Kirk Ferentz addressed the Iowa media ahead of the 2023 season -- three weeks away now -- and one topic understandably dominated the early portion of his press conference: the state of Iowa's ongoing investigation into sports wagering at Iowa and Iowa State. Charges have been brought against multiple current and former Iowa players in the last few weeks and at least one Iowa player (Noah Shannon) remains under investigation.
Ferentz acknowledged that the investigation remained ongoing and that Iowa continues to cooperate with investigators, but that there wasn't much he could say about the investigation. He noted that there were two levels of the investigation, one with the DCI (Division of Criminal Investigation) and one with the NCAA.
Something that Ferentz highlighted in his comments: the prevalence of gambling today. "One thing I can tell you, I think it’s become pretty apparent that sports betting is common in football in general, just athletics in general. Based on an NCAA survey I saw a couple months ago, it’s pretty prevalent on every college campus, not only with athletes but just general people, and certainly as I’ve learned the last couple months, it’s a big part of what’s going on out there in the general public."
Despite gambling's pervasive presence, though, Ferentz emphasized that it was important that the integrity of the game not be compromised by the gambling activities. That had to be a fundamental starting point for all discussions and regulations around gambling activities.
He noted a need to ramp up education about gambling, as well as a need for the NCAA to reconsider its policies and rules around gambling. "I think we have to ramp up our education. Me personally, probably have to do a better job there. And I would suggest there’s probably going modification policies moving forward NCAA," Ferentz added.
"I don’t want to speak for them, but I would imagine that might be the case, just like the NFL I think has a pretty realistic set of working rules. I would like to see ours hopefully model theirs a little bit closer. That’s just my two cents commentary."
In terms of the impact of the gambling investigation on fall practice and player availability, Ferentz said it was minimal. All but one player involved was still taking part in practice. He also noted that injury, not the investigation, has prevented Noah Shannon from being involved in Iowa's practices. Finally, Ferentz also noted that Shannon was, to his knowledge, "the most prominent player involved in [the investigation]."
As the discussion turned to football, Ferentz said that he was pleased with what he's seen so far from the team and happy with how the first eight practices had gone. He noted a few hiccups, like the "six or seven false starts" the offense had on the first day of practice because Cade McNamara wasn't yet familiar with Iowa's cadences after not taking part in any full team practices in the spring.
One positive from practice so far was a lack of serious injuries. Ferentz noted that a handful of players were dealing with minor injuries -- "soft tissue injuries," as he described them -- and would be held out of competition at Saturday's Kids Day open practice, but that overall the health of the team was very good.
One position unit that generated a lot of discussion was the offensive line. That unit's struggles the past two seasons have been inextricably intertwined with the struggles of the offense as a whole. As he has in past comments during the spring and summer, though, Ferentz seemed bullish on the potential of the offensive line this year.
The biggest factors behind Ferentz's confidence in the offensive line? Experience, health, and depth. He noted that in recent years a lack of options had forced Iowa to play some guys before they were ready. Ferentz highlighted Connor Colby and Mason Richman as two players who had dealt with injuries and inexperience in the past, but who were now practicing at a much higher level.
"My point is [Colby] looks like a different football player than he did the last two years. I’m not saying we predicted that, but my feeling was, my sense was that we would see that. Mason (Richman) is kind of the same way. Mason probably got thrown in there a little bit, perhaps asked a little bit more out of him than we had to, but is the way it goes sometimes. You do what you can. He did a heck of a job competing."
In addition to the improved experienced (and better health) among Iowa's offensive linemen, they also simply have more capable bodies available, thanks to some transfer portal additions like Rusty Feth and Daijon Parker. Ferentz singled out Feth in particular, saying "A guy like (Rusty) Feth comes in here who’s played a lot of college football, a little different level of competition, but with every day he’s getting better."
Those added options give Iowa something the Hawkeyes have lacked on the offensive line the last few seasons: depth. "I think we have some competition in the group, which we haven’t had," said Ferentz. "We’ve been trying to survive. Now we’ve got competition, and maybe with a little bit of luck we’ll probably be able to play at the tempo we want to play at."
