Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Cyclone talk with John Walters, Hawkeyes with Tom Kakert & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

Transcript

Cyclone talk with John Walters, Hawkeyes with Tom Kakert & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

• 0:00
  Power #2 welcome back Miller and Condon.
• 0:02
  Iowa Sports Radio Network Trent Condon and Ken Miller with you
• 0:05
  until just before 2:00. Coming about that time off the
• 0:10
  bench, Lucas Strain holding things down for the next couple
• 0:13
  of weeks as I guess his Co host, our program director is about to
• 0:18
  be a father any day by the sounds of things, right today or
• 0:20
  tomorrow is kind of what they're thinking.
• 0:22
  So I believe, if memory serves, they went into the hospital last
• 0:25
  night. This is what we did with our
• 0:27
  first with Ella 10 years ago. We went in.
• 0:30
  Your memory is not very good if you had to think about what
• 0:32
  happened last night. See what did not for me, this is
• 0:36
  for him, but but I think I heard Lucas talking about this.
• 0:39
  So they're going in the way it was set up.
• 0:41
  They give the medicine to try to induce labor.
• 0:45
  If it doesn't happen, then you have a decision.
• 0:48
  And our decision is keep it going throughout the night or go
• 0:52
  in for the caesarean. You know, I just got to believe,
• 0:56
  but but at that point, just let's go.
• 0:58
  And that's what we did right now, ultimately was not my
• 1:02
  decision. It's not my guts that are being
• 1:04
  ripped out of my body. And walking into that.
• 1:07
  That is a an experience, seeing that as your baby's coming out
• 1:10
  that way tougher and your wife, Oh yeah, wife's guts are just
• 1:15
  sitting there. It was weird.
• 1:16
  But yeah, so I'm guessing that's what the Roberts are going
• 1:19
  through right now. Tom Caker coming up toward the
• 1:21
  bottom of the hour, assuming his plane lands on time from Las
• 1:24
  Vegas. We will speak with Tom Look
• 1:26
  forward to catching up with Tom Canker hawkeyereport.com part of
• 1:29
  on three we'll talk Iowa what her he heard is he will recap
• 1:33
  the big 10 media days working on John Walters, the voice of Iowa
• 1:36
  State. We'll catch up with John talk a
• 1:38
  little basketball, talk a little football.
• 1:40
  Matt Campbell met the media earlier and John is with us.
• 1:43
  John Trenton, Ken, thanks for coming on.
• 1:45
  Appreciate it. I know you're busy over there
• 1:47
  with football, media days, etcetera, but appreciate the
• 1:50
  time. John, how are you?
• 1:52
  Doing great. How are you guys?
• 1:53
  Doing well and I do want to save some time for basketball as well
• 1:56
  as I really liked what TJ's doing over there with this
• 1:59
  roster. But we'll save some time for
• 2:00
  that. But let's start football.
• 2:02
  And one of my takeaways from some of the stuff I'm seeing on
• 2:05
  social media is just an image. It's new, right?
• 2:08
  You go to Ireland, it's a whole new experience.
• 2:11
  How do you handle the football team?
• 2:13
  Is it better to go a couple of days earlier or wait till right
• 2:15
  till the bitter end? And the fact that Campbell
• 2:17
  reached out to Marcus Freeman and Scott Frost just to get
• 2:21
  their experience, I mean, I'm that's not earth shattering news
• 2:24
  that a coach would do that, but but that's something that you
• 2:27
  have to take into consideration knowing you've never done it
• 2:30
  with your team in the past. Well, that's brought up a couple
• 2:34
  times this summer, just the fact that most teams that have gone
• 2:38
  over and played in that game have not gone on to have good
• 2:41
  seasons. And so it concerns him and he's
• 2:43
  trying to make sure that they could be one of the few to
• 2:46
  actually come back and, you know, have it turned into a
• 2:49
  great, great year. So he's put a lot of thought
• 2:52
  into it. He's talked to NFL people, he's
• 2:54
  talked to those college coaches, and he's just trying to navigate
• 2:57
  it. And I think one real positive
• 2:59
  that comes out of pushing your schedule up the way that Iowa
• 3:02
  State did is they're going to have three bye weeks during the
• 3:05
  season. When you think back to last
• 3:06
  year, how valuable bye weeks were to getting healthy, you
• 3:09
  know, they're going to play four games, they're going to have a
• 3:11
  bye, they're going to play three games, they're going to have a
• 3:13
  bye, they're going to play three games, they're going to have
• 3:14
  another bye. And that, I think, is going to
• 3:17
  help this team tremendously to stay healthy over the course of
• 3:20
  a very long season. So I think there's some
• 3:22
  positives too, but I understand his concern to make sure you do
• 3:26
  it the right way. Early start to the season, early
• 3:29
  practice to the season, and outside of last year strong
• 3:32
  starts at the begin. The year has not always been at
• 3:34
  the top of a Matt Campbell coach team.
• 3:36
  Is there anything been done differently outside of just
• 3:39
  timing and practice starting earlier to hit the ground
• 3:41
  running like they did a year ago?
• 3:43
  Or was it as simple as that? They felt like they found the
• 3:45
  right system and what they need to do to be ready at last
• 3:48
  season. I think it's more the latter.
• 3:50
  I think they feel like they they, they know what they need
• 3:54
  to do and how important it is to get off to a good start.
• 3:56
  But you know, so much fits A roll of the dice and to be a lot
• 4:00
  of it just really comes back to how do you do in those close
• 4:03
  games? And you know, you go back to
• 4:04
  2022 when I was state with four and eight and they were one and
• 4:08
  six and one possession games. And then you look at last year,
• 4:11
  there's five and one in one possession games and they, you
• 4:14
  know, win 11 games. And that is often the difference
• 4:17
  between having a great year and not great year.
