Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Hawkeye talk with Eliot Clough, previewing Iowa State/Kansas with Michael Swain & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

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Hawkeye talk with Eliot Clough, previewing Iowa State/Kansas with Michael Swain & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

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We're going to talk to Elliot Clef.
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He covers the Hawkeyes 24/7 Sports hawkeyeinsider.com.
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That's moment. Hello, Elliot, Trenton, Ken, how
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are you? Good.
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How are you guys I'm doing? OK, Did you see this little
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nugget that just was posted here within the last half hour
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thereabouts? Apparently the the we're about
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to embark on expanding of red shirt eligibility, which was set
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at four games. That number that was just voted
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on by college football coaches and was unanimous in this
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meeting from 4:00 to 9:00. Now how about that?
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I did not see that. As Trent knows, I'm actually in
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the middle of looking at a house with my fiance.
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So I've been a little preoccupied, but a little a few
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things, you know, maybe more important.
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But nine games, yes, that's crazy.
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That's that's almost a full season.
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So what's the point of the red shirt?
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Well, that's the thing. And I've yelled about this for
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two decades now, I guess on the radio.
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The easiest, the simplest solution and getting rid of
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we're past the COVID, yet they're still guys getting 5th
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and six years of eligibility. And very simply, you have five
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years to play five period, end of story.
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If you have an injury every single year, sucks for you. 5
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years This charade if this goes on that you can play 9 games yet
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still red shirt you know what that means?
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Then we're going to get to November and somebody's going to
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opt out, right? Yes, absolutely.
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Crazy. It is, yeah.
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I I mean, and, and to boot, we don't have a rule like this for
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basketball. They play one minute, they play
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one second, they burn their red shirt.
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So why are we, why are we still trying to expand that for
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football? This should have been passed
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over to basketball a long time ago.
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I mean, yeah, what are we doing? I'm, I'm with you.
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Well, since we're starting with football, let's let's go back to
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football. We'll get to McCollum, etcetera
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coming up here as they take on Purdue do tomorrow.
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You follow it. Obviously that's it's your
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career. The the transfer portal.
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You're you're way closer than Trent and I are, although
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Trent's even closer than I am. But from from my perspective,
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I'm anxious to hear your take on this.
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I think Kirk Ference and his staff have done a pretty decent
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job dipping their toe into the portal this year.
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What say you, Elliot Cliff? Yeah, I would agree.
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I I think, you know, there there's the contingent of the
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fan base that wants the big power for addition that wants
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Kirk Ference and and and and and staff to and Brad Heinrichs and,
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and Tyler Barnes to break the break the bank for a big time
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power for transfer. You know, probably receiver and,
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and bring them in and, and have them be the number one option
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and clear and far and away the the the, the top talent for
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Jeremy Hecklinsky or Hank Brown to throw the ball to.
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And to a degree, I understand that you want that bonafide
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proven guy that is going to come in and be your clear number one
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option. I get that to a degree.
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At the same time, at Iowa, you got to play ball.
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So my thinking is that they did what they needed to do.
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They got guys that, well, Tony Diaz, you're not getting that
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guy for cheap. I mean, Alabama wanted him,
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Baylor wanted him, Arkansas wanted him.
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All those programs have money and money to spend.
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And, and you went out and you got him with three years of
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eligibility remaining. You got Evan James who can do
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some of those things that you need to replace with a Caden
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Ouija. And yeah, you went out and and
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replaced some of your older defensive tackles.
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You got Bryce Stevenson at that defensive tackle spot.
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You got depth. The defensive end, you got 3
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safeties out of the portal after losing Cohen entering her and
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Xavier Wampa in the same offseason.
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I mean, and you got depth for your offensive line too.
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And Trent Wilson, No, you didn't go get a quarterback, but
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apparently they're happy with their, their quarterback room.
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You got LJ Phillips, who I've talked to a few people around
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the Missouri Valley Football Conference and they, it's just
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glowing what they're saying about him.
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I'll have an article about that here shortly.
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But man, I mean, I don't know that I'd give it like an A+,
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maybe not even an A, but A-B. Plus, considering what they did,
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what they went out and got FDS freshman All American galore,
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you know, I'm, I don't know that there's a spot for me to say
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they did this wrong or, oh, I would have done this.
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I think they kind of nailed it. The interesting Part 2, when you
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look through this, for the most part, these aren't one year
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rentals. These are guys with multiple
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years of eligibility, 2-3 years still left of eligibility and
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with it trying to get older. This is going to be an
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incredibly young Iowa team next year.
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I think 6 seniors, scholarship seniors on the roster right now
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for next season out of the returner.
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So it's going to be a young team and feels like guys that are
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going to be able to grow along with them.
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Is it maybe signaling a little bit that they're looking to
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they're building and maybe building for something
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incredible big and they can figure out quarterback this year
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for 2027? Yeah, I mean, if Hecklinsky is
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your guy this year, think about what another offseason, what
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another spring could do under Tim Lester.
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And sure, you're you're probably going to lose one or two
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offensive lineman from this group.
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But now it's it's you know, you're starting to get George
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Barnett's guys in that room from start to finish, like Jennings
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dunker, Logan Jones. Those guys came in with with
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Paula SEC before it was Barnett. So these are really Barnett's
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guys up front. You get Omar Young a year or two
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to work in the portal to get some of his guys as well.
