Beathard quarterbacking the Hawkeyes’ summer stuff

IOWA CITY - The last time Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard spoke to the media was in April. He had a trademark golden flow of curly blond hair back then.

That's gone now. The junior cut about 16 inches of hair off in late May and donated it to Wigs For Kids, a non-profit organization that has provided wigs to ill children for more than 30 years.

So, now he looks less like late and legendary guitarist Duane Allman and more like Dave the accountant. Hey, it was a good cause, Beathard likes it and his coaches dig it, too.

'They said they liked it,” Beathard said Wednesday, when a group of Iowa players met with the media. 'The coaches were a little happy I cut it, I think.”

So, that's the hair update. You're probably more interest in a 'Beathard quarterback” report. Last week, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz had this to say, 'I think the key thing for him, every phase we've gone through he's improved. He had a really good spring a year ago. He had a good camp last year. It was a close call between the two quarterbacks. He's continued to improve. Certainly this spring was a big spring for him and really continued to move forward. We're confident he'll play well the next two years.”

It's mid-June, so there isn't much going on right now. Iowa started summer conditioning drills last week. The skill players haven't faced the defense in 7-on-7 drills. That starts sometime later this week. Beathard said the team hasn't done a lot with a ball in play since the end of spring practice.

That doesn't mean, however, the quarterbacking process screeched to a halt.

Beathard is the most important player on Iowa's roster. Yes, he's going to need help from everyone on offense and the defense needs to improve. After a 7-6 2014, those are assumed. When Ferentz and staff picked Beathard over senior and two-year starter Jake Rudock in January, it was a bold move (to say the least). It was a reshaping of the offense (you can't dispute that) and anointing a new face of the program (who talks more than the QB?).

This is what a lot of people outside of the program wanted. Yes, some inside the program are curious and now hopeful about how this might work.

'It seems like this is what a lot of people were waiting for,” senior wide receiver Tevaun Smith said. 'I'm excited, too.”

So, in this period before things really start to matter, here are a few behind-the-scenes things that Beathard has been doing:

- After Smith, Iowa's wide receivers are a group of fairly short resumes. The position needs any help it can get and in the next few days it will welcome three incoming freshmen - Jerminic Smith, Adrian Falconer and Emmanuel Ogwo.

Beathard met with wide receivers coach Bobby Kennedy on Tuesday. He wants to get comfortable with the newbies right away.

'I'm excited to get them in and get them going with the offense,” Beathard said. 'I want to get them learning the routes. The older guys can teach them some stuff, because they've been in the system. They know how it's going to work. We don't need guys coming in and thinking they can do their own thing. We need to get with them right away and teach them how it's going to be.

'Obviously, if they can help us, that's a big deal and we want them to help us. I think some of them can, if what coach (Kennedy) is saying is true. We have to get them in here and get them going.”

Yes, that tone in Beathard's voice is ownership.

- Beathard also has talked with junior tight end George Kittle, who saw his profile rocket in the spring when senior tight end Jake Duzey suffered a patellar tendon injury that could sideline him until the end of September.

Iowa has 'inline” tight ends and 'move” tight ends. Duzey, Iowa's second-leading receiver going into 2015 with 58 career receptions, was the top 'move” TE. Now, that's Kittle, who caught one pass last season before an ankle injury essentially ended his season.

Beathard knows the importance Iowa puts on tight ends. This is his fourth year in Iowa's system.

'I trust George, he's got to step up,” Beathard said. 'He's got to take a bigger role than he probably planned for. I think he will, I think he's ready for that. He's been in there working his butt off. That's what I've told him, ‘You've got to be ready to go, you're the next man in. You've got to step up.'”

The haircut is the first thing you notice, but there's so much more going on right now with Iowa's starting QB.

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