• 4:19
  And so whether it's at the beginning of the year, the
• 4:21
  middle of the year or the end of the year, I think the important
• 4:23
  thing is that they find a way to close out those games and those
• 4:26
  critical moments. And you think back to last year,
• 4:28
  Rocco backs leading 4 touchdown drives on the final possession
• 4:32
  and actually what, a fifth. But Texas Tech came back down
• 4:35
  and scored. He never got the ball back, but
• 4:37
  I mean, he five times with the game on the line, he led his
• 4:41
  team down the field, scored, which is incredible.
• 4:43
  And so I think that gives everybody a lot of confidence
• 4:46
  that in those situations, he can be a guy that can step up and
• 4:50
  make those big plays when you need them.
• 4:52
  And obviously the receivers that were there with him, that's a
• 4:54
  different story. But I think they really trust
• 4:57
  Rocco in those in those situations to go make plays.
• 5:00
  Well, you mentioned the receivers, of course, Nickens
• 5:02
  and Noel both move on Higgins second round pick.
• 5:05
  I think he was the first second round pick to sign a
• 5:08
  guaranteeing contract at the time and kind of set a trend.
• 5:11
  So here comes Solon, here comes Townsend.
• 5:13
  But John, I contend other than Rocco Beck, then maybe the most
• 5:17
  important position on this football team, most important
• 5:21
  player on this offensive side of the football team might be Ben
• 5:25
  Bramer. The fact that he's he's
• 5:27
  certainly going to be, I would think counted on to step up.
• 5:30
  And you saw that as a freshman. Unfortunately, as a sophomore,
• 5:33
  he's just been so darn banged up throughout his career.
• 5:36
  I mean, he was a he was a freshman American for a reason,
• 5:39
  right? How important is Bramer in what
• 5:42
  might be, if I'm right, you know, his final year at Iowa
• 5:45
  State because I think he's got pro potential.
• 5:47
  What about his year, John, and his importance?
• 5:50
  Yeah, I I couldn't agree with you more.
• 5:52
  I think that when you look at the combination of Ben Bramer
• 5:55
  and Gabe Berkel, who really came on last year, kid from Cedar
• 5:58
  Rapids, those two guys, Matt pointed them out today in
• 6:03
  comparing them to Higgins and Noel and the way they approach
• 6:06
  the game and the way they go about their work every day.
• 6:09
  And I think he's going to really lean into those two guys as
• 6:12
  leaders. And, and I think the tight end
• 6:14
  room can is critical for Iowa State this year to make that
• 6:18
  adjustment. And I think Chase Sowell is
• 6:19
  going to be a really good player and Xavier Townsend is going to
• 6:22
  be a good player. I like some of the receivers
• 6:24
  they have, but you're going to learn more on those tight ends,
• 6:27
  I think, especially early in the season.
• 6:29
  And I I wouldn't be surprised if this is the first year in the
• 6:33
  Matt Campbell era where you have the tight ends accumulate over
• 6:37
  100 catches. The high watermark was 96 when
• 6:40
  Charlie Koehler was playing. You go all the way back to when
• 6:43
  Matt first got here. 7 catches from the tight ends in first
• 6:46
  year, 5 for the tight ends in second year.
• 6:48
  Right now it's pretty consistently up in the higher
• 6:52
  numbers. But last year was 51.
• 6:54
  It took a big step back because of all the injuries, right?
• 6:56
  And so I, I think that 96 year or even over 100 is much more
• 7:00
  likely if Berkel and Bramer can stay healthy because Tyler Moore
• 7:04
  is a good threat coming out of the backfield.
• 7:05
  Get out of Johnston. He'll be kind of that H back
• 7:08
  type. And then Cooper Alexander's a
• 7:10
  really good pass catching tight end to red shirt a year ago who
• 7:14
  has a big, big upside. So I think the tight ends could
• 7:17
  accumulate over 100 catches this year.
• 7:18
  And I think if they do, that's a really good sign for Iowa State.
• 7:22
  But they might have to sustain more drives.
• 7:24
  There might not be as much big play excitement about, you know,
• 7:28
  hitting the home runs like they did some last year with Nolan
• 7:30
  Higgins. But if they can hit a bunch of
• 7:33
  singles and and run them together, they can put together
• 7:35
  some time chewing drives and that can help the the defense a
• 7:38
  little bit too. You know, we learned a year ago
• 7:41
  not all transfer portal editions are created equal, right?
• 7:43
  And, and they brought a couple of guys in to help the defensive
• 7:46
  line. It just it didn't hit well.
• 7:47
  They're doing the same thing this year.
• 7:48
  Here comes Malone from Tulsa. They get Cannon Butler to come
• 7:51
  in from you and I helping to fortify that.
• 7:53
  I know it's early, not a whole lot there, but of some of those
• 7:56
  newcomers who are some of the names you're looking at that are
• 7:58
  going to be able to help out up front on the defense this
• 8:01
  season? Well, you know, the first guy
• 8:04
  that Matt mentioned today when talking about the defensive line
• 8:06
  was a kind of easy A goo who he feels like really could have
• 8:10
  played even more last year. I mean, obviously, you know,
• 8:14
  they didn't want to lose the young man they lost to that's
• 8:18
  the A&M. But they feel like is Yahoo is
• 8:22
  ready to take that step and be as good as he is anyway.
• 8:25
  And and they feel like he can be the guy at one of those defense
• 8:28
  bend spots lined up next to Dominic Gorn.
• 8:31
  So it gives you a pretty good feel there.
• 8:32
  But yeah, the pass rush is a big topic and to me, there's a lot
• 8:38
  of candidates. You meant it.
• 8:39
  Something that he mentioned today with Thomas, all of
• 8:41
  McDonough, he's the transfer in from Yale, had a great year last
• 8:45
  year in the Ivy League. Maybe make a Jalen Travis type
• 8:48
  impact as a defensive end pass rusher.
• 8:50
  Cannon Butler from you and I, you mentioned Trevor, Don
• 8:53
  Malik's younger brother is a good pass rusher.
• 8:57
  But to me, and and I do want to see the sax numbers go up.
