Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Hawkeye talk with Eliot Clough, Koen Entringer enters the portal, Dane Mizutani talks Vikings & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

Transcript

Hawkeye talk with Eliot Clough, Koen Entringer enters the portal, Dane Mizutani talks Vikings & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:00
Our number 2, Miller and Congdon welcome back, Iowa Sports Radio
0:03
Network, Trenton I for another hour.
0:05
Top of the hour off the bench, Sean Roberts, Lucas Strain take
0:08
you until 5:00. Overtime, Iowa from 5:00 until
0:12
6:00. At the bottom of the hour, we'll
0:13
head to the Twin Cities. Catch up with our friend Dane
0:16
Mazatani. I'm Minnesota grad Timely.
0:18
That he is. Was he in the basketball?
0:20
Do you know? I know he obviously loved
0:21
football. Yeah, I will ask him.
0:24
Yes, absolutely. We'll get him at the bottom of
0:26
the hour. Asking about those dinky town
0:28
bars. Seven corners.
0:31
I'm sure that's what it was. Anyways, let's talk to Elliot
0:34
Clough, shall we? hawkeyeinsider.com 24/7 Sports.
0:38
Elliot Trenton, Ken, How are you, Sir?
0:41
I'm hanging in there guys. Made it through the all the
0:44
holidays completely healthy and then just got lambasted.
0:48
So I'm I'm feeling a little sick.
0:49
I missed the first quarter yesterday, so hopefully they
0:53
aren't too, too upset at me today.
0:55
But yeah, hanging in there. Yeah, good stuff.
0:57
Well, you guys are very busy time of year.
0:59
For those of you in this industry trying to keep up with
1:02
all the comings and goings, any surprises as far as Hawkeye
1:07
players entering the portal then?
1:08
Any of them catch you off guard that the boy didn't see this
1:12
coming type of thing? Yeah, You know, I, I think the,
1:16
the main one is the one that we reported early.
1:20
I guess it would have been last week, but Brian Allen entering
1:24
the portal that that was a bit of a surprise just because he's
1:28
going to be I, I, I should have said that it was late last week,
1:31
but that he was going to be in line to be a starter, right.
1:35
Like you're losing both Maxwell and Ethan Herket.
1:39
He's a guy that is just kind of physically a freak.
1:43
I mean, we've we've seen some pieces of that, mostly last
1:46
season. So not so much as this season.
1:48
We just saw, I think he only had half a sack this year, half a
1:50
TfL big on that breakup that resulted in an interception for
1:55
Bryce Hawthorne at the constant. But other than that, I can't
1:58
really. And you know, I mean, he made a
1:59
few plays in the bowl game, but other than that, I can't really
2:01
think of any major plays he made this year.
2:04
So maybe, you know, he's looking for a place where he can step in
2:08
and kind of be allowed to be that physical freak and just get
2:11
after the quarterback because in Iowa, that's not really how they
2:14
do it with their two gap system in the run game.
2:16
And then their main focus is causing disruption in the pass
2:20
game as opposed to just racking up stack.
2:22
So yeah, a bit of a surprise in that he would have been a
2:26
starter, but or likely would have been a starter at the very
2:29
least. But at the same time, given his
2:31
physical tools, he might see that he thinks he's better off
2:35
elsewhere. Well, his replacement, it
2:37
appears a defensive end, Kamari Brown, comes in from Elon.
2:41
Two years of eligibility. He is a guy that can't get to
2:44
the quarterback. I was 70th in the country this
2:46
year and Sachs, something that is kind of stepped back the last
2:49
couple of years. Brown at the FCS level
2:51
definitely was able to get to the quarterback.
2:53
How does he fit? He kind of looks like a a
2:55
different type of prototype, a defensive end than what they've
2:58
had recently. Yeah, I think he is kind of
3:02
similar to that that Allen mold, but probably a little bit
3:06
thicker, a little bit more violent in his ability to get
3:09
after the quarterback. And of course you know, it's,
3:11
it's apples and oranges when you're looking at the FCS versus
3:14
the power for and how they can fit.
3:17
But for for a guy like Kamari, I think that well, you hope that
3:21
the plug, plug and play, right. Unless you you look at Epinessa
3:24
and think that he can be a starter day one next year.
3:27
I think Brown is is your guy there and to play him opposite
3:31
of Kenneth Merriweather will be a positive and again, assuming
3:33
Kenneth with Merriweather start. So we'll see how how everything
3:37
ends up in terms of what they do with the rest of the the portal
3:41
window and and the defensive line.
3:43
But Brown, I mean, man, like you watch that tape and you can see
3:47
the violence, you can see the intensity with what she plays
3:50
and they get you fired up a little bit.
3:52
So you know, if there is going to be a go to pass rusher next
3:56
season, if it's not Yosef, and that's I think Kamari Brown is
4:00
the guy that you're going to be looking to.
4:02
Do you know offhand who the football staff has identified as
4:06
maybe a primary or a priority, a target, Maybe not necessarily a
4:11
player, but a position? Do you know what they're, you
4:14
know, really focusing on whether they solve that problem or that
4:18
problem still remains? Is there something or someone
4:20
out there that they're really working hard to to solve that
4:24
issue? Right now, I think what they're
4:27
really looking at is fill in the void that they lost that
4:30
receiver in terms of speed because Caden Legion was so
4:34
important at that spot. Jacob Gill also kind of the
4:37
safety valve of the offense in terms of the passing game.
