The Walk Off -- 'And if someone's dad works at an institution . . .'

Here's the off-camera portion of the day with Kirk Ferentz.

Juan Castillo was a topic. He was just fired as the Philadelphia Eagles D-coordinator. He, of course, is the father of Iowa cornerback Greg Castillo.

Have you talked to Juan or Greg Castillo? -- I've talked to both. Greg understands his dad's profession. Greg will be fine, but like any son, or for any person, it's hard. At the same time, Juan is one of the best people and best coaches I've been around at any level. The good news is he'll have a long line of suitors when the time comes. It's one of those temporary bumps in the road. Ironically, I finally got to see the Cleveland '95 thing last Thursday night. I would suggest Bill Belichick was a Hall of Fame coach in Cleveland and I don't think he's changed that much. [Belichick was fired in Cleveland before he won three Super Bowls with the Patriots.] Sometimes, it's circumstance and that's part of our profession.

Is it like a coach finishing school [under Belichick]? I've read that he coaches coaches? -- He does or else you're not there. You're being coached or you're encouraged to leave.

In that way, do you come out of there better? You've talked about it as a graduate school for coaches. -- That's how I always looked at it, being in graduate school, not that I would be an expert on that subject because I never went to graduate school. You can't help but learn when you're there.

You mentioned your relationship with Juan Castillo. How would you characterize that before you were in the program? -- I know Juan through my mentor Joe Moore. Juan spent time with Joe and Tom Bresnhan, another guy who's been really good to me throughout my football career. That's the kind of guy Juan is. I mentioned Bill [O'Brien] leaving a full-time coordinator job to go be a gopher. Juan got in his car and drove from Kingsville to Notre Dame to wherever. There was a great piece on HBO about him, where he slept in his car to visit with Andy Reid when Andy got the job up in Green Bay. The guy is all about football and is a tremendous human being. You feel shameful when you meet him he's such a good guy. You're just a peon, but he's such a good guy and such a good coach. My other Juan Castillo story is when I was wherever I was, I worked out four of his guys at Kingsville. He had just gone to the Eagles. I'd been at three other, quote unquote, big-name schools, and I went there and it was the best workout I've witnessed in my six years in the NFL. It was unbelievable. Well coached, unbelievable guys. Everybody can talk a good game, but the proof was in the pudding with those guys. Wow. [Jermane] Mayberry was one of them, who Philly drafted. It's one thing to talk a good game, but I knew this guy knew what he was doing. He paid his dues. He's a tremendous football coach. That's my linkage with Juan. That was back in the '90s.

In the wake of what the passing game is, Keenan has quietly put together six catches in each of the last three weeks. He's quietly putting together a decent season. The passing game isn't where you want it to be, but does it speak to what his talent is? -- I said this before the season, if our seniors aren't playing their best, it's going to be a rough year. Keenan is playing his best. It's the best football he's played since he's been here. All season long, he's doing a good job. That catch he made the other day, it was a beautiful play. We're counting on that from him. For us to have success, we're going to need that. He's certainly delivering. And he's blocking out there doing a great job. The run Weisman had two games ago in front of our bench, that was him blocking down the field. I think he's having fun. I don't want to speak for him, but I think he's really enjoying the game. He'll be part of our evolution offensively, I don't think there's any doubt about that. He'll be right in the center of that. He's already helped us immensely.

When you started to get early verbal commitments, did you anticipate -- yeah, oh yeah (KF) -- more of a chance of de-commits? -- Oh yeah, that's going to come with that territory. It's the same old thing. It's one thing to hold hands and say, 'I like you.' But it's another thing to walk up to that altar and say, 'I love you.' That's recruiting. It's a sign of times. . . . And if someone's dad works at an institution, as you might imagine we suspected this could be a possibility [referencing without directly referencing Indianapolis DE David Kenney's de-commit to Indiana, where his dad works for Kevin Wilson's staff]. Not to get specific about anything.