Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz offers unpredictable entertainment
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IOWA CITY — For a few moments during his Oct. 20 news conference, Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz turned the tables.
Typically, it’s the media asking him questions. But this time, he posed one of his own.
“Let me just ask you guys a question,” Ferentz said. “You guys ask me questions. Have we announced the depth chart yet or not?”
The depth chart had, indeed, been released the previous day. It included the return of the “OR” designation between quarterbacks Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski, indicating a decision about who would start against Minnesota had not yet been made. Or, at the very least, it had not yet been made public.
That’s why what Ferentz said next caught members of the media by surprise.
“OK, alright, so Hecklinski," Ferentz said. "We’re listing him as our starter."
That caused some surprise and confusion among reporters in the room.
For one, Hecklinski was not listed as Iowa ’s starter on the depth chart. Secondly, the Hawkeyes have been extremely tight-lipped throughout the quarterback rollercoaster this season, so the fact that Ferentz so openly presented the decision was unexpected.
Ferentz was peppered with follow-up questions to clarify.
Hank Brown is back to 100% health. But Iowa’s plan is to start Hecklinski.
“Not was close; it is close,” Ferentz said. “Jeremy played really well last time out, but then do you discount a quarterback bringing us back (and scoring two touchdowns) in the fourth quarter in a tough, hostile environment against a very good defensive football team (as Brown did against Michigan)?”
“You can build a case for both players because they're both really good guys. They're both, I think, potentially really good quarterbacks. We've seen our team have success with both guys.”
Ferentz's Tuesday press conferences typically have some entertainment value, and this week was no exception. The starting quarterback announcement was only part of an unpredictable, bizarre and amusing Ferentz media appearance.
Tom Kakert of Hawkeye Report wanted to give Ferentz a brief break from all the quarterback talk.
“I'll get off the quarterback topic for you,” Kakert said.
“Thank you,” Ferentz replied.
But he can’t help himself.
“Although it's a lot better than a couple years ago,” Ferentz said.
Ferentz was referring to 2024, when Iowa's quarterbacks were so decimated by injuries that preferred walk-on Jackson Stratton came in relief against UCLA and started the final two games of the regular season.
“Thinking about going to UCLA, and the official said your third quarterback is number whatever it was, and I nodded like, ‘Yeah, I got it.’ Got on the field, and ‘I'm like, 'Who the hell is that?’ It was Kyler Gerardy, just for the record. A freshman defensive back was our third-team quarterback.”
“That is funny,” Ferentz said. “It's not funny, but it's funny.”
Iowa has been dealing with a quarterback dilemma again this season. But fortunately, this is a much better dilemma than seasons ago.
“It’s not a coin toss, but it’s awfully close,” Ferentz said of the decision to start Hecklinski against the Golden Gophers . “You can make arguments either way that make sense. We just gave it thought and decided that was the best thing at this time to do.”
Minnesota has fallen victim to college football’s chaos this season. The Golden Gophers defeated Michigan to improve to 4-1, before getting blown out by Purdue and quickly having the trajectory of their season put into question.
To unpack the topic, Ferentz talks about… baseball.
“When my kids were all younger, it's the old — I was guilty of the same (way of thinking) when I was a little kid — when you play Little League games, right?" Ferentz said. "So the Cubs beat the Tigers, and then the Tigers beat the Reds. Hey, we beat the Tigers, so we'll naturally beat (that team). And then, you end up losing by 10 runs. That kind of thinking gets you beat.”
Ferentz brings it back full circle.
“The moral of the story is you better be ready this Saturday and just worry about this Saturday,” he said. “I know the whole world wants to worry about what's out there, and we're really starting to fuel that fire now because you've got the playoff shows coming up here sometime in the next four weeks, I'm sure. So, all the chatter is about what's going to happen in December. The best advice I can give our guys is let's just worry about Saturday."
Ferentz wasn't done talking baseball. But there were some wrestling and basketball references before that.
It’s pointed out to Ferentz that there’s a narrative suggesting it’s only possible to get emotionally charged for a few games every season.
“Don't tell Dan Gable that, don't tell Bill Russell that, Michael Jordan that,” Ferentz said. “I don't think they'd buy that strategy.”
He returned to those references later in his answer.
“The objective each and every week is to be at your best,” Ferentz said. “That's the only way to do things. Again, you think about any great competitors, I just cherry-picked a couple of my favorites, but that's got to be your mindset.”
Then he turned back to baseball. This time, the Big Leagues, in which the Milwaukee Brewers are facing the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series.
“I had a great time last week watching some baseball games,” Ferentz said. “I'm a certified Brewer fan now. I'll join the fan club if they got one, send in my 10 bucks. They're fun to watch. They came up short how many years in a row? Three, something like that? Didn't seem to bother them. They just kept playing, and they're doing a helluva job right now.”
We’ve reached the last question of the press conference. Ferentz is now talking about… dove hunting.
“I've got a smart friend that sends me stuff to read every now and then,” Ferentz said. “One was about a guy who's a dove hunter. I know nothing about it, but he's really proficient at it. And then, somebody went up to him and said, 'Do you shoot with one eye or two eyes? One eye open or two eyes open?' And the guy had never thought about it. He started thinking about it, and he couldn't shoot a dove anymore, which I wouldn't even know how to start to think about shooting a dove. I didn't know people did shoot doves."
The question Ferentz was responding to had absolutely nothing to do with hunting or doves or birds of any sort.
It was about Iowa defensive back Zach Lutmer.
Some might watch this press conference and think Ferentz, 71, is just about as sharp and witty as ever. Others might watch this press conference and think Ferentz has finally lost his marbles.
But Ferentz connects dove hunting to the play of Lutmer in his own, unconventional, roundabout way.
“The point is, sometimes you do overthink,” Ferentz said. “And I think that happens a lot to football players, especially when they're starting to press a little bit. We're all striving to be as perfect as we can in performance, but you can't squeeze the bat, I guess. That's the best way I can put it.”
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at TTachman@usatodayco.com
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