Wide receiver was another position unit that generated discussion. Ferentz began by praising two of the most experienced members of Iowa's wide receiver room. "Nico (Ragaini) has had a really good preseason. He’s a little dinged up right now but nothing major. Diante Vines has been injured in and out [in past seasons]. Had all kinds of crazy stuff happen. He is having a really good preseason. We kind of thought that would happen, but it’s got to happen on the field. Again, I think it’s maturity, it’s being around. His case, just staying on the field."
As far as the most high-profile member of the wide receiver room, Ohio State transfer Kaleb Brown, Ferentz praised his ability, but noted that he was still dealing with a steep learning curve due to his lack of experience. "So if you look at some of the other guys that transferred, McNamara has got a resume, Erick All has got a resume. Kaleb doesn’t. He was a really good prospect out of high school. I would say he is a better prospect now, but he’s still a prospect if that makes sense.
"But I think to expect the same out of him as maybe McNamara, All. You’re looking at two different categories, but I am glad he is here. Great young guy and has fit in really well and he’s working hard, so eager to get him back."
Ferentz had similar thoughts about Iowa's other transfer WR addition, Seth Anderson, though noted that his increased experience (having played a large role for Charleston Southern in 2022) had helped him be further along in his progress. "Kind of like Kaleb, only further ahead than Kaleb. He’s played more football. Lower level, but great young guy," said Ferentz. "We didn’t get to see him in the spring because he was out basically the whole spring. Works hard, great attitude, and smooth player. He’s got good ability.
While Cade McNamara is the clear starting QB at Iowa entering fall, Ferentz was asked about his backup. Ferentz said the answer was clear: Joe Labas, although he hasn't been practicing while recovering from an injury, which has provided an opportunity for Wisconsin transfer Deacon Hill to get additional reps. "Labas has been out. He had a soft tissue injury back in July. So hopefully we’ll get him back on the field right now, but it’s clearly one, two, and then after that, hang on."
Because it was an Iowa football press conference, Ferentz was also asked about fullback, which is set to feature some new faces. Hayden Large is set to be Iowa's starting fullback this year, but he's facing questions about his (literal) large size -- at 6'5", he's very tall for a fullback.
"That is his biggest challenge is getting leverage," Ferentz said. "That’s the disadvantage of being tall. But if you can bend a little bit, which he can, it’s a matter of learning how to play, and it’s true at every position. Height can be an advantage or disadvantage."
Ferentz was asked about Xavier Nwankpa's progress and used it as an opportunity to discuss all of Iowa's safeties. "[Nwankpa]’s doing a good job. He’s out there competing, and still on the back end, (Quinn) Schulte is the veteran guy, if you will, kind of the stabilizer right now, and then we’ve got a bunch of other guys competing," Ferentz explained.
"Xavier is doing a good job and making good progress. (Koen) Entringer is the same way. He’s doing a good job, and (Sebastian) Castro has been practicing well, played his best in the bowl game."
"That’s kind of us," said Ferentz. "We’ve got some young guys coming along, and we’ve got an older guy like Castro who finally got some traction in that bowl game and really looked like a Big Ten safety, not just a specialist, if you will."
Finally, Ferentz was also asked to comment on the Big Ten's westward expansion, with the recent news of Oregon and Washington joining USC and UCLA as new members in 2024. Ferentz has not played a west coast road game in the regular season since a trip to Arizona in 2010, but Ferentz acknowledged that he would have to adjust his preparations in the future.
"Things have changed certainly. I’ve never been a proponent of going out west in season," he explained. "Bowl games are fine. But we’ll adjust. We’ll figure out how to make it work."
Ferentz thought that football would have it relatively easy when it came to dealing with the challenges brought on by adding four schools over a thousand miles away from the core of Big Ten country. "But to the other question, my thought a year ago was it’s not that big a deal in our sport. We travel five times a year. Most of them are pretty easy trips. Our guys don’t miss much class time."
He thought that other sports would be the ones that would suffer under the new travel and logistics burdens in the hugely expanded Big Ten. "But the sports in my mind — you think about the Olympic sports last year, especially if you’re one of those two West Coast school teams where a home game is Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, the pressure it’s going to put on those student-athletes, and they still say student-athlete, but just all those strains, flying commercial, the whole nine yards, that was my thought a year ago."
A full transcript of Ferentz's press conference is available here.