4:41
So we know Tony Diaz is fresh off a visit.
4:43
The receiver from wait for it, UTRGV, put up a ton of stats for
4:49
them this last year and he's, he's like I said, he's fresh off
4:52
a visit. Kate Wolford from Kent State
4:55
will arrive today and have his visit tomorrow for his agent
4:58
told me that yesterday. So and he's a guy that average.
5:02
I want to make sure I get this number right because it's pretty
5:04
nuts. 26.8 yards per catch. Last year he had 19 reception
5:10
for 590 yards and seven touchdowns.
5:13
So a guy that can definitely run away from a defense.
5:16
He's already got offers from Baylor, UCF, Wake Forest, and I
5:20
think another powerful program in addition to Iowa.
5:22
So he's going to be a guy that I was going to push for, but he
5:26
has to both playmakers in the open field.
5:30
I think what they're really looking for is a replacement
5:33
sort of for that gadget guy like a Wegian.
5:35
You don't necessarily need them to be an all American punt
5:38
returner, kick returner. I mean, comparing them to Wegian
5:41
and that facet, it would just be unfair because we've been, in my
5:45
opinion, the greatest of all time returns, the return of the
5:47
football for Iowa. But if you can get a guy who can
5:50
be that player that opposing defenses have to account for
5:53
when emotion catches the ball out of the backfield, maybe even
5:57
on a deep shot that that'd be that'd be huge to get a player
6:01
like that. And then additionally, I think
6:04
they're just really looking for more play making talent on the
6:06
outside. They just haven't had that.
6:08
Can be more consistent hands, can be a deep ball guy, can take
6:13
the top off off of the defense. That's that's really a focus
6:16
right now. And you know, losing 5 seniors
6:20
on the defensive line for us, plus Brian Allen, they still got
6:23
some holes to fill that they really like having a deep
6:26
rotation at defensive like defensive line spot.
6:29
And of course, still looking to fill out the room with
6:32
specialists. You lose your kicker, one of the
6:34
greatest kickers in Iowa history, and Drew Stevens, you
6:37
lose Reese Dakins to Michigan State.
6:39
You don't. I mean, you don't have a pun.
6:41
They don't have a punter on the roster right now.
6:42
They don't have a punter coming in in this recruiting class.
6:44
So they've got to go out and get somebody there.
6:46
And I mean, if you're a punter, where would you rather be than
6:50
Iowa? Especially an Aussie.
6:53
Right, exactly. So we'll see how how that
6:56
transpires, but you'd have to think they're going to try to
6:58
get a long snapper as well just for the sake of death because it
7:01
was Bryant world too. So and who knows what you know,
7:04
other positions are going to be losses.
7:06
This portal window is 2 weeks long.
7:08
So some guys still working on making decisions and there's
7:12
still 10 days left. So a lot of things can happen.
7:15
Look at a link from Hawkeye's Wire and they did credit you for
7:18
further story on the on wall for the Kent State.
7:21
Perhaps soon to be a Hawkeye, the receiver you just spoke of.
7:24
And apparently he did return kicks there.
7:26
So I'm not sure you know if if that means that he's
7:30
automatically going to be asked to do that.
7:32
But at least he does have some experience in that in that area.
7:37
Yeah, yeah, you know, I I think we may have talked about this
7:40
before, but I talked to Kaden Wegen had a practice this year
7:44
this year I didn't have a camera or anything, but it was he was
7:47
just kind of shooting the breeze and he said that he could see
7:52
Brevin doll and wait for it. Braden Jackson returning kick
7:57
here walk on running back. The son of former NFL running
8:00
back Fred Jackson. Braden is he said he's one of
8:03
the fastest guys on the team. And having seen Braden play in
8:07
high school, I was shocked. You know, one of the South
8:10
Dakota, one of the Dakota schools didn't offer him you and
8:12
I didn't offer him. It's only offer a walk on in
8:14
Iowa. And he's still one of those kids
8:17
that you watch and you say, oh, that's different.
8:19
So that was a steal to to get for for the Hawkeyes.
8:23
Elliot Cleff is joining us, Miller and Condon on the Iowa
8:25
Sports Radio Network. Before we move on to basketball,
8:29
we haven't asked you, just your thoughts.
8:31
How would you, I guess, summarize the 2025 football
8:34
season, whether you want to give it a grade or something that
8:38
something that stuck out with you when you look back on 2025,
8:41
how will you remember it, Elliot?
8:44
I think it's, I think it's one of those seasons of what if,
8:47
Yeah, because 2 plays all four losses, right?
8:51
All four losses by single digits, I mean one score.
8:56
Games 5 is the most points that Iowa lost by this year.
9:00
So close against Iowa State. Of course, that bounce, that
9:03
lens ends up in Burkle's hand on that pass from Rocco Beck.
9:07
Mark Gronowski scores and then Dante Moore's throws one of the
9:10
best balls I've ever seen on a go route to set up the field
9:14
goal. I'm trying to think of what
9:16
other games they had the. Screen against Indiana.
9:20
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
9:21
Who know, maybe Jeremy Hecklinski completes that path.
9:24
I mean, what that if Mark Gronowski doesn't, you know,
9:27
have that awkward fall. So just a lot of things that
9:32
just didn't quite go Iowa's way. Of course, they cap it out with
9:35
a win. They move on from the ranked
9:37
losses streak of 13 in a row. And, you know, you hope that you
9:42
can take that momentum through this transfer portal window into
9:45
the spring and solidify Jeremy Hecklinski as your or Hank
9:48
Brown, for that matter, as your starter going to the next year
9:52
and ride that high and and hopefully keep it going.
