The Northern Iowa football team is looking to turn things around after a 5-6 season last year, and Panther coach Mark Farley says work they’ve already done and the work they are doing prior to the season opener will determine if that happens. He says they don’t know yet what this team will be. “Every team takes its own course. This team will find that course when it happens. It’s already been started of course, it started in January. Some things happened this summer, they became stronger in some units. So, it will play out as it plays out,” Farley says.

Farley says they’ve been successful by adapting to the strengths of the players.”We have changed every year, based on the players that we’ve had,” Farley explains. “So, we will go along, we will identify what becomes our strength and that’s what we’ll play to.” The Panthers return a lot of experience on defense. On offense, Farley says the key is building the line. “Your offensive line is always your culture — it’s not the quarterback — it’s the offensive line. And then if you’ve got two tight ends who are just as tough, then you’ve got a chance,” according to Farley.

He says even if they offensive line becomes a strength, they will have a tough task ahead with the teams they face. “There’s five teams from this league in the top ten — and we ain’t one of them,” Farley says, “so it’s a strong league, strong coaches, strong players, and we go on the road for some difficult games.

The Panthers have six games on the road, including their season opener September 2nd at Iowa State.

(Learfield Sports)

Kurt Warner will become the first native Iowan to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in a ceremony in Canton, Ohio Saturday. Warner played at Cedar Rapids Regis High School and after graduating in 1989 went to Northern Iowa. Terry Allen was Warner’s coach at U-N-I and says he’s probably mentioned in more books for the fact that he started Warner only one year in college. Allen says the way Warner handled the situation at U-N-I showed early on the qualities that would lead to his eventual success. “Kurt never complained…he kept working at it, kept working at it, and when he got his opportunity with us he had a great senior year,” Allen says.

Kurt Warner photo courtesy UNI via Radio Iowa.

Warner’s rags-to-riches story after college includes a stint stocking shelves at Hy-Vee, playing for the Iowa Barnstormers in the Arena League, then N-F-L Europe and finally getting a chance through injury to become the starter for the Saint Louis Rams. He led the Rams and a high-powered offense to a Super Bowl win. Allen, now lives in Nixa, Missouri, and works for the city’s Chamber of Commerce. He talked about what it means to see Warner go into the Hall of Fame.  “I don’t know if you can say it’s gratifying — you just appreciate the success he’s had,” Allen says.

Allen will be attending the ceremony along with former U-N-I assistant coaches Bill and Ken Salmon. Current Panther coach Mark Farley says he tells current players Warner’s story to illustrate what they need to do to be successful. He says he texted Warner at the start of this week. “The one thing that he represents, and I told him this, his whole family does, his whole family represents perseverance. And to me that’s the key to his success,” Farley says.

Warner won two regular-season N-F-L M-V-P awards along with a Super Bowl M-V-P. He took the Rams to one other Super Bowl and later took the Arizona Cardinals to their only appearance in the Super Bowl. Warner is still the only quarterback to throw for 300 yards in three different Super Bowls. He was voted into the Hall of Fame in his third year of eligibility.

(Learfield Sports)

The Iowa Hawkeye basketball team is preparing to travel to Europe for a 12-day trip. Coach Fran McCaffery spoke with reporters about the trip and says they are allowed 10 practices before they go. “It was great to be able to get everybody together because we were able to use the other time available for skill development. “So, then we had practices and then we had skill development sessions,” according to McCaffery. “And I think that was incredibly beneficial, because even though we have a lot of guys back we still have a lot of young guys. So I think that’s important.”

McCaffrey says they have had to spend some time working on the rules of the European game, which he says are dramatically different in some cases. “What we consider goal tending they don’t. What’s a travel over there is not a travel here — and we run, so we are susceptible to more travels — can you get your mind to understand that,” he says.

There’s a big difference in the type of ball they will use. He says some of the guys really like it and some don’t. “That’s all we’ve played with for two months, so they are getting used to it.” McCaffery says. He says they will face some good teams, but he’s not concerned about the wins and losses. “We’re just going to try to really, truthfully focus on what do we have to do to get better,” McCaffery says.”Obviously we are going to try to win. But if you win or lose, nobody will even remember it. It’s not as critical as getting quality playing time for our young guys trying some different things on the court. Just work on our motion game, work on our press.”

McCaffery says the experience gained on this trip will pay dividends this winter. “You know my experience has been in the past has been that the teams that have this opportunity have always jelled and played well the following year. “They’ve just come together,” McCaffery says. “So that’s probably as important a component of this opportunity as any other. Maybe more.”

Iowa will play a total of four exhibition games in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. They leave for Europe on Sunday.

(Learfield Sports)