Iowa notes from Big Ten media days: Kirk Ferentz says in-helmet communication is ‘good for the game’

INDIANAPOLIS — Count Kirk Ferentz among the fans of the technological advances happening in college football ahead of the 2024 season — namely, the use of in-helmet communication and tablets on the sidelines.

“It’s just good for the game,” Ferentz said, specifically addressing the in-helmet communication. “It’ll make the quality of play better. I wish it had happened sooner. Selfishly, it was perfect timing because we changed our offense. We have a lot of verbiage in our play-calling now.”

The Big Ten is partnering with Apple and sports software company DVSport to have iPads that can easily and accessibly show plays on the sidelines. Ferentz is “glad we caught up to high school football.”

“I can tell you from being in the NFL, it’s a great teaching aide to have pictures on the sidelines,” Ferentz said. “Probably the biggest challenge is that we probably have too much information because it’s video. So we’re going to have to learn how to get to what’s important and then shut up as coaches.”

Iowa is ‘pretty good’ from health standpoint ahead of fall camp

As Iowa begins fall camp this week, it is in “pretty good” shape from a health standpoint.

“You have some soft tissue stuff in the summer, but nothing I’m expecting to be a big challenge next week,” Ferentz said last week.

The one exception appears to be in the secondary.

“I think Koen (Entringer) is the only guy that had major surgery that bled into the summer,” Ferentz said. “I don’t know when he’s going to be ready, but he’s doing really well. But he hasn’t played football, and he hasn’t been out doing football stuff. And he hasn’t been cleared.”

Entringer appeared in all 14 games as a redshirt freshman in 2023 and was listed as the second-team strong safety on the Hawkeyes’ 2024 preseason depth chart behind former five-star recruit Xavier Nwankpa.

“Some guys are fast healers, some aren’t,” Ferentz said. “He’s on the fast-healer list.”

Kirk Ferentz’s USC comments from last year have lingered

Ferentz made some not-so-subtle comments about USC — and more specifically the Trojans’ lack of defense — last December. He did not mention USC by name, but said a “place where Ronnie Lott played.”

“There’s a school on the west coast right now that’s going to recommit to defense,” Ferentz said back in December. “Gave up (46) to Tulane in a bowl game. … Now, they’re going to think about defense.”

Those comments have seemingly lingered, as a reporter last week asked Ferentz about the “genesis behind that comment” and if he has talked with USC’s Lincoln Riley since then.

“It was just a takeaway from a bowl game they played in a couple of years ago,” said Ferentz, who indicated he has not spoken with Riley since then. “Drive-by scouting, if you will, which is dangerous. It’s a curiosity to me because I know they’ve got good athletes. We’ve played them, and they’re a tough football team.”

Ferentz, now speaking of a fellow Big Ten school, sang a slightly different tune in Indianapolis.

“My guess is I know they’ve taken some steps, and my guess is they’re going to be really — we don’t play them this year, so that’s not our concern,” Ferentz said. “They’re going to be a factor in our conference. I’ll go out on a limb and make that bowl prediction that they’ll be there when it’s all said and done.”

The annual Cleveland.com preseason poll picked USC to finish sixth in the Big Ten — one spot behind the Hawkeyes. USC has gone 19-8 in Riley’s first two seasons at the helm, culminating in appearances in the Cotton Bowl and Holiday Bowl.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

Sign up for our curated Iowa Hawkeyes athletics newsletter at thegazette.com/hawks.