Kirk Ferentz ISU Postgame 090923
Iowa coach from Ames
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SportsTranscript
00:00 So, yeah, obviously just really thrilled to get the win.
00:04 Really proud of our players and coaching staff.
00:08 We knew coming in here was going to be really tough. I can't remember a time when that hasn't been the case.
00:12 We knew that. Certainly was. It proved out to be that way.
00:16 It looked like two years ago it just kind of evolved into a little bit of a defensive
00:20 battle. But again, you come into a tough environment. I thought everybody really stayed
00:24 focused and played through the various things that took place out there.
00:28 We had some things that didn't go perfect, but our guys really fought and played through that.
00:32 The biggest thing is I think we were trying to encourage our guys all
00:36 week long, focus on improvement. I think we certainly played
00:40 cleaner today last week. We had four false starts today. We didn't have a penalty.
00:44 There were many penalties in the game. So, ball security is pretty good.
00:48 That's always a big thing in a game like this typically. Bottom line is we knew
00:52 we'd have to earn the win if we were going to get it. Our opponent played extremely hard.
00:56 That comes as no surprise. Just really thrilled about it.
01:00 Looking forward to a nice quiet ride home. I'll jump this one ahead of time.
01:04 Just the 200th part.
01:08 I don't keep track of that, I can assure you. Somebody said something
01:12 a week ago about coming up the tunnel. It's 199.
01:16 The media people will visit with them during the broadcast midweek.
01:20 Long story short, I just really feel
01:24 very honored and very appreciative. Fortunate.
01:28 Whether it's football or life, it really doesn't matter to do something that
01:32 has some significance. Nobody gets it alone. Certainly in football.
01:36 That's the way it works. I just think about it. Forty some years ago I landed
01:40 in Iowa not even knowing where I was quite frankly or what I was about to
01:44 walk into. Commonality over all this time has just been around good people
01:48 with good leadership on campus. Worked with great coaches and
01:52 great support staff members and most importantly players. Players win
01:56 games. That's never gonna change. You gotta have the right guys. We got a bunch of guys
02:00 in that locker room. Thrilled to be with these guys today to have that happen.
02:04 A guy like Dallas Clark in there. Guess he got kicked off the sideline.
02:08 I can understand why. Have him in there too.
02:12 It's just past and present. Pretty neat.
02:16 It's gonna be a good ride home. - Your players did say that you were a little bit emotional in the locker room.
02:20 I saw that in your eyes. What was it that you were feeling in that moment that made you emotional?
02:24 - It's not something... Nobody gets into it.
02:28 At least I don't think they get into coaching for that reason. You get into it because of the people.
02:32 It's just one of those things.
02:36 I certainly got into it for that reason. I wanted one enough so I could keep my
02:40 job. I figured that out. Believe me. It's more about the experiences
02:44 and the people you get to work with. Whether it was that group right there
02:48 or even going back to '99. A lot of good people.
02:52 A lot of good people have come through this program. It's a thing I don't think is any different
02:56 than in the '80s either. I've always felt really fortunate to have a chance to work
03:00 with high quality folks. - What did it mean to you to see your players
03:04 swarm to the trophy? I know it was eight years ago here.
03:08 That was really meaningful at that point. - It's just kind of what we do.
03:12 That's a tribute to Coach Rife. It's in our DNA I guess.
03:16 I don't know how much longer I'll be here, but as long as I am we'll keep doing that.
03:20 It's a good thing. The biggest reason
03:24 is it's good to know we won. It's even better. There was no swarming last year.
03:28 - Players talked about how last year
03:32 Iowa State went to the trophy kind of in front of your sideline. How that kind of
03:36 they remembered that. Is that something that kind of stuck out to you? - I always
03:40 flash back to 1981. Minnesota came. I thought
03:44 it was pretty impressive to come over and shake hands. They had no intention.
03:48 They just split us and got the pig.
