Raw Chicago: Kirk Ferentz Part 4

Lots of Nebraska media were in Chicago, so that shows up at the beginning here.

Then, it's to defense and with a finish on Ferentz's thoughts for divisional play.

INTERVIEWER: …this morning, about 15 minutes ago or so, there was an announcement that the trophy between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, a Heroes trophy. So maybe you could just comment on the two schools getting together for such an …

COACH FERENTZ: Again, and I think it's been said it many times, but first of all it's great that Nebraska's coming into our conference. A tremendous addition for our conference and then obviously it affects us a little bit more than most of the schools in the conference because we share a border. But, ah, you know, I think most importantly about this announcement is just the concept behind it. The attention it's going to bring to a very positive contest. It's just outstanding. So to me it's all good.

INTERVIEWER: So you're looking forward to that trip to Lincoln, I'm sure. And taking that trophy back to Iowa City. I'm sure on the other hand they're saying, we can't let this trophy go. So that's an extra incentive, I would think, for those two teams to get together.

COACH FERENTZ: I knew nothing about trophy games until 1981, and we lost one of those to Minnesota. They came across and took Floyd off our sidelines. That's when I had a new appreciation for trophy games, so, you know, everybody wants to win games for pretty basic reasons. And when a trophy's involved, it makes it a little bit more interesting probably. And the whole idea is to have possession of it. That's what it's all about. So, it should be a great series as we get started here next November.

INTERVIEWER: So … Farmaggedon… raise the whole agricultural feel of this thing. … You think the fans will be a little disappointed with kind of how this thing was …

COACH FERENTZ: You know, it's possible. But I don't know how you could, how can you argue against this concept and how can you say it's a bad thing. I think it's a wonderful opportunity to recognize some great things in both states. So to me it's a real positive development.

INTERVIEWER: How are you doing with the quarterback? You had another quarterback last year --

COACH FERENTZ: Stanzi.

INTERVIEWER: How's that going for you? You have an inexperienced guy coming in or what's the deal?

COACH FERENTZ: Well, we do. We have a guy, James Vandenberg, who actually played three games, pretty much three games back in '09, when Ricky was hurt. So I think we saw enough of him during that time to think that he has a chance to make a good quarterback. And I think last year is a case where James was a player we all had confidence in and we saw that he was a good player, and we stuck behind a real good player. And that happens sometimes. So that's one of the neat things about college football. You know, players graduate and it opens up a great opportunity for new players to step in and learn about their niche a little. And I think James is really eager to do that. More importantly, I think he's prepared to do that.

INTERVIEWER: … same division as Nebraska battling for that division championship, to try to get to Indianapolis. Is that an added incentive for the Big Ten this year?

COACH FERENTZ: It really is, and you know, Nebraska folks are used to divisional play. This is new for us. Certainly, I've never been involved with it in collegiate football. And the one thing we knew is that it was going to feel different and there might be some things that were a little bit out of the ordinary. For instance, we're not playing Wisconsin. They're not in our division and we're no longer going to play them on a regular basis. But then the flip of it is that we have Nebraska, so it's going to be a little bit of a period of transformation, but I think, obviously, from the Iowa/Nebraska standpoint it makes perfect sense, and I think it's exciting. It should be exciting for both schools.

INTERVIEWER: … all the talent that you lost … But all the secondary … Just talk about … your defense and also where …

COACH FERENTZ: You know, Shaun Prater is one of our more experienced guys on the team. And being a really good football player but also a great, he's got a great energy level. He's really a good attitude, good energy guy. So he really adds beyond just his production on the field. I guess we're counting on him and one thing I know, he'll be our corner, our left corner.

And then Micah Hyde. We know what he can do in corner. We want to take the spring to look at him as free safety for two things. We want to see what he can do back there. To see if he's capable doing that. We graduated a player, Brett Greenwood, who went to the Steelers, who started 3-1/2 years and that's a big, big part of our defense to have a good safety play. And it also gave us a chance to look a little harder at a couple of guys out in the corner position, withB.J. Lowery and Greg Castillo. So that's a position we really won't know till probably September, how we're gonna play. How we're gonna line up. And I know this. I know Micah can play corner. I think he can play safety now. And we have more to learn from him in the next month.

INTERVIEWER: You lost … the other safety. …

COACH FERENTZ: Not so much with Micah in the equation. But we have three guys right now in contention there. AndJordan Bernstine has played mostly corner. He's in contention with Colin Sleeper. You know, he was one of our scout teams last year. A walk-on who's really impressed us. And Tommy Donatell is also in there. So we'll see what camp brings. We might move somebody else. I don't know. Tanner Miller's a possibility. You know, we're just not sure right now what the best combination is. I think we've got some good competition and saw some good things in the spring and we need to take these next couple weeks and figure out who's gonna start here in the next September. It may change as we go along. That's one of those positions where I'm not really sure.