9:54
But yeah, it's too bad because this this really was a good
9:58
football team that probably deserved more than they got.
10:02
At the end of the day. Some things just didn't bounce
10:04
their way. And that's just I mean, it's not
10:06
all quote Kirk Ference. That's football.
10:08
And it's unfortunate, but it's it's kind of reminiscent of that
10:12
2018 team where things just didn't go right and and you end
10:16
up not quite where you want to be.
10:18
But this, this was a really, really good team that just came
10:21
up short. One final thing for me in the
10:24
portal and you look through kind of the list of guys, you look at
10:26
the follows from Tyler Barnes and I know you guys have a link
10:29
up on Hawkeye Insider on that, on the front of your message
10:33
board. I talked about the different
10:34
guys that he's following, so many FCS guys.
10:37
Is that just the reality? That's where I was going to be?
10:40
Or maybe as we get a little deeper into the process that
10:43
they're going to see what they can spend, maybe have a little
10:45
bit more money. How do you see just kind of the
10:48
the game plan, the blueprint that they have right now of what
10:50
they're doing in the portal? I would say there's a couple
10:54
things to this. The first thing that came to
10:57
mind or that does tend to come to mind when people bring that
11:00
up is I was been really burned by some of these P4 editions,
11:05
the Power 4 editions that they've made.
11:06
I mean, you look at Kate McNamara, you look at Caleb
11:09
Brown like that just essentially was throwing money into the
11:12
proverbial blender and hitting the not the high button.
11:16
Like, I mean that that was see you later, money came from it.
11:21
So I mean, and even like you look at Eric all, which is just
11:24
an unfortunate circumstance because he was really good when
11:27
he was with Iowa, but just couldn't they didn't stay
11:30
healthy towards ACL against Wisconsin.
11:32
So I wouldn't put that in the same category, but Kate McNamara
11:34
and Caleb Brown were absolute and utter flops.
11:37
So you look at the risk versus reward ratio and when you have
11:41
to pay an FDS player significantly less than you have
11:44
to play a guy like Caleb, excuse me, pay a guy like a Caleb Brown
11:48
or Kate McNamara, then the risk versus reward is significantly
11:53
in Iowa favor. The other point that I'll make
11:56
is you guys know those grids that people put on social media
11:59
of like you get $15.00 to spend. My move when I get those is who
12:07
is the most valuable at the cheapest price.
12:10
I always go low and then once I have like, oh man, I could get,
12:15
I don't know, this XYZ player at an incredible value and then
12:21
fill out the rest of my team, save money till the end and fill
12:23
out the rest of my team with like one or two 55 dollar guys.
12:27
And I feel like I got the best team available.
12:29
That's a possibility to like, obviously those those top dollar
12:34
guys, like I was not going after the DJ Lagway, the Brennan
12:39
Sorsby, those guys, right? That's just not where they're
12:42
at. They don't feel like they need
12:43
to do that. So go and get your FCS guys that
12:47
you feel like you can you have so much to sell that they can
12:50
fit in well one and two, that they fit your coal because they
12:55
are guys that still feel like they have something to prove.
12:58
And then, you know, if you have money leftover 1, you can make
13:02
sure you keep guys in Iowa City like a Trevor allow, like, I
13:08
mean, even like like a Cohen enteringer who you wouldn't
13:11
think would leave, but you can say, hey, you stuck it out.
13:14
Here's a little bit more something like that, right?
13:17
And then additionally, you might have some money leftover that
13:20
you can go and get other guys that might have, might have been
13:23
looked over in the portal to add more to your roster, whether
13:26
it's depth, whether it's look into the future or, or something
13:30
like that. But I I think it's the right way
13:32
to move if you're Iowa because you don't have unlimited
13:35
resources, you're not one of the blue bloods in college football.
13:39
So it's a way to be as effective with your money as possible.
13:43
And that's that's the way to do it.
13:45
Last thing for me, switching to basketball, Minnesota tonight,
13:48
then home to Illinois before on the road at Purdue and at
13:51
Indiana. How important is this?
13:53
1 Elliot. This is an important one.
13:55
This is your first true Rd. game against the Big 10 opponent.
13:59
You can move to three and one and continue to solidify
14:02
yourself and and some of the metrics.
14:04
And so Minnesota is not as you know, they look awful early on
14:08
in the season, almost lost the UW Green Bay at home, but
14:12
they've turned some things around.
14:13
They're still a Big 10 team. They're they're well coached.
14:17
So Iowa can go and get a win on the road that that'd be a great
14:20
start or a great, you know, win early on in in Big 10 play,
14:25
especially when you've got this gauntlet coming up with with
14:28
some of the top teams in the Big 10.
14:29
Short of it being a road game, and Jason could definitely fill
14:33
it up from the outside, anything else about this Minnesota team
14:36
that does concern you? Honest.
14:40
I mean, honestly, not really. I think I think Iowa should win
14:45
this game and I think they will win this game.
14:48
This last victory over UCLA to me was really telling them who
14:52
this team is. They're going to win games that
14:54
they should win and they're also going to be resilient.
14:56
You know, I hate to refer to or go back to last season's team or
15:02
Fran McCaffrey team. The teams Iowa would not be
15:06
whatever they are 12 into and a top 25 team right now if Fran
15:11
McCaffrey is still coaching this team.
