JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Kirk talked some about the changes in the back end, and Hyde at Safety...here are some of his comments from the exchange I had with him, following by a few of my thoughts:
Q: How important is it to your scheme for the free safety to be rock solid...is that more preferable there even if you might be greener at corner?
Ferentz: Yeah. There are certain positions on the team...Free Safety, MLB, center and quarterback, those are positions where its more cerebral, there is more mental responsibility. You are responsible for some other people, making sure they are on the right page. We got comfortable with Bret being back there. My kodak moment on him was when we took him to Michigan during his redshirt year, but he was sitting in the locker room studying his notes getting ready to play. There are more responsibilities back there, so that is a part of the equation. You have to be able to get to the boundary, you have to come up and tackle. There are some challenges. We want to make sure we have the right guy there. For us to function, we have to have someone helping us out. Norm talks about James Morris last year, vs the spring. James really accepts that responsibility and does a nice job with what checks are out there. That is a part of that position back there and we didn’t get a chance to see Tanner Miller in the spring because of his surgery. He is still unknown back there. We think he has a chance to be a good player but we have a lot to learn.
Q: Does it make it easier to move Micah to free when Prater is on the other side, maybe being able to roll some free safety help over for the other corner if he is not as experienced?
Ferentz: It’s always nice to have two corners coming back that are good players, but it eases it a little bit. One thing I know is that we have two guys that have played well in conference. Now we have to figure out who the next two guys are to go in, finding the right four guys back there.
Q: Sort of like how you try to find the best five on the offensive line?
Ferentz: Very similar. You want the best five on the line and the best four in the backfield. It’s about as simple as that, but there are some positions where not everyone can play, and that is part of the equation.
As Kirk was explaining this, it reminded me of what he had said in the past related to finding the best five offensive linemen, regardless of position, and then plugging them in, which is why I followed up with that question.
Here is how I see things going down this camp and maybe into September...If Lowery/Castillo proves to be a more consistent performer at corner than Tanner Miller is at free safety, then Hyde will play free safety. If Miller shows competence and the staff is confident in him at free, then that allows them to slide Hyde over to CB.
Very little of the decision to play Hyde at FS this year will be a factor of how well he looks there...it's all going to be a weighing of the risk/reward factor with the would be start at CB vs what Tanner Miller gives them at FS.
If Miller is adequate where Lowery or Castillo scares the crap out of them, that might tip the balance.
However, I think Miller is really going to have to show some things in camp...he is going to have to be lights out not just physically, but mentally, as Kirk has described that position in the quotes above. Iowa has been more content with playing softer corners, and giving the underneath stuff if a QB can execute it, but they absolutely want zero success deep across the middle against them...don't make it easy, don't give up chunks, make teams earn a DRIVE...10+ plays to score...nothing easy. Because more often than not, the other team's QB is not going to be that patient and a drive will stall.
Last year just happened to the be the year of the QB in the B1G, and a lot of teams had good and accurate throwers...not to mention Tarp and Nielsen being out the last four games that matched up against three offenses that are content with taking the underneath stuff.
Q: How important is it to your scheme for the free safety to be rock solid...is that more preferable there even if you might be greener at corner?
Ferentz: Yeah. There are certain positions on the team...Free Safety, MLB, center and quarterback, those are positions where its more cerebral, there is more mental responsibility. You are responsible for some other people, making sure they are on the right page. We got comfortable with Bret being back there. My kodak moment on him was when we took him to Michigan during his redshirt year, but he was sitting in the locker room studying his notes getting ready to play. There are more responsibilities back there, so that is a part of the equation. You have to be able to get to the boundary, you have to come up and tackle. There are some challenges. We want to make sure we have the right guy there. For us to function, we have to have someone helping us out. Norm talks about James Morris last year, vs the spring. James really accepts that responsibility and does a nice job with what checks are out there. That is a part of that position back there and we didn’t get a chance to see Tanner Miller in the spring because of his surgery. He is still unknown back there. We think he has a chance to be a good player but we have a lot to learn.
Q: Does it make it easier to move Micah to free when Prater is on the other side, maybe being able to roll some free safety help over for the other corner if he is not as experienced?
Ferentz: It’s always nice to have two corners coming back that are good players, but it eases it a little bit. One thing I know is that we have two guys that have played well in conference. Now we have to figure out who the next two guys are to go in, finding the right four guys back there.
Q: Sort of like how you try to find the best five on the offensive line?
Ferentz: Very similar. You want the best five on the line and the best four in the backfield. It’s about as simple as that, but there are some positions where not everyone can play, and that is part of the equation.
As Kirk was explaining this, it reminded me of what he had said in the past related to finding the best five offensive linemen, regardless of position, and then plugging them in, which is why I followed up with that question.
Here is how I see things going down this camp and maybe into September...If Lowery/Castillo proves to be a more consistent performer at corner than Tanner Miller is at free safety, then Hyde will play free safety. If Miller shows competence and the staff is confident in him at free, then that allows them to slide Hyde over to CB.
Very little of the decision to play Hyde at FS this year will be a factor of how well he looks there...it's all going to be a weighing of the risk/reward factor with the would be start at CB vs what Tanner Miller gives them at FS.
If Miller is adequate where Lowery or Castillo scares the crap out of them, that might tip the balance.
However, I think Miller is really going to have to show some things in camp...he is going to have to be lights out not just physically, but mentally, as Kirk has described that position in the quotes above. Iowa has been more content with playing softer corners, and giving the underneath stuff if a QB can execute it, but they absolutely want zero success deep across the middle against them...don't make it easy, don't give up chunks, make teams earn a DRIVE...10+ plays to score...nothing easy. Because more often than not, the other team's QB is not going to be that patient and a drive will stall.
Last year just happened to the be the year of the QB in the B1G, and a lot of teams had good and accurate throwers...not to mention Tarp and Nielsen being out the last four games that matched up against three offenses that are content with taking the underneath stuff.
