Terry Brands was on the I-Club circuit on Thursday evening in the Quad Cities and the always upbeat wrestling assistant coach couldn't hold back from raving about the energy in the wrestling room this spring. Brands discusses the leadership from his young wrestlers, led by national champion Spencer Lee, and if the Hawkeyes could make a run at a national title next spring in Pittsburgh.
Q: Do you anticipate any issues coaching your own son? Have you talked to anyone about how they managed it?
BRANDS: My wife and I have taken a different approach with Nelson. It’s sort of been kind of unconventional in that I have really been hands off. I feel like that’s one of the areas of my life that I have done relatively right by kind of leaving him alone.
He comes to me and that’s the most important thing because I am not coming to him and trying to micromanage him. He comes to me with questions and we figure it out from there.
Q: In the wrestling room, are you able to treat him like any other wrestler?
BRANDS: For sure. You treat them all as individuals. He has a unique set of characteristics that makes him unique and really all 40 guys on our roster are that way. It’s not about him being my son. It’s about him being my son and a member of the team. He is going to be held to a standard that is similar, if not higher than the rest of the roster.
Q: It feels like there’s a different energy around the program right now. Is that fair?
BRANDS: Very fair. That energy is contagious and it makes a difference. When you have leadership in the room from someone like Spencer Lee, and even going back to Kemmerer when he came on campus, you see that guys like to be on the mat. They like to be on the mat even on the days when they are supposed to be down and recovering. They are drilling it out instead of staying away for a day. That’s really healthy for the program and the energy in the program.
Q: It feels like the young guys have become not only the face of the program, but the leaders of the program. How unique is that for you guys?
BRANDS: it’s not unique in our philosophy because we don’t believe in senior leadership. We believe in senior leadership when our seniors are our leaders. We believe in leadership in you as a person. If everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing, we are going to have great leadership whether they are freshmen or seniors.
Q: You had some guys kind of banged up after the NCAA’s. How has everyone recovered from that?
BRANDS: We have had a great post national spring. We had seven guys compete in the 20 and under nationals. Five of those guys qualified for the 20 and under trials, which take place next weekend. Then we have the U 23’s coming up on the first weekend in June. There’s a lot of wrestling going on and our guys are excited about it. We have a lot of energy and it’s good energy. It’s not a barren room like it was maybe five or six years ago. We had a #1 class that we signed six or seven years ago and basically had zero national champions out of that class and that’s a problem. Maybe you make the mistake of signing talent, but not necessarily signing someone that is compatible to your kind of approach. You know where I am going with that…It’s been really healthy for everybody. Not only for our guys and administration, but for our coaching staff.
Q: You talked about the energy in the room being contagious. What’s that like right now?
BRANDS: It’s great. You start with Spencer Lee and his approach is these guys are my friends, my family, my teammates. He talks about these guys like they are his lifelong friends and he’s been here for a year. That says a lot about him. In less than one year he has transformed or transcended that part that Tom and I experienced when we were at Iowa. We were that leadership that brought guys along with our work ethic and being in the room, wanting to be there, and loving the work side of the sport.
Q: Do you ever take the time to reflect back on what Spencer Lee did this year? It’s pretty amazing given the injury he had a year ago.
BRANDS: I don’t know that I sit back and reflect. I am really pleased with the way he competed. He was impressive down the stretch and impressive out front. What he did was not easy and to be able to come back from not just a knee injury, but a shoulder injury as well. He is probably stronger and better than he ever has been and that’s a testament to his work ethic. Yes, it’s impressive, but I don’t know if we have time to sit back and reflect on it. There’s already a huge target on his back and we have to do the right thing getting ready for 2019 in Pittsburgh. Those guys, like Spencer Lee, are going home and that’s not lost on us.
Q: How hungry are guys like Kemmerer and Marinelli after the NCAA’s?
BRANDS: I think they are really hungry. Time will tell. It’s hard to evaluate right now and tell you, I would rather that they show you.
Q: What about Jacob Warner? He redshirted last year and seems like a guy you could certainly use in the lineup next year.
BRANDS: Warner is definitely in the mix next year. We talked to our team about it recently, our lineup is going to look different next year because with a guy like Warner, we have to figure out a way to get him in there. It’s not easy to say that because what if he doesn’t win the wrestle-off? Well, it doesn’t really matter because he’s that good. He’s proven that he’s a winner who knows how to get his hand raised. That’s kind of what Lee, Kemmerer, and others have brought. They know how to get their hand raised the right way.
Q: It feels like the Iowa program is now in a position where they can legitimately compete for a national title next year. Is that how you are seeing it?
BRANDS: I appreciate that and we believe that as well. A lot of the pundits say that we are two years out. Even in other years recently where we were top four, we still believed we had the lineup to get it done. We just have to get the pieces in place. We have to get the guys to believe in themselves and the environment that they are in. If they do that, they are going to be really hard to beat and we are looking forward to that.
