Ferentz Says He'll Make Sure Current Players Have Their Voice

Kirk Ferentz said on Sunday that making changes within the Iowa football program won't just involve listening to former players who made allegations of racial disparities over the weekend.

Ferentz said that he needs to listen to current players, too, and that was going to start with a Monday meeting with the team as players returned to campus to begin voluntary workouts.

They may have made an impact already, as players took advantage of the lifting of restrictions on social media usage to voice support for their teammates.

Ferentz said he started those conversations after a video meeting with players to talk about the death of George Floyd and the national protests that followed. Ferentz said he had numerous conversations with players after the meeting, and had planned to begin individual meetings with them this week upon their return to campus.

"That still is the plan," Ferentz said. "I'll start the process of having a lot of conversations. And that's going to happen over the next three weeks, for sure. A lot of one-on-one talk, then groups, and then a full team meeting. So we have a lot on our agenda there.

"My conversations with our players, they've been very willing and receptive to that, those topics. I've heard of candid feedback from our players on the phone this week, so that's encouraging."

Ferentz said he knows that it might be hard for players to talk to him about issues.

"I hardly think I'm a menacing figure in the players' eyes," Ferentz said. "But these things are tough, and difficult. And we've got to do a better job of seeking that information. And just making sure that players do feel safe in here, and they feel respected, and feel they can operate in a way that's going to allow them to do the things we're all committed to doing, which is really trying to grow and improve and push themselves."

Add us as a preferred source on Google