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John Budmeyer to start to really get his feet wet at that wide
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receiver coach position. And then I mean, Phil Parker is
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going to be Phil Parker no matter what the year is, right?
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But you get a couple of years of experience of development.
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I mean, like you said, Trammy, like I said, like I said, FDS,
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freshman, All Americans galore, right?
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Like you're getting guys that have red shirted at that level,
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have a year of experience at that level, broke outlook like
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guys that would be studs and then you get them.
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And to boot, you're not getting guys like Granowski who, and
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that's not a flight to Granowski at all, but guys like Granowski
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who or Kate McNamara for that matter, who are missing the
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entire spring, who are sidelined for that whole time.
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They're coming in, they're getting that whole spring.
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They're getting the summer to get to know their teammates,
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they're getting camp, and then they're getting to go right
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away. And you're not getting guys
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coming in in the later spring window either because of how
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things have changed with with the transfer portal being that
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there's only one window. So these guys are getting
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extended amount of time in terms of an offseason to get to know
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Iowa City, to get to know their surroundings, to get to know
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their staff, to get to know their teammates, to get to know
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the system. Things like that where you're
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feeling a lot more familiar with the place rather than just
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showing up in the summer, not really knowing what's going on,
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getting 4 weeks to camp and being like, OK, figure it out,
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go on the football field or sit on the sideline for that matter.
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So yeah, I think this was the right way to go about it.
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I think it makes a lot of sense. The one year rental thing has
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worked in some regards with like a Granowski.
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But I mean, you go down the line and maybe go back to a rusty
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path on the offensive line, but then you go down the line with
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the rest of the group like a Bryce George, like a Dejon
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Parker, like some of these things just haven't worked out.
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The one year rental thing could, could be positive, could work
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out, but in the grander scheme of things, this three-year
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window of eligibility, while they've proven it at these lower
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levels, it makes sense to go after like that so you can build
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them. But they also already have this,
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this, this confidence they can they can lean on when it comes
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to, oh, I've done that before. It might not be at the Big 10
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level, but I've done it at the college football level and I can
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carry it over to planet Iowa. Trent, before you follow up,
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Mike Tomlin out at Pittsburgh, it's happy he stepped down
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apparently after 19 season. Tomlin out with the Steelers.
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Go ahead. Sorry.
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Let's want to go to the defensive backfield.
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You talked about a number of those guys coming in with the
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parchers that they have. Luttmer.
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The versatility that he has is he corners you cash, is he
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safety? He can play all those different
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things and play them at a high level.
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What do you think the game plan is right now when you're talking
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about Deshawn Lee? Lot of experience, you got to
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see a little bit of Watson Wallace.
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I know they're really high on the quarterback spot, 2 transfer
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safeties. You got Luttmer there.
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What do you anticipate it's going to look like?
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That defensive backfield where you're talking about 5 starting
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positions? Yeah, don't forget Rashad
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Godfrey. Yes, he really impressed in that
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that match up with Nebraska this year showed what he could be
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like as that big corner that I would like to have that I kind
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of a big one, like have a small one, at least from what I've
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seen. And Deshaun Lee is definitely
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that that small guy that can can keep up with maybe some more of
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those scattier slot quick receivers.
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But to me is the way it looks going in the next season would
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be like a Deshaun Lee. And I think cornerback 2 spot is
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wide open for competition, whether it's Watson, Godfrey,
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Wallace, and, and to boot, you know, one thing that these
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safeties that are, are, are coming in, we're definitely told
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and that all the roots are, excuse me, the recruits are told
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is that you have to compete. You have to learn all 5 spots in
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the defensive backfield. You have to learn corner, corner
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safety, safety, cash, at least know what it would take to play
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those positions. So we might see one of these
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move over to a corner. We might see one of these
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safeties play a cash. But what I would expect is for
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Lumber to stay at cash just because of how important that
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position is for the Hawkeyes. You have to have one of your
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best athletes that can do so many different things.
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I would imagine he's still going to be that second corner when
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you take your cash off off the field in that situation.
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But I mean, to me, Tyler Brown looks like an automatic starter
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from James Madison as a transfer hard hitter, really good and run
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support. And then secondarily, between
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Anthony Hawkins and Xavier Steeples, those two will get to
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compete for that second safety spot.
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Of course, we're going to learn a lot over this spring window
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from, you know, of course, behind the scenes Hawkeye
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insider VI PS know that for sure, But we'll also learn a lot
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from the spring game and then the open practice in in the fall
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as to where those guys are going to fit.
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That's going to be really interesting to me.
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I thought Anthony Hawkins was going to be 1 safety.
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They added they play next to Cohen enteringer and he would be
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the the the free safety blunt word would be the cash.
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And you know, you move forward from there, you develop the
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younger guys. But I mean, clearly they, they
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saw enough in these three guys and, and the holes in, in the
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defensive backfield to, to add some of these younger guys and,
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and expect them to, to come in and play.
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But I wouldn't count out like a Darien Jones or a Marcello Vita
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either in this class of 2026. Darien Jones is 1.
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I think he's a top 100 kid. He might be in the set.
