For Ferentz, Hawkeyes at 7-0, it’s, ‘Think big . . . you have to dream in life’

IOWA CITY - Last weekend, the Hawkeyes took on the No. 21 team in the country the week after it was whupped 38-0 in its homecoming game at a stadium in which Iowa hadn't won since 2007 and where Iowa was just 2-4 since Kirk Ferentz took over as head coach in 1999.

That wasn't enough degree of difficulty for the Hawkeyes. They also were down to their third and fourth starters at offensive tackle. A redshirt freshman took over a defensive end spot once held by a senior stalwart, who suffered a season-ending knee injury the week before. Late in the first quarter, Iowa's No. 1 running back suffered an ankle injury, you know, the running back who carried a school-record 43 times for 256 yards and two TDs in a nine-point victory the week before.

Oh yeah, and Iowa's quarterback was nursing leg injuries and had to be selective in what he tried to do with running the football.

Ferentz would've taken a 1-0 forfeit victory and . . .

'. . . I'm being totally candid,” Ferentz said during an interview Wednesday with The Gazette. 'Last weekend, I would've taken a one-point (win). Is it 1-0 or 2-0 with a forfeit in football? I would've signed up for that so fast and gotten out of there.”

Instead, No. 13 Iowa (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) ran away from Northwestern, 40-10. Quarterback C.J. Beathard held up. Sophomore running back Akrum Wadley, who replaced Jordan Canzeri, rushed for career highs of 204 yards and four touchdowns (tying a school record that Canzeri tied in week 4 against North Texas).

Wadley did it behind an offensive line that had junior Cole Croston, who began the season as the No. 3 offensive tackle, and sophomore Sean Welsh, who played left guard last week, as the starting offensive tackles.

Freshman Parker Hesse, senior Drew Ott's replacement at defensive end, was part of a stellar defensive effort that held a Northwestern rush offense that had five efforts in the 200-yards plus range this season to just 51 yards.

Iowa is hot again and the media crush started immediately on Sunday, with 10 or 12 phone calls for radio interview requests. These were national radio interviews, radio shows that hadn't called since . . .

'. . . Since we were sexy the last time,” Ferentz said.

The Hawkeyes are in the eye of the hurricane. The love (and, inexplicably, hate, mostly for a schedule that, if you look objectively, does now include two road victories over ranked opponents, Wisconsin and Northwestern, and one over ACC contender Pitt - but, oh yeah, North Texas) is pouring in.

The Hawkeyes are hot. Everyone wants some.

'11-0 until Nebraska, I read that headline the other day,” Ferentz said. 'Perfect.”

This is where Ferentz, who began his 17th season as Iowa's head coach with 'hot seat” talk, might surprise you. Oh yes, the battening down has started, but he basically told his team after Northwestern 'dare to dream.”

'I told the guys Sunday, take a couple of days and think big,” Ferentz said. 'That's OK, that's healthy. You have to dream in life. It's OK to have vision.

'We expanded the 24-hour rule and told them to think big. The other part was enjoy this a little bit. You guys have worked your tails off. For us to be 7-0 right now, a lot of things are happening. Special things going on, special efforts. A lot of good stuff. I said, enjoy that, feel good about it, you've earned that. Fortunately, we don't play this week, so maybe we have a little time to wiggle on all of that stuff.”

Iowa is on bye this week and can take a breath and get some double-time treatment on Beathard. The 'reeling in” process has begun, too.

Ferentz handed out a sheet of paper to players on Wednesday morning that showed odds and how favored teams had gone down every week in the last four, including a Mississippi team that beat Alabama and then lost to Florida and Memphis.

The bye afforded the Hawkeyes a chance to enjoy their labor and then remember how it got them to where they are.

'History takes care of things,” he said. 'The bottom line is it's back to reality. That's kind of the way it is with a football team. You're going to have challenges every year. It started out with a lot of negativity going into the season. And now it's gone in the other direction.

'Now, people are talking about not bowl games so much, but I think I read somewhere (on the internet) a ‘How to get your tickets to Indy.' Like, buy them. Order them. I don't think it's that big of a deal. That's easy.”

Let's go over the bullet points on how the Hawkeyes landed here, a time and place when Ferentz finds himself on the phone with former USC quarterback Matt Leinart, who's now a radio host on Sirius XM and not a backup QB on the USC team that throttled Iowa in the 2003 Orange Bowl.

Iowa finished last season 7-6 with two disappointing losses - an overtime collapse against Nebraska at Kinnick Stadium and a 45-28 blowout loss against Tennessee in the TaxSlayer Bowl that wasn't that close.

Ferentz wanted to meet with his assistants. The topic was every player on the roster, that's all.

'The first order of business, to me, was let's talk about our players, everybody on the roster, while it's fresh on our minds,” Ferentz said. 'What adjustments can we make? What can this guy do or can't do? Are we missing anything? Special teams-wise, is this guy capable of doing more than we see? I tried to encourage everyone to chip in a little bit. That kind of set the format for it.”

Then, after recruiting and before and during spring practice, the dialogue between Ferentz and staff broadened. Everything was on the table, that's all.

'We talk about everything every year . . . This year we talked more than in years past,” Ferentz said. 'Everything was open for discussion. What have you done? Where are the places we've visited? What did we bring back? What sounded good?”

There was a trip Oregon. Yes, that Oregon, the fast one with all the uniforms and hyper-speed pace of play. Former Oregon coach Chip Kelly visited the New England Patriots when Brian Ferentz, Kirk's son and Iowa's O-line coach/run game coordinator, was a coach there. The topic was morning practices.

Ferentz admitted that the offseason extended more than in years past. Recruiting, practice, personnel schematics were topics. Ferentz has had his thing here for nearly 17 seasons as head coach, but, no, he didn't feel vulnerable. He wanted truth and input. He got it.

'That's how you learn,” Ferentz said. 'One thing that always fascinated me with coach (Patriots coach Bill) Belichick, and I joke about this, but he was the first head coach I ever met who really had ears that worked. Not only did they work, but he wanted to hear what you said. He encouraged it. He's an interesting person. You might think you did a report or said something to him and that was it, it dies. Then, four weeks later, he references a conversation you had with him. And, oh, I guess he was listening, one of those deals.”

'But I think that's how all of us grow and learn. The more information you get, how can it be bad? The trick is figuring out how it pertains to where you're at. That's where everyone has to give their two cents. We kind of weigh and measure things and try to figure something that's going to work for us.”

The 'where you're at” and 'us” in that thought is Iowa. First for nine years as offensive line coach in the 1980s and now in 16-plus seasons as head coach, Ferentz has a keen idea of what he believes Iowa is and what Iowa can do or be with the players it can recruit and develop.

Iowa visits Oregon for ideas on morning practice, not on hyper-speed spread offenses.

Iowa had a huge staff turnover through 2012 and 2013. Ferentz hired new offensive and defensive coordinators (Greg Davis for the offense; Phil Parker was promoted on defense). In total, six new coaches were hired from 2011 to 2013 and a few others were switched around.

The 'last time Iowa was sexy” was 2009, when it finished 11-2 and won the Orange Bowl. It's been a stale five seasons (although, Ferentz disputes that 2013 - an 8-5 team that made it to the Outback Bowl - was part of the drought, and, in fairness, that team did beat Michigan and Nebraska).

During this time the interconnectedness that Ferentz believes an Iowa staff needs - which he believes was a major factor in first-run success that included Big Ten co-championships in 2002 and 2004 - was being sewn in.

'It takes a while to learn about your place and your players,” Ferentz said. 'This is a unique place, in my mind. I just think it is. We have a better understanding of each other as a staff and our lot in life, and it's a good one, a good lot in life but a different lot in life, what works for us. I think that's factored into it. I think we're just better at utilizing our players. I think we have a better understanding on how to get the best out of them.”

Ferentz has his Iowa archetype. That includes stellar defense, and he had a front-row seat to the defenses that Bill Brashier coordinated for 17 seasons under Hayden Fry. He knows he had the Bill Brashier archetype in Norm Parker, who was Ferentz's coordinator for his first 13 seasons (Parker died in 2014). He believes he has the Iowa defensive coordinator archetype in Phil Parker.

Parker is an example of sewing in the interconnectedness.

'Just like I've talked about the staff evolving, this is Phil's first coordinator job,” Ferentz said. 'He's the best secondary coach I've ever worked with on any level. Now, it's kind of like the offensive room, it's really settled. I think the defensive room is the same. Everyone knows each other's moves.

'I think Seth (Wallace) being in there, too, with his background and Seth was a coordinator, too (Valdosta State before coming to Iowa before last season). Having Jim (Reid, former defensive coordinator at Virginia before coming to Iowa before 2013) in there, too.

'I know when Jim got here, he was very reassuring to Phil, like, ‘Hey, that was a great call.' Phil beats himself up, like we all do. ‘Why did I call that?' ‘That was a good call, sometimes a player has to make a play.' When you have a veteran coach saying things like that, just like our team has a good vibe, our staff has the same thing. Everybody is supporting each other. We all have doubts. If you're making decisions, it's easy to say a day later, ‘What did I do that for?' You didn't just pull it out of your butt, there's a reason why you did it and we all agreed on it.”

You can't talk about the Iowa offseason without talking quarterback. Shortly after the discussions on the roster, Ferentz called a January news conference to announce a depth chart. Really, it was the opening to let the world know that Beathard would be the starter for 2015 and Jake Rudock, a two-year sitting starting QB for the Hawkeyes, would not.

Beathard is 8-0 as Iowa's starting QB. No other Iowa QB has done that. Is he doing things Iowa needed from a QB?

'I don't know if that's fair,” Ferentz said. 'I go back to the decision we made in January. Usually, when you say you have two (quarterbacks), you've got none. But I think history has proved we did have two. I still think we had a really good team in ‘13. I know we've lumped it as a five-year drought, but we were a good football team in '13 (Rudock's first season as starter). The teams that beat us, they wouldn't sign up for a return match.