03:52 That's just part of trophy stuff. Trophies, I told our players, anybody can buy
03:56 a trophy case, but you can't buy a trophy. To get
04:00 one, to have possession of it means you earned it. That's a good thing.
04:04 - Kirk, I think every time we asked you about Caleb Johnson last year you mentioned Jazz in the same breath.
04:08 Is this just sort of what you've been kind of seeing behind the scenes? Does he run
04:12 reckless, abandoned, or how would you kind of sum him up as a runner? - I'd say he runs hard.
04:16 He's a north-south, runs hard. Just got done talking to the guys on the
04:20 radio there. You think about Castro who in the bowl game really
04:24 that's the cool thing about what we do is just see little things that maybe
04:28 get you fired up. He had his best game of his career last year in the bowl game
04:32 and then today huge play for us. That's just experience. That's
04:36 anticipation, good reaction. You never know when it's
04:40 gonna happen for a player. Sometimes it doesn't. I bring up the bowl because Jazz hit one
04:44 to the right there in his fourth quarter. Really impacted the game.
04:48 It's like a nine yard run. It's the first time I saw him live.
04:52 It's like okay man, this guy's got a little juice in there. We've been watching
04:56 him camp and certainly today he came up big for us. Really proud of him.
05:00 - It seemed like the offensive line took a step forward today, especially in the run game.
05:04 A few massive holes. What did you see there that
05:08 led to that? - I agree. This is gonna be a process.
05:12 I think our whole team grew. Definitely on offense
05:16 we're doing a lot of good things in the run game. It's not always there quite the way you want it. I think our
05:20 pass protection overall is good. We had a miscommunication. I don't know if you guys noticed
05:24 but Sean had to try to come out. He's laying on a backer. That was a communication
05:28 thing. I thought maybe he was wrong but he wasn't.
05:32 A few things we're working through. Give our opponent credit. They may get tough for you that way.
05:36 I think we're growing. The thing I'm probably
05:40 most excited about is I just think we have a lot of potential to continue to grow.
05:44 That's what we're gonna be focused on. We'll enjoy this one tomorrow. We gotta get back on that
05:48 track. - You just pushed your record to 6-1 against Matt Campbell,
05:52 a very highly respected coach. What does it mean to you to have that
05:56 sort of success against a guy that the rest of the nation really holds in high
06:00 esteem? - I'm in that club too. I've got a lot of respect for him. He's done a great job.
06:04 His staff has done a great job. All the things I just said about our program I think
06:08 are very similar there. Probably the biggest story is you've got two
06:12 programs in an underpopulated state but not
06:16 we don't have 10 million people here that are really playing at a high level
06:20 and play good football in their conferences. A lot of respect for them.
06:24 Happy to give them a win. Each game's an individual story quite
06:28 frankly. - How many of the defense made that final
06:32 stop kind of fitting? What do you see out of them today? Really kind of held Iowa State down a few yards
06:36 per play. - We started slow.
06:40 Deferred. Next thing you know the ball's
06:44 going like that. We come up with the field goal block and it's a great effort there.
06:48 Once we got going we played a little bit better. They
06:52 did a good job. They were patient. They were picking us apart a little bit and making us work.
06:56 But to come out big there at the end that's what you gotta do.
07:00 You wanna win a game that's what you gotta do. It was great to see that. - Coach earlier
07:04 in the year you talked about that Purdue game last year. You guys got off to a lead.
07:08 Took your foot off the gas pedal. You guys were still throwing the ball down the field this game even with
07:12 the two touchdowns. Can you talk about the aggressiveness offensively you guys have had
07:16 in two games? - Part of that is how they're playing and what they're doing.
07:20 No matter what the game's circumstance we're gonna try to figure out what's the best way for us to win the game.
07:24 That's ultimately when we get on the bus. That's what we're hoping to do
07:28 is come out of here with a victory. Every game's a little
07:32 bit different. We got a little more confidence maybe in our throwing game, our ability to
07:36 protect some of those things too. That helps. - One of the
07:40 things that they announced during the game is you guys have 16 straight years where you've
07:44 had a pick six. That seems incredible. - I didn't know that. That's pretty good.