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I'd have to look again, but he's the top rated kid in this this
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2026 class. Huge jump in in the latest
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update in the rankings on 24/7 out of Omaha.
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Really, really big time playmaker both on special teams
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offense and defense. So he he was really fun to watch
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in high school and a guy that I could see emerging as a
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freshman. Marcello, Vt looks like he could
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be the next cash strong safety type.
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All all guys that could play on special teams too.
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And who knows about Ronnie Hill, who was a late addition in this
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2026 class, one of those Phil Parker specials.
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So could be could be one of these freshmen in this class
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that step up too. There's there's a lot of
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question marks, but a lot of potential in this group too.
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Does Iowa have their punch or punters?
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A lot of buzz about an Australian kid, Boston, Everett,
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and then somebody from just down the road from us here in the boy
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down at Simpson. I'm potentially also joining the
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team who had a couple of good seasons, a kid from, I think
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Waukee Northwest. Is that what it sounds like
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they're trending towards a punter?
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I that's what it sounds like to me.
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I don't have any, anything solid at this point in time, so I
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can't confirm or deny necessarily, but it does sound
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like I was in a good spot to, to grab their punter.
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Presumably going to roll with Ike Speltz at, at at long
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snapper, but might add there as well.
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And then you'll, you'll look at they, they might add another
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defensive tackle too with where things currently sit.
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So some some viability right now in terms of or variability
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rather about how things could land.
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But yeah, it's starting to sound like they have their guys and
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they're ready to move forward. Ben McCollum at the media today.
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They'll see Purdue tomorrow. Not going to be an easy spot
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obviously, as they try to avoid a three-game losing streak.
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While your take away from the Illinois game was what Elliott?
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You know, I think it has to be that this team and, and I've
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said this recently about both Iowa State, Michigan, well, not
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Michigan State, Iowa State, as well as Illinois and, and the
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loss to Minnesota is that this team is resilient if anything,
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And you have to give them that. And I, I think their, their
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willingness to, to fight and to, to come back and get back into
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games where it looks like it's a done deal and, and, and fight,
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you know, to make it a game at the very end is something that's
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telling about Ben McCollum and, and what he does with this team
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secondarily. And I mean, it's kind of ironic
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that I put it that way, but they need a secondary creator, a
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secondary score. Bennett Sturtz can't do
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everything this team needs. He needs some help.
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He's, he's really good. He's, he's caliber of, of being
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all big 10. He's one of the best point
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guards in the country, but he can't do it all himself.
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Got to got to get him somebody who can, who can step up and and
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make those plays, maybe initiate the offense.
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Talking to you, Alvaro Fulgarit need him, need him to step up in
13:58
a big way. And of course Tavion was really
14:00
good in this last game, but he was sick.
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So can he step up? Can he get healthy?
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Who is who? Who is going to be that
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secondary creator, that secondary scorer for the Hawks?
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Could it be Tate Sage? Is it too early in his career to
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be asking even more of him? He has been an incredible
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surprise. I think for a lot of people
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heard some buzz this summer about him.
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He certainly delivered on that realm.
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Or we may be asking a little bit too much out of the freshman out
14:25
of Oklahoma. Yeah, I I would probably say
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that's a little too much. Not not quite ready yet.
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He's a little thin, little limited in terms of his skill
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sets, but I mean, I you have to give credit where credit is due,
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He's been awesome. He's been way better than what I
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thought he was going to be. I thought he was a red shirt
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candidate for sure. I thought Trey Thompson would
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play ahead of him. He's looking more so like he's
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going to red shirt. But yeah, he's he's been really
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good. I I don't want to take anything
14:50
away from faith because I don't know how he ended up as a mid
14:53
major recruit and how he only had so many offers.
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One from Drake, I think a couple from other mid major programs,
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but I don't know how like you and I wasn't all over him or or
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some of these other top tier programs in in the mid major
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ranks. But yeah, he has been awesome.
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Trent. I I just don't think he's quite
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there yet. Well, Oklahoma State, I mean, in
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state kids, right? He was a winner at the high
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school level and didn't get a sniff from either the programs
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down there, Tulsa, even something like that, or Roberts.
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Just crazy. That aside, one last thing, I
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know David Eichel does the women's basketball beat for you
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guys over there at hawkeyeinsider.com, but a win on
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Sunday, great comeback out of them.
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They got Oregon on tap this schedule, though, in front of
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them, Oregon's 14 and 4 ranked to the top 25 of net.
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But then it will be four out of five against teams that are
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ranked, Michigan State, Maryland, Ohio State, USC, who's
15:46
not currently ranked but was. And then the big one at UCLA.
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Big stretch coming up for the Iowa women.
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Big stretch, big stretch. It's big to get that win right.
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And I don't know that that win would have happened without
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Kylie Fierbach. So getting her back and healthy
16:01
is huge. Having that leadership, having a
16:03
girl who's been there, done that alongside Hannah Stolke to help
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those younger players. And like Ava Hayden's awesome,
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but she hasn't quite been there yet.
