10 Takeaways from media day

1. Is this Kirk Ferentz's most settled depth chart?

Probably not, but it's not far off. Strong safety and probably left guard are in play. There will be the ceremonial parsing of the running backs. Round one there decidely went to junior LeShun Daniels, but this isn't over. There will be the annual shuffling of the wide receivers, but you already kind of figured that and pretty much know who's who.

This two deep feels pretty much settled. Head coach Kirk Ferentz agrees to a point. Remember, camp is a journey of discovery, and so you never know.

'I think we have a good grasp of the staff now of who we are and where we're at,' Ferentz said. 'Things change. That's the good thing about college football.'

2. Following this thought . . .

Ferentz started down the list of possible camp battles and started with linebacker. He has maintained since spring that there are five players bumping for three spots.

'We have a lot of interesting developments with the linebackers and the safeties,' Ferentz said. 'The defensive line, where those openings are and who can get into the rotation. Can we play six guys, seven guys? I'd love to think we could. And then the offensive line is still a work in progress. Getting Sean back adds to the mix.'

Sophomore Sean Welsh, who started six games last season, returned after missing spring practice because of undisclosed personal reasons. Whatever held him back in the spring seems to have been exorcised.

'(Last year) was exciting and humbling,' Welsh said. 'You learn quickly that it's very competitive. It's a competitive game at this level. You have to do all the minor details that go into it. Coming in, I had no idea what to expect. I heard other's experiences, but it's something you have to experience for yourself.

'You learn when you make errors, mistakes. That's when I learned the most.'

3. Everyone present and accounted for . . . well . . .

All the recruits are in camp. As far as the academic thingies go, all seems good. As always, this is subject to change, meaning something could come up. Summer session only ended in late July.

You have to like the stuff you heard about RB LeShun Daniels. It looks as if he's been targeted as the RB who'll get the most run. Obviously, you don't like that he was held out of media day because he was 'nicked' in the morning practice and Ferentz wanted to keep him off his feet. He did have surgery on a stress fracture in his ankle/foot last season. Let's not jump to conclusions. Ferentz also said he'll be fine and would participate in Saturday's scrimmage at Kinnick.

4. The QB change remains totally fascinating

Ancient news. Move on, dummy. OK, yes, you're probably right. C.J. Beathard is in the middle of it and Jake Rudock is in Ann Arbor. Still, the fact that Iowa pulled the plug on a two-year starter at QB and announced it in the middle of January remains an outlier.

A stiff upper lip was kept when the QB topic came up. Ferentz called the decision makers who helped shape this call a 'tight circle.' Who would it have been? Certainly Ferentz and Davis. Maybe O-line coach Brian Ferentz? Beyond that? Just a drifting thought.

5. A little more on 'The Change'

When the Iowa staff decided on Beathard over Rudock, calls had to be made. Here's a little on how that went down:

'That's part of being a coach or a parent,' Ferentz said. 'You deliver bad news as well as good. That's the only way to operate. When I talk to players, and hopefully every person I talk to, I try to be as honest as I can. In this case, it was a really unusual case, but I thought it was important for all of us to get the decision made as soon as possible and let everyone get into the seats they wanted to get in and then move on. Everyone can get on with their lives.

'I'm glad we did it. I wish Jake nothing but the best, but we made a decision, we're really thrilled about C.J. and we're enthused about the growth that we've seen.'

6. The special teams duties

Iowa's media guide lists running backs coach Chris White and tight ends coach LeVar Woods as 'special teams coaches.' Last season, White was the special teams coordinator and Woods helped out guiding a few special teams. Recruiting coordinator and corners coach Seth Wallace is involved this season.

'What we're trying to do is get more of the coaches involved,' White said, 'and having them get in front of the team rather than the players just hearing my voice. I think it's been good from spring to the first couple of days.'

Woods is in on kick and kick return. Wallace has some expertise elements of punt units.

As he was in the spring, White remains focused on reviving punter and punt coverage.

'We know punt is the biggest thing,' he said. 'We're working really hard on that, just trust me.'

7. Coverage unit candidates

White pointed to the linebacker corps to become the potential core of special teams. That's the traditional route. It sounds as if seniors Travis Perry and Cole Fisher will be heavily relied upon.

'Travis Perry is like the bell cow of the special teams,' White said. 'He's so critical to our success.'

White also said starting linebackers will be asked to help out, along with safeties.

8. Run game coordinator

OL coach Brian Ferentz was awarded the title 'run game coordinator' during the offseason. The duties and how this will work have never been fully explained. Kirk Ferentz has said Davis still will call the plays. This probably is something that fits into shaping game plans.

Podcast: 'On Iowa' talks Hawkeye football media day

'He (Brian Ferentz) has always been in the mix,' Davis said. 'Our line coach, and I think most line coaches, are always in the mix. We're doing some different things in the running game. There's a few things formationally that'll give us an advantage to do some things.'

9. January evaluations/interviews

There were more than a few references during Saturday's media day to interviews the Iowa staff conducted with players upon their return from winter break. Of course, when you have a 7-6 record and finish 2-5, football teams tend to find a lot to talk about.

'We all met, we all went through every player, there was a new beginning,' linebacker coach Jim Reid said. 'It didn't end well and the details hurt us the last two games. With the players, the focus is on themselves and them wanting to be good.'

Reid talked about the willingness to work vs. wanting to work.

'We've got a farm mentality here,' Reid said. 'It's that type of mentality, 'We're getting up early, and we're going to work. You tell us what to do and we're going to get it done.

'There's tremendous character in my room and throughout the program. There's an intensity to learn and to want to perform.'

10. Remember that Tevaun Smith video?

It's been six months since Iowa WR Tevaun Smith caught 41 passes in a minute, setting some sort of unofficial world record. Or something like that. This video came up during a question on media day and Ferentz pounced.

.January 30, 2015

.@TevaunSmith goes for @OBJ_3's one-handed catch world record and snags 41 in a minute! #GoHawks #Swarm2015 http://t.co/BnLBmRNutP

— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball)

'Who's defending in that video?' he said. No one. It was one-handed catches that were basically dunked into a garbage can. 'I didn't see it. I missed it. I heard about it.'

Next Saturday, the talking won't be the thing as much as the playing is. The Hawkeyes will have an open practice at Kinnick Stadium. Let's see what is said with the shoulder pads on.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com