These are rough quotes from Chris White and Bobby Kennedy today. Full transcript will come later this afternoon.
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CHRIS WHITE
Good afternoon. Good to be back with the players. Football is about preparation and execution and clearly we weren't happy with the way we finished the season last year. Since the kids got back here from winter break, they've been great. As coaches, we've spent a lot of time self evaluating everything in the program and how we do things. Coach Doyle extremely happy with winter program and it's shown up in first few practices. Can feel the energy.
As far as running backs, graduation of Mark and Damon. Hard to describe the loss of Mark and the way he went about his business. He'll be missed. Canzeri entering senior year. Got a glimpse of what he's capable of in the bowl game and he still wasn't 100%. Done a good job of taking on leadership. LeShun really ready to take off last year, but then got hurt during bye week. We asked him to cut some weight and he's down to 225 and looks unbelievable. He broke the running backs shuttle record with Coach Doyle, which is pretty amazing. He's going to take what were some of Mark's carries and maybe more.
Akrum Wadley, a talented player, working on physical development. Added probably 10 pounds and that's shown up with pass protection. Continues to work on ball security. Derrick Mitchell was a wide receiver for us and played some special teams. When we played Wisconsin, needed some scout team guys to replicate Melvin Gordon. All of the defensive coaches were raving about him, couldn't tackle him. He's a talented player. Had an outstanding day on Saturday in live tackle. Broke off some long runs. Going to push for playing time.
CJ Hilliard making steady progress. Moved Marcel Joly over to running back and he's done a nice job too.
Fullback wise, we're a team that used the fullback. We have three guys with good experience. Getting the old Adam Cox back now after coming back from injury and then Macon Pleway and John Kenny going to stay there for the future.
Special teams wise, we need to kick the ball better. Need to get the whole punt deal straightened out. We're working hard at it and we'll get it right. At punter, it's Connor and Dillon and Marshall is getting some reps and Recinos too. At kicker, we like Marshall's leg strength, just working on getting more consistent. Also, Mick Ellis is working and doing a nice job too.
At returner, Jonathan Parker was a young guy last year and needs to make better decisions, but like his speed obviously. We do plan on expanding role of Desmond King and seeing if he can be a returner for us. Also, Akrum too because of his athletic ability. Also Matt VandeBerg and Riley McCarron.
LeShun Daniels encouraged to cut weight? He's always been very religious about his workout regime and what he eats. He's always met his target weight. He was in the 230's, but Coach Doyle just thought he's so strong, he doesn't need to get bigger, he needs to get more athletic. We wanted to cut down his bulk and you can see it on the practice field.
Is he fully recovered? Oh yeah, absolutely. He looks fantastic.
Has LeShun started understanding the zone plays a little better? Yeah. We spend a lot of time watching tape out of season. We've pointed out some things that we're coaching better and they're executing better now.
Prototypical perfect back? Come in all shapes and sizes. I know this, a guy like LeShun is a workhorse type of guy. He has speed, can jump cut, and more agile than Mark. We all know Mark was a fullback playing tailback and he was pretty damn good at it, but had his limitations. LeShun can make a guy miss more in space.
Brian Ferentz run game coordinator, any changes? I can't really specify that, but Brian is very talented. The thing that we've done specifically with the running backs and tight ends is spent more time in the meeting room together with the offensive line. We hear one voice from the run game coordinator as far as the line calls, where the back is pressing the hole. He sees the big picture.
Schematically, anything different? Not really. Trying to incorporate more. Some gap scheme plays, some pulls, but bread and butter is still inside and outside zone. I've been talking about using some draws for Akrum. He ripped off a couple the other day. We're getting more multiple. Tight ends being dispersed more in different spots. Wide receivers moving around more.
Do you see CJ being a little quicker, read option more of a play call? Well, that's an interesting question because CJ could be really good at it, but right now we have 2 quarterbacks so we want him to work on his getting down skills. He's such a competitor.
Mark being FB playing tailback, backs now able to get the hole better? Yeah, no question. Sometimes we're getting there too fast with Akrum and some guys. It's fun to coach these kids and they're going to keep getting better. Going to see some longer runs.