15:13
Ben McCollum has really revitalized what these guys are
15:16
doing on the court. The the, the the players that he
15:19
brought to Iowa City. And I mean that that crowd in
15:24
Carver Hawkeye Arena the other night or the other day was the
15:27
best that I've seen in my three years on the beat.
15:29
Not even close, not even anywhere near in the same
15:33
stratosphere. So I think they'll win the games
15:36
they're supposed to win. I think they're going to be
15:38
competitive in games that, you know, they might have the talent
15:41
disadvantage. It's it's hard to to not look at
15:44
this team early at this point in the year and and and not be a
15:47
believer. I'm with you, Elliot.
15:49
Clef 24/7 Sports, hawkeyeinsider.com.
15:52
Thanks, man. Appreciate you giving us some
15:54
time. You've been very generous.
15:55
You have a good rest of your week, Elliot.
15:57
Thank you very much. You too guys.
15:59
Thanks. Yeah, good to talk to you,
16:00
Elliot Clef, as we check in on Iowa.
16:02
All right, so. So you brought up McCaffrey.
16:06
Yeah. You said something during the
16:07
break. So Mccaffrey's team pen?
16:09
Uh huh. Who did they play?
16:11
Princeton. Princeton.
16:12
Yep. And it was a close game, right?
16:13
It was. Didn't go their way this
16:16
caffrey's way. This is from the game notes
16:19
after the game from pen. Yeah, Penn lost this game
16:22
despite taking five more shots and its opponent pulling down 12
16:25
more rebounds in the Tigers and going a perfect 19 of 19 at the
16:28
foul line. All right, feel it's pretty
16:30
good. Jumped out to a lead, Had the
16:32
lead for more than 24 minutes. Again, continuing from the game
16:35
notes, Princeton took its first lead at 4139.
16:39
Princeton started the second-half against Fran
16:42
Mccaffrey's Penn Quakers, going 16 of 16 from the field, four of
16:47
them from distance. By the time they missed, the
16:50
Tigers had turned an 8 point halftime deficit into a 15 point
16:53
lead. Now, taking this a step further,
16:56
Chris Hassell mentioned he looked through the box score as
17:00
Princeton hit 16 straight shots to begin 1/2 frame.
17:04
Didn't use one timeout. Oh, Freddy saving them, Say
17:10
yeah. Oh, Freddy, I didn't think to.
17:14
Stop it 16th straight. And they got beat by a bucket.
17:19
Beat by a bucket. Oh my head.
17:22
Like, we both liked them. Yes, we both liked.
17:23
Friends. He brought them back from the
17:26
depths of awfulness. It was.
17:29
It was terrible. It wasn't just that it was a
17:31
slow style. That's not what it was.
17:33
No, it was awful basketball. It was terrible recruiting
17:36
misses. It was a level that I never
17:39
thought we would see for Iowa basketball.
17:41
That's what Todd the doldrums, just an absolute killing of one
17:47
of the better programs in college basketball in the
17:49
previous 50 years. That's what he did, and Fran
17:52
built him out of that. But he couldn't get over the
17:54
hump. He hit his ceiling, and his
17:57
ceiling at the major conference was good enough to make the
17:59
tournament good enough to win a game, but that was as good as
18:03
you were getting it was. As entertaining as hell to watch
18:05
him coach. He got things revved up too, and
18:09
though it petered out at the end, there was still getting
18:13
that life back in Carver and having that excitement and
18:17
breaking but. Petered out at the end like
18:19
you'd said. I mean it crashed.
18:21
It did, because people saw that ceiling, too.
18:24
Another thing that hurt them is the ascension of women's
18:27
basketball. Sure, even wrestling.
18:31
I saw this the other. Day women's basketball, for
18:32
sure. I mean but but wrestling sells
18:34
out every time and that has not always been the case.
18:36
That is more or less 6-7 years phenomenon I saw.
18:40
Well, women used to play in front of family and friends.
18:42
Oh. Absolutely.
18:43
I mean, they had the curtains up.
18:44
I was there for some of those games.
18:45
I saw it and I was there with family and friends.
18:48
The curtains were there. The first event at Carver
18:51
Hawkeye when it opened in 1983, there was the basketball game
18:55
against Michigan State, but before that there was a
18:58
wrestling meet, or at least at the same time it was the first
19:00
wrestling meet in there. Guess what the attendance was
19:03
for the first wrestling meet at Carver?
19:04
I have no. Idea 8000.
19:06
That's it. Not 15,500 as the attendance was
19:09
when it opened. Back in the day.
19:10
It was 8000, for that's another phenomenon that has changed
19:14
people. And then I know the world is a
19:16
lot different than it was in 1983.
19:18
I get that. But to have this program, what
19:21
it was, and they have the right guy, as we'll see.
19:25
One of the guys that was mentioned, Nico Medfitt, he's up
19:27
in Minnesota. Another guy that we saw.
19:29
We'll see you in a week over at Indiana in the freeze.
19:33
This was the right guy. And I don't know if we knew that
19:36
right away. No, but that opening press
19:38
conference, I think to see how in tune he was.
19:40
And how much he wanted it, and how grateful he was to be able
19:43
to come back and to coach A-Team he grew up rooting for.
19:48
He's what I was. We're the same age.
19:50
He's you've heard me talk about 80s basketball and the
19:53
importance of Iowa basketball before you got here.
