunately it's just not very realistic in our sport, in my opinion.
Q: What was your personal experience with COVID? Still hear you coughing and I'm sure you're working long hours.
KF: It's been fine. I don't want to minimize it because of all the damage it's done. The first day I felt kind of sick was a week ago Wednesday, but I kind of feel like that at the end of every season. But I've been very fortunate. If it weren't for COVID, I would have been at work that Thursday, but I got sent home. I've been lucky. Fully realize that a lot of people aren't. Fortunately, we haven't had many players with symptoms either. I did lose my sense of taste. It's maybe 30% back now.
Q: When the history books look back at this season you'll have a 6-2 record and finished with a win over Wisconsin. How nice of a finish was that?
KF: That's a fond memory. Not that we knew the season was going to end there, but that was one of those days you feel really good. If you're going to play Wisconsin, you have to beat them because they're never going to beat themselves. They're a tough team, especially defensively, so to be out there in the fourth quarter with the snow coming down and the lights on, it was pretty special. Kind of reminisced to our game in 2004. Would have been nice to have two more games, but wasn't in the cards this year unfortunately. Try to take nothing for granted, so try to step back and appreciate what were able to do this season and getting to play eight games together.
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Opening Statement
Obviously it's a disappointing turn of events that we learned about. First thing I want to do is wish everyone at Missouri affected by this all the best in their recovery. On behalf of our team, it's extremely disappointing to end the season this way with two games in a row being cancelled. I can't say enough about our group of players this year, really a remarkable group. They wanted to finish the season. Had that conversation last Monday when we got shut down for a little while. It was a resounding yes with the leadership group and from what they heard from their teammates, they wanted to finish this thing out. Unfortunately that's not going to happen, but I couldn't be any prouder of our players. They were out there working out on their own when we couldn't practice and then got back in and started practicing yesterday and today and looked great, so we were right on track. I shared the news with them less than an hour ago, just wanted to have a chance to thank everybody for their efforts and dedication. With this team, it's especially true.
I shared with them that the 2008 and 2004 team started out with bumps in the road and pushed through to the finish line. To me, this team has done the exact same time. Those two teams had great character and leadership and so did this one. I get asked frequently about how you evaluate a season and to me it's about the quality of people and the work they put in week to week. That 2004 and 2008 team are two of my all-time favorites and so is this one because of the dedication that they've shown. If you look at how they've handled things, it's really remarkable. They've handled everything thrown their way and pushed forward collectively. It's a disappointing day, but I'm hopeful at some point they'll be able to appreciate everything they've accomplished since March until now. I want to thank our players, our support staff, and our medical staff. They're really the unsung heroes with the amount of hours they've put in because of the COVID situation. It's unbelievable. It's an illustration of people doing things because they love to do it. Also, want to thank our parents because they've been fantastic. It's been exciting and heartbreaking at different times and they've been extremely supportive throughout, so I want to express my thanks and appreciation to them.
Q: The timeline Missouri talked about suggested a problem at their last game and then going forward since then. Is there a feeling they were irresponsible?
KF: I don't want to pass judgment on anybody. I just know in our case we were disappointed two weeks ago. I feel fortunate being in the Big Ten with antigen testing. To me, that's why we were able to play in eight straight games this season. Then in week nine, our opponent wasn't able to. But we've had our hardships, saw those surface on Sunday, but our guys wanted to push forward. There's some luck involved too. I don't want to get into the game of judging anyone else's actions. We wouldn't have been at full strength this week, but we would have been ready to play.
Q: Did you have any discussions about pushing the game back or finding another opponent? Or hanging around to wait and see?
KF: I don't know about pushing it back at all. The idea of swapping opponents, that probably got some discussion online, but in football it's just not very realistic. I don't know if people fully appreciate how football prep works. It's a pretty extravagant preparation. We've been working hard on Missouri since the day it got announced and I think our coaches did a good job of putting a game plan together. Coming off the practice field today, we were on a Wednesday of game week where it was 75-80% done for game prep. Unfortunately it's just not very realistic in our sport, in my opinion.
Q: What was your personal experience with COVID? Still hear you coughing and I'm sure you're working long hours.
KF: It's been fine. I don't want to minimize it because of all the damage it's done. The first day I felt kind of sick was a week ago Wednesday, but I kind of feel like that at the end of every season. But I've been very fortunate. If it weren't for COVID, I would have been at work that Thursday, but I got sent home. I've been lucky. Fully realize that a lot of people aren't. Fortunately, we haven't had many players with symptoms either. I did lose my sense of taste. It's maybe 30% back now.
Q: When the history books look back at this season you'll have a 6-2 record and finished with a win over Wisconsin. How nice of a finish was that?
KF: That's a fond memory. Not that we knew the season was going to end there, but that was one of those days you feel really good. If you're going to play Wisconsin, you have to beat them because they're never going to beat themselves. They're a tough team, especially defensively, so to be out there in the fourth quarter with the snow coming down and the lights on, it was pretty special. Kind of reminisced to our game in 2004. Would have been nice to have two more games, but wasn't in the cards this year unfortunately. Try to take nothing for granted, so try to step back and appreciate what were able to do this season and getting to play eight games together.
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