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So to have a player like that help lead the way in a Kylie
16:16
Fierbach and provide that perimeter pressure, provide that
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shooting and even if she's not making shots, providing spacing
16:22
so, so big to get that win. Even though Indiana isn't having
16:26
a great season, do it on the road, get some momentum into
16:29
this tough stretch and and hopefully steal a few and, and,
16:32
and stay in that top 15, top 20. Ellie Clef hawkeyeinsider.com
16:37
24/7 Sports Back to house shopping you go.
16:39
Thanks for doing this for us, bud.
16:41
Appreciate it. Absolutely.
16:43
Thanks, guys. Yeah.
16:43
Good to talk to you, Ellie Clef, as we check in on Iowa.
16:47
So Chuck Noel, Bill Cower, Mike Tomlin.
16:53
That's the list since 1969. I'm going to put out a guarantee
16:57
oh the next coach will not last as long as any of those 3.
17:01
Yeah, I think we did the same thing with the quarterback of
17:02
the Packers. It's true.
17:05
And I'm not saying that Jordan Love is on that same plane with
17:08
Farve or Rogers. Very good.
17:11
He is very good. I think he's a good quarterback,
17:13
but he's not those two. No, I I think that's probably a
17:16
pretty safe bet. Pretty safe bet.
17:18
You think I'm not going to get real good odds on that bet?
17:20
No, that's a remarkable run. Remarkable run. 19 years as the
17:24
head coach of the Steelers and maybe him and Rodgers walking
17:28
off at the same time, right? So what direction do you go if
17:30
you're Pittsburgh? That's a great question because
17:33
look at that. Look at the division you're in.
17:35
New coach in Cleveland, new coach in Baltimore.
17:38
Should have been new coach in Cincinnati.
17:40
In all likelihood, right? If they weren't so cheap,
17:42
probably would have been, you know?
17:44
Well, and, and Burrell went to bat for Taylor.
17:46
Burrell went to bat for Taylor. And I mean, I don't know, boy,
17:49
if Joe Burke could have a healthy season, I don't know
17:52
what they're going to do. They're going to need, they need
17:54
a quarterback. I mean, this is a rebuild.
17:55
You're taking on a rebuild. But with the front office, with
17:59
an organization that you feel good about.
18:01
Yeah, they're not going to just give you a couple of years.
18:03
If they're rebuilding, yes, they're going to.
18:05
They're going to stick with you, at least for a while.
18:07
You're going to get some time, but we're just so used to the
18:10
Steelers being so good, solid at minimum.
18:13
I never had a losing season. And that that minimum level of
18:16
competency to never have a losing season over 20 years.
18:20
Bananas. And we mentioned the two guys
18:23
before that in Super Bowls and obviously with the Steelers were
18:26
in the 70s and even another championship and cower, what he
18:28
was able to do and getting them there just on and on and on.
18:33
It's a good organization. You feel good about everything
18:35
that you're going to get there. But there's also pressure too.
18:39
You go 7 and 10 back-to-back years.
18:42
Well, last guy didn't do this. No, he didn't.
18:44
You're 1000. Percent.
18:45
You know you got that component too.
18:47
You'll be up yet too. You'll be measured against.
18:49
You're 1000% right. What's the best open job right
18:52
now in the NFL? Oh, that's a great question.
18:54
A You want a quarterback and Pittsburgh doesn't have one,
18:57
right? Do you Do you believe in
19:01
Mendoza? At the next level.
19:05
That might be it if you do. No.
19:09
Cleveland. No, no.
19:11
Not Cleveland Cardinals. No Giant.
19:14
Quarterback giants? Maybe with Dart?
19:17
No, he's gonna, he's never gonna last the way he plays.
19:20
'Cause you think he'll get hurt. Yes, absolutely.
19:22
Because you take that away from him, I think he's below average.
19:25
You take away the running component and the helter skelter
19:28
nature of Jackson Dart, he's a below average guy.
19:31
OK, you like Penix? No.
19:36
OK. I I like Kirk Cousins for
19:37
another year. All right, another gear removed
19:40
from the Achilles. We saw some things that we did.
19:42
Very end of the year old Kirk. I agree.
19:44
Yep, I agree. The Mendoza doppelganger.
19:50
I know what it is and it's not particularly close in my mind.
19:53
Well, hang on a second, let me get through this thing.
19:54
OK, you go through. This because because I'm.
19:56
They're missing though. Was this was?
19:57
This opening has this opening been there since in season yeah,
20:01
in. Season.
20:02
Well, not in season, no. It's.
20:02
Not in season at the end of the year.
20:04
Yeah. I don't love Tua.
20:08
No. Who is it?
20:17
It's the Falcons. I just.
20:19
Said that's the best job. Though I said you like Pennex.
20:22
I I don't, but I like her cousins.
20:24
That is the best current open job.
20:26
I don't think it's You got a quarterback, a veteran, You got
20:29
skilled possession talent all over the place.
20:31
You went out, you tied. For the best record in your
20:33
division, you absolutely did finished third.
20:36
You also went out there and you fixed your defensive line, which
20:38
was a huge issue a year ago. Now you got a couple of dudes
20:41
out there. First round pick.
20:42
It's all right, the Falcons are the best open job currently.
20:46
And the continued rumblings? That's where Lamar wants to go.
20:50
Really, he wants out of the AFC North.
20:53
That's the rumor mill that is out there.