Punter mix due to performance? Yes. No two ways to put it. Not acceptable. They didn't execute. I've got to find a way to have someone execute better in games. Competition is the only way to do it. One of them needs to step up.
What has Marshall shown as a punter? Technically he doesn't know what he's doing, but he hit a 60 yarder yesterday. His leg strength is rare.
How would you manage him? I don't think it's as hard as some people think. Other college kids have done it. Just have to make sure he doesn't get a tired leg. The thing that takes a lot out of you is the kickoffs, so just have to be careful.
Jonathan Parker, lack of confidence letting ball bounce and then what happened in bowl game? I wish I had an answer for you. He just is not innately catching the ball like some kids do. He's actually working with the wide receivers now and that's going to help him, just tracking balls and catching the ball. He's a great kid. I can't tell you how important football is for him. That play you're talking about crushed him. As a coach, what are you going to tell him? It was just a reaction. He's going to learn from it. He has more playmaking ability than most on our team, so we have to get him to track the ball better. It's reps, reps, reps, and if he can't do it, then we've got to find somebody else.
Passive in punt return game? Fair in terms of we've been burnt enough on fakes. Priority is the ball.
What makes fullback so integral? I guess best way to explain it is they are the erasers. We have a play called 17-16 Boss, meaning fullback on safety. Most of the time, he never blocks that guy. He cleans up in the box. That's the mentality we have at Iowa. We're coming right at you, we don't care if you know what's coming.
Daniels your redzone back? I think we need to find that out. Believe it or not, Akrum Wadley in between the tackles, he's shown he can mix it up in there. If he ever gets up to 195 pounds, he can be special.
Canzeri can go inside, outside. Other than health, what do you want to see from here? One of the major points is when he's in space, kind of weaving around instead of just running. We went to a bunch of different players in the spring, one was UCLA. Got a bunch of a different drills and really like how he talks about getting your eyes to the endzone. Guys weaving around drives me crazy. Jordan is working on that and has made tremendous progress in pass protection. Feel comfortable putting him in on third down like we had Damon do last year.
Do you have a specific back to fill that third down role? LeShun's protection is outstanding and he can catch the ball. One guy tailor made for that role is Derrick Mitchell, coming over from wide receiver. He has tremendous ball skills and is eager to learn protection. Hoping that might be a role for him. Akrum is getting better at protection too. Then Jordan is fighting to keep it because he wants that role too.
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BOBBY KENNEDY
Good afternoon. Chris mentioned getting Akrum more weight, up to 195. I would be happy to donate some of mine.
Excited about direction that our team is taking this spring. At my position, I've been pleased thus far, but not satisfied because I think we have a lot of work to do.
Have returning players like Smith, Hillyer, VandeBerg, Stone, and McCarron, and some guys that need to come on this spring. Harris, Parker moving to wide receiver has been a good addition. He has good hands. Jay Scheel, didn't see a lot of him last fall coming off injury. Really starting practicing for us in December. Excited to see him progress because he's a talented kid. Working on 3 T's. Technique, toughness, and tempo.
Last year, not satisfied with overall performance of my group and that falls on me. From a blocking point of view in running game particularly. When I looked at the cutups, I was disappointed in how we executed there. Working hard at it and that's where toughness comes in. My failure in that is I've been doing this a long time, but every year you have to walk guys through progressions and get them to do it the way you want them to.
I thought we caught the ball well last year. Not as many drops as years back, but always something we can do even better with. Overall, pleased with direction of our group and our team and their attitude. A lot of work to do. We're challenging guys this spring. If you look at first two years I came in after Coach Davis got here, longest tenured wide receivers coach in his career so either he runs them off or I'm crazy to stick with him (laugh). But we're on the same page 99.9% of the time. Now need to challenge guys more to know the whole scheme, play multiple positions, and take advantage of matchups.
There's no doubt this is a pro style offense. You see a lot of the same schemes that you'll see in the NFL on Sunday. So getting these guys to understand the big picture and understand the matchups, that will be good for a guy like Tevaun and his growth. There's more to this game than just your spot.
Pleased, but not satisfied with where we are six days in. Right now at this stage we're green and growing. Replacing Kevonte and Damond Powell. Have some experience and have some youth coming. Excited about the three guys we signed because there's going to be opportunities.
