Hawkeye Report Podcast

Week one of the Iowa football season has arrived! Matt Randazzo and Tom Kakert are joined by our friend Austin Bramley, who knows a lot about South Dakota State. Then we dive into what Kirk Ferentz said on Tuesday at this weekly press conference and preview the contest against the Jackrabbits. We talk a little hoops recruiting and then wrap up picking all the Big Ten games this weekend.

This week on the podcast, Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo take a long look at the Iowa football team heading into the first game week of the season. We project what the two deeps might look like when they are released on Monday afternoon and if the Hawkeyes are still a contender for the Big Ten West crown. Then we pick some games for Week Zero of the college football season and wrap up talking some hoops recruiting.

Plenty of news to cover on the podcast. Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann discuss the impact of the new Big Ten media rights deal on Hawkeye athletics. We talk about the positives of the deal and the concerns, plus how it will impact sports like college baseball and women’s basketball. Then we talk quite a bit about what we have learned and heard from Iowa football fall camp. We breakdown all the positions and highlight the names to watch. Finally we discuss some men’s and women’s hoops recruiting news and preview the Iowa field hockey season.

Iowa football media and the annual Kids Day practice are in the books. That means it’s time for the Hawkeye Report crew to assemble and discuss what we learned in the last couple of days. Tom Kakert, Blair Sanderson, and Kyle Huesmann discuss what we saw from the Iowa offense, defense, and special teams at practice and thoughts on the Iowa team heading into the 2022 season. Plus a few football recruiting updates and some Iowa baseball news.

The times are changing when it comes to the Big Ten Conference and where fans will be able to watch Iowa games. Scott Dochterman from The Athletic joins the pod to discuss the Big Ten and ESPN moving on from each other and the massive new media rights deal for the conference. What does it mean? What will it look like? We dive into all the angles. Then we discuss Iowa media day coming up on Friday, the Kids Day practice on Saturday and what we will be watching.

We wrap up our summer series of podcasts with Iowa football coaches by having Hawkeye strength and conditioning coach Raimond Braithwaite on the show. We talk about his journey into the strength and conditioning profession, his time at Iowa and the success that the program has had and much more. We also dive into his day to day work and the importance of nutrition and sleep for today’s athletes and a few names that he says Iowa fans should be watching this fall.

A very special edition of the podcast this week. We are joined by the great Luka Garza and his father, Frank to discuss their upcoming basketball camps and special experiences in eastern and central Iowa. Go to LukaGarzaAcademy.com for all the details. We talk about the camps and their special relationship and a whole lot more. Then we talk some Iowa basketball recruiting. Will Iowa land Pryce Sandfort and J.P. Estrella in the Class of 2023? Finally we wrap up discussing the start of fall football camp in Iowa City.

We cover a lot of ground of the podcast this week. First, we are joined by Gavin Sullivan, the director of Mid-Pro Academy and coach of the 17U team that included future Hawekyes Brock Harding and Owen Freeman. The future Hawkeyes also join the pod to discuss their undefeated run in the month of July. Then Kyle Huesmann joins the pod to talk about Iowa women’s hoops and their visit with the media on Friday morning, an update of Iowa baseball and field hockey. Finally we discuss Big Ten Media Day, Kevin Warren meeting the moment, and what Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes had to say.

This week on the podcast, good friend Chad Leistikow joins the show. We discuss the Iowa Swarm Collective launch and why we think it’s a good idea for Hawkeye athletes. We also discuss our look at Iowa hoops this week and what we learned. Then we discuss some potential storylines for Big Ten Media Days coming up early next week. Finally, we dive into win totals for al the Big Ten teams and if we would go over or under. Plus some special Iowa player over/under totals.

Our summer coaches series continues with a visit from Iowa’s associate defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Seth Wallace. We discuss his journey in coaching and ending up in this profession as the son of a coach and his playing career at Coe. How he ended up connecting with Norm Parker, which led to being a graduate assistant with the Hawkeyes. His eventually return to Iowa and we do in-depth about the Iowa linebacker position and discuss several of the players currently on the roster.