20:56
They put all that together. I think it's that later though,
21:02
when you're just talking to roster talent right now, that's
21:05
the one for. Me.
21:05
The Raiders need a lot of work. Oh, God, yeah.
21:07
They got two guys. They got one guy on offense and
21:10
one guy on defense, a tight end and AD lineman, and they're both
21:14
elite, but that's it. How old's Crosby now?
21:17
How many years have you been in the league?
21:19
He's been in for a while. He's not as long as you usually
21:22
think, though. No, probably what, 8 years?
21:24
He's been eight years, six years, eight years, man,
21:25
probably right in that range. He is 28. 28 so this was year 7
21:30
for him. He was drafted in the fourth
21:32
round in 2019. OK, he's a hell of a player.
21:36
We'll take a time out, we'll come back, we'll talk about
21:39
Kansas and Iowa State. 8:00 tip. By the way, do you know what
21:44
precedes it? I do because I looked it up and
21:46
then I saw our buddy Jay Scott also chimed in on that one was.
21:49
It two weeks ago I was bitching about the made-up for God
21:51
forsaken golf event. There it goes again.
21:55
The run's over. Yeah, I believe anyways.
21:58
I don't have a lot of problems with my life.
22:00
That's a big you're in good shape, pretty.
22:02
I'm pretty happy. It's Miller and Continent on the
22:05
Iowa Sports Radio Network. I'm Hillary Condon, welcome back
22:20
just past 130 on a Tuesday, 8 O clock tip tonight, Shulman and
22:25
Billis, ESPN with the TV down the hall from US 100.3 the bus.
22:31
If you can't be in front of your television set watching this
22:34
game, Michael Swain joins us as he normally doesn't.
22:37
We have a Kansas, Iowa State game on the horizon, whether it
22:40
be football or basketball, and he's back with us to help us
22:43
with this one. Mike, Michael, Trenton, Ken,
22:45
good to talk to you. How are you?
22:48
I'm doing well. I'm doing well.
22:50
It's crazy how much January's change.
22:52
I'm sure for you guys, there's plenty to talk about between
22:54
Iowa State and having a new football roster, football
22:56
coaching staff. There's definitely some
22:58
similarities here, right? Portal season's busy but now
23:01
kind of slowing down, so all focus is on basketball.
23:05
And man, is it going to be an interesting conference season
23:07
for KU. Yeah.
23:08
So what's, what do we make of this?
23:10
Because you know, I've, I've saw him a couple of times, both
23:13
losses. Ironically, the UConn game was
23:15
early December. And then I'll never forget, it
23:17
was a Friday night, it was North Carolina, it was Kansas.
23:20
And I watched the first half and then I turned to a football game
23:23
that I needed to watch and I kind of following and I couldn't
23:26
believe what I was seeing because all of a sudden here
23:29
comes North Carolina and they blew him off the floor.
23:31
I mean, they won that game convincingly, if memory serves,
23:34
after looking like crap in the first half.
23:37
So where are we on this Kansas team?
23:38
Is maybe their demise a little a little bit overstated that you
23:43
know, they're not as bad as as maybe the perception is out
23:46
there for with some people. Yeah, I think it's a team that's
23:52
still trying to figure things out and having your best player
23:55
and your star player not play for most of non conference play
24:00
has really hurt things. Where it, you know, a kind of a
24:02
common talking point right now with Bill Self is the fact that
24:06
kind of everyone on the team is learning how to play with Darren
24:08
and Darren is learning how to play with the rest of the team
24:11
because this the most consistent he's played this season.
24:15
And typically you'd like to look at the schedule and say, hey,
24:19
you know, maybe Darren could have learned how to play with
24:21
these guys in Princeton, Duke, you know, Notre Dame, Syracuse,
24:24
like all these games in non conference play.
24:27
But he's hurt. And then now he's coming back at
24:30
a time when you're playing conference games.
24:32
Other teams have kind of started to figure out who they are and
24:35
KU still trying to figure that out.
24:37
And all the while, kind of the identity that KU had formed
24:41
during non conference play when Darren wasn't playing, you know,
24:44
as Melvin Council and Trey White really being the catalyst.
24:47
And KU is playing, you know, a good style of defense and then
24:51
you'll go start a conference play.
24:52
And three of KU's five worst defensive performances have been
24:56
the last three. So they've been kind of found
24:59
out a little bit, right? Teams have figured out that, you
25:01
know, when KU was switching a lot, hey, go attack Bryson
25:03
Tiller. When KU stop switching, it's
25:05
kind of the old Bill self-defense that they run that,
25:07
that teams that had success getting 3 point looks against
25:09
recently. And West Virginia, you know, I
25:11
think they made 11 threes, TCU made 15.
25:15
Like, teams have started to kind of figure it out.
25:17
So it's one of those deals where, you know, Bill Self said
25:20
yesterday he feels like the team is kind of a week or two behind
25:23
everyone else because of the fact that Darren hasn't played
25:24
much. And to that I'd say, yeah, I
25:27
mean, you see it, But also, man, you can't lose to UCF on the
25:34
road. I understand UCF is perfectly
25:36
fine, right? Or losing that style of game to
25:38
West Virginia. It comes down to K playing the
25:40
defense and they just have not done that.
25:42
And that's super concerning when you look at the games coming up.