19:56
Made a very big impression on you.
19:58
It was different than anything that I lived in.
20:01
In this state. It was that's.
20:03
What made you the fan that you are to this day?
20:05
Iowa basketball is what made me a sport fan.
20:08
That was all we had during the winter, this time of year until
20:11
you got to the weekend. You want to watch sports?
20:13
What opportunity? And that was Thursday night.
20:16
Big 10 basketball, Iowa on the Iowa.
20:18
Channel 17. For me it was Channel 3 KIMT and
20:23
it didn't matter if you were in Sioux City or Mason City.
20:26
Waterloo, it's Larry Martin and Mac McCausland.
20:28
Away we go. Was Bob Hogue back then?
20:30
Back then, yes, in the 80s. Yes, before he went out to
20:33
Hawaii. What a smart decision that was,
20:34
huh? We'll see.
20:35
Go for being the sports director at KWWL in Waterloo.
20:38
Yeah, You're going to finish your last 20 years in Honolulu.
20:41
He didn't stop between that. He went Waterloo to Honolulu.
20:45
That I there was no stop. There might have been a
20:47
California stop, but regardless. Family owned the station.
20:51
That's pretty good. Hell yeah.
20:53
Waterloo, IA to Honolulu. Yeah, some some old tigers could
20:56
probably fill us into the details there, but that's where
20:59
he ended up. He was the also the Sid at
21:01
Hawaii. What a gig.
21:02
Wow, no kidding. That's not too bad.
21:05
Some some dreary days here in Iowa does it.
21:07
No, that's for sure. We'll take it to all those in a
21:09
place I'd rather be. We'll take a time out.
21:11
We'll come back, we'll talk to Dane Mazzutani, put a bow on the
21:14
Viking season. What do they need to do?
21:16
What will they do that's next? Miller and Condon talking sports
21:20
with you on Des Moines sports station One O 6.3 KXO.
21:25
Hi Miller and Condon welcome back just past 130 Iowa sports
21:28
radio network Max Olson from the Athletic Blair Sanderson from
21:32
hawkeyereport.com both reporting Kyon Entringer has entered the
21:36
portal, ESPN has learned. Start all 13 games.
21:40
Honorable mention big 1073 tackles, 3 1/2 for loss and four
21:44
pass break UPS. I didn't see that one coming.
21:45
Not at all. That is much bigger than Brian
21:47
Allen. It's much bigger than many of
21:50
the names that we've mentioned. Brian Allen, you got a chance.
21:53
Yeah, you got a chance. You also had a half sack this.
21:55
Year. Yeah, true.
21:56
And Cohen enteringer, a starter, looked at that safety position
22:00
and you kind of were thinking, what's this going to look like
22:03
with him and letting him her back there and the get out of
22:05
Villanova. Suddenly he's a Michigan guy.
22:08
Oh boy. You wonder if either green or
22:13
bees and blue. Yeah, we'll see.
22:15
Let's talk. Let's talk, Vikings.
22:16
Off we go. Dane Mazatani, St.
22:18
Paul Pioneer Press. Dane Trenton.
22:20
Ken, thanks for coming on. Dane Mazatani, how are you?
22:24
I'm good. How are you guys doing?
22:25
Doing good. Do you wish you had to cover
22:26
this portal stuff? I am I, I'm thankful every day
22:31
that I don't have to deal with the constant changing of of.
22:33
Of the roster. I covered.
22:35
It's unbelievable. No, no kidding.
22:37
Well, anxious to to put a bow on this season watching the game.
22:42
Here's a couple of my takeaways. Obviously the Harrison Smith
22:45
thing and he's such a popular player, but I was so glad to see
22:49
CJ Hamm get into the end zone. Obviously, you know, it's not
22:54
that it doesn't have the name value that that the hitman does,
22:58
but been there a long time and they found his family in the
23:01
stands and they showed them throughout the throughout that,
23:04
you know, that period there. But CJ Hamm to go on the top and
23:07
obviously Harrison Smith, who I'm not sure.
23:10
Is there a Ring of Honor for the Vikings if the resident should
23:13
be and he's going to be on there at some point, but but let's
23:16
start with those two. Yeah, I mean, I thought it was.
23:20
It was perfectly executed, beautifully done by the Vikings,
23:24
because you're right, like Harrison Smith has gotten a lot
23:26
of the attention this year, and rightfully so.
23:29
But CJM and he he hadn't acknowledged until recently, but
23:33
it was also going to be someone who who contemplates retirement.
23:36
And if you listen to CJ Ham, they posted the clip in the
23:38
locker room. It sounds like he's done.
23:40
So you you've gotten a lot of notoriety with Harrison Smith
23:44
this year. And, and I think it was nice
23:46
that the Vikings made it about both of them.
23:49
I think going into the game, you could, you would have thought,
23:51
OK, it's understandable that Harrison Smith gets gets the
23:55
attention. But the fact that they they were
23:57
really intentional about making it about both guys, I thought it
24:01
was just another example, more confirmation that the Vikings
24:05
really, they get it. They understand this thing and
24:08
they understand how much the players mean to not only their
24:11
franchise, but the fans themselves.
24:13
So the moment was really cool on the field.
24:16
Harrison Smith getting that moment where Kevin O'Connor
24:19
called the timeout out. You don't see it very often in
24:22
the NFL where guys get kind of like a standing ovation.
