Summer daze

Ricky Stanzi doesn't have a job and he isn't going to summer school. So, he spends his summer at the movies.

Not those movies, but there is another "Twilight" film coming out and we all know Stanzi loves the vampires. No, though, not those movies.

He's watching the cut-up video from last season, maybe the last two seasons. He admits he has free time, so why not make it productive?

"You can make it a 9-to-5 [job], if you wanted to. That's what's great about the summer," Stanzi said. "There is a lot of free time to pretty much format your own work routine, what you want to get done throughout the summer and whatever you need to take care of before camp."

Iowa's voluntary workouts with strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle take about two hours, Stanzi estimated. Then, Stanzi has a hand in organizing the 7-on-7 drills with wide receivers, running backs, defensive backs and linebackers. No coaches, no playbook allowed.

"It's a full-time job or it can be a part-time job, depending on what you have going on," Stanzi said. "You work out two hours a day. If you don't have a job or school, there's a lot of free time there. There are guys who go in and get extra stuff done. There are guys who go in and watch extra film and work on fundamentals."

For Stanzi, a quarterback, there's a semblance of football to what he does. For a defensive lineman, 7-on-7 drills are useless. No hitting, of course.

So, defensive end Adrian Clayborn has a different view.

"We do other fun stuff, flipping tires, stuff like that. Sledgehammers, stuff like that. It's fun," Clayborn said. "It's always a competition. You're getting better. I'm just joking around. It's hard but it makes us better.

"It gets you ready for the season, when you're in the fourth quarter and you've got to push it a little more. Coach Doyle knows what he's doing. He's pushing us hard and it's going to payoff, I'll bet."

A typical summer day for Stanzi includes throwing, 7-on-7 and video. And then, probably more video.

"I'm trying to do more mental this summer than in any summer before, probably because senior year, you learn more on how to watch film," Stanzi said. "Different things fall into your lap, getting certain revealations with things. You can go out there and try some different techniques and watch it a little more. I think that's been my main focus this summer, try to watch more film.

"I really have no excuse not to. I don't have a job or school and so I should be able to stay in there all day if I don't have anything else going on."