• 9:01
  But to me, the biggest thing is just pressure, just getting the
• 9:03
  quarterback uncomfortable. And and I think that really
• 9:06
  starts with can you stop the run better than you did a year ago
• 9:12
  and get people in obvious passing situations?
• 9:14
  Because I would say it was 15th of the 16 teams in the Big 12
• 9:18
  last year against the run. And we're so used to John
• 9:21
  Haycock defenses being second or third in the Big 12 or first
• 9:25
  against the run. And it's all of a sudden drop
• 9:27
  back and have a year where they were 15th and still managed to
• 9:29
  win 11 games. You know, it was remarkable that
• 9:33
  it happened, but a lot of that was the injuries.
• 9:35
  But I think if you can slow down the run game, then you get teams
• 9:39
  in obvious passing situations. Then you can pin your ears back
• 9:42
  and maybe blitz of Caleb Bacon or is Zachary Lovett and get
• 9:46
  that extra man with the pressure and get more sacks.
• 9:49
  But I wouldn't look at the sacks Total was like the total gauge
• 9:52
  of the success of the defensive line.
• 9:54
  I think quarterback curries are every but as important and just
• 9:57
  getting guys off their sweet spot.
• 9:59
  Carson Hansen probably will be the number one him or Sama going
• 10:02
  to battle it out. But I keep coming back because
• 10:04
  Campbell keeps bringing him up every opportunity he gets and
• 10:08
  it's none forgettable name. And then River Peppers just a
• 10:11
  terrific name for for the freshman.
• 10:14
  What are his expectations this year, John?
• 10:16
  And what are you hearing about River Peppers?
• 10:18
  Would you be, would it floor you if he, you know, gets more
• 10:21
  carries than normally a freshman would in Campbell system?
• 10:25
  Yeah, I think he might. You know, he's, he's very
• 10:28
  dynamic. He's very fast.
• 10:31
  Aiden Flora is a guy that played some last year, young man from a
• 10:34
  Dell was also very, very fast to walk on that really emerged.
• 10:38
  And I think those two guys are kind of cut from the same cloth.
• 10:41
  They're both tinier, faster running backs.
• 10:44
  And so with Jackson gone, I think one of those two guys
• 10:48
  could be that kind of that change of pace back that they
• 10:50
  used with Jackson a year ago and get some real opportunities
• 10:54
  maybe on jet sweeps, maybe on, you know, maybe they'll line
• 10:56
  them up in the slot some, but they're going to find a way to
• 10:59
  get those guys on the field. And I think it could be, you
• 11:01
  know, return game too, that that might be a real possibility for
• 11:05
  river or for freight and Flora. But they like getting that speed
• 11:09
  dynamic on the field. I did get to see Pepper some in
• 11:12
  the spring. He had one run that I just blew
• 11:14
  me away because he, he got to the corner so quickly.
• 11:17
  And so I, I, I think there's, there's a lot of legitimate
• 11:21
  optimism about him and what he can do.
• 11:23
  But obviously you do have two veteran guys and Hanson and Sama
• 11:27
  who now have been around, we say they're veteran guys, but
• 11:30
  they're only in their third year in the program.
• 11:31
  But man, we really saw Hanson emerge last year and I think Abu
• 11:35
  could be in for a great year as well.
• 11:37
  So I like that 1-2 punch, but I also love the idea of that
• 11:40
  change of pace with with either Floor or Peppers as that third
• 11:43
  guy. Kyle Canardi comes back for his
• 11:45
  sophomore year at the kicker position.
• 11:47
  Of course, the kicker around the state in Week 2A season to go to
• 11:50
  knock off Iowa in Iowa City, Inconsistent I think would be a
• 11:54
  word. You can certainly see the leg
• 11:56
  talent from him when you look at the special teams and starting
• 11:59
  with Conradi, what do you see over there?
• 12:01
  What's been the talk about him going into year #2?
• 12:04
  I think they feel great about him and about Tyler Perkins, the
• 12:07
  plunner and you know, son Rardi for a guy that was brand new to
• 12:13
  it, Dubuque kid. Obviously everybody remembers
• 12:16
  the kick against Iowa 54 yarder to win the game.
• 12:18
  That's the one that's going to stand out everybody's mind.
• 12:20
  But he had a lot of big clutch field goals with some strong leg
• 12:25
  long kicks and he made a bunch of them throughout the season.
• 12:28
  I was, you know, going back and re watching games and not sure
• 12:32
  he missed a couple, which is not uncommon, but he also made a
• 12:35
  bunch and in critical situations.
• 12:38
  And so I think they feel absolutely great about Kyle.
• 12:41
  I know they feel really good about Perkins as their punter.
• 12:44
  He's a veteran guy. He's been out there a bunch now.
• 12:46
  And so and the big question is going to be in the return game
• 12:49
  with the special teams, You know, can somebody emerge in the
• 12:53
  absence of Jaylen Knowles be that return guy?
• 12:55
  Maybe Xavier Townsend is that guy.
• 12:57
  Maybe it's Peppers or Flora, who knows, But there's, you know,
• 13:02
  they want to, they want to have as good as special teams as they
• 13:04
  did last year. And I thought that was a real
• 13:07
  underestimated strength of last year's team.
• 13:09
  As I mentioned, they weren't going to get against the run.
• 13:11
  Their defense was not as good as it normally is.
• 13:14
  They had some really good offensive play and they had some
• 13:17
  really good play on special teams and I think that's the
• 13:19
  formula that got him to eleven wins.
• 13:21
  I bring this up because it is a contact sport.
• 13:24
  You will need a backup quarterback at some point in all
• 13:26
  likelihood. Connor Moberly, how has he
• 13:29
  looked going back to the spring and how's his kind of his
• 13:32
  offseason gone, John? Because it's yes, I'm assuming
• 13:35
  that he would win the backup spot.