This post was edited on 4/8 1:28 PM by Blair Sanderson
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CHRIS WHITE
Good afternoon. Good to be back with the players. Football is about preparation and execution and clearly we weren't happy with the way we finished the season last year. Since the kids got back here from winter break, they've been great. As coaches, we've spent a lot of time self evaluating everything in the program and how we do things. Coach Doyle extremely happy with winter program and it's shown up in first few practices. Can feel the energy.
As far as running backs, graduation of Mark and Damon. Hard to describe the loss of Mark and the way he went about his business. He'll be missed. Canzeri entering senior year. Got a glimpse of what he's capable of in the bowl game and he still wasn't 100%. Done a good job of taking on leadership. LeShun really ready to take off last year, but then got hurt during bye week. We asked him to cut some weight and he's down to 225 and looks unbelievable. He broke the running backs shuttle record with Coach Doyle, which is pretty amazing. He's going to take what were some of Mark's carries and maybe more.
Akrum Wadley, a talented player, working on physical development. Added probably 10 pounds and that's shown up with pass protection. Continues to work on ball security. Derrick Mitchell was a wide receiver for us and played some special teams. When we played Wisconsin, needed some scout team guys to replicate Melvin Gordon. All of the defensive coaches were raving about him, couldn't tackle him. He's a talented player. Had an outstanding day on Saturday in live tackle. Broke off some long runs. Going to push for playing time.
CJ Hilliard making steady progress. Moved Marcel Joly over to running back and he's done a nice job too.
Fullback wise, we're a team that used the fullback. We have three guys with good experience. Getting the old Adam Cox back now after coming back from injury and then Macon Pleway and John Kenny going to stay there for the future.
Special teams wise, we need to kick the ball better. Need to get the whole punt deal straightened out. We're working hard at it and we'll get it right. At punter, it's Connor and Dillon and Marshall is getting some reps and Recinos too. At kicker, we like Marshall's leg strength, just working on getting more consistent. Also, Mick Ellis is working and doing a nice job too.
At returner, Jonathan Parker was a young guy last year and needs to make better decisions, but like his speed obviously. We do plan on expanding role of Desmond King and seeing if he can be a returner for us. Also, Akrum too because of his athletic ability. Also Matt VandeBerg and Riley McCarron.
LeShun Daniels encouraged to cut weight? He's always been very religious about his workout regime and what he eats. He's always met his target weight. He was in the 230's, but Coach Doyle just thought he's so strong, he doesn't need to get bigger, he needs to get more athletic. We wanted to cut down his bulk and you can see it on the practice field.
Is he fully recovered? Oh yeah, absolutely. He looks fantastic.
Has LeShun started understanding the zone plays a little better? Yeah. We spend a lot of time watching tape out of season. We've pointed out some things that we're coaching better and they're executing better now.
Prototypical perfect back? Come in all shapes and sizes. I know this, a guy like LeShun is a workhorse type of guy. He has speed, can jump cut, and more agile than Mark. We all know Mark was a fullback playing tailback and he was pretty damn good at it, but had his limitations. LeShun can make a guy miss more in space.
Brian Ferentz run game coordinator, any changes? I can't really specify that, but Brian is very talented. The thing that we've done specifically with the running backs and tight ends is spent more time in the meeting room together with the offensive line. We hear one voice from the run game coordinator as far as the line calls, where the back is pressing the hole. He sees the big picture.
Schematically, anything different? Not really. Trying to incorporate more. Some gap scheme plays, some pulls, but bread and butter is still inside and outside zone. I've been talking about using some draws for Akrum. He ripped off a couple the other day. We're getting more multiple. Tight ends being dispersed more in different spots. Wide receivers moving around more.
Do you see CJ being a little quicker, read option more of a play call? Well, that's an interesting question because CJ could be really good at it, but right now we have 2 quarterbacks so we want him to work on his getting down skills. He's such a competitor.
Mark being FB playing tailback, backs now able to get the hole better? Yeah, no question. Sometimes we're getting there too fast with Akrum and some guys. It's fun to coach these kids and they're going to keep getting better. Going to see some longer runs.
Punter mix due to performance? Yes. No two ways to put it. Not acceptable. They didn't execute. I've got to find a way to have someone execute better in games. Competition is the only way to do it. One of them needs to step up.