07:48 - What does that mean to you? - That's pretty good. Part of
07:52 it's the way we play defense. Our defensive guys do a great job.
07:56 We have a lot of zone coverage so we got our eyes on the ball a lot.
08:00 It's like Castro. A year ago I don't think he could have made that play and
08:04 here we are a year later where he makes a great play. That's
08:08 ultimately one of the most fun things about coaching is watching guys
08:12 get some confidence in themselves and see them doing some good things.
08:16 - What were emotions like walking into the locker room
08:20 after the win? - It's always good. First win
08:24 or whatever, 200th, it's always good.
08:28 I think part of that is just as coach, it's not just myself. Everyone on our staff
08:32 you realize just how hard these guys work. It's year round almost.
08:36 There aren't a lot of days off for these guys. They really work hard
08:40 and they do so much. They're held to a high standard character wise,
08:44 citizenship wise, academically. To see them happy
08:48 and see them celebrate, that's a pretty good thing. - Do you remember your very first
08:52 win? Who it was against? - I remember.
08:56 Northern Illinois. It was not a landslide victory.
09:00 I'll put it that way. Since we're in a caucus year, primary year.
09:04 We were just happy to win anyway.
09:08 I remember it was a long
09:12 time until the next one. - How many of the 200 can you recall?
09:16 How many of the 200 can you recall? - I remember the losses
09:20 a little bit better. Just sick minds.
09:24 - Joe Evans was one of the last guys to walk off the field.
09:28 This win means a lot to every single player I know, but do you feel like for him it meant maybe a little bit more
09:32 being from here? - I said something to him about that. Just so glad he's back for his sixth year.
09:36 He's a heart and soul guy.
09:40 From the day he walked on campus he's just been a hard working,
09:44 high motor guy. That fits well when you're
09:48 playing football. He's been a great role model for a lot of guys
09:52 on our team. Just happy for him certainly.
09:56 It's all good. - Kirk, you've talked before in the past that you guys
10:00 don't really major in gap blocking. You're more of a zone team.
10:04 Yet today it seemed to be a lot of counter. Last week there was a lot of counter.
10:08 Is that by design now or are you switching dangers on us?
10:12 - We've always had. It's just a matter of emphasis and percentage.
10:16 Careful to categorize people. We may throw it 60 times
10:20 one of these days. If we are, it probably means we're losing.
10:24 I think we're better equipped
10:28 right now maybe to do things a little bit, do more I guess is what I'm saying.
10:32 Every game is going to be a different discussion how we want to attack.
10:36 Man blocking zone or gap schemes. That's really about all there is.
10:40 You've got to have guys that can do it. I think we've
10:44 put some good work in there. - Along those lines you had on
10:48 Jazz Patterson's 59 yard run, you had Connor Colby came down and really
10:52 blew up the block there. - That's as good as I've seen from
10:56 Connor. It was pretty good for anybody quite frankly.
11:00 I'll dovetail to Thursday night. LaPorta did a great
11:04 job fitting on that same play against Kansas City.
11:08 Picture perfect block. If you guys do that
11:12 get that 100 pad it gives you a chance. That was great for Connor.
11:16 Hopefully that will give him a little more confidence. - You kind of insinuated
11:20 you didn't want it deferred. Does that someone talk you into that or what?
11:24 - We talk about it a little bit. It's a mental thing with me. I don't know.
11:28 I struggle with that. Some explain it to me.
11:32 I guess that's the smartest thing to do. You've got to be talking to a smart person
11:36 to make something smart materialize. It's kind of the challenge.
11:40 - How have you been able to win six straight in games?
11:44 - None of them are easy.
11:48 Was that 15 maybe? We made a couple plays.
11:52 I think it was this end zone. This near end zone here right?
11:56 Sometimes you've got to have a little good fortune too.
12:00 Somebody makes a play. It's not easy.
12:04 I can tell you that it's not easy. Thanks guys.