• 13:38
  Yeah, it'll be a good battle with him and Alex Mansky out
• 13:40
  about gonna, who's a really talented quarterback coming into
• 13:43
  the program, too. But I think Connor does have the
• 13:45
  edge with the experience. And, you know, he got thrown
• 13:47
  into duty against Arizona State in that Big 12 championship
• 13:50
  game. And it was totally unexpected
• 13:52
  because Rocco took that shot and, you know, he struggled.
• 13:55
  He really struggled when he went in there.
• 13:57
  But we also saw some moments where he looked really good and
• 13:59
  he ran the ball really well. He's very physical.
• 14:02
  I've seen him make some great throws already here in camp and,
• 14:05
  and they feel really good about his ability to get the ball down
• 14:08
  the field. He's a winner, you know, won
• 14:11
  multiple state championships at Southeast Polk.
• 14:13
  And so that's a that's a good room.
• 14:16
  They, they love Rocco. They, they anticipate and being
• 14:19
  out there the whole time. But yeah, I, I don't think
• 14:21
  they're going to feel like it's a desperate situation if they go
• 14:24
  to Moberly or Mask. And it'll be interesting to see
• 14:27
  with Moberly if they have a run package like they did last year
• 14:30
  where they brought him in and had him run some.
• 14:33
  Even if he's, you know, even if Rocco's healthy, they might
• 14:35
  occasionally throw them overly in there and do that.
• 14:37
  They did some of that a year ago.
• 14:39
  Let's jump over to little basketball.
• 14:40
  John Walters, the voice of the Cyclones joining us and another
• 14:44
  conversation, another press conference from TJ and a lot
• 14:47
  more talk about plea. Maybe it's a summer buzz.
• 14:50
  You don't exactly know, but has your opinion changed on him back
• 14:54
  when he committed, when we first kind of started hearing about
• 14:57
  him to where we are now? Because boy, reading through
• 14:59
  things, it feels like Plead is going to be a pretty big part of
• 15:02
  this team this season. Yeah, I think he'll be a
• 15:05
  contributor. You know, I mean, there's a lot,
• 15:06
  there's a log jam there because they really do like Buchanan and
• 15:11
  Mulder and feel good about those two guys.
• 15:13
  And obviously Joshua Jefferson played a lot at The Five last
• 15:16
  year, and he can do that when needed.
• 15:18
  But I think with the development of Dominicus Plato, they feel
• 15:23
  like, hey, there's another guy that might work his way.
• 15:26
  I wonder if TJ will be able to go just eight.
• 15:29
  You know, he likes to just play 8 guys, but I think Plato could
• 15:32
  be a guy that comes in and forces his hand a little bit
• 15:35
  where they maybe play 9. He's more athletic than I
• 15:38
  thought. He gets up and down the floor
• 15:39
  pretty well. He runs well, he's very crafty
• 15:43
  about getting in position. And you know, I think the one
• 15:46
  thing when we think back to the career, I'm not by any means
• 15:50
  making a comparison to Doug McDermott, expecting him to be a
• 15:53
  3000 point scorer, OK. But when I think back to Doug
• 15:57
  McDermott and his development, Doug was so good at getting all
• 16:00
  the work done before he made the catch.
• 16:02
  He was so good with the footwork and getting the positioning and,
• 16:05
  and then by the time he caught the ball, it was just the way up
• 16:08
  and he had it. He had it taken care of and
• 16:10
  played us that way in a lot of ways.
• 16:11
  He does a lot of really good footwork things that allow him
• 16:14
  to score inside and he's a really nice kid.
• 16:18
  I really enjoyed visiting with him yesterday and I think he
• 16:22
  could force his way into the mix.
• 16:23
  I don't think he's going to be like a starter or some guy that
• 16:27
  they're going to build the team around but but he's going to
• 16:30
  have an opportunity and he's a good player.
• 16:32
  And I think Blake Buchanan has got a chance to do you.
• 16:36
  I love Blake Buchanan and I love the fact that I always say it's
• 16:38
  getting back to the more athletic host players that can
• 16:43
  get out and challenge an offensive player and then
• 16:45
  recover and get to the rim and still protect the rim.
• 16:47
  They can run the floor, get out of the oops.
• 16:50
  Blake's a really good passer too, and Molder's a guy that
• 16:53
  goes to the offensive glass a lot like we saw Chad he'll do
• 16:57
  last year, but a little bit more athletic maybe.
• 17:00
  But they're quicker guys than what Iowa State had a year ago.
• 17:02
  So I think that lends itself to maybe seeing this look like more
• 17:06
  like T JS teams that we were used to before they tried the
• 17:09
  big experiment, really big experiment last last year with,
• 17:12
  you know, 265 LB guys. I think this is more like what
• 17:16
  we're used to with TJ and it'll be a lot of fun.
• 17:18
  John, thanks for doing this. John Walters, appreciate.
• 17:20
  We'll talk to you periodically throughout the, well both
• 17:23
  seasons as we move from football to basketball.
• 17:26
  Thank you, John, appreciate it. Have a have a good weekend.
• 17:29
  Yep, you too. Anytime guys.
• 17:30
  Thanks. Good to hear from you, John
• 17:31
  Walters, the voice of Iowa State.
• 17:33
  So a pretty positive piece on Iowa State.
• 17:34
  You want the bad news? Yeah, it's it's here.
• 17:38
  It's not good news Evan Jacobson is going to Texas A&M.
• 17:43
  Now that's the surprise to me. That's shocked me.
• 17:45
  I I didn't even see them listed. Notre Dame, Stanford.
• 17:48
  Stanford, yes. A&M Surprising.
• 17:53
  Didn't he have any visits scheduled there that?
• 17:55
  I don't know. I didn't.
• 17:56
  I, I if if he did, and obviously he must have.
• 17:59
  I didn't see that one on the list.
• 18:01
  I mean, good for him starting his own course, getting out of
• 18:04
  the state. And, as we know, did.
• 18:06
  One follow his brother. It's not over.
• 18:09
  No, it's true. Yeah, but they got pretty.
• 18:10
  Deep because his brother didn't start there either.