24:25
You see it in the NBA, guy gets sucked out of the game and they
24:28
get that that moment, but doesn't happen very often in the
24:31
NFL. So I thought that was really
24:33
cool. And then you mentioned it can,
24:35
but the wherewithal of of the coaching staff of Kevin
24:38
O'Connell to once you get down by the goal line, just hand the
24:41
Dang ball to CJ and let him have his moment too.
24:44
I thought it was really, really cool.
24:46
And then there was also late in the game, 2 minute warning.
24:50
If you're watching on television, you missed it.
24:52
But during the TV timeout, the, the the big screen just kind of
24:56
bounced back and forth. They show Harrison Smith the
24:58
place to go nuts. They chose Caesar hands place to
25:00
go nuts the entire time. Just the the the the TV timeout
25:04
was under way. It was just fans kind of going
25:07
crazy for those two guys. So special moment and and a
25:10
reminder even to me because I think I need this reminder
25:15
sometimes I can get kind of cynical.
25:17
The game was meaningless. It did not matter to the
25:20
standings, but the game matters to everybody.
25:23
Every time they get to put the pads on, the game matters.
25:27
And I think that was a hammered home.
25:30
Very, very, very clear. Just watching the emotions on
25:33
both of those guys. This will be the offseason of JJ
25:37
McCarthy and I can imagine the number of times they're going to
25:40
type that name, number of times they're going to mention that
25:42
name. It is going to be it's
25:45
everything. I mean, the way this offseason
25:47
looks, the way that they're going to go.
25:48
Let's start before we kind of look at the offseason, though,
25:51
at the season, what we saw late in the year out of him, some
25:54
glimpses, perhaps the hand injury that he had had to exit
25:57
the game. He's apologizing to the guys on
25:59
the sideline as he's as they're coming over to the sideline
26:02
after that injury. Just as we put together just the
26:05
2 2025 season, how are we looking at McCarthy and what
26:08
happened late? Yeah, I don't even know how to
26:11
grade him because it would just be graded incompletely.
26:14
I can't give, I can't give him an F like because he didn't play
26:19
enough to I, I to give me to give him an F But like he he did
26:23
improve as the season wore on and that matters.
26:28
Like there was a time earlier this year where he was on par
26:33
with the Jamarcus Russell's of the world and in terms of
26:36
basically every measurable stat, I mean, and he's gotten himself
26:39
out of that cellar, that basement level of quarterback
26:44
play. So the the improvement, it can't
26:47
be ignored, but neither can who the improvement came against.
26:51
It was against three of the worst defenses in the NFL, the
26:55
Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, and 1/2 of the the New
26:59
York Giants before he hurt his hand.
27:01
So, like, I think the improvement itself obviously is
27:04
something the Vikings will will take into account and and bring
27:07
with them into the offseason. But I don't know how you you can
27:11
sit there and see with what you saw on film.
27:16
And then also take into account that the Vikings have played 35
27:20
games since they drafted JJ McCarthy and started 10 of them.
27:24
How can you feel confident with that guy being the franchise
27:27
quarterback moving forward? There's going to be some level
27:30
of competition brought in. It's just to which degree.
27:35
How good that competition is remains to be seen, but JJ
27:39
McCarthy didn't answer enough questions this year to feel
27:42
confident about him moving forward.
27:46
Not only in the future, but but as early as next season.
27:49
Dan Mazatani, St. Paul Pioneer Press,
27:51
twincities.com is our guest. Yeah, you look at the years.
27:55
Sure looks like a 5 and 12 football team to me.
27:58
Yet somehow they're nine and eight, which was remarkable in
28:01
and of itself. So let's get crazy for a second,
28:03
because Joe Burrell, he's a different bird, right?
28:08
I don't know where he's where his head's at, listening to him.
28:10
If he wants to be in Cincinnati now, we got his head coach to
28:13
stay. Zach Taylor's going to stay, I
28:15
think in large part because Joe Burrell wants him there.
28:18
But but if there's a guy like that that all of a sudden needs
28:21
a, you know, a new start with the Vikings and even entertain
28:26
paying the King's ransom or kicking the tires, finding out
28:30
what it would cost to get a guy of that ilk and another guy
28:33
that's missed a lot of time because he's been unable to stay
28:36
on the field. But but let's go to that
28:38
extreme. Would they be willing to go
28:39
there, do you think? Yeah.
28:41
I mean, I don't know, like this is not reporting.
28:44
Like do I know if they would be willing to do it?
28:47
No, this is all conjecture, but if Joe Burrow is available, sell
28:54
the farm, whatever it takes. Yes, if if Lamar Jackson is
28:57
available, same thing if Justin Herbert flames out this weekend
29:01
and and plays poorly in the playoff game against the New
29:04
England Patriots and he's available.
29:06
Yes, I, I think you give everything you need to give to
29:10
get those guys in because this roster is is is still built to
29:15
win right now. It has Justin Jefferson, who as
29:19
good of a person as he was and proved to be this year, as great
29:24
of a leader as he proved to be this year.
29:27
You shouldn't ask him to to to be OK with with flirting with
29:31
1000 yards again. Like if they can get a top tier,
29:35
upper echelon elite quarterback on their roster, like they have
29:39
to figure out a way to do it. Now, are any of those guys going
29:44
to be available? Probably not.
29:45
Because if if you are the Van Goghs or if you are the Ravens
29:48
or if you are the Charger, why would you give up one of those
29:51
guys? Then then, then you're sitting
29:52
there saying, who is our? Quarterback moving forward.
