Hawkeye football hosts Big Ten Network

The Big Ten Network travels to different programs in the conference to go inside football operations for a day, and on Monday, BTN set up shop in Iowa City to see what the Hawkeyes were up to.

Katina Zentz

Iowa offensive players throw around a football in the University of Iowa Indoor Practice Facility during Iowa Football Media Day on Friday, August 10, 2018. Iowa will open the 2018 football season at home against Northern Illinois on Saturday, September 1.

Adam Hensley, Pregame Editor

The Big Ten Network travelled to Iowa City on Monday – despite the rain – and came to Iowa football’s practice, giving Hawkeye fans a glimpse of day-to-day operations.

Iowa linebacker Amani Jones gave the television crew a personal tour of Iowa’s football facility.

Former-Iowa quarterback Chuck Long had some fun with Iowa’s football throwing machine in the indoor practice facility, too.

Defensive lineman Dalles Jacobus showed off his beatboxing skills, which proved to be better than expected.

Then came the practice.

BTN’s lead studio host Dave Revsine wasn’t a huge fan of Iowa’s weather. For most of the Hawkeyes’ practice, especially early on, the rain came down hard.

Iowa kicked things off with a drill well-suited for the rainy weather.

Despite the rain, quarterback Nate Stanley was able to sling some nice passes to his receivers.

Stanley had some nice touch on this deep ball to Nick Easley:

And then Stanley found another receiver, this time Brandon Smith, on yet another long bomb.

Defensively, Brady Reiff flashed his ability to meet runners in the backfield when he disrupted a run by Mekhi Sargent.

Fellow defensive lineman A.J. Epenesa displayed his strength when he took on an offensive lineman in a pass rush situation.

The Big Ten Network interviewed head coach Kirk Ferentz, defensive coordinator Phil Parker, safety Amani Hooker, and defensive lineman Parker Hesse.

Ferentz spoke about what coaching at Iowa for 20 years means to him, the new redshirt freshman rule, and practicing out in the rain, among other things.

Parker gave his thoughts on Iowa’s defense, specifically when it comes to Amani Jones and Nick Niemann and their leadership.

The BTN crew asked Hooker and Hesse about what has made Ferentz successful, and both players pointed to his character.

As BTN packed things up and hit the road, analyst Gerry DiNardo gave his final takeaway on Iowa football after his day in Iowa City.