David Eickholt Returns: Iowa Women's Basketball, Football Updates, and Spring Ball Preview | WUW 586

In today's episode, David Eickholt returns to provide scorching insights and updates. We start with a deep dive into Iowa women's basketball, discussing their impressive marks from this season, the potential of upcoming recruits, standout players like Ava Heiden, and how dangerous they could be in the NCAA Tournament. The conversation then pivots to Iowa football, including the significance of Ladell Betts' departure and the addition of analyst Warren Ruggiero. As David breaks down the defense's lapses last season, he emphasizes the impact of Iowa's cornerbacks and the upcoming spring practices. Finishing off, David touches on the game-changing transfer portal and new recruits, setting the stage for an exciting season ahead. Tune in for a lively discussion packed with detailed analysis and future outlooks for the Hawkeyes!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
David Aicole joins the show once again. This guy crushes
on the walk on, so the numbers don't lie, and
it's for good reason. He has his finger on the
pulse of Iowa sports, Iowa football. We'll talk a little
bit of women's basketball to open this episode on the
front half. Then we'll move in to the football spring preview.
Always a great time with David. A lot of exciting
things to talk about today. Enjoy the show, sit back, relax,

(00:22):
to have a day.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Let's go.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
I'm not here to judge. I'm here for when you
come back.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, I got you. Well, you know what, Tyler, I'll
always be here for you too.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
It's good to put your body.

Speaker 4 (00:59):
Yeah, well, I appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Welcome in. David Iicle joins the show once again. I
didn't know, David, you had this much poll. I guess
I underestimated you. That's why we're bring you on the show.
Last episode with you clocked over. It's in the five
digits of downloads between YouTube and oh really it.

Speaker 4 (01:17):
Went It went crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
And I don't know if it's because I used the
a little bit of a clickbaity title that I said
I would use in the thing like Iowa could get
two five star recruits. We're talking about women's basketball. We'll
talk a little bit more about women's basketball. To open
this show. It went nuts on our YouTube channel.

Speaker 4 (01:33):
So I guess the people just love David Eichel.

Speaker 5 (01:36):
Let's not go that far. I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
I don't know. I think it's true.

Speaker 5 (01:42):
I think I think I think the discord might be
give you a more realistic perspective on how many people
like me or not.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
People like you there too, I think anybody, I think
you got to take it with You got to understand
that there's gonna be a couple that don't oh yeah,
and there and they're and they're probably the most vocal.
And then that there's a reason that you know a
lot of people do listen, read your stuff, consume your content.
It is what it is.

Speaker 5 (02:09):
So that's life, though, isn't it? Did you think? So?

Speaker 3 (02:14):
Across everything it is what it is.

Speaker 5 (02:16):
We just we move.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Forward, We keep going, yeah, and we bring you back
on for more. And so if they they're gonna see
your name attached to the episode, I they don't want
to listen, they won't listen, they won't be here. Everyone
who is listening is here because they enjoy your stuff.
Got a comment on one of on that last YouTube
video that said need more David and Tyler episodes.

Speaker 4 (02:35):
So I'm gonna roll out out with that.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
I know, I know.

Speaker 3 (02:39):
Put that one were in a frame, Put that one
in a picture and frame it.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
I'll put it up on the time we get it,
but we'll put it back.

Speaker 4 (02:45):
Here for the next episode. Yeah, well I'll get it.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
I'll get a background with that plaster and just repeat
it over and over. So, like I said, I want
to talk a little bit of a little bit of
women's basketball, probably more exciting conversation, one that would be
tuned into more than the men's conversation right now, although
exciting win the other day against Nebraska. Just handled the
Huskers on Senior Day in Lincoln.

Speaker 5 (03:12):
So they got to be so tired of playing Iowa
in like meaningful gay like whether it be to get
in the Big Ten tournament, whether it to be become
Bowl eligible, like they got to be so sick of Iowa.

Speaker 4 (03:22):
It's it's it's tough to be a Husker.

Speaker 6 (03:26):
If it's it's unbelievable, it really is unbelievable, like the
way Iowa has beaten them and just whether it be
football or basketball, and Iowa basketball typically has struggle at
Pinnacle Bank Arena, Like that's actually a really nice arena
they show out.

Speaker 5 (03:40):
Oh yeah, tough place to play. Uh, but you know,
despite all the injuries and stuff, you gotta tip your
cap off to a Peyton Sandfort, Frean McCaffrey and Price Samford,
the wat Key boys holding it down.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, just lighting it up. It's funny watching them shoot.
They they just have the same form, Like it's it's like.

Speaker 4 (03:58):
That's just a Sandford. I don't know which one it is,
but it's one of them.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
I told my wife because she is a Nebraska fan.
Her family's all from Nebraska. I was like, Nebraska favored
by like seven points going into this thing Senior day.
Nebraska's fighting to get into the Big Ten tournament, where
if they win a game or two, they might be
in the NCAA tournament. Yeah, and this all things point
to Iowa winning by ten points and then they end

(04:22):
up winning by like fourteen or fifteen whatever.

Speaker 4 (04:25):
So yeah, weird games.

Speaker 5 (04:26):
So it's so crazy, like how weak the bubble is
in college basketball. Like we're talking about a team that
was one win away from getting in the NCAA tournament.
They didn't even qualify for the conference tournament. Like that's
and again, if you look at their resume, they probably
should be on the bubble because again the bubble's so bad.
But like that still blows my mind to like think
about it. But at the same time, like Nebraska just

(04:50):
choked down the stretch of the season. Yeah, I mean
they they were comfortably in like a month ago and
then they just couldn't get anything done. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
And the result is that Iowa gets to keep playing
because i Iowa is not going to be in the
n CAA tournament unless they go on the run of
a century and beat I think it would have to
be like Ohio State, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State would
probably be like the likely run that they'd have to
go on who knows right, who knows, But their season continues.

(05:22):
A couple of guys get a few more games or
one more game. More exciting is the women. The women
had their tournament last weekend. YEP played well, came up
short again against Ohio State two games now I think
the one in Ohio in Columbus went two overtime.

Speaker 5 (05:40):
Yeah. Lucy Olsen hit like four to three pointers over
the last ninety seconds to send him into overtime.

Speaker 4 (05:46):
And then this one they battled back and forth and.

Speaker 3 (05:51):
Questionable most of the day.

Speaker 5 (05:53):
And like, I mean again, I got a lot of
heat from people because I thought the officiating was atrocious
and that sequence, And I get people don't like it
when you focus too much on phishing, but ultimately, like
if people focus on it, it's going to be part
of the story, just no matter what, Like you can't
tell a story of that game without bringing it up.

(06:14):
And it was more so about like they didn't call
you know, they called Hannah Stolki for a foul on
the other end. That's fine, I'm cool with it. I
probably would have let it go. But then SIDNEYA. Falter
gets hacked across the body on the other possession. You're
not get sending her the line. But yeah, I would
a good shot in the buzzer.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
They had a shot to win it.

Speaker 5 (06:31):
Yeah, And they've had four different times to do that
this season and they haven't been able to do it. Like,
if there's one big criticism about this women's team, they're
zero to five in games decided by three points or less.
Like they just have not gotten over that hump. But again,
they have no bad losses. And if I am a
three seed, I am terrified of host terrified.

Speaker 4 (06:52):
Oh yeah, and terified it.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
Yeah, and we'll get there in a second. But yeah,
that's that's a tough six seed to run across.

Speaker 5 (07:00):
I don't think you'd want to play UCLA that next
day anyway. Like I don't think Iowa would have gotten
smoked as bad as Ohio State did.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
But U s CLA was different that day.

Speaker 4 (07:09):
That was embarrassing.

Speaker 1 (07:10):
I mean that was and all of Iowa was loving
it because of the Cody mcmon stuff, all that stuff.

Speaker 3 (07:17):
You know, I will say one maybe a little bit
petty fact.

Speaker 5 (07:19):
I won't get into the disrespectful comment, but Ava Heyden
did outscore Cody McMahon in the Big ten tournament.

Speaker 4 (07:26):
Let's talk about Abahyden.

Speaker 5 (07:28):
She sh stud.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
Dude, that's the kind of a scent, so that this
is the kind of like little run right because you didn't.
I mean, the whole story was she got like twelve
minutes in the entire month of February, right and then
and I think it's where Iowa lacks still we run
we run this. Hannah's are big, but she plays more
like a three or a four, like like she could

(07:52):
play those positions if you really like told her, hey,
this is your lane. But we've had to use her
as like a five and she has to guard the
bigs and she's strong and she can. But like then
you look at like a real five like Bets from U. C.
L A Or some of the some of these other girls. Yeah,
you see across the country and you're like, Okay, that's
just that's not Hannah's lane. That's that's a different role

(08:15):
there and we just don't have that. Oh, Grady is awesome.
I'm like potent. She might be my favorite player on
the team. Every time my wife can attest every time
she comes in the game and takes a little bunny
and like just is so she's just like, hey, I'm
just here playing money as it's money. And every time
I'm like, let her eat, let her eat. And she's
had her moments too, Heiden. She offers, she offers some

(08:40):
some different stuff and she's young, and this is the
kind of like a sension in one year David that
I think you look back in like two or three
years and you're like, remember when she flashed in that
Big Ten tournament. That was the early sign that we
that that we had something here, and at least I
hope that's what it is.

Speaker 5 (08:58):
So here's where I go. And there's a lot of things,
you know, going into next year that need to change
or things that need to improve. So this is not
me solely picking on Hannah Stolki, because I think Hannah
Stolki's great. She's an All Big Ten caliber player, right
I expect her to be first team All Conference. She's
got to shoot the basketball. She has to develop a
jump shot next year because again, I think one of

(09:21):
the more underrated moves of the season was moving Hannah
back to the five because she's just so much more
comfortable there. She can holly people. She's probably, pound for pound,
one of these strongest players in the conference, if not
the country. I mean, she is incredibly fast, very skilled,
and she bullies people that are three four inches taller
than her in the post. So I think that's really impressive.

(09:42):
But you have to play at the four, and then
you throw Ava Heiden at the five. This might be
my hot like a really hot take to some people
by thinking, oh yeah, let's go about it. Ava Hayden
could be the most skilled post player that Iowa's had
at least in the past twenty years, and then includes
Megan Gustavsen and Monica Sinon.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (10:01):
And here's why it's not about the fact I expect
her stats to be in that category because look, Monica
Snano I think gets really underappreciated, not by IOWA fans,
but like from a Big Ten Conference perspective, She's a
four time All Conference post money the little jumper did
not dribble the ball ever, and she still works people
in the post.

Speaker 1 (10:22):
Right, She's got one of the most I'm gonna cut
you off just for a second, she has one of
the most why. I mean, you look at her dribble stats,
which aren't a thing, but they are a thing for her.
And like she had I know, she had more points
than dribbles or more attempts than like something nuts like

(10:43):
she never.

Speaker 5 (10:44):
Jan post dribbling. Jan hates her post dribbling. Well, like
that's a big thing that she really focuses on.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
In theory, if you do your work beforehand, right, like,
if you do to get position, yep, you're there.

Speaker 4 (10:57):
You just use your two steps and you're and you've
got it right.

Speaker 1 (10:59):
So so I mean I would say, the better you
are doing that, the better you are at clearly setting
yourself up. And I don't think anyone in the hit
maybe in the history of basketball.

Speaker 4 (11:08):
Did it better than Monica Sonano.

Speaker 3 (11:10):
I mean, she was terrific.

Speaker 5 (11:12):
And I want to pay a lot of respect to
Megan Gustafson because I think Megan Gustafson also broke the
glass ceiling for Big ten women's players. She was the
first Big ten player to ever be name National Player
of the Year. Like she was a monster, and I
give her the ultimate respect because if you watch her
in the WNBA now, Tyler, she's hitting threes like she's
a marksman coming off the bench. We're in that starting role.

(11:33):
She never shot threes at IOWA like she's transformed her
game to have a landing spot in the WNBA. So
that is like they're two different players. But it's very
much like Luca Garza to me too, because Luca Garza
lost a ton of weight, has continued to add that
three point shot, and he can do different things right,
but now they're staying in the league because they transformed
the game. But Ava Heiden, it's more of a praise

(11:56):
on her. I cannot remember Iowa having a six foot
four posts that can run like that. I mean, Monica
Snano could run Megan Gusta Sindes. Iowa play a different
style of ball because it wasn't Caitlyn Clark there at
the time. Yeah, right, Ava hiding going up and down
the court. It's among the best in the country at
that size. I mean I am blown away by her.

(12:17):
She can finish with either hand. She needs to learn
how to not foul and that's gonna be work in progress.
Watch her work Cody McMahon in the post because she
was getting she won the fight before she even not
the ball. That's how she got a few of those
points against the Ohio State. Now she needs to continue
to improve the jump shot. She needs cut down turnovers.
She needs to kind of get that dominant edge to

(12:37):
her game. But if you look from a skill set
perspective and athletically, she is different than any Post I
can remember Iowa having over the past twenty years.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
I said the same thing, not emphatically, you know, over
the past two decades, but to my wife, I looked
at her and I said, most impressive thing about her
is you just don't see a lot of eighteen year
olds that are six four, that are six four as
a as a woman or even a guy like I
could think about so many guys I played with around
that that transition from high school to college that still

(13:09):
weren't caught up with their bodies yet in the middle
of growing and still at the end of pupil like
they're large developmental physical area of your life, and you're
it's awkward. Even some of the Division one talents. It's
awkward because you're you're catching up and you're getting there.
You're getting a Division one strength and conditioning program that
goes along with that, and that makes things weird. You

(13:30):
get all this, you add muscle mass, you get stronger.
And she caught a pass over her head I don't
remember who passed it and then finished real like real
quick footwork, bang off the glass, layup, and I was like, damn,
you do not see a bunch of posts like just
like you said, you do not see a bunch of
posts running the floor like that and being able to

(13:51):
finish soft seems really unbothered by like the moment and
like all those things you said. Working on on defense,
fouling jump shot all the little stuff things that happen
from year one to year two. When you get to
you get to see the full year of college speed
and what it looks like, and then you get the
off season to work on it.

Speaker 4 (14:12):
Man, she's excited and.

Speaker 5 (14:13):
She's swatting shots. Man, Like I mean her defense she's
got like broad show like big broad shoulders too, so
like she's not getting beat up like as much as Yeah, again,
I'm only relating it to the past Iowa post Like
they weren't outstanding defenders, but they could rebound the basketball
when they needed to. And Iowa played at such a
fast tempo, and you have a point guard that's launching

(14:34):
thirty footers and making them like forty five percent of
the time. You get a little bait of leeway there.
And I think that's the most encouraging thing to me
about next year and in the future. You're like, again,
this is no dig in the past Iowa teams at all,
because they were unbelievable. There's a reason why they're going
to be remembered forever. Transcend this floor, dude. Iowa's defense

(14:55):
and the improvement they've made from last year to this
year is flat out in credible. They're not some elite
stopping team, but they go through spurts where you're like,
man like, they're really playing hard those defense, they're not
giving up open shots. Kylie Fierbach got screwed by all
Big ten. The fact that she was not in the
defensive team was an absolute joke. I do think she

(15:18):
can get beat up a little bit in zone at times,
but if you have if you're playing man to man defense,
there are very few players I'm taking on the perimeter
over Kylie Feerbach, especially when you go up against the elite shooters.

Speaker 1 (15:31):
Yeah, reminiscent of of Gabby Marshall from the past couple
of seasons, Like she kind.

Speaker 4 (15:35):
Of took took that role. I don't know if she's as.

Speaker 1 (15:39):
Just absolutely relentless like cardio wise, as as Gabby was,
because I think Gabby might have been untouched, like she
could just go and run sprint for entire game. But
she is really impressive. She did get screwed on that.
Just an incredible year and just the fact that down
the stretch here Jan has played the freshman so much

(16:00):
the whole year, but there are spurts where it's like
there are four freshmen on the floor and it's.

Speaker 5 (16:05):
Dude, they saw like Kelly Levine on the floor in
the third quard. Yeah, there was an all freshman lineup,
and I'm like, holy shit, like, how does that is coming?

Speaker 1 (16:14):
Who could who could actually put five on the floor
in again?

Speaker 4 (16:18):
And and it's not like we're giving the game away.

Speaker 1 (16:20):
It's like we're expecting you guys to still go run
and score and play like It's just the depth is
incredible with the freshman class, and like, I think it
might be underrated when you have five that all played
significant minutes for five that all plays, the amount of
jump that each one of them makes, and then the
sum of those parts. When you have five kids that

(16:42):
all make a jump in an off season.

Speaker 4 (16:44):
Like those five could be insane next year.

Speaker 5 (16:46):
I'm telling you. En Plus, you had Addie Deal, then
you had another six four Posts from Alaska and Leila Hayes,
and you have Journey Houston from Davenport who was a
five star at one point before her knee injury. But
she's still a really good player. To me, I mean,
I guess the future is bright. They're not going away.
And I'm going to say one name I've said repeatedly
on Twitter. She has not played that significant of her

(17:07):
role over the past five six weeks, but I am
all in on her because I've watched her shooting warm ups.
I've watched her to go through against first Tigi Mulaney.
I'm still in on Tigi Maulany. I think she's gonna
be a really, really damn good player over the course
for her career.

Speaker 3 (17:20):
I think she'll be at least all conference one time.

Speaker 5 (17:22):
And I don't know how quick she'll be able to
make that big kind of next step in terms of consistency.
But dude, I watched her go up in against Ohio State,
not this matchup, with the first matchup, she played eight minutes,
she didn't score, she had eight rebounds, Like she's a
relentless rebounder and she can run the floor.

Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah, I think, and maybe maybe Deal is that person.
I think if you get the score, you get because
every team needs one, every every team needs a go to.
You got to have your You gotta have your guy
or your gal who like, hey, we need points. We
haven't had to worry about that because Caitlyn's been there
for four years. But this year it was Lucy and

(18:00):
or Times Sydney and we're gonna need one of those
next year. If you get that, go to score like
you're leading scorer, someone emerges, right, whoever it is. Yeah,
I think all the other pieces are there, Like.

Speaker 3 (18:14):
I think I was gonna go shopping in the portal too.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
Oh yeah, and yeah, you you know, we haven't even
discussed that, Like that's always an option and IOWA is
going to continue to be a hot portal spot for
for any for any potential transfer.

Speaker 5 (18:32):
The biggest issue I had with this year's team obviously
the one session games are troubling and it's not something
that they could have solved in season, I think.

Speaker 3 (18:40):
But now it's just about developing and moving forward in recruiting, Like.

Speaker 5 (18:44):
There were times this year Tyler where like everybody fits
in a role, but like Lucy Olsen and ely At
guidan Nets, parts of it where the only real true
shot creators. Yeah, like to said, the falter could go
get you a bucket when you need it. Kate Martin
got a lot better at that as she kind of
grew up in her career. But Iowa needs two to
three players to say, hey, you know what, go get
a bucket, like Lucy had to be that one. That's

(19:05):
why I think you see her shot numbers at times,
we're almost overinflated, and you know she wasn't hitting. The
offense kind of became a standstill. But what I try
to tell people is like, look at the action on
the floor. At some point she has to say, you
know what, I don't care. I need to go out
and get the bucket because right now our set players
aren't working. They're shutting down our motion. But something has

(19:26):
to happen. So I think if you can get another
true shot creator, you can develop Aliah Geiden at a deal.
I think can come in and create her own shot
because I've watched her highlights against top ten teams in
high school basketball with multiple Power five players on that team.
She can go do that. But that's gonna be kind
of that next step. And that's something that you know,

(19:46):
we put on our three things why Iowa can make
a run, three reasons why they won't. That's one of
our worries is does IO have the shot creators and
elite matchups to advance in March. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:58):
And the fun part is that Jan knows that, like
we have a Greek, we have a great coach, and
I think there was a stretch of like I don't know,
six losses or something where people were like really like, oh,
what's going on? And now that you look back at
the entire body of work, you're like, the season kind

(20:19):
of makes sense. Like there was gonna be a spot
where things just weren't clicking. There was growing pains. Yeah,
people weren't filling their roles correctly, or they weren't you know,
whatever it may be, and there was gonna be adversity,
and it was all about the response. The response has
been incredible, and I think I saw you tweet it
that Jan surpassed Lisa for the best.

Speaker 5 (20:41):
First year, second second most yeh, second most, Okay, but no,
I mean still, I mean I remember you and I
was sitting up here two months ago when they were
in the midde that losing streak, Tyler, and you know,
because you were asking me about the Chris as a
much Jane Jensen. I was laughing because I said, you
guys just need to wait, like it's going to come together,
and it clearly has. Like Jan's coaching job has been

(21:03):
pretty damn great this year. Because I always said I
thought Iowa and outside shot at hosting, but if you
had told Jan before the season, they're a locked for
the NCAA tournament. They won twenty two games, they beat
USC at home on the most recruit star riddled every
week than ever, Like there have been so many moments.
Oh and by the way, there's no bad losses. They're

(21:25):
not taking moral victories, like they've been really pissed off
some of these post losses, Like Jan's not satisfied. But
I think you look at the way they've adjusted their game,
their offense with an empsis on defense, different defensive strategies
against star players like IOWA was not going out there
and playing its own game, Tyler. Like the scouting reports
and what they focused on have been really really intricate,

(21:47):
and I you know, it's very easy for me to
sit here and say you can make a case for
Jan Jensen to be Big ten coach of the Year,
but I really really think you could.

Speaker 3 (21:56):
I don't care they were.

Speaker 5 (21:56):
An eleven seed because look at what they lost and
everything that's kind of culminated into it. Now, look, USC's
coach is gonna get it, or maybe Corey Close from
UCLA not mad at that's great, But like Jan Jensen
has done one of the best coaching jobs in the
Big Ten this year because I don't think there's a
lot of coaches that could go in there with all
the expectations, with all the pressure, with losing the greatest

(22:19):
player that's ever played at college basketball, and Kaitlyn Clark
and lead Iowa to a ninth straight twenty plus win season.
She's been great, it's.

Speaker 1 (22:27):
Been amazing, and it's exciting for the future. I think
you got this class of twenty five coming in a
couple of exciting, three exciting recruits. Twenty six class just
has a lot of hope. There's nothing steady yet, but
there's the I mean, the girls they're going after in
that class are like they're like all top ten, Like

(22:49):
they are not messing around with who they're trying to
bring in there.

Speaker 4 (22:53):
And we talked about it.

Speaker 1 (22:55):
It was the title of the last show, like they
have some legitimate shots at getting a couple of those.

Speaker 5 (23:02):
That hasn't changed, by the way.

Speaker 4 (23:03):
The portal as well.

Speaker 1 (23:04):
I have to imagine that game against USC in Iowa
City didn't hurt. God, what a what a day that was.

Speaker 5 (23:14):
Well, I'll tell you this too, and this is something
where if they do go after a shot creator a
point guard in the portal, Like if I'm Jan Jensen
and the staff, I bring in whoever's gonna enter the
portal we don't know yet and be like, look who
took over for Kaitlyn Clark. Oh, by the way, she
was a unanimous first team All Conference. Oh, I won't
be surprised if she's an honorable mention All American. They're
gonna say, look, it doesn't drop off. Yeah, we have

(23:36):
a breed of excellence that point guard at IOWA. Because again,
even before Caitlyn Clark, like, we're not gonna forget about
Kathleen Doyle.

Speaker 4 (23:43):
Oh yeah, Doyle was not going to forget.

Speaker 5 (23:45):
About Samantha logic, like, they have the history of outstanding
point guard play that fans back fifteen to twenty years
at least at the top of my head. So and
that'll be something to watch.

Speaker 1 (23:59):
Yeah, and specialty is the post. And so it's like
we've got both. You know, they got motion. I think
I think that's what the kids are saying.

Speaker 4 (24:07):
Now, Yeah, we got motion.

Speaker 1 (24:11):
I am thirty and should not say that.

Speaker 4 (24:13):
That sounded horrible.

Speaker 1 (24:14):
Everybody forget that. Delete it incredible. So gonna be fun
as we look ahead for them. It's looking like a
six seed. There's one person in the entire world that
does bracketology for women and is Charlie Cream And uh,
six seed for them with a potential like dream draw
is what I'm hearing to go and potentially face Duke

(24:35):
in the second round, which I don't know what that
matchup looks like. Yeah, I don't, but it's it's certainly
better than playing UCLA US like one of those teams. Again,
if you would have been on the seven line or
the eight line, Yeah.

Speaker 5 (24:48):
That was the key. They had to avoid playing a
one or two seed and they're on thirty two. But again,
if I was a one or two seed, I'd be
pretty damn scared too.

Speaker 4 (24:56):
Still would not lie with Yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
I mean with how they played a Io State twice,
they beat usc they damn near beat UCLA Like, They've
proven that they can go play with those teams and
they ain't scared at all.

Speaker 3 (25:08):
I gotta I got a hot take again.

Speaker 5 (25:10):
I think this is gonna happen, and it's gonna absolutely
annoy the hell out of me when it happens. But
I understand why it's going to you know who else
is on that three seed line Tyler.

Speaker 1 (25:20):
Uh, let me think I should.

Speaker 4 (25:23):
Three seeds?

Speaker 2 (25:24):
Are?

Speaker 4 (25:26):
Is it LSU?

Speaker 5 (25:27):
Yeah? I think they're gonna throw Iowa and LSU's region
and the and.

Speaker 1 (25:31):
There and from what I heard, is there more of
a two seed or should be, but like they would
be the best three seed on there that LAJJ.

Speaker 3 (25:39):
Johnson didn't play the last like ten days of this season.

Speaker 1 (25:42):
Okay, so they've they've dropped off a little bit and
that's why they're going to be a three. It's man
that Yeah, I feel like that.

Speaker 5 (25:50):
I just don't want it. I don't I understand why
they do because the rings that schedule is get me crazy.
But I just I it's not. If it was healthy
toxicity and competitiveness, I'm all for it.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (26:05):
And I actually think there's a lot of respect in
some degrees between LSU's players and the coaching staff fan Iowa's.
I think it's the basis. I think it's like it's
just been very polarizing and I again, it'll be fun
from a basketball perspective, Like when I were rematch them
in the Elite eight, I loved it from a basketball perspective,
but it was it was kind of a true I

(26:27):
think it was.

Speaker 1 (26:28):
Yeah, I think it was great, but that was also
because Caitlyn and Angel were still there.

Speaker 4 (26:32):
I don't know that the storyline.

Speaker 1 (26:33):
The storyline's played out now, and I don't know if
it I don't know if it actually would draw massive
ratings like like people might it would do well, Maybe
it would, I don't know. I hope that they get
that Duke region and maybe have a chance against Duke,
and if and if they, you know, you win two
games and you're in the Sweet sixteen, and that is
a success for any for most any team basically unless

(26:55):
you're like, you know, one of those top four teams
every year. I remember you came on here way early on.
Maybe not last. It could have been that last podcast
we did a couple months ago and I said, what
do you think, like Ceiling swits sweet sixteen, You're like,
if they make it to the sweet sixteen, that is awesome,
that's that is huge.

Speaker 4 (27:13):
That is a one hundred percent success.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
And I think now with how they played, all the development,
they've had, the fun that we've had, the win against USC,
I don't think they have to make the Sweet sixteen
for this season to be an overwhelming success. I think
if they play harder and play a great game against
Duke and make it competitive, that's still exactly what you
want to see. You're right there on the cusp knowing

(27:36):
that you're going to take a step forward next year hopefully.

Speaker 5 (27:40):
I mean, I think at this point they have to
make the round to thirty two because I think you
want to see how jan Oh first number one chair
because again we don't want to You don't want to
take anybody for granted, especially since it's all matchup base.
But again, it goes back to this, and that was
my preseason ceiling for IOWA is. I thought they had
an outside shot hosting and they'd make a Sweet sixteen
or they had a chance to. They aren't, but they

(28:00):
are probably one or two bounces away from being able
to potentially host because they've had more game wing shot opportunities.
It hasn't happened. But again, if you lose that class
that had two national championship appearances and you follow that
up with a Sweet sixteen appearance, that tells you they're
staying power within the program. Now we all know that,
but I'm talking about from the national landscape of everything else.

(28:24):
And that's why getting Addie deal on campus is going
to be amazing. From this standpoint. It was a huge
win to get Caitlin Clark to say and stay to Iowa.
But the amount of like notoriety in the prestige you
have to have as a program to pull a five
star out at California who's on a top five rated
high school team in the country. I don't care that

(28:46):
her cousin plays for Gurnell, Like there's some a little
bit of iowatized, but like that girl could have gone
anywhere in the country. Yeah, and she stayed even through
a head coaching change. Like there's levels to that game.

Speaker 4 (28:58):
I was going to say, to keep a five star
home tough.

Speaker 1 (29:03):
To bring a five star to Iowa fucking tough, dude,
Like that.

Speaker 5 (29:08):
Is a national powerhouse either, like that like historic powerhouse.

Speaker 1 (29:12):
I'm right, we're on the cusp. Like and I think
it is a fun I think for I think for
basketball recruits that are women basketball recruits right now, Iowa
is really exciting. At least it would feel that way
because you have and I imagine that Jan and the
staff are selling them on this Raina and all them
They're like, hey, just take a look at what we've done.

(29:32):
Just look at the last five years, go back eight
years to Gustafson. You are you are part of a
revolution program, of a program where we are establishing ourselves
as one of the elites. You can be part of that.
You can be a major part of that. And that's
fun as a kid to be, Like, Wow, I could

(29:52):
go in and be a major contributor to a program
that is establishing themselves among the best in the country.

Speaker 4 (29:58):
It's flashy.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
The Caitlyn Clark effect is gonna linger for years to come.
Like it's yeah, I can go play where I can
go play where Caitlyn played. The brand, like the Iowa
that that brand is just sexy right now. It's crazy
to say because like I.

Speaker 5 (30:12):
Mean, I mean the Fever having a preseason game in
Carver Hawkey Arena.

Speaker 1 (30:16):
I know, it's nuts and it's sold out in forty minutes,
Like we're gonna get to football here in a second.
But like, sexy never a word that's used with Iowa
football consistent.

Speaker 5 (30:25):
Sure, I mean, I mean Iowa athletics as a whole, honestly, right,
But I'm not gonna I'm not gonna describe wrestling as
sexy like that. Just doesn't feel right.

Speaker 1 (30:34):
I'll call those guys sexy Ben Cater's sexy. The uh.
It's just like as a recruit, there's a little bit
of that like novelty stimulus that you want.

Speaker 4 (30:47):
You're like, where can I go be? What?

Speaker 1 (30:49):
What decision can I make as a recruit to go
be different? Like, you know, the.

Speaker 5 (30:55):
Real interesting thing that I'm still kind of learning is
I get more involved in like women's basketball, is difference
between what high school like men look for and what
high school girls look for, because I still think there
are certain things that they might prioritize over over something else.
But the other part is for women's basketball now we're
seeing it sore in popularity. So like the dynamics of

(31:18):
what they might be looking for I think are going
to drastically change here over the next five or ten years,
and I think Iowa could be at the forefront of it.
I can say without doubt Iowa has one of the
best NIL polls for women's basks all in the country.
Hell yeah, hey, what man that that can pay off
with some of these big, big time prospects.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
Yeah, hey, McKenna, willixou What's what are the other ones?
The I just Ate, Kate Harpring, Kate Harpring, Finley Chess
stain all Hey.

Speaker 5 (31:47):
Still after Jennica Lewis state champion, I think a state champion.
I believe Johnson five star.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
Jersey Robinson or something like that was one of them.

Speaker 4 (31:58):
I just saw as well.

Speaker 5 (31:59):
They're the point now where like women's basketball is so
crazy to me too, because I don't know if you
realize this, tyler, Like you think football gets recruited early,
women's basketball starts in like seventh grade.

Speaker 4 (32:10):
Oh yeah, no, I'm on the map.

Speaker 5 (32:12):
Early like Jersey, I believe it's a twenty twenty seven
right now, Yeah, twenty twenty eight, even like it's insane
how early like it becomes Yeah, who's actually going to
be it and who's not?

Speaker 1 (32:24):
Yeah, some people might not be aware of that, but
it just kind of follows the development, right because girls
develop a couple of years on average, a couple of years,
so you can kind of see what they're going to
turn into where they they start to get really really
skilled or really good just a year or two earlier.
I am familiar with that just because of I'm a.

Speaker 5 (32:40):
Big vology physical side. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:42):
Well, and my wife has been in club volleyball coaching
and stuff for a while, and like I know how
early how early the coaches I think, you know, I
fallow Nebraska volleyball a lot, and you know they're offering
those girls and getting them to commit in like ninth grade.

Speaker 4 (32:55):
Like that's like you.

Speaker 1 (32:57):
Basically know where you're going to college for the tirety
of your high school career if you're one of the best. Like,
it's just nuts.

Speaker 5 (33:03):
Oh, it's also really cool. I meant to bring this
up when it comes to Jennica Lewis. ESPN ranks the
top twenty five high school teams in the country Johnston,
Iowa fourteenth.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
Really yeah, wow, they are really good. They've got studs
all over the place.

Speaker 5 (33:16):
So I think that's really cool. Like Iowa and the
Midwest as a whole, I don't think people realize how
good women's basketball is from the high school ranks, like
most the elite recruits, Like that's why All Iowa Attack
has won multiple national titles in the AEA.

Speaker 3 (33:30):
They're saying like they're elite, And that's why.

Speaker 5 (33:33):
Taylor McKay from Fremont, Nebraska playing for All Iowa Attack
when she was in the AAU too.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
And Sydney of Fulter. I just saw that picture get
to fold out. Yeah yeah, I think that could be
an underrated thing that a lot of people won't notice
or see. But the development of the call it the
farm system, the au system, the high school talent in
the state of Iowa because of Caitlin Clark and the
success that the Hawkeys have had and Iowa State to

(34:02):
be frank like, they've been good as well. Like oh,
by the way, shout out dinner beer at Drake. What
a dog, dog, Dog, what a dog.

Speaker 5 (34:11):
Oh. I have respect for anybody that puts on first
team All American or second because she should. Like I
watched her like torch Iowa. Really keep draking that game.
She torched Iowa State and now she's dropping like thirty
a night. I'll tell you this too, Iowa recruit the
hell out of her. If Kaitlyn Clark didn't go to Iowa,
I think Katie Dinubier would have been a Hawkey. And
I'll tell you what, Kaitlin's Caitlin Katie probably would have

(34:34):
worked out pretty well too. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:36):
Well, that's what I'm saying is like the development of
the high school game in Iowa, like Iowa might be
you talk about like Cali, Florida and Texas. Those are
the football spots, right, Iowa might be a women's basketball spot.

Speaker 5 (34:49):
Compilation population versus product too, for surely.

Speaker 1 (34:53):
Yeah, so a lot of a lot of fun women's
basketball talk. I enjoy this obviously, went we went for
thirty five minutes. We won't do nearly as much for
football because we're out of season here. But before we
get there, all those watching the YouTube can see it
down on the bottom of the overlay there, Iowa Egg
Council sponsoring the show this month. Shout out to him.
Had my five eggs this morning? Never miss him. I

(35:15):
know David just does liquid breakfast, so he probably didn't
have a lot of eggs, but I don't know. Break
maybe there this morning, a little breakfast sandwich with some eg.

Speaker 5 (35:23):
On breakfast sandwich this morning.

Speaker 3 (35:24):
Yeah, and then my two shots of espresso and a
large coffee.

Speaker 4 (35:28):
There you go.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
If we can get the Espresso Council to sponsor us,
that'd be great too.

Speaker 4 (35:33):
I would take that.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
We'll be doing some stuff with the Iowa Council later
this fall. Six grams of protein per egg, great fat
for you, great brain health. It's expensive, sure, but We
talked about this last time, right right, the whole eggs
being expensive thing. How much like David, if you go
buy a breakfast sandwich at the at the well.

Speaker 3 (35:57):
I did make my own breakfast sandwich this.

Speaker 1 (35:59):
Morning, so that's financially responsible. But if you're gonna go
and buy like I don't know, like an egg McMuffin
or like some breakfast sandwich from a gas station, it's
gonna be two three bucks, right, eggs maybe four, right,
five if you're getting fancy with it. If eggs are
fifty cents, which is like the highest they've ever been,
they'll they'll eventually resort to the norm you have five

(36:21):
scrambled eggs or five over easy eggs, which most people
are like, my god, I cannot eat five eggs.

Speaker 4 (36:28):
That's like two dollars and fifty cents. So do you
do you mix it?

Speaker 5 (36:31):
Do you mix some cheese or anything, or do you
just go onion, spinach or anything.

Speaker 1 (36:35):
Dude, I'm going straight eggs, salt, that's it. Cook them
in butter. Just five scrambled eggs and butter. I would
if I had time or like cared about the getting
a little fancy, I would. I would definitely throw you know,
if I'm if someone else is making me the omelet
or like or the scramble, I'll definitely throw in a
little onion, a little cheese. Uh uh.

Speaker 5 (36:59):
But now every morning well baby spitch is underrated too.
If you mix that in with scrambled eggs, I mean
you can.

Speaker 1 (37:06):
You can do a lot with eggs. They're very versatile
a cooking ingredient. Obviously, Iowa Egg Council shout out to
him for sponsoring the show and helping us.

Speaker 4 (37:15):
Uh, just continue to keep this podcast alive.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
So eat your eggs. Football, let's go. Ladell bets.

Speaker 3 (37:26):
Tough one that hurts, that hurts.

Speaker 5 (37:29):
Yeah, off to New York. Liddell earned it. I think
you have to be really impressed with what he's brought in.
I do think we're going to hear some news here
over the next week week and a half because I
imagine KF wants to get it done before spring football begins.
For sure, I do think he's gonna go a younger guy.
I'm not sure if it's gonna be an in house
higher or anything, but you have to have a guy

(37:50):
I think with Southern recruiting ties, because I think as
gray as Ladell was in a lot of different areas.

Speaker 2 (37:55):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (37:56):
Laddell is an outsaying recruiter. He and an eye your talent. Yeah,
connection down the South, and people forget like people are.
If it wasn't Iowa that hired him, I think a
lot of people would be upset because if you look
at his resume, like respectfully, he had no college coaching experience.
He jumped, trusted him, got to Iowa, reinvented the room

(38:17):
to some degree. Because again Derek Foster landed a rayback
job with with the Chargers. I believe he's with the
Cowboys now. I might need to double check that. I
think he's with the Cowboys now. But there's also some
a lore now from the Iowa running back job. Right,
the last two guys have gone off to the NFL
within three or four years of getting the job. Yeah,
So I think that's that's impressive. I think South Southern

(38:38):
recruiting ties, and I think you need a younger guy.
You just need some younger energy in that room and
a guy that ultimately I think needs a mess with
Tim Lester. So I think if Tim Lester, I think
I think you should have a significant say And who's
gonna be brought up in the system.

Speaker 4 (38:52):
Yeah, I think.

Speaker 1 (38:53):
I think meshing with Lester's Lester's system is huge. Meshing
with Lester as a human is huge. I think he
should have a ton of saying that. I do think
that job is looked at as sought after, which is
fun because you know, back in the in the Sewn
Green era, like we were that that was a fun
room to be a part of, whether you're a coach
or running back. And and as our line starts to

(39:15):
take more steps here right like we took a massive
step in twenty twenty four. Obviously Caleb Johnson was a
large part of that running game. I think we have
talent in that running back room. The offensive line returns three,
we're gonna have, you know, a couple of prospects that
are maybe ready to step in and play significant minutes
rather than like twenty two when you know, shout out
to Mason Richmond. If you haven't listened to that to

(39:36):
a couple podcasts ago, that one just dropped. He talks
about the development of that line and that class, Elsbury
to young Richmond, Connor Cole, all those guys, and how
it was all of a sudden they found themselves at
the front of the room and they're like, ooh, this
is fast, right, And we saw that on the field.
The product was it lacked for a little bit of

(39:57):
time there, but that line is coming along. Running backs
are going to want to run behind a line that's
got experience, and then hopefully we got people who want
to come in and coach for that as well. I
think you're right, we need somebody with a We need
somebody with great recruiting ties and ability to bring guys in.
Having kJ and his numbers this past year, that doesn't
hurt her well, like like hey, look what we could

(40:19):
do with you, right, yeah.

Speaker 5 (40:21):
Foster with me? Yeah, man, Honestly, because like you talk
about a guy that was like petrified of the media
as a true freshman, Like you know, he even admitted
like he was an arrogant kid walking into Iowa and
then he kind of got humbled. Uh sure, and he's
really opened up and the way he's kind of just
evolved as a huge in a football player, like a
human and a football player, and the way he's kind
of learned to to effectively communicate when talking about himself

(40:45):
or like with the media, like that is a skill
in itself, and I give him a lot of correct
because he's never been a guy to shy away from accountability,
especially over the last couple of years. He understands it.
So again, I like to pay testament to guys that
understand that, like the dynamic of all that based in
just like a true case of like you can see
the development on the field, but you can see the

(41:08):
character being developed off of it too, And I think
that's a really cool thing.

Speaker 1 (41:11):
Absolute pleasure to have on the show. I did a
one on one with him. Kevin and Grant were able
to make that recording, and I was like, man, I'm
this is going to test my interviewing skills. I got
alignment on here. I'm not sure how much he's gonna
want to talk dude. That conversation was awesome. He opened up,
he was vulnerable like he was. It was amazing. Had
a great conversation with him. So that was if you

(41:32):
haven't checked that out, go check it out.

Speaker 4 (41:34):
But yeah, that one hurts to lose.

Speaker 1 (41:36):
And I would imagine, like you said, we're recording this
right before, this will actually come out right before springball starts,
right before the March Madness starts. So they're gonna want
to fill that role because you want someone in there
working during those important days of springball. Interesting to see
who we get there. We did add somebody else to.

Speaker 4 (41:55):
The football staff. I don't know shit about this guy.

Speaker 1 (41:57):
But there's a lot of people that get it's all
or all the higher Warren Raggiio Rugerio football analyst, which
is essentially like, hey, we don't have another coaching spot
on the roster, but like you're gonna have a lot
of say.

Speaker 5 (42:12):
But remember the NCAA I believe changed rules last year
two years ago, where like analysts can be on the
field during like developments now, So I think that's a
really important point to not overlook. But dude, if you.

Speaker 3 (42:22):
Look at the guy's resume, like, no, I was not
going to run the slow mesh.

Speaker 1 (42:26):
Okay, can someone tell me what what I don't know
if I'm not an EXUS and O's guy, what the
fuck is a slow mesh?

Speaker 5 (42:32):
It puts a lot of pressure on the offensive line
to hold their blocks longer. But okay, I would highly
encourage you. It's like slow developing.

Speaker 3 (42:41):
RPO pass options.

Speaker 5 (42:42):
Okay, okay, but like it pays off in explosive plays.
Because if you look at his offensive coordinator SATs at
wake Forest, and like the way he was able to
turn around certain things, it's really impressive to get this
guy as an analyst role.

Speaker 3 (42:56):
I think it's a big deal.

Speaker 5 (42:57):
And on top of that, he's a proven quarterback developer,
so you have another guy who can sit there and
at least help or point in the right direction. Because again,
football analyst isn't sexy, Like it's not a game changing highers. Like,
I'm not sitting here trying to like blow smoke up
everybody's asses, right, that's not my role. But I still
think the more football savvy minds you have in the room,

(43:19):
especially on the offensive side of the ball, because look,
Iowa took a significant massive step forward running the football.
Offensive line play was outstanding. Yes, Caleb Johnson was great,
but Kamari Molton also has some really good big flashes
as well, Jazz and Patterson, Like they have guys in
that room there, Kate Bill of taking that next step.
But what's the number one thing we want to see

(43:40):
from Iowa's offense next year?

Speaker 1 (43:42):
Gotta be able to pass.

Speaker 5 (43:44):
Gotta be able to pass football. Right now, it stinks
that Martin Garnowski will not be able to go through spring,
but he's one hundred percent healthy by summer. He's a
proven guy that has run a similar system. He can
go out there and do all the footwork, which remember
if Kate mc namara when he was here, he couldn't
do that. That's true because depending on the injury, Like,
you can't overstate that, he can still get the point

(44:06):
of view of the offense from the actual spot rather
than just watching film.

Speaker 3 (44:10):
So I think that's important to note as well.

Speaker 5 (44:13):
But now you have different receivers that can step up,
You have more pass coordinator kind of minds in that room,
and now you can throw in a couple of different wrinkles,
like it's a good hire. Is it game changing? No?
But does it add another guy who has proven to
be able to flip an offense in a year or two. Absolutely,
And that's exactly what IWA needs.

Speaker 1 (44:34):
Doesn't hurt, So that's exciting, that's fun. Also, just like, hey,
if you're listening to this, don't sleep on the fact
that we haven't or maybe we just have crossed the
barrier of Tim Lester being in the program.

Speaker 5 (44:48):
For a year.

Speaker 1 (44:49):
Yes, he's been here for a year. Like he got
hired or was it April that.

Speaker 5 (44:54):
Like it was it was it was early February, so
they officially in ocase, so I think February eight, but
like thirteen months, so like two months that you get
first two months just learning guys.

Speaker 1 (45:06):
Names, right, So we were as players. We're still in
an interesting fun spot with coach Tim Lester where things
are might They're probably feeling like things are rolling faster
and faster every day, which is which is really really good.
And again we're we're getting into that heat of the
offseason where it's like, oh, it's just dead. We are

(45:27):
going to have that spring ball bump. But uh, there
is work being done over there in the complex and
a lot of exciting things happening, more playbook being installed,
all of these things. Ye got to recruit a couple
of days ago. As of this recording, it'll be about
a week or two weeks after this wide receiver from
Wisconsin some guys.

Speaker 5 (45:48):
Yeah, yeah, I'm pulling up the I've been covering three
or four different sports.

Speaker 3 (45:52):
I thought I would have all my stuff together.

Speaker 5 (45:54):
I like this pick. I mean, this is a guy
who was uh, you know, I think a lot of
Iowa fans don't really know about him too much. But
at the same time, like I'll tell you based on
our national analyst, they watched him play a couple months ago,
and Tom Loy and a few of our guys said, like,
this is going to be a high rise rising guy.
Like he's going to rise through the ranks. He's going

(46:15):
to be able to get more offers. So for IOWA
to get a guy like that, especially a wide receiver,
to commit to the team early, I think that's a
nice little win. So, yeah, Brody Schaeffer Iowa that Yeah,
he's six oh, he's about six to one one of
the five. The way Tyler Barnes kind of pitched it
to him was he's an offensive Cooper dejen And I'm like, dude,

(46:38):
do not put that pressure on that early. But I'll
tell you what, Yeah, he's a freak as he's a
really good athlete. He's got very steady hands, crisp route runner.
I don't think he's a day one impact guy, but
I also think he's going to be a guy that
you're gonna need to kind of recruit over the next
year because I'm not gonna be surprised if he has
a big football season next year and picks up another

(46:58):
eight to ten offers, Like, I think he's that style
of kid, so to kind of get him in the
fold early, it's a nice win. And ultimately, Tyler like,
if you look at Iowa's offense and over the last
you know, five or six years, if you're getting a
high three star wide receiver to commit to your team
this early in the process, given where Iowa's passing game
has been.

Speaker 3 (47:18):
Right, you're not getting complained about it.

Speaker 1 (47:21):
No, not at all, Like I think this is big.
I think I think any time you can get people
to it sounds bad.

Speaker 4 (47:27):
But like coming out of.

Speaker 1 (47:28):
This little lull that we had in twenty two to
twenty three, getting somebody to commit to this offense early
and taking a chance and like, hey, let's we get
an athlete. We get an athlete that maybe other people
even want. Like that is that is good news? That
helps helps the Hawks. We're about to head right into
spring ball a lot of things again, Gronowski is going

(47:48):
to be out, there's a lot of new faces on
the defense that are going to be getting some significant
reps and starters. What are you looking for? What are
the things that you're tracking here as we head into
this spring, kind of the biggest keys for Iowa to
work on shore up kind of make make headway on
in these five weeks fifteen practices this spring.

Speaker 5 (48:13):
It seems like while that we're talking about this, but
I'm going to say iowas passing defense in the corners
because I just think there were too many lapses last season.

Speaker 3 (48:21):
We know Phil Parker, I don't.

Speaker 5 (48:23):
I can't even imagine what he was saying to his
unit at times with all the frustration returning experience, Like
it was just more lapses than we've seen Iowa have
in recent memory, and they were still a good defense.
They weren't great, but they were a good defense, like
when you compare them to the national average and everything.
I am worried about corner a little bit, just because
you lose Jamari Harris and there really aren't a lot

(48:44):
proving guys at this point, but also at the same time,
like you need guys to step up. I will not
be surprised if Iowa tries to get in the transfer
portal late during the ten day opening and land another cornerback. Obviously,
losing all three starting linebackers are a big deal. I'm
keeping closely on Cam Buffington. He's probably still a year away,
but I'm telling you I loved his film coming out

(49:06):
of high school. I think absolute freak athlete, played four
different sports. I think his upside is very high. I
like Iowa's defensive line. I think they did a good
job of addressing that in the portal. I think Max
Llewell and his poised to just have a massive breakout season.
I've been high on him since again high school and
where he's getting recruited at. That was a nice little

(49:27):
recruiting win for Iowa. And I'm gonna say, on the
offensive side of the ball, you mentioned it earlier, there's
guys that could step up, but are there guys immediately
ready to take that step and uphold that new standard
that has kind of been re established. There's gonna be a
lot of pressure on Trevor Louk geing, Logan Jones back.
I think it's an underrated, underappreciated storyline. He's the first
team All Conference guy. I think he got way too

(49:48):
criticized at times last year because he's probably one of
the more criticized first team All Conference lineman I've seen
in quite some time. I think he got a big year.
I think he made a smart business decision, So yeah,
I mean, I think the linebackers will be a little
bit intriguing. I'm probably more so worried about corner right now,

(50:08):
and I think there's a lot of pressure on Xavier
Wampa to really kind of live up to that hype
that he can't hey they had coming out of high school.

Speaker 3 (50:15):
I think he has all the potential in the world.

Speaker 5 (50:17):
I think this is the year he really focuses more
on the x'es and o's and angles rather than rely
solely on his athleticism. And that's not a shot at him,
but I think there are times Tyler where you watch
he'd got away with more things in high school because
of his athleticism, and when it translated to college. I
think it's just taking a little bit to kind of
learn that you can't rely on that athleticism because everybody's athletic.

(50:40):
In the Big Ten, you're going to go up against
athletic guys. But he has all the potential to be
a really, really good player. So those are probably some
of the things I'm tracking. And I guess Hank Brown
quarterback probably getting a lot one reps. It's a completely
new quarterback room. We know there's no Marton Ronowski, but again,
a totally new quarterback room. And that that's called mind

(51:02):
boggling when you think about that.

Speaker 1 (51:04):
I can't confirm everybody in the Big Ten is athletic.
Uh so X could have just come, you know, Saviers
could have just come and asked me. I knew that
about ten years ago. Actually, so it got to that
got demonstrated me very quickly.

Speaker 4 (51:22):
But yeah, I think you're right.

Speaker 1 (51:23):
A lot of kids go through that, right, You're like, hey,
I'm the big fish in the small pond. I can
basically do whatever I want and my athleticism and my
natural ability will just get me there.

Speaker 4 (51:33):
Then you realize that's something.

Speaker 5 (51:34):
I give Cooper Degene a lot of credit for it,
because if you talk about the definition of a kid
that really hadn't had his eyes opened yet, true, it's
Cooper Degene.

Speaker 3 (51:43):
There's no shot that the football talent they have there.

Speaker 5 (51:45):
But like you think about the Big Ten versus the OVOL,
you know, obal I everything like it.

Speaker 3 (51:51):
It's a crazy difference.

Speaker 5 (51:53):
But he came to Iowa, played sparingly as a freshman,
and then he immediately broke out as a sophomore for
Full Town, Iowa. That's in incredible. Oh by the way,
he left early to go to the NFL. And oh
by the way, he had a pick six against arguably
a top two quarterback that's ever played the game.

Speaker 4 (52:09):
In the super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (52:10):
In the Super Bowl, the best there is a Yeah.
The theme of the best being the best wherever they go,
whatever level they're at, is is that reigns supreme And
I thank you.

Speaker 4 (52:23):
That's just what you see with Cooper.

Speaker 1 (52:24):
Is he just yeah, he's just better than you, Like
he's he was that guy, He's always that guy.

Speaker 4 (52:29):
He's gonna be that guy.

Speaker 2 (52:31):
Uh and is not.

Speaker 5 (52:33):
A safety dude.

Speaker 3 (52:35):
You heard that song that talks He's just.

Speaker 1 (52:37):
A corner number one. So yeah, he's amazing. How how
Philly accepted him and like has adopted him and he's
now like a.

Speaker 4 (52:48):
Stud, like he's a superstar there.

Speaker 1 (52:50):
It's amazing.

Speaker 5 (52:51):
So I do think funny and it's the only thing
I'll say about this, but like of all cities, Philly
has two dominant white like corners. It's yeah, yeah, who
would have thought?