29:55
So there's a lot that needs to happen for that to even become a
29:59
remote possibility. But yeah, if those guys are are
30:04
available, I am making the call and I'm giving them whatever
30:07
they want. Brian Flores, it was set up with
30:12
him with KOC, probably not going to get a head coaching job.
30:16
Well, Tom Brady at minimum is kicking the tires.
30:19
The Cowboys for DC are kicking the tires.
30:22
A possibility there. How concerned are you with Brian
30:25
Flores and maybe his days in Minnesota being numbered?
30:28
Yeah, I mean, he's earned the merit to be a head coach.
30:31
So I think if if you're sitting there and you're the Vikings and
30:35
you're just saying he'll be our DC next year, you're probably
30:38
kidding yourself if you're not at least a little worried.
30:41
Because what the defense has done this year, what the defense
30:45
did down the stretch. And really, if you zoom out and
30:47
look at the last three years since Brian Flores has been
30:50
hired, I know Kevin O'Connell is the offensive mastermind.
30:53
I know he's built the culture and he's repaired the
30:57
quarterbacks, whether it's Kirk Cousins or Sam Darnold.
31:00
But the defense has carried this team for prolonged stretches
31:04
over the last three years. So Brian Flores has totally
31:06
earned at least the opportunity to meet based on merit alone to
31:11
be a head coach in the NFL. Will he be?
31:13
I don't know that that there's a lot of other layers that that go
31:17
into that. But yeah, I mean, if if he's a
31:20
head coach or if a head coaching position gets offered to him,
31:23
he's obviously gone, then I would be a little bit nervous
31:26
about about somebody like the Dallas Cowboys maybe coming to
31:30
the table and and popping a bunch of money down and then
31:33
come be our defensive coordinator.
31:36
We all know that Jerry Jones loves to make a splash.
31:39
And if you're Brian Flores and you feel like I've done
31:44
everything I can in Minnesota and I still can't get head
31:46
coaching sniffs and then go do it in Dallas.
31:50
Go do it in for America's team. Go do it in in a place where if
31:55
you are good there, it will be undeniable.
31:57
So I would be a little nervous if I was the Vikings.
32:00
Yeah. But if also if I'm the will.
32:02
So I am handing over a blank check and saying whatever you
32:05
want, buddy, money is yours. Please, please stay here.
32:10
Yeah, and you're right about Brady, Trent.
32:12
The the rumor is Flores and de balls to call the plays.
32:16
We'll see where it goes. You you mentioned the wills.
32:19
What what what kind of pressure will be on KOC and Kressy this
32:23
next year? I mean, is next year.
32:25
I mean, you don't want to get off the pot.
32:27
Is there is this a playoff or you know but bust type of year
32:31
for the head coach and the general manager next year?
32:34
Yeah, I think pretty close. I mean, I think finishing nine
32:37
and eight, while it doesn't mean anything, like probably does
32:40
take the temperature down a little bit because at least
32:42
you're not like one of the worst teams in the NFL.
32:46
But I think getting in the next season, the expectation should
32:48
absolutely be getting back to the playoffs and notching a
32:52
playoff win, figuring out a way to show growth that way.
32:56
Because to this point, as as as good as the regime has been
33:00
together at times, it hasn't equated to anything more than
33:04
just regular season success. And if I'm the Wilts, yeah, I
33:08
mean, what's the name of the game?
33:09
Why did I spend $350 million this offseason?
33:12
It wasn't to go 9:00 and 8:00 and have some moral victories at
33:15
the end of the year. This this ownership group has
33:18
long been chasing Super Bowls, as has this fan base.
33:22
So having a good regular season and flaming out in the playoffs
33:26
isn't good enough. Having a good close to the
33:29
regular season and narrowly missing the playoffs is not good
33:32
enough. So yeah, I think pressure will
33:35
be on them next year. Playoff or bus?
33:38
Yeah, if you want to call it that.
33:39
Sure. I don't know if missing the
33:42
playoffs next year equates to everybody losing their job, but
33:46
if I was Kevin O'Connell and quasi documents that I would not
33:48
want to find out. Vikings.
33:50
Not a whole lot of ability to move around with the salary cap,
33:54
a veteran quarterback maybe to push McCarthy.
33:57
And what else? What else can they afford?
33:59
And what are they going to be looking for outside of the draft
34:01
in terms of free agency? Yeah, First and foremost, Rob
34:05
Burzynski, the cap guru here, he's one of the best that's ever
34:09
existed in the NFL as far as navigating the the salary cap,
34:13
which I cover the NFL. It still makes no sense to me
34:16
how how you can pull certain levers and all of a sudden now
34:19
you have all this cap space. Well, Rob Burzynski's going to
34:22
have to do some surgery this offseason because they're
34:24
already over the cap. They can get back under the cap
34:27
and they can get to a place that is workable pretty easily by
34:31
restructuring a couple guys and maybe letting a couple guys.
34:34
But I think quarterback has to take precedence.
34:37
And I think you you, you look around the roster.
34:40
Is Ryan Kelly going to retire? If he does, then yeah, you need
34:42
to go address the center moving forward and into the future.
34:47
There's going to be defensive players, and Byron Murphy Junior
34:49
had a good close to this season and Isaiah Rogers flashed at
34:53
times. But I think you need another
34:54
corner out there, one that maybe can play on the outside and let
34:58
Byron Murphy Junior go play at the nickel.
