• 2 years ago
Iowa Football assistant coach interviews
Transcript
00:00 Nick Jackson has been a breath of fresh air in regards to just the type of young man he is.
00:08 Obviously he's a college graduate, high academic kid. He's accomplished a lot in his career.
00:14 He's been through a lot. If you guys think about all the stuff that went down at Virginia,
00:18 really last year and some of the experiences that he's had, you're talking about maturity that's on a different level.
00:27 I think probably the bigger piece of this with Nick Jackson joining this program is the unselfishness
00:34 and his ability to come in and be a part of the team.
00:38 That's not easy to do this day and age with transfers and you're not always sure exactly what you're getting
00:44 because there's a lot of restrictions in regards to the recruiting where you just can't get to know the kid
00:49 as well as maybe you could with a kid coming out of high school.
00:53 Everything's been good up to this point with Nick.
00:57 He's progressing nicely. I had that question asked of me back in the spring earlier.
01:03 The thing that a lot of people forget is how young he really is.
01:07 Even though he played a lot last year, he's still got a huge upside.
01:13 Because he's such a hard worker and a student of the game and worked hard to develop his craft,
01:19 he is continuing to climb and getting better and better. He's had a good eight practices.
01:23 He's on a good path and I think if he just keeps on doing what he's doing, he'll be in a real good place come game one.
01:29 I think leadership is, you have Mason Richman who's played a ton of downs for us.
01:34 You have Logan Jones who's a natural leader in the fire that he got thrown into last year
01:39 and how he actually handled it. That goes a long way with teammates.
01:44 He has a natural leadership ability with him. Nick DeYoung, going from a walk on to starting and not starting.
01:54 Now he's playing at a higher level right now. We have some guys without the transfers that people look towards.
02:01 I think the transfers, we don't want to ask too much leadership out of them too early.
02:06 They've got to get their feet on the ground because they both basically got their first reps this fall camp.
02:11 They get more presence in my opinion.
02:16 Sam was here last year. They had a lot of experience in the room.
02:20 Had a lot of production. Obviously that's exit your room. Luke knows he's got to step up and try to be a leader.
02:27 You've seen that person's development in terms of his leadership, leading those guys and leading the young guys.
02:32 On the field, just every day just working on his craft.
02:35 Being better in the passing game, understanding what we're trying to get accomplished from an offensive perspective.
02:40 And then in the run blocking improvement. Overall, the game has improved on a consistent basis.
02:45 We'll continue to push that forward.
02:47 I think the first thing that's helped him is the competition.
02:51 LeSean's had a great offseason. LeSean's also had a great camp so far.
02:55 Along with Jazz. I think Jazz was pushing those guys back in ball prep too.
03:00 So the best thing that can happen for Caleb or any running back in the room is really for the competition to ramp up.
03:05 And that's what we have. We have two guys that have started before in LeSean and Caleb.
03:10 And then you have Jazz who kind of came on during the bowl game.
03:13 So I think for all those guys to really feel that presence of each other and feel each other nipping on each other's heels, that's going to make them better.
03:21 So to answer your question directly, I think that's the best thing that can happen for Caleb.
03:25 What does a starting kick returner look like to you? What do you look for?
03:28 What I look for? First off, ball security. So a guy that makes good judgment and can field the ball cleanly.
03:34 Guys that understand the track and the track that we're trying to run. And then guys that can hit the home run.
03:39 So I think we've got a group of guys with that right now. Caleb Johnson, he took the bulk of that last year.
03:45 You've got guys like Nico who can do that. Caleb Brown has been a new addition to our team.
03:51 A welcome addition. We've seen a little bit of a flash with that.
03:55 You've seen Seth Anderson. There's some other guys out there. Caden Weachon, LeSean Lee.
04:00 Some younger guys that I think can maybe assume that role as well.
04:03 Well right now, Jamari Harris is in there right now. LeSean Lee has done a pretty good job.
04:09 I think we have Diaz Fernandez. He's done a good job so far.
04:15 Obviously we have TJ Hall. He's done a good job and I'm really progressing. He's probably the third guy right now.
04:23 We have some other guys that are working like Hilson. He moved over from running back towards the end of the year.
04:30 Now he's helping us out with some depth over there. He's got a long ways to go but his improvement I like.
04:36 I like the way he's moving. We've got a variety of guys that can help us out there.
04:42 When you come into a different system, no matter if it's Iowa or where I played in, that position coach,
04:49 whether it be a receivers coach, quarterbacks coach, O-line coach, he may have a different style of teaching.
04:55 Number one. And number two, most importantly, is what fits that system.
05:00 Sometimes it's not just about the talent of the coach or how he's teaching it. It's what he's actually teaching.
05:06 That's what I've been most impressed with with Caleb is obviously we run a little bit different style of offense.
05:11 The expectations and the fundamentals and techniques and all that kind of stuff are going to be different.
05:17 He just comes in with open arms and big ears. Literally listening to everything I say and taking a lot of notes,
05:23 which is really positive to see. Some guys come in and they think they know it all.
05:27 Or my old coach said this and that's how I'm going to do it. That has not been the case at all.
05:31 People talk. You have friends in the business or you know people that are a certain place.
05:37 So a fair amount. Dating back to high school, we knew of him. So you have information.
05:44 But quite honestly, there's things you can't know.
05:48 But when you see somebody in person and you watch them compete, some things just kind of jump off of a person to you.
05:58 And I remember that Big Ten championship game very distinctly.
06:01 And just watching the way he operated and the way that he operated that offense and the way he commanded the huddle,
06:07 the way he commanded the actual execution of the offense. I was pretty. He struck me that day.
06:15 And unfortunately, I saw way more of them than I would have cared to.
06:18 But but you don't always notice those things, right? Sometimes it jumps off.
06:23 I mean, you got Pitt, you got Ontario, you got Graves, you got Black, you got Shannon, you got Logan Lee.
06:30 It's a good group. Yeah. Losing Van Ness from last year and obviously Wagner.
06:35 How does that for D.N. are you seeing the growth in you two there?
06:39 The growth was that growth was already was already there. I mean, those guys that were behind John, obviously getting Joe back is huge.
06:47 But, you know, those guys that were behind John and don't get me wrong, we're going to miss John.
06:53 But those guys that were behind him were ready to go as well. I mean, you just check the numbers and stats from last year.
06:57 Those guys could have been starters as well. You know, may have been starters if they were somewhere else.
07:01 So glad that they're here.
07:02 Glad that they're here.