INTERVIEWER: How long …Shaun … [NFL draft question]?

COACH FERENTZ: Oh, you'd have to ask him. I think he's certainly considered. He did some research on it and what have you. I think as much as anything at the end of the day, I think he enjoys college football and I know he enjoys being with his teammates. And I enjoy him being with his teammates and he's just had a little, I mean, he's just got a good attitude. It's an infectious, positive attitude and that's a good thing.

INTERVIEWER: How important is free safety … ? Obviously you want every position to be as good as it can be. But is it to have solid experience at that free safety position …

COACH FERENTZ: Yeah, there are certain positions on the team, free safety, middle linebacker, center, quarterback. Those are positions where, you know, it's a little bit more cerebral. There's a little bit more responsibility from a mental standpoint maybe. You're responsible for some other people. Just making sure that they're doing the right things and on the right page. So, you know, that's something, we all got a little comfortable with Brett being back there. And my Kodak moment on him was when we took him up to Michigan in '06 and he was red-shirting. And I remember him sitting there in the locker room and it looked like he was getting ready to pray and he's studying his notes and what have you. And you know, it takes a little bit more. There's a little responsibility back there.

So, that's part of the equation as well. That's a tough position to play. You gotta get to the boundary. You gotta build a contact hole and kind of the things that are a little bit challenging, so. Yeah, we wanna make sure we have the right guy there because for us to function, certainly we need to have somebody helping us out, and that's one of the reasons you hear the coaches, Norm in particular, talk about James Morris a year ago, in the spring. James really eagerly accepts responsibility and does a nice job with it, with communications and knowing what checks are out there and that type of thing. So that's part of that position back there. And we really didn't get a chance to really look at Tanner Miller in the spring, because of his surgery. So he's still kind of an ongoing … I think he has a chance to be a good player. But we still have a lot to learn about him in the coming months.

INTERVIEWER: Is it making it a little easier to move Micah back to free when you've got Prater on the other side. And you know what you've got there? …

COACH FERENTZ: It's always nice to have two corners coming back that are good players. At least that eases it a little bit. We have, the one thing I do know is we have two guys that have played well in conference play. And that's good. Now we just have to figure out who are the next two guys to go in. Whether it's Lowery or Castillo or is it Tanner Millermoving Hyde out, or whatever, however we shuffle the --

INTERVIEWER: Is it like finding your best five OL?

COACH FERENTZ: We want the best four guys out there in line. We want the best five guys out there that, it's about as simple as that. If there's some positions that not everybody can play, then that's part of the equation, too.

INTERVIEWER: …Incoming freshmen a factor?

COACH FERENTZ: Yeah, most definitely. We're going to have an open mind. We'll give them all a chance to compete. And as I said earlier, the perimeter positions, I think it's more realistic to think a guy could play. I'm not saying start, but at least play. And so we'll give them all a look at camp. We do this every year. Just try to keep an open mind and have a fresh mind towards everything, and we'll see where it all brings us.

INTERVIEWER: Mostly special teams for frosh?

COACH FERENTZ: Yeah, definitely. You know, we're not going to, typically not going to play a guy unless he helps our special teams. Has some capability of helping and Kirksey, and guys like that last year, was that guy last year in that role.

INTERVIEWER: About the divisional play. Is there more pressure on coaches? What are your thoughts on that?

COACH FERENTZ: Through the years at our coaches' meetings when we've kicked around expansion and all of that, that's usually been the tenor of the coaches, you know, is for a way to get more fired, or whatever. And I've also heard, I'm not saying I believe in this, but I've also heard that if you talk to coaches in any conference they're really not for it, but it's a revenue-producing and, you know, it draws attention to the conference later in the season. So all those things. I haven't thought much about it.

From my perspective, I've never had experience in college football and traditional play, so I'm really not an expert on it. The way I look at it is this, at the end of the day, it shakes down, we're still playing eight games. Eight conference games. And the better you do in those eight conference games, it used to be you're trying to play 13. Now you're trying to play 14. And to get to Indianapolis is going to be tough. Once you get there, we're gonna play a really good team, I know that. Then if you're in that game, the other thing it's going to affect is your Bowl preparation. How you handle December. That's a whole other mindset as well. So you've got Nebraska, or Nebraska has the home field advantage. They're used to divisional play. I mean, this is like old hat for them.

INTERVIEWER: We'll see what happens.

COACH FERENTZ: But I think it's just gonna be good attention for the conference. And that's a positive.

INTERVIEWER: Well, when this first started, almost all the coaches were against the divisional play, as I recall. And then they got used to it and they said, well, I guess it is a good idea.

COACH FERENTZ: No sense in worrying about it, because it's not going away. I know that for sure.