35:00
He's shown that he excels at more throughout his career.
35:05
You might need a safety because Harrison Smith might retire.
35:08
You know, you might need another receiver because Jalen Naylor is
35:12
going to be gone. Like, there's a lot of things
35:15
that, you know need to be answered in free agency even
35:19
before the NFL draft rolls around.
35:22
But I think we know right now that the roster is not going to
35:25
look the same, never does in the NFL.
35:27
But when you spend as much money as you did last season, there
35:31
are concessions that have to be made and in the seasons to come.
35:34
I mean, I think the Vikings are going to be dealing with that to
35:36
a degree this offseason. Dame Mazzutani, St.
35:39
Paul Pioneer Press twincities.com As we can recap
35:42
2025 Vikings. So next trip for you is
35:45
Indianapolis, late February, the combine.
35:48
Next trip for me is, is is Hawaii actually getting away
35:52
getting getting away from the winter for a little bit.
35:55
But yes, yeah, I'll be at the Columbine in Indianapolis and
35:58
then owners meetings in Phoenix. And like those have become can't
36:02
miss events because that's where the GM's talk.
36:05
That's where the business gets done.
36:07
That's where where where it all kind of happened.
36:09
So. And especially in an offseason
36:11
like this with so many unknowns. Yeah, I'll be in Indy and, you
36:15
know, just trying to figure out as much as I can down there.
36:17
Good stuff. You know, growing up in Hawaii
36:19
as you did, what was the Hawaii bull?
36:21
Because I love it. I hope it never goes away.
36:23
Kids are gone. Just by myself on Christmas,
36:25
what my wife and I. But I just love that game.
36:27
Was it a deal? Was it a big thing for for
36:30
natives? This you know, the Hawaii bull
36:32
didn't mean anything. Oh, heck yeah.
36:35
Yeah. I mean, there's a big deal down
36:37
there. Like Kimmy Chang is the head
36:40
coach of the Hawaii Warriors right now.
36:42
He was the guy who used to starve the program.
36:46
He would win Hawaii balls when I when I was a kid and to see kind
36:50
of how he's turned that program around because three years ago
36:53
it looked like this. It was a dead end program
36:55
destined to go nowhere in the new NIL.
36:58
They won nine games this year. They got a really good
37:00
quarterback who has a chance to go to go down as a legend.
37:05
He's a red shirt freshman named Mike Olehado, who he's turning
37:09
the program around and I don't think he's going anywhere.
37:11
I don't think necessarily the the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors have
37:14
to worry about NIL because that gets from there.
37:17
He he he takes pride in being a part of that program.
37:20
So yeah, that was that was a huge win.
37:22
I was sitting at home watching and just smiling from ear to
37:25
ear. Completed that comeback late.
37:27
Yeah, I'm not sure why they need that.
37:29
And I'll just tell them to go look out their window crying out
37:32
loud. Good stuff.
37:33
Hey, Dane, thanks for doing this.
37:34
Enjoy your vacation. We will impose on you leading up
37:38
to the combine a couple of times as you're so generous with your
37:41
time for our audience here in the state of Iowa.
37:43
Thank you, Dane. Appreciate it.
37:46
Yeah, anytime guys Love. Doing it good to talk to you.
37:47
Thank you. Hey Mazatani, St.
37:49
Paul Pioneer Press good stuff out of Dane yesterday forgot to
37:53
do this and you mentioned that the the good folks that at the
37:57
huddle asked us to promote their swarm watch coming up tonight.
38:01
Jethros. Yes.
38:02
Which Jethro's is it? Waukee?
38:03
Is that what I? Let me pull it up.
38:05
Here, 6:30 tonight, obviously tip off at 7:00 on the Big 10
38:09
Network. Yes, the Waukee location out on
38:11
University Ave. as you're making a way past the Boyne golf down
38:14
that way is where it will be 630.
38:16
It starts 7:00 tip off and a couple of good names there to
38:20
Sean Lee. And how about DJ Vanami also
38:23
going to be there. And after that performance and
38:26
big name to the all bowl team. I saw one of the publications.
38:29
Yes, I had him listed as the top tight end of what he did, $40 to
38:34
get in, $10.00 for kids. All this goes to the Iowa Swarm
38:37
Collective. Cheer on basketball with you
38:40
football athletes, photos and autographs, 2 drink tickets, a
38:43
mini hoop giveaway and door prizes as well with the Waukee
38:46
Jethro. All right, we'll come back,
38:47
finish up our program. Miller and Condon talking sports
38:50
with you on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
38:52
Couple of minutes. Miller and Condon welcome back
38:54
off the bench coming up top of the hour, Lucas Strange, Sean
38:58
Roberts until 5:00. Boy, the entering her thing.
39:00
Does he have a do not contact? Do you?
39:02
Know I hadn't seen anything like that yet.
39:04
Good. Do you have any plays tonight?
39:05
Yeah, 3 plays Michigan laying the 21 1/2 on the road at Penn
39:09
State. They're just a behemoth.
39:10
Give me Texas Tech getting 6 1/2 in Houston and Boston College
39:14
late. Tip off 9:00 Lock at Chestnut
39:16
Hill, grabbing 12 1/2 against NC State.
39:19
Alright, good stuff. We are finished with our program
39:21
off the benches. Next, Miller and Condon talk
39:24
sports with you Monday through Friday, noon to two on the Iowa
39:27
Sports Radio Network.