25:45
When Peterson comes up, there's the extra.
25:47
You have the hamstring entry and when is he going to be back?
25:49
The limit, the minutes restriction that he had against
25:52
TCU. He gets the three pointer off,
25:54
gets fouled, hits the free throws, then doesn't play in
25:56
overtime. They're just a lot of extra
25:59
here. There are people wondering if he
26:00
was ever going to come back. I'm looking at one of those
26:02
people right now. He was injured earlier this
26:06
season. Take us into what this has been
26:08
with Peterson. An incredible talent, no doubt,
26:11
but there just feels like there's so many extra layers.
26:14
Here. Yeah, Yeah, it's, it's been a,
26:18
I've lost track of the number of like Darren Peterson updates
26:21
I've written over the last two months.
26:23
Yeah. So, you know, it starts off
26:25
with, you know, he had cramps against Louisville like in the
26:27
first exhibition of the year. He didn't finish the game
26:29
because cramps and it's something he dealt with in high
26:32
school. Like there's there's evidence of
26:34
people who are reporting on games that Darren played in that
26:37
like, hey, he's on the bench with mustard packets or with
26:39
pickle juice. Like it's been something that
26:41
he's dealt with. Now he tweaks the hamstring
26:44
against Carolina, misses, I believe those seven straight
26:46
games. He comes back against Missouri,
26:49
NC State. He doesn't look the same, right?
26:52
If you watch him against Caroline in the first half, man,
26:54
he's got the burst. He's really well, he can
26:56
accelerate and decelerate at an elite level and that same
27:00
movement ability wasn't there. And so whether that was
27:04
stiffness coming back from the hamstring, whether that was
27:07
stiffness from him having the cramps go on, whatever, He
27:11
doesn't play the wrestling non conference play.
27:12
And then now he's played three straight games, I believe for
27:15
the yeah, for the first time this season.
27:17
And what's happened in these games is that Darren plays
27:22
typically about kind of 15 to 18 minutes in the first half.
27:25
And then the second-half he plays the 1st 4 or 5 minutes, he
27:28
goes to the bench and it comes back.
27:29
And typically that's when the cramps have started.
27:32
And it's been a big issue where, you know, West Virginia was able
27:36
to play a little bit longer, but then he pulls himself out at the
27:38
end of the game. Obviously TCU, there's the clip
27:40
at the end of regulation there where you know, there's a it's
27:44
not a bad court, but you know, Kate gets the ball back and a
27:47
Marco Jackson throws the ball to Darren.
27:49
Darren's turned looking at the bench asking out of the game and
27:52
then the ball falls right to steal self on the sideline.
27:54
Like that was a perfect encapsulation of what this has
27:56
been like where the team's looking to Darren to star player
28:00
and the dudes pulling himself out of the game.
28:02
So that's how it's transpired. Now, from Darren's perspective,
28:07
he's going to be the normal pick in the draft, right, Unless his
28:09
cramping thing continues. And from his family's
28:12
perspective, from his ages perspective, I guarantee they're
28:14
telling it, Hey, as soon as you feel cramps coming on, get
28:19
yourself out of the game. Do not risk tearing something or
28:22
hurting yourself further. And so there's I think a little
28:25
bit of self preservation there, understandably so, considering
28:27
what's at stake from Darren's perspective.
28:30
And so that's created this in out will he won't he?
28:34
You know all that kind of taking place as Big 12 plays started.
28:38
When you look over all at the conference, Michael, Michael
28:40
Swaine joining us covers Kansas 24/7 sports.
28:42
He was formerly on the Iowa State beat.
28:44
When you look at the the conference overall, obviously
28:47
Arizona and Iowa State right now they're two those two schools
28:50
carrying the flag, but there's a whole bunch of right behind
28:53
them, right? This conference is as deep at
28:55
the top as we've seen in in past couple of years.
28:57
Houston, the conversation and BYU and the Red Raiders,
29:00
etcetera, etcetera. What do?
29:03
What do you see when you look at this at this Big 12 conference?
29:06
Man, it it might be as good as it's ever been.
29:09
And this Arizona team is just incredible, like watching them
29:14
play and the freshman they have, but also the experience like in
29:17
the style of basketball, like I I just enjoy up tempo.
29:20
And so that's just going to be something that I I like.
29:23
If I'm turning on a game, I'm going to go find Arizona or even
29:27
Oklahoma State. Like, you know, the awesome
29:28
games were like the way they play the up tempo style, like
29:32
Arizona's incredible. I mean Iowa State with T JS done
29:35
with this roster, you know, Taman and his level of play.
29:39
Tori's been a surprise. I didn't and not expect this
29:41
from him. You know, I don't follow this
29:43
closely anymore, but it was one of those where I saw that he had
29:45
committed. You know, you read some of the
29:46
stuff from Alec Busty on the 24 seven side and and all of a
29:50
sudden this name pops up and Bill Self mentioned him
29:53
yesterday. He's been really good and
29:54
obviously Houston has been his juggernaut recently.
29:57
BYU had some struggles early, right?
29:59
They didn't look super convincing early in the season,
30:01
but now they started figuring things out.
