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Year 26 of the Kirk Ferentz era will begin in August. In June the focus is strength and conditioning for the Iowa Hawkeyes. A defense that brings back eight starters is getting after it. Not just to improve their own strength and conditioning, but to set the standard for the younger players that will come later on.
“We can’t afford to just hang them out to dry,” Deontae Craig said. “We’re going to leave one day and that’s the reality of it. I feel like between the sixth year guys from the 2019 class and the fifth years of the 2020 class, we’ve taken big steps and done a great job of furthering the culture that’s been established here.”
“It’s not just me that has to take a bigger leadership role,” Yahya Black said. “That’s for all our main guys. No Logan Lee or Joe Evans. We all have to step up.”
“If we try and maintain what we did last year we will get worse,” Xavier Nwankpa said. “We’re really trying to raise the standard from what we’ve done this past season. With everyone coming back it’s really helped. These guys know what it takes to get to the big ten championship. We’ve got to build from that and just keep progressing.”
“It’s just things that don’t even have to be said that it is understood,” Jermari Harris said. “Even talking about day to day things we didn’t know each other so many indications easy, efficient.
The Hawkeyes will balance lifting weights with rest and relaxation. They will begin training camp in late July. Football season is still pretty far away, but this time will have an impact on the team we see in late August and beyond.