Iowa football notebook: Kirk Ferentz on COVID testing, Purdue and more
By Tyler Devine
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Kirk Ferentz declined to comment on the pending civil rights lawsuit against his program, but had plenty to say about his team’s fight to stay safe during a global pandemic.
As part of its return to play plan, the Big Ten adopted stringent testing protocols that require all people at practices and games to undergo daily antigen testing.
“No system is 100% perfect that I’m aware of, I think we’re certainly learning daily and continue to learn daily,” Ferentz said. “Just my brief knowledge of this whole thing looking across the country, I don’t think anybody has got a better system in place right now, including the National Football League, than what we have. To me, it’s been the game changer.”
The lawsuit by eight Black former players are demands $20 million the removal of Ferentz, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, and Athletics Director Gary Barta, claiming they were subjected to intentional race discrimination by the coaching staff and administration during their time as Hawkeyes.
As for the ongoing battle against COVID-19, Ferentz indicated Tuesday that his team has had its share of positive COVID-19 tests and that when the Big Ten initially announced Aug. 11 that it wouldn’t be playing football this fall, his players and staff may have let their guard down.
But Ferentz also said since the practice started again in September that his team has taken appropriate measures to protect itself from the virus.
“I think we also went through a period back in June where for a lot of our players I’m not sure it seemed real,” Ferentz said. “And then we got some guys that tested positive, and then all of a sudden it was real. But, since we’ve come back and gotten going once the season got rebooted, I think everybody has been as vigilant as they can. We’ve had very little activity in that regard. We’re very thankful for that. And, all that being said, the one thing I know is that you can’t rest. You just can’t drop your guard.”
And now, Purdue: The combination of Purdue receivers Rondale Moore and David Bell provides a challenge for any defense, and Iowa will face that challenge Saturday in West Lafayette, Ind., in its first season opener against a Big Ten team since 1980.
Bell shredded Iowa for 197 yards on 13 catches last season in a 26-20 Iowa victory, and Moore is typically the fastest player on the field.
“You look at Purdue and they’ve got a bunch of guys that can really go at the receiver position,” Ferentz said. “But, those two guys are marquee players. We tried to recruit Bell and just didn’t have any luck, but, boy, what a great player he is, too. We had a hard time defending him last year alone. Same thing with Moore before that and now you’ve got them both playing. And they’ve got a couple quarterbacks that can play. I expect them to be a very explosive offensive football team.”
Purdue will be without head coach Jeff Brohm on Saturday.
Brohm, who is entering his fourth year at Purdue, tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be able to be on the sideline.
Brohm is the first Big Ten head coach to publicly announce a positive diagnosis, his test results coming days before the conference is scheduled to start its season.
Brohm’s younger brother and offensive coordinator, Brian Brohm, will assume the head coaching responsibilities this week and during Saturday’s game.
Jeff Brohm has yet to name a starting quarterback for Saturday’s season opener, and said Monday he would consider playing two quarterbacks.
Sophomore Jack Plummer and junior Aidan O’Connell are competing for the starting quarterback position.
Kirk on Cronk: Senior offensive lineman Coy Cronk will get his first crack at replacing first-round NFL draft pick Tristan Wirfs against his hometown team on Saturday.
Cronk, a native of Lafayette, Ind., joined Iowa as a graduate transfer after starting 40 games at Indiana.
“That’ll be helpful to our team,” Ferentz said. “We lost a really good guy in Tristan, who’s doing really well right now. When you lose a guy that you can really count on, who had that experience level, it’s nice to have another guy who is pretty experienced.”
The 6-foot-5, 305-pound Cronk was named to the Outland Trophy preseason watch list and is a preseason third-team All-Big Ten selection by Pick Six Previews.
Cronk started four games at Indiana last season before suffering a season-ending injury.