Kirk Ferentz says it feels like watching a science fiction movie
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Kirk Ferentz used to think that he was prepared for just about anything.
He has coached football for so long and dealt with so much unpredictability to where nothing really surprises him, and he would sometimes say that to the media.
Unfortunately, Ferentz can’t say that anymore because he just like everybody else has seen his world turned upside down due to the spread of the highly contagious Coronavirus.
Instead of being knee deep in spring football practice, the 64-year old Ferentz is doing his part to contain the virus by staying at home.
“I haven’t thought of it in those terms, but shame on me for saying it, right,” Ferentz said Wednesday on a teleconference with the media that lasted for over 40 minutes. “But I mean this one, who could have thought it, right?
Ferentz addressed multiple topics during the teleconference, but his message was similar to what Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands said during a Tuesday teleconference.
Ferentz and Brands both feel horrible for their student-athletes, and are struggling to deal with this new world in which social distancing is now a way of life.
But their struggles, and what they’ve lost, pale in comparison to the death and misery being caused by the spread of the virus.
Ferentz shared a story about the last time he visited New York City for a father-son event this past summer in which he also attended a Bruce Springsteen concert.
“Besides the show, the thing I remember was just walking down the street just like sardines,” Ferentz said. “It was unbelievable. It was uncomfortable just how crowded those streets were.
“And now you see the footage, it looks like a science fiction movie, quite frankly, when you see that. It really puts it in perspective. Who could have envisioned this? Who could have envisioned all of our lives just kind of being put on hold in such a way? But it’s reality, and things happen.”
The New York metropolitan area has been the epicenter for the virus, and that’s why Ferentz is relieved that senior receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who is from Newark, N.J., is currently in Iowa City and taking classes online.
Ferentz said that all of his players are healthy and he is unaware of anyone affiliated with the Iowa football program having medical issues due to the virus.
“Some guys are probably we feel better off being here, and I’ll give you an example, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, I’m more comfortable with him being in Iowa City right now certainly than back in Newark, New Jersey,” Ferentz said. “Anybody is subject to the virus, but I think certainly it’s a little safer to be in the Midwest right now than maybe some other parts of the country.”
Ferentz said he has watched more television in the past two weeks than the previous 15 years combined. He even recently cleaned out his closet as a way to stay busy and to pass the time.
“There’s kind of a rhythm for all us to what we do and we’re certainly out of our rhythm right now not being back with the players,” Ferentz said. “But when you consider what’s going on in the real world and what’s going on in certain regions of our country right now, it makes all that look pretty insignificant, pretty miniscule, quite frankly. So I think you just try and keep a real healthy perspective on everything. And the biggest thing I think all of us can do probably is just try not to do anything to accelerate the curve that the medical experts are showing and try to do all we can to help decelerate this whole thing.”
Ferentz praised the medical experts who are dealing with the virus on the frontline, and he praised all the people still working to help feed us and to create a sense of normalcy.
“It’s really been interesting,” Ferentz said. “And I can’t safe enough about the people who are working hard right now, that are all working actually to help us stay okay, the people in the medical professions, the groceries, people in transportation, there’s a lot of people doing a lot of things right now that are putting themselves at risk, too, just to help things be better.
“This is one for the books, no question about that.”
As for football, Ferentz was asked if he thinks the 2020 season could be jeopardy.
“That certainly has crossed my mind,” Ferentz said. “Really to put this all in context, I think anything is possible right now. I think all of us need to realize that. Selfishly, and I say selfishly, I’m talking on behalf of anybody involved with our football program, players, coaches, support staff, we all want to get back to work tomorrow because we miss this. It’s what we do. We all miss our routine. I never thought I’d hear our players say they miss vegetables. Okay, that’s one thing that has come out of all this. That’s a little bit of levity there, but we all miss this.
“But the bigger picture, what’s it mean if we’re not back? That’s not good. And what’s it mean if we’re not able to return to some semblance of normality just with our daily lives three months from now? That means we’ve got bigger problems than missing football or missing this or that.”
Ferentz said it would take at least four weeks to a month of conditioning just for his players to be ready to practice aggressively as he put it.
“We are a developmental outfit,” Ferentz said. “I’ve said that forever, and I think most teams are. All those exposures in practice, and all those repetitions that players get during the course of spring, it’s a real important time. It’s a real time of growth and opportunity, just like bowl preparation is. So this is a period that we’re losing, but for the most part, it’s kind of a nationwide issue.”