• 18:12
  His brother started in a breast. He did you know, and he ended up
• 18:15
  in apes. So don't go to social media and
• 18:18
  bad mouth him. I thought that.
• 18:20
  You know, once the that Notre Dame and who else was, was it
• 18:23
  Alabama that was kicking the tires on him?
• 18:25
  Wasn't there another SEC school? A&M.
• 18:27
  Took a tight end. Well, I know the Notre Dame.
• 18:30
  I know Notre Dame did for. Sure.
• 18:31
  Yes, because A&M's always been there, but I thought there was a
• 18:35
  visit that was cancelled for there or just something like
• 18:37
  that, that. Maybe he was throwing everybody.
• 18:39
  Off maybe? Well.
• 18:40
  So you've seen him play, Yes. How good is he?
• 18:44
  He's still a developmental guy. I mean, you can see it.
• 18:46
  There's times that it felt like he was just almost thinking too
• 18:50
  much, especially early in his career.
• 18:52
  Last year, you started to see those, those reps that were
• 18:55
  starting to pay off. I mean, you can just see it with
• 18:57
  the physicality that he plays with.
• 18:59
  You know his best football's still in front of him, but much
• 19:03
  more polished prospect than his older brother Michael was
• 19:06
  certainly at any point in there. Because I thought Michael made a
• 19:09
  mistake. He should have played football.
• 19:10
  He made a nice basketball career, but I thought he had a
• 19:13
  chance and he did get to a camp in Indy and in Seattle.
• 19:16
  Seattle, Yeah, he hung around for a couple of years.
• 19:20
  Of the two brothers. Evan more upside, More upside,
• 19:23
  yes, I think a little more athletic, a little more to him
• 19:26
  on that side of the football and I like him a lot.
• 19:30
  I think his best football is in front of him and it's never
• 19:33
  over. No, not anymore.
• 19:34
  It's not Different world. All right, well, good for Evan
• 19:38
  Jacobson, good for Bill and Katie, his parents.
• 19:41
  That decision has been made. Look, he stuck to that, right?
• 19:43
  He said he'd make it sometime in July.
• 19:45
  And here we are. Time to give somebody an
• 19:48
  opportunity to put $1000 in their bank account or in their
• 19:50
  pocket. Whatever you want to do with it,
• 19:51
  it's yours. KX and o.com, this bonus box,
• 19:54
  this is the final week for this promotion.
• 19:57
  It will be back at some point. But right now, head to KX and
• 20:00
  o.com. The keyword is Bill's Bill.
• 20:02
  Bills at kxno.com. Bills, kxno.com.
• 20:06
  Your chance to win $1000. Miller and Condon.
• 20:11
  Tom Kakert, assuming the plane has landed, Do you know if he
• 20:13
  was on time? Were you on time, by the way,
• 20:16
  last night? Yeah, we got out of there.
• 20:18
  Right on. We left probably a couple
• 20:20
  minutes early. What was TSA like when you went
• 20:22
  through Nobody, nobody late because you were, you probably
• 20:25
  went through about what, 334 o'clock?
• 20:27
  Yep, I think we sailed right through.
• 20:29
  We did. Not a soul in front of me in the
• 20:31
  TSA Pre-check line. Fine, Lucas, I'll get the plan.
• 20:34
  Check that's. Right.
• 20:35
  Yeah, got to do that. See.
• 20:37
  Not in Vegas I find sometimes at least early leaving early.
• 20:40
  But Lucas, I don't think there's a person in front of him either.
• 20:43
  That's awesome. Even on the other side, because
• 20:45
  it can be those late afternoon ones, morning flights.
• 20:48
  Stay away, it's scary. Yep, mid mornings.
• 20:50
  Am I ever going to get through here?
• 20:53
  Really. Yeah, maybe I cut it a little
• 20:55
  close. You probably don't worry about.
• 20:57
  That I don't, I give myself plenty of.
• 20:59
  Time as you do. Miller and Condon, it's 125.
• 21:02
  Tom Kakert on. I will get his thoughts on what
• 21:04
  he saw at Big 10. Meaty days when we come back.
• 21:07
  Trench plays of the day. Still to come, Miller and Condon
• 21:10
  or on the Iowa Sports Radio Network, Henry Condon, welcome
• 21:14
  back Iowa Sports Radio Network, Trent Condon, Ken Miller with
• 21:17
  you. And just before the top of the
• 21:18
  hour, we will depart and Lucas Strain will come off the bench.
• 21:23
  Take things until 5:00 overtime. Iowa 5 until 6:00.
• 21:26
  Well, Tom Cagert's playing the song.
• 21:28
  Apparently the plane was on time.
• 21:30
  He is back from Big 10 Media days in Las Vegas and he joins
• 21:34
  us. Tom Trenton, Ken, thanks for
• 21:35
  coming on. Flight was on time, apparently,
• 21:37
  Tom. A little.
• 21:39
  It was a little late. OK, we're about 1/2 hour late
• 21:42
  getting out of there, but and I made some time up in the air.
• 21:46
  It wasn't bad. So now I'm just sitting in in
• 21:49
  traffic on I-80 because there's an accident.
• 21:51
  He's bound. So there you go.
• 21:54
  See me on the back. Yeah, Really.
• 21:56
  How was TSA for you this morning at Harry Reid Airport?
• 22:00
  It was great because. I last year made the the smart
• 22:06
  decision to get the get the the the the pass thing.
• 22:10
  Yeah, the the pre-check. Pre-check, yeah, yeah.
• 22:14
  The best, the best, like. Yeah, 75.
• 22:17
  Bucks to ever spend, yeah, five years, 75 bucks I think, or 78
• 22:22
  bucks, something like that. And it's it's a breeze.
• 22:27
  Yeah, that's I, I didn't know it was for five years.
• 22:30
  So that does make it a little more economical.
• 22:32
  Yeah, it's not a yearly thing that you have to renew or
• 22:34
  anything like that. Once for five years and there'll
• 22:36
  be so many times you'll be looking at those suckers in
• 22:39
  line. I know.