What has Marshall shown as a punter? Technically he doesn't know what he's doing, but he hit a 60 yarder yesterday. His leg strength is rare.
How would you manage him? I don't think it's as hard as some people think. Other college kids have done it. Just have to make sure he doesn't get a tired leg. The thing that takes a lot out of you is the kickoffs, so just have to be careful.
Jonathan Parker, lack of confidence letting ball bounce and then what happened in bowl game? I wish I had an answer for you. He just is not innately catching the ball like some kids do. He's actually working with the wide receivers now and that's going to help him, just tracking balls and catching the ball. He's a great kid. I can't tell you how important football is for him. That play you're talking about crushed him. As a coach, what are you going to tell him? It was just a reaction. He's going to learn from it. He has more playmaking ability than most on our team, so we have to get him to track the ball better. It's reps, reps, reps, and if he can't do it, then we've got to find somebody else.
Passive in punt return game? Fair in terms of we've been burnt enough on fakes. Priority is the ball.
What makes fullback so integral? I guess best way to explain it is they are the erasers. We have a play called 17-16 Boss, meaning fullback on safety. Most of the time, he never blocks that guy. He cleans up in the box. That's the mentality we have at Iowa. We're coming right at you, we don't care if you know what's coming.
Daniels your redzone back? I think we need to find that out. Believe it or not, Akrum Wadley in between the tackles, he's shown he can mix it up in there. If he ever gets up to 195 pounds, he can be special.
Canzeri can go inside, outside. Other than health, what do you want to see from here? One of the major points is when he's in space, kind of weaving around instead of just running. We went to a bunch of different players in the spring, one was UCLA. Got a bunch of a different drills and really like how he talks about getting your eyes to the endzone. Guys weaving around drives me crazy. Jordan is working on that and has made tremendous progress in pass protection. Feel comfortable putting him in on third down like we had Damon do last year.
Do you have a specific back to fill that third down role? LeShun's protection is outstanding and he can catch the ball. One guy tailor made for that role is Derrick Mitchell, coming over from wide receiver. He has tremendous ball skills and is eager to learn protection. Hoping that might be a role for him. Akrum is getting better at protection too. Then Jordan is fighting to keep it because he wants that role too.
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BOBBY KENNEDY
Good afternoon. Chris mentioned getting Akrum more weight, up to 195. I would be happy to donate some of mine.
Excited about direction that our team is taking this spring. At my position, I've been pleased thus far, but not satisfied because I think we have a lot of work to do.
Have returning players like Smith, Hillyer, VandeBerg, Stone, and McCarron, and some guys that need to come on this spring. Harris, Parker moving to wide receiver has been a good addition. He has good hands. Jay Scheel, didn't see a lot of him last fall coming off injury. Really starting practicing for us in December. Excited to see him progress because he's a talented kid. Working on 3 T's. Technique, toughness, and tempo.
Last year, not satisfied with overall performance of my group and that falls on me. From a blocking point of view in running game particularly. When I looked at the cutups, I was disappointed in how we executed there. Working hard at it and that's where toughness comes in. My failure in that is I've been doing this a long time, but every year you have to walk guys through progressions and get them to do it the way you want them to.
I thought we caught the ball well last year. Not as many drops as years back, but always something we can do even better with. Overall, pleased with direction of our group and our team and their attitude. A lot of work to do. We're challenging guys this spring. If you look at first two years I came in after Coach Davis got here, longest tenured wide receivers coach in his career so either he runs them off or I'm crazy to stick with him (laugh). But we're on the same page 99.9% of the time. Now need to challenge guys more to know the whole scheme, play multiple positions, and take advantage of matchups.
There's no doubt this is a pro style offense. You see a lot of the same schemes that you'll see in the NFL on Sunday. So getting these guys to understand the big picture and understand the matchups, that will be good for a guy like Tevaun and his growth. There's more to this game than just your spot.
Pleased, but not satisfied with where we are six days in. Right now at this stage we're green and growing. Replacing Kevonte and Damond Powell. Have some experience and have some youth coming. Excited about the three guys we signed because there's going to be opportunities.
This post was edited on 4/8 1:28 PM by Blair Sanderson