The podcast returns and we have plenty to discuss this week. Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo discuss the latest in NIL news with a collective being formed and a player led program being launched. We talk some other football news, including Petras at the Manning Passing Academy, and we discuss where things stand with Iowa football recruiting in the Class of 2023. We also talk about the 2023 basketball recruiting class for the Hawkeyes and we wrap up with the NBA Summer League and the play of Keegan Murray.

It was a busy July 4th with a new verbal commitment to the 2023 Iowa football recruiting class. We take a look at the new commitment and the state of the class, along with which recruits might be next to join the Hawkeyes. We also talk some hoops recruiting with the July evaluation period getting underway this weekend. Then we dive into our Fearless Forecast for the 2022 Iowa football team before we wrap up discussing the changing landscape of conferences and college football.

It was a big news day for the Big Ten and for the Iowa Hawkeye football team. Scott Dochterman from The Athletic joins us to discuss a massive day of news. First we discuss USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten. What does it mean for the conference and Iowa? What about the media rights deal that is coming soon? Will there be more expansion? Then we discuss the commitment of five star OL Kadyn Proctor to Iowa. What does it mean to the Hawkeyes and how important was it to lock down the states best player once again this year?

We continue our coaches series this summer and visit with Iowa wide receivers coach Kelton Copeland. We talk about his path into coaching and trying to keep a good work/life balance. Then we dive into the receiver position and he explains the three spots and the expectations for them. We also discuss the individual players like Keegan Johnson, Arland Bruce, and Nico Ragaini. Are there any players emerging and are the routes and the overall passing game being simplified.

It’s been a busy few days on the Iowa basketball front with Keegan Murray being the 4th pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday night and then a pair of verbal commitments for Fran McCaffery, one in the Class of 2023 and the other the first in the Class of 2024. We discuss Brock Harding and Cooper Koch and what their additions mean to the Iowa program. We also talk about possible 2023 target Pryce Sandfort and wrap up with some talk about The Rally for Reid and a huge football recruiting weekend.

That’s right, back to back podcasts today! This time around, we visit with Iowa basketball strength and conditioning coach Bill Maxwell. We dive into the work he does year around with the Hawkeye hoops team. He talks about his work with the Murray twins and helping Keegan improve his vertical jump. We also discuss who the highest leaper is on the team this year, working with Josh Dix on his way back from his leg injury, and much more.

It was a first for the podcast with news breaking during the recording. Iowa basketball offered standout Moline point guard Brock Harding as we were recording, so we react to it in real time and discuss the fit he could potentially have at Iowa. The Hawkeye football team also had a massive recruiting weekend coming up and it got even bigger late in the week when five start offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor announced he was down to Iowa and Alabama and that he will be in Iowa City this weekend. We rundown all the visitors and what the landscape looks like for the Class of 2023 for the Hawkeyes.

On this podcast we visit with Iowa assistant basketball coach Kirk Speraw. He announced his retirement recently and will complete his coaching career at the end of June. We discuss his time with the Hawkeyes as a coach, getting to know Fran McCaffery once he was hired, when the chest bumping in the locker room started, his memories of coaching, what’s wrong with social media today, and talking about Luka Garza, Keegan Murray, and Nicholas Baer.

June is starting out as a month with a good amount of Hawkeye news. Matt Randazzo and Tom Kakert discuss the big news of the day, Matt Gatens being hired as an assistant coach for Iowa basketball. Why is he a great fit and what will be the recruiting impact? Then we turn to football recruiting and discuss a new commitment along the defensive line for the Class of 2023 and preview four official visitors this weekend.

This week on the podcast we are joined by Iowa offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Ferentz. In a wide ranging discussion we dive into what it’s like on the recruiting trail in the NIL era. We also talk about becoming a quarterback coach and how he evaluates players at the position. We then discuss the Iowa run game, the play of the offensive line, and the receiver position after Charlie Jones moved on. We also have some fun and talk favorite movies and TV shows and how he celebrates a win.