• 22:40
  Move right on through. Don't have to take off your
• 22:42
  belt, your shoes, nothing we don't.
• 22:43
  Have to take off our shoes anymore?
• 22:45
  Well. You might run into a rogue agent
• 22:47
  that's. True.
• 22:48
  That's true. Tom, let's get to what we
• 22:50
  learned or what we think we learned from the three days out
• 22:53
  in Las Vegas. Obviously, we'll start with Iowa
• 22:55
  from yesterday. I saw Big 10 Network, so that's
• 22:58
  where I'm getting my takes from listening to Kirk there.
• 23:01
  You were there in person, saw the players.
• 23:03
  I'm guessing you're part of Beth Getz as well.
• 23:05
  This scrum that she had take away or two from what you heard
• 23:08
  pursuant to the Hawkeyes as they get set for 2025.
• 23:12
  Trent can probably back me up on this.
• 23:14
  Kirk seems very kind of quietly confident about this.
• 23:17
  That's what he said. I opened up the show at the
• 23:18
  exact same comment down. Oh.
• 23:21
  My gosh. Well, it it, that's how.
• 23:23
  Here comes six and six. Yeah, here comes six and six or
• 23:27
  five and seven right down the right down Broadway.
• 23:30
  He does. And I thought it was interesting
• 23:32
  he made a comment about that the the wide receivers are kind of
• 23:36
  going to make that leap that the line made last year.
• 23:39
  The offensive line seems pretty excited about in general the
• 23:44
  guys. The other thing that I thought
• 23:46
  was interesting that he said and maybe a harbinger for something
• 23:50
  is like, hey, you know the depth chart, there's going to be
• 23:54
  somebody that becomes Pat Anger or Rick Stanzi and you know,
• 24:00
  this year that's going to be that second Stringer that comes
• 24:04
  up and ends up being a starter and a big contributor.
• 24:07
  And I wonder if he's got a feel on that.
• 24:09
  And I'm not saying quarterback because I think Gronowski's the
• 24:12
  guy, but if there's a couple of guys that are kind of right
• 24:16
  there and you don't know about the first string guys, it might
• 24:21
  jump up there. So I, I kind of, my thought went
• 24:25
  to linebacker more than any place else, but that was just
• 24:28
  me. So just let me let me jump in
• 24:30
  you for a second. When it comes to the to Stanzi,
• 24:33
  he kind of said the same thing on Big 10 Network that he that
• 24:36
  he went with the starter too long and he brought up Ricky
• 24:39
  Stanzi. And I never heard him say that
• 24:41
  before that Stanzi should have played earlier, but it was him
• 24:44
  that held him back. So maybe there is something to
• 24:46
  that comment, Tom? Yeah, I there's something
• 24:49
  cooking there because it's in his brain.
• 24:52
  And I just, I wonder if, you know, he mentioned yesterday,
• 24:56
  you know, mentioned anger, and that was Jacodi Coleman starting
• 24:59
  a middle linebacker. So, and the guys, the three
• 25:03
  players they brought were just so delightful.
• 25:05
  I mean, you know, Logan Jones is just a solid, you know, same
• 25:07
  with Herket. And well, what a great story
• 25:10
  Cohen enteringer is and his his parents were there.
• 25:14
  They made the trip to see him and they were so proud of him.
• 25:18
  They actually flew back on the flight this morning with us and,
• 25:21
  and they're, they're just, they're still beaming just how
• 25:24
  proud they are of that young guy, what he does.
• 25:27
  He's amazing. I mean, I just spent 10 minutes
• 25:30
  with him and I know you've connected it with him a whole
• 25:32
  lot more. And yeah, one of the other
• 25:33
  reporters that was standing next to me asked about that.
• 25:35
  So I looked over my shoulder and there's Mom.
• 25:37
  He's right next to me, just to my left, sitting down at one of
• 25:40
  the seats. And he's so engaging, he's so
• 25:42
  thoughtful. I asked him about, you know,
• 25:45
  what kind of spin he's going to put on the cash position.
• 25:47
  That's kind of what I was going to because Phil's played a bunch
• 25:50
  of different types. I mean, you think Dame Belt,
• 25:51
  that more angular guy, Castro, smaller hard hitting physical
• 25:55
  thing and he brought up all four of the guys that have started at
• 25:59
  the cash position. He's incredibly thoughtful.
• 26:02
  His tie has a bunch of the defensive backs numbers on it
• 26:04
  that he was wearing. Really, that guy, I, I don't
• 26:07
  know how long his football career is going to go, but he
• 26:11
  might be our next AJ EADS, right?
• 26:12
  That's going to be running Big 10 football because he is so
• 26:14
  smart and engaging. He when I was over there, he
• 26:17
  also mentioned he's got another year that he could use at Iowa,
• 26:19
  so. He's a Richard.
• 26:21
  Richard Junior. Yeah, count him out and he's
• 26:24
  being kind of coy about whether he's cash or whether he's going
• 26:27
  to be the strong safety. I think regardless, I think
• 26:29
  maybe he's cash and then when they go the traditional 4/3, he
• 26:34
  floats back to to strong, you know, kind of like Castro did
• 26:38
  last year with with Xavier Wampa.
• 26:41
  That's my guess. When Ferris was asked about, I
• 26:43
  don't want the what the question was, but he was talking about
• 26:45
  the receivers at the end of it and he went out of his way to
• 26:48
  mention Reese Vanderzee. Tom.
• 26:50
  That was the, I think the only one he said by name.
• 26:52
  I could be mistaken, but that's the one that stuck with me was
• 26:55
  he brought up Reese Vanderzee and how he thinks there's a step
• 26:58
  there. Yeah, and he's had a full year.
• 27:02
  Remember last year I think he was playing baseball.
• 27:05
  Was he at this time? Yeah, I think he was playing
• 27:08
  baseball, so he didn't get get into everything until later,
• 27:13
  like fully. I think he'd been, you know,
• 27:15
  he'd come in every once in a while and get some workouts in.