30:03
Texas Tech's coming into like, you just look at the top of the
30:06
conference and it is teams that you could say, could you see
30:10
this team making the elite? And I could say yeah, for
30:13
probably what the top five teams in the conference, you know, and
30:16
I think you could if KU figures things out, like you could
30:18
probably throw KU in there just because Darren could go crazy
30:21
and all of a sudden he's averaging 33 points a game in
30:23
March and all you know, he can carry it.
30:25
So just the conference overall, it's just so competitive at the
30:28
top. And then even then you can look
30:30
down the list, right, Baylor with Scott Drew, like they're
30:34
going to figure it out at some point.
30:35
You can look at, you know, Oklahoma State has had some some
30:38
tougher losses recently, but they've been a fun team.
30:41
TCU went toe toe with KU. Like just the top to bottom.
30:44
There's just so much talent and really it comes down to the
30:47
bottom. You're looking at like K State
30:48
in Utah as being kind of the two really, really bad teams.
30:53
But man, it, the conference itself, I think it's good.
30:55
It's ever bad it. Certainly is in national
30:58
championship contenders once again. 2 undefeateds with
31:01
Arizona and Iowa State. We know Houston who's playing
31:03
more young guys than normal and they're still sitting there with
31:06
one loss even though they've had some bad times this year.
31:09
Want to go back to Kansas? And certainly it's a working
31:12
theory with the Cyclone fans, maybe a lot of college
31:14
basketball fans, the same thing that's being talked about with
31:17
the SEC and football maybe taking a step back because,
31:20
well, now everybody can pay their players.
31:22
That's the theory that is out there about the Kansas
31:24
basketball program is, look, it's an even playing field now.
31:27
And some of those things that maybe The Jayhawks got away from
31:30
in the past are not happening anymore.
31:33
I know it's difficult for somebody like you that works for
31:36
Kansas website to subscribe to that theory but doesn't make a
31:40
little bit of sense. Oh, no, I think it's totally
31:43
true. I mean, yeah, it's totally true.
31:45
Like you see it across college athletics, period.
31:49
Basketball, baseball, football, whatever.
31:51
Women's basketball, like everyone has the ability to pay
31:54
players now, their ability to do it.
31:56
You got to pick and choose what sports you're going to invest
31:58
in. But you see the talent spread,
32:01
right? Alabama and Georgia are no
32:03
longer dominating the College Football Playoff every year,
32:05
right? Ohio State had an incredibly
32:08
high paid roster last year. They won it all.
32:09
They brought it back this year. They still lost games.
32:12
Like it's one of those deals where and you can look college
32:15
basketball like Calipari at the end of his Kentucky run.
32:17
You can look at, for example, KU, like you can look at the
32:21
national title team K, you had Ronnie Martin coming off the
32:24
bench, the PAC 12, I believe he was player of the year.
32:27
Like there are just certain instances if you want to go back
32:30
further, like Markeith Morris coming off the bench, Cole Andre
32:32
coming off the bench. Like there's just stuff that you
32:34
were able to stack talent back when the transfer rules were
32:38
what they were, where if you were to leave, you had to sit
32:41
here and guys just weren't going to do that.
32:44
And the way that it is now where you can leave every year, I
32:48
think it's been a challenge for Bill Self to, I think, coach the
32:50
way he wants. Where if you look at, you know,
32:54
it's funny, my wife was at this last night.
32:55
I kind of explained how I used to work at Katie where I was
32:57
like, you know, you came in as a freshman and sophomore.
32:59
You didn't play a bunch, but then you knew as a junior, if
33:01
you bought into the system, you'd start.
33:04
And right now guys don't want to think that far ahead.
33:06
And so for a coach like Bill Self that has the system that
33:09
wants to kind of break guys down and build them back up, I think
33:12
that's been a bit of a challenge.
33:14
And then obviously, you get into the financial stuff of, you
33:16
know, everyone's kind of got their salary cap, so to speak.
33:19
And for KU, their salary cap, about 50% of it is taken up by
33:23
Darren Peterson and Floyd Badunga.
33:25
And so that's where KU has chosen to invest in this team
33:29
where you can look at Iowa State in the way that they've made
33:31
spread it out a little bit more. Obviously Jefferson and Tainment
33:34
and and Milan are probably the highest paid guys, but they've
33:37
still been able to kind of fill the roster with maybe some of
33:40
those more cheap, you wouldn't say minimum contracts, but some
33:43
of those mid level contracts. Can you hit on those
33:45
evaluations? And for KU right now, those mid
33:48
level guys have not been performing, whether that's Cole
33:50
Rosario, Jane Dawson, guys like that where you need now in
33:54
college basketball, your high state players need to be great.
33:57
Like no duh. It's those mid level kind of
33:59
deals that you do that have to be really good.
34:01
And that's how teams like Iowa State are able to have the depth
34:04
they do is because TJ just does such a great job every year of
34:08
finding those players that buy into the role that play his
34:11
style and can execute what he wants.
34:13
And that's why every year they're able to go kind of 7-8
34:15
deep and, and you feel pretty good about it.
34:17
Yeah, I think I, I listened, Bill Self, it might have been
34:19
after the West Virginia game kind of alluded to that, that
34:22
very fact that things have changed.
34:24
Last thing for me, because you were on the Iowa State beat back
34:26
when Matt Campbell was here, if memory serves.