'We felt like we had to make a decision. There is guesswork involved in any personnel decision. I wish and I think we all wish we could tell you that it was going to pan out this way. We didn't know that. There are no guarantees. Jake is doing a great job up there, too (Rudock transferred to Michigan after graduation). We saw him on film against Norhtwestern and he played super. They're two really good players. But we're really happy with what C.J. is doing, he's playing super.”

Ferentz laughs at the 'New Kirk” statement. Iowa has changed a few formations, but that's it. Iowa is playing Iowa football, Ferentz's vision for it. Maybe it looks more aggressive because of Beathard's talent.

'I think we're a little more diverse in the way things look for the opponents, but we're really not much different, I don't think,” Ferentz said. 'Then, the other part, C.J. will make a couple of throws that not many quarterbacks will do historically. (Former Iowa QB Drew) Tate had a little bit of that to him. The throw he made to Henry (tight end Henry Krieger Coble against Northwestern) and the one in the bowl game to Ray Hamilton, that's a hard throw and he's got the confidence. That helps make it a little bit trickier for the defense, too.”

All of the sudden, Iowa has a back-shoulder throw, something it's tried to get going since Davis arrived in 2012.

'It's not easy,” Ferentz said.

Those wide receiver bubble screen plays, those work, another play Iowa has been reaching for since Davis' arrival and even before then.

'I've seen a lot of those that haven't looked too good,” Ferentz said. 'I still have a lot of scar tissue from throwing one to (former Iowa TE) Scott Chandler at Ohio State in ‘05. He almost, I swear, was broken in half. What are we doing? Just one of those.

'The other day (against Northwestern), they looked great and a lot of that is the throw. You have to make a good throw on that. It doesn't seem like it's a hard play, but it's a hard play. The teams that do it all the time, it's not as big of a thing for us, so if we could stay at that level, I'd be really pleased.”

Iowa got 'Iowa” again. Along with a QB who's making plays, there's an offensive line that is changing the line of scrimmage and a hungry, well-coached group of running backs. Iowa is No. 2 in the Big Ten in rushing with 214.4 yards a game. Iowa hasn't averaged more than 200 yards rushing per game since 2002.

On defense, Iowa is 10th in the nation allowing just 15.4 points a game (tracking alongside the 2009 defense). Iowa is No. 4 in the nation in rush defense (74.1 yards per game), eighth in the nation in sacks (22.0) and 12th in the nation with 15 takeaways.

Iowa is 7-0 and in the eye of the hurricane because 'old” is 'new.”

This is the first season of full operation for the Hansen Football Performance Center. Throughout the building, giant flatscreens show games from the glorious past and some of the recent successes, the Big Ten champions of '02 and '04 and some of the big wins from 2013.

It all looks very familiar.

'Our kids made this observation during the summer,” Ferentz said. 'We had games from the past up on the monitors. When I met with the group, their observation was the teams look the same, whether it was '01 or '02 or our good victories in '13. We're playing the same way, and, hopefully, that's good fundamental football and we're not beating ourselves.”

Ferentz admits there is a level of 'buy in” with this team that is off the charts. He called it 'spirit.” It's something that's probably not quantifiable until you see it. And you saw it last weekend with Hesse pitching in and Welsh play tackle and helping clear the way for Wadley.

Iowa has gotten stronger the deeper it's had to reach for players on its roster.

'a) How's it happen? b) How long does it last? That's the really dark question,” Ferentz said. 'Again, I think it speaks to the spirit of the players we've got.

'. . . I don't know how to explain it. A lot of things happen during the course of a season. Hopefully, we've used up our injury cards. Hopefully, we're out of those things now. It's part of football and you've got to keep pushing through it.

'The ones that affect you are the ones that happen to Drew (Ott), where it's a senior. It's just like Bruce Kittle in 1981 (suffered a knee injury late in the year and missed the Rose Bowl). You have a great win and you feel good about the day and then you're sitting at home at night feeling like you lost by 20 because that part hurts. That's reality.”

The Hawkeyes are 7-0 and everyone is paying attention. Depending on who you listen to, Iowa is a legit undefeated team with a championship agenda or it's a paper Tiger Hawk with a punchless schedule.

Either way, Iowa has national media attention. That's another set of problems, one that Ferentz hopes his team can live with.

'The challenges shift all of the time,” he said. 'What's going to take your focus off what it needs to be?

'If you're going to let people talking negatively about you affect you, it's probably not going to help you on Saturday. Now, it's swung the other way. Guys are out there on campus and everyone is telling them ‘Go team' and all of that jazz. You guys are great and all of that stuff. The players get it way more than we do.

'There's a great Bruce Arians (Arizona Cardinals head coach) quote from a few weeks ago, ‘When they're patting you on the back, they're just trying to find the soft spot for the knife.' Just never forget that, it's inevitable.

'So, it's another challenge to handle. I guess we'd rather deal with this one than the other. I think adversity is easier to handle. I think history would say that. History of the world. People don't do so well with success. If you win games, that's going to be part of the discussion. That's just the way it goes.

'Hopefully, we have to get used to it.”

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