• 27:18
  But he, yeah, he's he's an interesting player.
• 27:23
  Yeah. KJ Parker's the guy that I'm
• 27:25
  really kind of jazzed about that.
• 27:27
  I think he's got a shot at being in pretty special.
• 27:29
  That room is so much deeper. I really feel like there's seven
• 27:33
  guys in that room that could help him this year.
• 27:37
  Even Seth Anderson, if he stays healthy, you know, I picked him
• 27:41
  as the guy who leads him in receiving yard.
• 27:43
  So, you know, I'm betting on health with him and Carson Shire
• 27:47
  this year. And if that happens, they're
• 27:49
  going to be in really good shape.
• 27:51
  I want to put it to you this way, Tom.
• 27:54
  I walked away with the same if everything goes right, they get
• 27:57
  the brakes, they pull an upset at home.
• 27:59
  Granowski is the real deal. This team can go 10 and two.
• 28:01
  We've seen that kind of upside before and I think could happen
• 28:04
  even with this schedule. But is maybe the floor lower
• 28:07
  than it normally is where look at minimum they're going to be 7
• 28:10
  and 5, right? Could you see this season,
• 28:12
  because there are still question marks that left tackle at some
• 28:15
  of the depth pieces, what linebacker is going to look
• 28:17
  like? Have they figured out that
• 28:18
  second corner, if TJ Hall is the guy at the first corner spot,
• 28:22
  that maybe the floor is lower for this Iowa football team than
• 28:25
  normal? I think I'm most concerned about
• 28:29
  the defense just because there are so many questions there.
• 28:33
  It's just, I know it's insane to think that, but because I asked
• 28:37
  Cohen and go, what's Phil like talking about?
• 28:40
  Like, because you guys give up too many explosive plays.
• 28:42
  And he was basically like, it's every day, every day since the
• 28:45
  spring. They talked about not giving up
• 28:48
  big place, not giving up big place.
• 28:49
  Because that was one thing talking to Phil this summer, I
• 28:53
  mean, that's one of the things that's just sticking in his craw
• 28:55
  right now is that they gave up way more explosives than they
• 28:59
  have in the past. And so he's he's going to be
• 29:03
  zeroed in on that. You know, the guy to watch maybe
• 29:06
  is the Shaheed Barrows, the the kid they got from South Dakota
• 29:10
  at corner. I think he's got a chance to
• 29:12
  maybe start this year. And I keep an eye on Jalen
• 29:15
  Watson. That's a kid that entering her
• 29:18
  brought up as well. And he's a Michigan kid.
• 29:21
  So he's a little biased there maybe, but you know, technically
• 29:25
  Michigan Kitty finished up this high school in in Ohio, but he
• 29:29
  grew up in Michigan. You know, there's a name as I
• 29:31
  was thinking about this, so that it was everybody asked about
• 29:34
  this one guy last year just because of the shoes he was
• 29:36
  filling and nobody's talking about him this year.
• 29:39
  Mistaken. Oh, yeah.
• 29:40
  Remember how big of a talker he was?
• 29:43
  What, when when they look back at his freshman campaign, Tom,
• 29:46
  knowing that it was all brand new to him, etcetera, Certainly
• 29:49
  saw some glimpses. No, he's not Tori Taylor.
• 29:52
  So if you are right, but but I would have to think that they
• 29:56
  had to be pleased with that knowing that there's more there.
• 29:59
  Oh, yeah, I thought he was, you know, really good.
• 30:04
  I I thought he was, you know, like I said, not Tori Taylor,
• 30:07
  but he's in that neighborhood. And he, the big thing with him,
• 30:11
  he's put on 20 lbs of muscle and, and he loves to be, be
• 30:16
  happy to, to tell you that he put on 20 lbs of muscle.
• 30:19
  So he's, yeah, he's enjoying putting on the, the weight and
• 30:22
  getting some, getting some guns going.
• 30:24
  But he's stronger in his lower body too, and he thinks that's
• 30:28
  going to help him with his the strength and his kicks,
• 30:31
  especially later in the year. You mentioned KJ Parker.
• 30:34
  He's been one of those buzz guys of the summer.
• 30:36
  I don't know if I forgot about him or just did whatever reason,
• 30:40
  but Watson over on the defensive side of the football, competing
• 30:43
  maybe for that second quarterback spot.
• 30:45
  He burned his red shirt a year ago.
• 30:48
  He played on special teams a ton and for whatever reason, at
• 30:51
  least in Ken and my conversation, he hasn't come up
• 30:53
  very often entering or brought him up.
• 30:56
  Kirk brought him up or or maybe at least at minimum Ken and I
• 30:59
  sleeping a little bit of Watson and his ability maybe to push
• 31:02
  for that other second starting spot at corner.
• 31:05
  Yeah, I think he's going to push pretty hard for one of those
• 31:07
  spots. I really do.
• 31:09
  I I he's really good and really talented and he's just, he's got
• 31:15
  really good ball skills. He could play receiver.
• 31:18
  He's just he's that good. And they just put him on the on
• 31:23
  the the defensive side. I'm not saying he's Desmond
• 31:26
  King, but he's going to be pretty, pretty solid.
• 31:29
  I think he's just he the big thing for him when he came in as
• 31:33
  he was just a little lean and he's starting to fill out
• 31:37
  anxious team at media day to see what he looks like.
• 31:40
  But the scene in the spring, I thought he he had put on some
• 31:43
  weight and gotten bigger and stronger.
• 31:45
  And I'm I'm sure he's he just got really good ball skills.
• 31:48
  That's the thing that that Phil really likes about him.
• 31:51
  Let's do this, Tom, in our final couple of minutes with you.
• 31:53
  Just let's go to a couple of teams that maybe 'cause you to
• 31:57
  take another look at either them maybe underestimate this team
• 32:00
  and there's no or there's no way this team is going to be as good
• 32:03
  as I potentially thought. Who would those schools be?
