Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz met with the media Wednesday afternoon.
By Ryan Rodriguez
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Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz spoke to members of the media Wednesday to discuss his team’s upcoming clash with Iowa State on Saturday in the Cy-Hawk Series.
Ferentz also discussed the death of former Iowa defensive back Tyler Sash, who was found dead in his home Tuesday morning.
On the loss of Tyler Sash
Ferentz’s press conference was originally scheduled for Tuesday afternoon but was pushed back a day because of the death of Sash.
The coach was emotional when discussing the loss of Sash, who was a member of the Hawkeyes from 2007-2011. An official cause of death is still pending a state medical examiner’s report.
“It’s a tough story, certainly, and I know a lot of great things have been covered and written about Tyler and his career and just memories about him,” Ferentz said.
“He certainly was a special young man in our program, had a great career here, was extremely competitive, just a high-energy player and did a lot of great things.”
Ferentz said the Iowa State Athletics Department had contacted Iowa about doing some sort of tasteful tribute to Sash for Saturday’s game, but noted that no official details had been discussed yet.
Wadley not ready yet
After the dynamic début of backfield duo Jordan Canzeri and LeShun Daniels Jr. last weekend against the Redbirds, many are eager to see what the Iowa ground game will look like in the second game.
And while Ferentz and his staff certainly have options, don’t expect sophomore Akrum Wadley to be one of them. Ferentz said that while Wadley has shown signs of progress in practice, he’s still not ready for game situations.
“He wasn’t ready to secure the ball Saturday, unfortunately, but hopefully, next time out he’ll do a better job,” Ferentz said. “Somewhere in there, there’s a good player; we’ve just got to get it out of him and get him really concentrating the way he really needs to protect the football.”
Ferentz also stressed that giving a player like Wadley proper,development time is the ultimate goal.
“I’m not a big doghouse guy,” Ferentz said. “I think it was Earl Weaver, I think, said he didn’t have a doghouse. And it’s not the pros, we don’t cut guys, ship them out, and bring new guys in. This is college football. We’re trying to develop our guys as best we can.”
Duzey progressing
Another tidbit Ferentz noted Wednesday was that senior tight end Jake Duzey is progressing as planned in his rehab from an off-season knee surgery.
He wouldn’t offer a timetable for the tight end’s return, however.
“He’s making progress, significantly more work this week, but to put a number on it right now wouldn’t be fair, but we’re getting closer,” Ferentz said. “He had shoulder pads on and did some things, some football activities this week. Very limited, but that’s the first step to getting a guy back, so that’s a positive step.”
Henry Kreiger-Coble and George Kittle took the bulk of snaps at tight end in the first game. Kittle did not play the second half because of a knee strain, though it’s not considered to be serious.
“We’re hoping he can play,” Ferentz said. “We’ll just have to see. He’s working his way back right now, and we’re hoping he can play. He’s got a chance.”
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