Ferentz Adjusts As Football Season Waits

Communications with players isn't about Xs and Os.

It was another videoconference for Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz on Wednesday.

He's done four so far this spring. But don't expect him to turn into a master of technology.

"One (Zoom conference) didn't turn out so well," Ferentz quipped. "But I have not gone to Twitter and I'm not going to Snapchat, so we'll see what happens. Maybe the next time we have some unusual circumstances, we'll get to that."

The Hawkeyes would have been in their fourth week of spring workouts, Ferentz noted. Instead, the players have scattered since Iowa's campus is closed because of concerns over the COVID-19 coronavirus.

It's not about Xs and Os, Ferentz said. Right now, it's making sure that his players are healthy, focused on academics, and focused on their spring workout routines that they've been issued.

The football work can wait and yes, Ferentz knows it's an uncertain wait.

"You know, obviously, we're missing out on some really quality practice time meeting time and such, developmental work, that you can't quantify how important that is," Ferentz said. "But that's not the reality right now. "

There is no plan yet on when a college football season will be held. It could be the normal 12-game schedule in the fall. It could be a shortened schedule. It could be a schedule of games from February to May, one of the many scenarios that have been floated.

And how long would it take to prepare for a season? Ideally, Ferentz said, it would be eight weeks — four weeks of conditioning, four weeks of practice — but that could be cut to six week.

"Again, we just don't know," he said. "We don't have any answers."

Ferentz said his biggest concern now with his staff's communication with his players is from a health standpoint.

"We're just really focused on our guys getting into a routine, making sure they're where they need to be, that they're sleeping well they're eating well, and then training as well as they possibly can, knowing that all of them have different challenges in front of them, certainly, from that standpoint," Ferentz said. "Then the bigger area of focus is the academics, and you think about some guys that may have had an online class or maybe two or they're taking a full menu of it. Just making that they have made the adjustment, making sure they're being punctual and being attentive and the things they have to do academically. That, to me, is still our biggest focus between now and getting through finals week, making sure they do a quality job that way."

Ferentz knows he is in the minority when he said his staff isn't working with players on anything related to football.

"I'm not convinced right now that football meetings, per se, are going to be all that productive," he said, "and so it's really kind of putting it on the back-burner at this point."

Ferentz's program is all about structure, something that is built from that first offseason meeting.

"That process really began back in January after we had our first meeting with this year's football team," he said. "So we've just got to try to continue to build on those things and not lose whatever we may have built thus far. And whenever we have a chance to get back together, hopefully we can go from there."