The Walk Off

Here's the off-camera stuff:

How will the new facilities improve the program?

As you know, it's an arms race out there in recruiting. That's one factor. Short term, it's going to be great for everybody who uses it, most importantly our players and obviously staff and support staff, everyone who's going to be involved with it. But I really do think, like all the facilities that are going on around campus be it academic or athletic, for the long-term success of our programs athletically Carver-Hawkeye had to be addressed. Certainly, our facilities needed to be addressed. These have been adequate and they've worked and we've won games with these facilities, but with the pace of recruiting, like it or not, it's important to recruits. If you can't recruit, you can't survive.

Had you shown recruits The Bubble in recent years?

Well, we might've. We might, we might not. It wasn't a showcase, for sure. We've been showing plans now for . . . [Former Iowa LB Jeff] Tarpinian was teasing Brian [Ferentz] last fall, 'They were showing me plans when I was coming out to visit.' So, do the math on that one. [Tarpinian graduated after the '10 season.] At least now, the train is coming down the track and that's exciting.

Who has the best facilities in the Big Ten?

You know, I couldn't speak to that. Probably Ohio State, I'm just guessing. It's interesting, a school like Connecticut has excellent facilities. We went there probably three years ago. Kansas, I thought had some nice features there. So, the bottomline is we face some inherent disadvantages from a recruiting standpoint, be it location, be it population. One thing I learned here in the '80s, if we're not out in front of things, it's going to be tough. That's where Bernie Wyatt had such a gift. Back in those days, we we were doing Hawkeye football calendars and posters. Nobody else was doing that. It gave us exposure and things like that help you in recruiting, getting your name out there. You go out east and see those posters and calendars up on walls, back then nobody was doing it and they've been outlawed since, but Bernie understood back then the value of getting out front.

You've had eight press conferences this spring. Is that mostly due to all the turnover on the staff or are you changing . . .

In part that and in part, you know, just trying to help things out. My ears do work. Believe it or not, they do work. You think I'm hard-headed, but every now and then, ideas do penetrate. I'm not saying I'll ever meet in the middle, but we'll try to hear things a little bit. I've actually gotten some correspondence back that people appreciated it. I'm not against it. In season, I can't make any guarantees. My obligation and my only concern is the guys doing their jobs at that point. You have no idea, especially with the recruiting, you've got no idea how much is on their plates. It used to be that you did one thing at one time. Not anymore. We'll try to continue that into the summer, too.

But no open practices someday?

I doubt that. Boy, I tell you, you'd really be let down if you were out there. Jeez, I've got to come here and watch this? It's not that good.

The throwback uniforms are coming. Would you ever relent to players who want to have the Pro Combat thing? It seems to me, it really is for players.

Yeah, and like the topic of us being a little bit more accessible, I'm open to some things like that, too. We will certainly consider it moving forward.

What is it about Riley that made him not want to go to New York?

Two things, he does have a grandfather who is up there in age a little bit and who is frail right now. I think that's it, first and foremost. That's probably as important as anything. But that's also not really Riley's nature. I promise you, Riley would be a lot more comfortable in Green Bay than New York City, if he had a choice where he went. Wherever he goes, he line up and practice hard and learn and do whatever a good pro will do, not unlike Marshal Yanda. He's cut from that same cloth. Riley is a guy who'd rather be out fishing or do things like that than be in Manhattan and hanging out with whoever. He's not about attention. Riley has never done a thing to garner attention. He performs well and is a competitive guy. He's been easy to coach. Appreciate what he's done and we'll really miss him.

Markus Zusevics?

Broderick had a similar thing last June [torn pectoral] and he made it back. Zuse will probably miss the mini-camps, but when it comes time, he should be able to go in August. I think all three of those guys, obviously Riley has a lot of value. We had some visitors in last week and we were watching some clips from last year, more than some, we were going through a lot of tape, I thought Gettis and Zusevics played well. They played really well. Gettis might be a sleeper in the whole thing. Everyone is worried about his size, but this guy just blocks people. Zuse will be fine. I'd be shocked if he didn't get drafted.

Bernstine?

I think he's got a shock. He's been worked out by a lot of people and several teams. He tested very, very well. I think he's going to get an opportunity. I'd be shocked if he didn't. Same thing with Shaun. Shaun is going to get drafted, I think.

At the end, KF confirmed that his son Steven will be walking on with the Hawkeyes. That'll be four in the fold next fall, two players (James and Steven) and two coaches (Kirk and Brian).