34:29
Were you shocked by the news in early December that he's moving
34:33
on? Yes and no.
34:35
It's funny. I remember Penn State is kind of
34:37
within the one that I had circled.
34:39
Penn State, Michigan, I should say, were the 2 that I had
34:41
circled of. Like if they made a run at Matt
34:43
that man, it'd be hard for him not to to listen.
34:48
Yeah, I think I was a little surprised.
34:50
I kind of thought he would be a life run, the end.
34:52
But then, you know, you look at the landscape these days and
34:56
what he and his staff had done with the roster, and you look at
34:59
the talent, right? Not only guys that have followed
35:02
in Penn State, you know, like John Tez and where he's got like
35:05
you just look across the roster in the job that they had done,
35:10
given Matt the the resources to go big at Penn State.
35:13
Like you understand why at this point his career, he was like,
35:15
you know what, I I have done it at Iowa State, right?
35:19
You know, some of the best seasons, like basically every
35:21
record at Iowa State is going to involve a Matt Gable player or
35:25
Matt. Every good record.
35:26
So yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. Every good record.
35:30
So yeah, I was, I would say on my surprise scale, I'd say I was
35:33
a 5 or a six out of 10. You know, I can, you can see why
35:36
he left, but it's also one of those where you kind of thought,
35:39
man, you, you, you wondered if he was going to be one of the
35:42
guys that just stuck it out and was a lifer and and stepped away
35:46
in a while, 'cause this landscape and the calendar and
35:48
everything, it's training for these coaches.
35:50
No question. Hey, Michael, thanks for doing
35:52
this. Appreciate it as always.
35:54
I know they play again mid February, so we'll run you down
35:58
if your schedule allows. Great to talk to you.
36:00
Great to catch up with you, Michael Swain.
36:01
Thank you. Awesome.
36:03
Thanks guys for having me on. Yeah.
36:04
Good to talk to you. Michael Swain covers Kansas for
36:07
the 24/7 outfit. 24/7 sports ticket timeout, transfer plays
36:13
of the day. They are next as we switch back
36:15
to basketball only tonight. Are you going to do Olympics
36:18
once we get to that? Oh, absolutely.
36:19
You. You've Winter Olympics has
36:21
always been your strength. Right.
36:23
I mean, me and the luge, yeah, made a lot of cross country
36:25
skiing. Yes, Oh my God, I don't think
36:27
you've lost Miller and Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
36:39
Hi Miller Condon welcome back final segment circus sports
36:42
sponsors this segment trent's plays of the day circus sports
36:45
Mr. Monday night didn't end the season with a winning note Had a
36:49
pretty good season but last night unable to crawl back out
36:52
of that that. Kind.
36:54
Of 500. It was a money hand over fist.
36:58
It wasn't much of A game last night, was it?
37:02
Well, it was 76 going in the fourth quarter.
37:04
Was it really? Yeah.
37:07
Was it really only 76 at that point?
37:09
Boy, it felt like it got out of hand faster.
37:12
It did well. Two defensive touchdowns.
37:14
That's that. Helped, right?
37:15
That helped. Yeah, Raj.
37:16
And he really didn't. I wasn't sacked on the one that
37:19
the big lineman right scored on. Just got away from him.
37:22
Anyways, what are you playing tonight?
37:25
6 packs. 6 pack. Of college basketball.
37:28
OK, we got a couple of local flavour in here, some regional
37:31
flair as well. In fact, all these games except
37:34
for one involving power conference team.
37:37
So we're not digging the depth because I did that last night.
37:39
I played a couple of SWAT games and lost miserably, but just
37:43
absolutely brutal. So our Southland game at a SWAT
37:45
game. So we're staying away from that.
37:47
Teams that I actually have seen, not just numbers based plays as
37:50
it was last night. We're going to start with the
37:51
Panthers tonight. They're at home, they're at
37:54
home. Tough, tough game.
37:56
They had Bradley, they had a chance to beat Bradley.
37:59
Had that on one of the TV's was that Saturday afternoon.
38:02
They were there with the chance down the stretch.
38:03
Bradley just made the plays. UIC is a little bit banged up.
38:06
Going to lay it. Give me the Panthers minus the 6
38:09
1/2 tonight. The Badgers go to the barn after
38:14
an epic historic upset. Yeah, they're yeah.
38:18
Let down barn plus 1 1/2 with the ghosts.
38:21
Don't eat it. We'll take that one.
38:23
Get it? Grab Virginia.
38:23
You know my love of this Virginia team and that Ritter
38:26
kid that I will almost got. He would be a difference maker.
38:29
But the last season, Virginia plus 3 1/2 at Louisville
38:32
tonight, Nebraska, I'm going to lay the 10 at home against the
38:35
Ducks. Going to grab Oklahoma plus 6
38:37
1/2 at home against Florida. And finally.
38:40
Yes. In the Fog, the Ghosts 8 versus
38:44
5 give me The Jayhawks plus the three in the Hook.
38:48
We shall see. Good stuff.
38:50
That'll do it for us off the bench.
38:51
Coming up next, Sean Roberts, Lucas Strain, they take you
38:54
until 5:00. Miller and Condon noon to two.
38:57
Thanks for being with us on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.