Speaker 1 (53:02):
I know.

Speaker 5 (53:02):
I remember there was a mock draft when Cooper. It
was before the Cooper junior year but they had him
going the Broncos and I'm like, oh my god, can
you imagine Riley Moss and Cooper de Gene, like the
same state that played the same college, being like the
two starting white corners in the league. Like the odds
of that happening would have just been insane to have happened.

Speaker 1 (53:22):
Huge shout out to Riley and Cooper for really putting
on for Iowa.

Speaker 4 (53:25):
They're just absolute studs.

Speaker 1 (53:27):
Going back to the linebacker thing we talked to, We
had Nick and Jay both on the show Awesome to
get them on and do interviews with them, and both
of them said the same thing. Jaden heral Or Harrold
and Carson Shire are those two are dudes and there
seems to be no worry about them stepping in And

(53:49):
that just kind of crazy though, right.

Speaker 5 (53:51):
Like, I know, you don't just put that pressure on
them because you look at the Liowa linebacker tradition. You're like, look,
I'm not saying they can't be those guys, but.

Speaker 7 (53:59):
The standards ridiculous when you think about And that's the
ultimate praise I can throw to Seth Wallace and the
Iowa linebackers because you lose Jack Campbell seventeenth overall pick,
and it goes top twenty in the draft, plays great
for one of the best teams in the NFL.

Speaker 5 (54:16):
Then you have Jay Higgins, who had been waiting quietly
in the shadows be a two time All American, probably
should have been a two time Buckets Award winner, but
that's a conversation for another day. The standards insane right now.

Speaker 1 (54:29):
For Iowa had had Josie Jewel before that, Morris before
that Greenway just go. I mean, dude, the lineback anger.
It's it's insane.

Speaker 5 (54:40):
I'll do I was coaching staff.

Speaker 1 (54:42):
Yeah, I just it's it's so. I think you're right.
I think the I think the the secondary is where
you know, the the eyes are going to be. And ye,
it's going to be interesting. Again.

Speaker 4 (54:53):
I trust Phil Parker.

Speaker 1 (54:54):
I trust they know what they need in those spots.
They're going to find a way to get the people there.
Uh that's about all I got that. You know, the
it's gonna be fun to you don't really get to
watch a lot of springball. There is that one open
practice that I would I'm.

Speaker 5 (55:10):
Very happy kept it. I'm quite frankly Tyler a little
bit surprised that Iowa kept it just the trend around
the country as they're shutting down because they don't want
guys to, you know, have schools watch their games or whatever.

Speaker 3 (55:23):
And I think that's a little bit over dramatic.

Speaker 5 (55:25):
But I've also heard enough crazy stories behind the scenes,
and I know the way the game's trending right now.
I don't blame them. And what does kirk parents like
to do, almost more than anything else, keep things in house.
He wants his right room building, he wants everything to
stay there. So I think it's I think especially there's
even more pressure from a fan base like Iowa other

(55:46):
schools if you're asking for people to throw in money
for NIL to pay players and you aren't giving them
any spring football access. If I was the donor, I'd
be a little bit teed, But that's just me. Maybe
maybe I'm petty, Maybe I'm dramatic. You know me well enough,
maybe so, But I know there'd be a lot of
people that probably have the same belief, because you also

(56:08):
have some people that were donating to NIL that we're
angry when Mark Dronowski had to get surgery. True, I
think those are two totally different equations in situations, but
you know, you kind of have to be more transparent
if you're gonna continue to ask for money. And that's
not an Iowa thing, mind you, that's an nil. And
then everything college football that is not an Iowa only problem.

Speaker 1 (56:31):
And as with most conversations, we've wrapped our way to
the number one thing in college sports now and it's
the money. And that's how we finished the podcast. It's
all comes back to the money. I'm still looking for
my nil. I'm gonna get some. Uh that big court
settlement actually is going it's supposed to go through it
like April seventh.

Speaker 5 (56:50):
So are you gonna are you getting a little payday off.

Speaker 1 (56:52):
That might get a little residual check off that you know?
Uh yeah, we'll see, we'll see.

Speaker 5 (56:58):
I'm kiddou with you know? Is that is that? Is
that taxable?

Speaker 4 (57:01):
I don't know.

Speaker 5 (57:03):
I mean I forgetting or like what I have not
paid attention to it. I've been too busy, But like
I verial chunks if that was taxable.

Speaker 1 (57:10):
So from what I've heard is like damages off of
a lawsuit. This is like there's going to be some lawyer,
some people that know what. I looked it up on
Google and like The AI response was like, if you
receive a settlement and the settlement is for damages incurred,

(57:30):
damages are not taxed and what as as ridiculous as
it may sound, I believe what we would be getting
paid for is classified under damages like and I do
have to be if anybody is listening, I do feel
pretty damaged about not receiving my nil that I was
entitled to as a long snapper who no one knew.

(57:50):
So I don't know if it's taxed or not. Even
if it is, it's decent.

Speaker 5 (57:55):
Awestly, you probably could have made a nice little chunk
of change or a nice little clothing line about you
fall in shore of the end zone, because do you
think that's such an iconic play? You probably could have
made some money off that.

Speaker 2 (58:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (58:06):
The tough part is is like that was five games
before my career ended, so it's not like I had
a long runway to like milk that.

Speaker 5 (58:14):
But it's a play, I mean, based on the result
of the game, it's one that would still be talked
about forever though.

Speaker 1 (58:20):
Yeah, you're right, who knows, there's definitely some damages there.

Speaker 4 (58:23):
Hopefully we collect the check. Who knows.

Speaker 1 (58:25):
April seventh. I'll be talking about it on this podcast
more and more. David Iicle joins the show. Hopefully this
one pops off like the last one. I mean that
that video, David, in just a couple of weeks shot
to the number one most watched video as a guest
all time on our YouTube channel, which I've.

Speaker 3 (58:44):
Only entertaining.

Speaker 4 (58:47):
And nothing against.

Speaker 1 (58:49):
Well, I'm just saying we've had Greenway, Spencer Lee had
the top had the top spot. Uh, Coach Wallace was
up there. We had document on that one did really well, dude,
it shot above all of those, Like I was like, God,
I don't know if it was just it hit the
algorithm right or what happened, But.

Speaker 4 (59:08):
We appreciate here coming on and I don't think so.

Speaker 1 (59:12):
I enjoy having you on.

Speaker 4 (59:13):
Hopefully everybody else did.

Speaker 1 (59:15):
Uh. We'll have you back in a little bit, maybe
after spring ball with a little wrap up episode and
uh see if the do.

Speaker 5 (59:21):
How about this, how about this will make a little
deal maybe a little uh.

Speaker 3 (59:24):
Soft self agreement here.

Speaker 5 (59:26):
Why don't we do it after the open practice because
Sean Bach will probably film every play and then he'll
upload it. So even if you aren't able to go
you'll be able to go to our YouTube page and
Hawkeye Insider dot com.

Speaker 1 (59:38):
Absolutely shout out to it Hawkeye insider dot com, where
you can get all the inside info on your Iowa Hawkeyes.
Thanks again for everybody listening. We'll be back, uh, let's
this come out, I don't know, back in a couple
of days with another episode.

Speaker 4 (59:51):
Until then, peace, Hey, thanks.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
For listening to the show. If you want more, you
can check us out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube
by searching Washed Up walk Ons. And if you're interested
in supporting the show, head over to patreon dot com
slash washed Up walk Ons, where you can find bonus podcasts, merchandise,
and other cool perks. Best part, half of your subscription
benefits the kids at UI Children's Hospital.

Speaker 4 (01:00:13):
We'll see you next time.

Speaker 1 (01:00:14):
Hawks buy a million