OPENING STATEMENT
I hope everyone is doing well. First of all, I want to thank you for a great season. You have a hard job to do and we appreciate it and value it, but, anyhow thank you for your part there.
We just had our fourth practice today. We have a lot of work to do on the both sides of the football but really we have a great group of guys. Love our energy in the defensive line room, we have some experienced guys inside at the tackle position, we have semi experience on the outside, with a couple of younger guys and then we've got a good nucleus of guys that are doing well. The good thing you feel about it is you see guys helping each other in the room, trying to do things the way they're supposed to be doing them.
Q. Talk about Anthony Nelson?
REESE MORGAN: Anthony Nelson is a freshman, true freshman. This is his first spring he's been on campus, eight and a half months, excellent student, really has an upside, athletic, a little bit of a burst. His dad was a great defensive lineman here at the University of Iowa and he's off to a pretty good start. He's just learning things. He's got to be -- he's very good in the pass/rush game, he's got to get better at the point of attack, so forth.
But he's right now working in the two-deep. He's working with the second group. We have all our defensive ends sit together and all the defensive tackles sit together. So there is a lot of cooperative learning going on. They're communicating with each other, in addition to what Coach Bell and I work together, and that brings me to the next point. We really are fortunate to have Kelvin Bell working with us. He played here as a defensive lineman under a great defensive line coach, Ron Aiken, and he's had an opportunity to go out and work at other programs as a line coach. Then back here as an on-campus recruiting coordinator, and he's been a huge asset.
Q. Does Drew's situation complicate things for you this spring or is it business as usual?
REESE MORGAN: The thing you feel bad for is Drew. He has no control over it. We don't have any control over it so we can't worry about it. Even if he was healthy he wouldn't be practicing this spring. So it provides an opportunity for some of our younger guys to get some reps. I feel bad for him because it's been denied several times. He has an appeal in again and the process just seems to be extremely frustrating because no one from the NCAA has talked to anybody in this building about it or him, which seems to be unusual.
Q. What was his involvement at this point?
REESE MORGAN: He's written appeals. He has communicated. Our compliance people are going back and forth trying to help out. But, yeah, it's -- you know, it's hard and you feel for him, because he just wants to know. He just wants to know, can I get an agent, can I continue to play, do I -- what am I able to do? He was able to go to the combine. He got special permission to do that.
Q. What's he doing with you guys, sitting in the meetings?
REESE MORGAN: No, he's not with us at all. Right now he's treated as a graduate. He works out with Coach Doyle. He hasn't been granted that year so can't participate with us.
Q. Is Jaleel the anchor on the line?
REESE MORGAN: I tell you what, anchor might not be the right word. I would hesitate using that word because sometimes that anchor goes over here or over there, but Jaleel is an excellent player and he has great ability and the if Jaleel was up here right now he would say, I have a lot of work to do to get better. The good thing about it is he's playing with a lot of energy. He's playing hard. He's playing fast. He's our most experienced defensive linemen and he's got a chance to be good.
That being said, he has so much to get better at and the run and the pass so much going on. Nate Bazata who plays next to him, solid tough, had a whole years of experience. He was a rookie last year, so Nate has an opportunity to be a leader for us.
And Faith Ekakitie, Faith came on probably the last three games of the year. Faith probably played his best football of his career toward the end of the year. So those three guys are getting some rep and our other guy in there is Jake Hulett. Jake is a nonscholarship player from Springville, Iowa, that just gets better and better and better, and I don't know what it is about 8-man football and the D-line but they always seem to gravitate toward us.
Q. Question about Parker. When he had to fill in for Drew, he's an undersized guy, but it seemed like he rose to the challenge?
REESE MORGAN: The great thing about Parker Hesse has to do with what his parents did with him when he was a young man. They did a great job of instilling values in him. He's a great competitor. He's very tough. He is very detailed, very intelligent. He has a lot of pride. You have that. Plus he has got some ability, he was a high school quarterback as many of you know. Played all over the field, but he hates to lose. It was very competitive. He had a chance to go out and he had some help from -- Drew was helping to give him advice and help him out during the course of the season, but, you know, he's -- he's out there right now and he's kinda -- he's getting better but it's a work in progress. He is a redshirt sophomore, so that's not a lot of experience, especially in the line position.
Q. Talk about why Parker stepped up. He was the only redshirt freshman, he was the next man up?
REESE MORGAN: Yep.
Q. Do you feel like that depth exists this season?
REESE MORGAN: Hopefully he will be better and he will be available to provide some experience for us there. You've got Anthony Nelson who I have referenced and Matt Nelson on the other side. Matt is a very -- he's really starting to come on. You saw him in the bowl game and in the Big Ten Championship. He played some valuable reps and provided us with some depth. He's a very smart kid. He's a perfectionist so we've gotta kinda get a little bit of Nate Meier in him, go in and go hard. If you make a mistake that's okay once in a while but just go! He's off to a good start right now.
Last edited:
