Hot And Uncomfortable: It's How It's Been For Hawkeyes
Occasionally press conferences can be held in settings appropriate for the moment.
We were on the artificial surface on Iowa's football practice fields for Friday's press conference with coach Kirk Ferentz and three players.
We had to go through the same questions everyone does to get into Iowa's football building in these days of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Someone took our temperature.
We sat in chairs that were aligned for social distancing. We had to wear masks.
It was hot, and uncomfortable. Which is what it has been for the football program in the last two weeks.
The discussions of race and racism around the nation in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the protests that followed found their way into the insulated world of the Hawkeyes, where all was apparently not what it seemed.
Former players took to social media to talk about racial disparities within the program. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz reached out to as many of them as he could, vowing to listen.
And then his current players came back to campus for voluntary workouts for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began and oh, did they give Ferentz an earful.
"Raw and powerful" were the words, Ferentz said.
So raw, so powerful, that the Monday meeting led to a second on Tuesday.
Players were still angry. Still frustrated.
In the end, the Hawkeyes said, it probably made them a better team.
It's what Keith Duncan said on Twitter earlier in the week — oh, by the way, the Hawkeyes can be on Twitter again after Ferentz lifted a ban he said on Friday was "stupid."
Duncan repeated it again on Friday, and teammates Ivory Kelly-Martin and Kaevon Merriweather agreed.
"While we’re not still perfect now, we’re trying to get one step closer to being able to really get to that point," Kelly-Martin said.
No team, of course, is perfect. When you're together in the same building and on the same fields as the Hawkeyes, and every other college football team, are, there always will be those moments where someone is annoyed with someone else.
This was not annoyance. This was anger and frustration that was bubbling for a long time, but was hidden until someone spoke out, and then someone else spoke out, and so on and so on.
Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz listens to his players speak during Friday's press conference. (Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen for USA Today Sports)
Chris Doyle, Iowa's strength and conditioning coach who has been mentioned most in the allegations from the former players, is on administrative leave until an independent review can be conducted.
Without Doyle, and with everyone speaking their mind, there is a new feeling within the football program. No more "walking on eggshells," Kelly-Martin said.
Ferentz acknowledged on Friday that he had a "blind spot" that he wants to make sure is gone. His players saw things, but they didn't speak out as much as they think they should.
"There wasn’t much communication when someone would see something bad happen, or if someone would actually stand up for their teammates," Kelly-Martin said.
"We need to speak up more," Duncan said. "We see everything. It’s on us as leaders, as captains, to speak up."
Speaking up is fine, but it's up to Ferentz and his assistants to listen, a message the head coach has been giving the last two weeks and one he must continue to follow.
"It’s all going to be about our follow-through," Ferentz said. "That’s what it’s going to be about. How can we improve? Why can a player who is on our team right now not feel comfortable about saying something to me? Or find a vehicle to say something to me?
"We need to make sure all of us can walk in the building, and our players have confidence in us and feel like they can function (moving) forward."
The Hawkeyes are under watchful eyes now, national glares that want to see if this is done right, to see if a coach of 21 seasons in one spot can change.
"As a team, and as a program, we have a responsibility, and a tremendous opportunity, at this moment to lead the change and set a new, higher standard for collegiate football," Ferentz said.
The newest Hawkeyes, the incoming players and the transfers, arrive this weekend. Their first workouts begin next week.
Ferentz said he spoke to one of the incoming freshman this week.
"He said, ‘Coach, I’m excited to be here. And we have a chance to set the bar for college football,' Ferentz said of his conversation with the unidentified player. "I agree, he’s right. That is our goal, has been our goal, will be our goal, today, tomorrow, moving forward."
It's been too uncomfortable for too long inside Iowa's program.
"These last couple of days in the weight room, and outside on the field, we can all tell there is a clear difference between how it is now and how it was then," Kelly-Martin said. "We’re all excited about what we have to come."