• 32:09
  I don't think Maryland's going to be any good.
• 32:12
  I thought it was weird that Locksley admitted that they lost
• 32:15
  the locker room basically. That was weird.
• 32:18
  You're right, that was. Just really you wonder if that
• 32:21
  guy's, you know, I don't know who they would hire to replace
• 32:23
  him, but he might be on his way out the door.
• 32:29
  I mean, Nebraska's confident. They really are.
• 32:33
  They're confident, but they're covenant every year it seems
• 32:37
  like. But I did, I'm just keeping an
• 32:39
  eye on the Huskers a little bit. And I know that won't be very
• 32:42
  happy that for Iowa fans to hear.
• 32:44
  But you know, rule seems to really make a leap in its third
• 32:49
  year on the college level. So we'll, we'll see.
• 32:55
  I'm always skeptical with the Oscars, but why they were They
• 32:59
  were walk and talk pretty good in Vegas.
• 33:04
  Speaking of the Huskers, the Husker and Fred Hoiberg's got a
• 33:07
  new commit. Colin Rice from Waukee Northwest
• 33:11
  is going to go over, I don't know, apparently his sister
• 33:15
  dates one of the Sanfords or something like that, or he dates
• 33:18
  a younger Sanford. I don't know, some kind of
• 33:19
  connection. Waukee Northwest.
• 33:21
  I guess Lincoln is the new suburb over there.
• 33:24
  Yeah, they got got price and I think price got people riled up
• 33:27
  by. He did.
• 33:28
  I saw that. He got them all riled up,
• 33:30
  apparently. And yeah, so yeah, he dates
• 33:36
  dating Price's younger sister, so I think she's a golfer.
• 33:42
  So, yeah, not a Hooper, I don't think, but there's Sanford's are
• 33:48
  really nice people. So and I love paper price, but
• 33:53
  price like if price is having some fun with the the whole
• 33:56
  thing. It did not surprise me.
• 33:58
  I've been saying for quite a while that Alan was probably
• 34:01
  headed to Nebraska. I I just, I was surprised he
• 34:06
  didn't make his decision before the start of that last July
• 34:12
  period. But then now he just, he was
• 34:15
  supposed to go. I talked to him was basically
• 34:18
  about a week ago in Chicago and he was kind of looking at, you
• 34:24
  know, making a visit to Illinois next next week and Northwestern.
• 34:28
  So I think he, I think in his heart of hearts when I was
• 34:33
  talking to him, I mean, Nebraska was like 4D that his game, first
• 34:37
  game. So they had everybody there.
• 34:39
  So they were. They're put on the full court
• 34:40
  press. Good stuff.
• 34:42
  Tom Caker, it was good to see you with Circa on When was it?
• 34:45
  Tuesday night. Good to see you there.
• 34:46
  Yeah. Spend some time.
• 34:48
  With you and Michael lost etcetera.
• 34:50
  Tom, thank you. I will chat with you next
• 34:52
  Friday, OK? OK.
• 34:54
  OK. Thanks guys.
• 34:55
  See you buddy. See you Tom Cakehart,
• 34:56
  hawkeyereport.com part of on three media.
• 34:59
  Didn't sound like he was moving, so that must be a pretty
• 35:01
  significant. Hi, Haiti, Welcome home.
• 35:04
  It's a disaster. Miller and Condon back to wrap
• 35:06
  up the week, It's the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
• 35:10
  All right, final couple of minutes here on a Friday.
• 35:13
  Lori Condon, Iowa Sports Radio Network.
• 35:15
  Off the bench. Coming up next, Lucas Strain, 2
• 35:18
  until 5. Do you know who he's got with
• 35:20
  him? Do you know I don't?
• 35:21
  I don't either. We'll find out he's back from
• 35:24
  Vegas as well. A good time out in LV Thanks
• 35:27
  once again to our friends at Circa for accommodating us while
• 35:30
  we're out there, as they always do.
• 35:32
  Just it's a wonderful place. It is, and I know we weren't had
• 35:37
  a chance to talk to Derek. Stevens was able to talk to him
• 35:39
  a little bit away. They got a lot going on.
• 35:42
  There is a busy time, the launch this week of what they're going
• 35:46
  to be doing just outside of Nashville on the border there,
• 35:49
  what they have going on there. Tim Murray also announced that
• 35:52
  they're heading out Week 0 to Hawaii for Stanford.
• 35:55
  Hawaii Week 0 game on the island.
• 35:58
  So what? Would they be going there other
• 35:59
  than the fact that it's Hawaii? He's putties with Timmy Chang.
• 36:01
  Thank, thank to you. I think that was maybe where it
• 36:03
  started with Mountain West Media Days.
• 36:05
  And I'm sure they're probably working on some kind of
• 36:07
  connection there too. Plus it's a trip, right?
• 36:10
  And Derek and the crew, they like to take some trips.
• 36:12
  Indeed they do. That's what you're going to do
• 36:15
  next week. So you're on vacation.
• 36:16
  Do you have any plays before you skedaddle on out of here?
• 36:18
  For a week I do. I got three.
• 36:20
  I got one in the WNBAI think the Mercury bounced back.
• 36:23
  I'm going to grab Phoenix plus the 6 1/2 against New York. 2IN
• 36:27
  baseball. Give me the Nationals plus 144
• 36:30
  against my Twins and we'll lay it the Rangers -150 against
• 36:34
  Atlanta. All right, for Chiefs fans, for
• 36:35
  football fans, whether you like it or not, it's coming for the
• 36:38
  next month. He's Mitch Holtes.
• 36:39
  He's the voice of the Kansas City Chiefs.
• 36:41
  Chiefs training camp daily reports start on Monday at
• 36:45
  12:45. Try and have a wonderful
• 36:46
  vacation. Thank you.
• 36:47
  I'll see you a week from Monday. You'll hear Lucas strain as he
• 36:52
  comes off the bench. Next.
• 36:53
  Miller and Condon noon to two. Iowa Sports Radio Network.