Hawks land RB transfer LJ Philips
- Thread starter QChawks
- Start date
so...who else is leaving? There's only one ball.
Moulton
Phillips
Williams
McNeil
Moulton
Phillips
Williams
McNeil
Good afternoon, Hawkeye nation! We are so excited for LJ and this opportunity. I was on his visit with him and I want to let you know how impressed we were and are with the staff there. Coach Young was fantastic from the time we were picked up at the airport until we were dropped off at the airport. His knowledge of the game and the running back position is top-notch. He was coaching LJ in the position room! That impressed us. Most of the time, coaches show film of their offense and talk about how the player fits in. He did do that at the end of our time with him, but he started with film of LJ and then corrected the fixable things he saw while reinforcing the things that were already good. He even had LJ work through some blocking techniques. It was just an outstanding time with him.
Coach Lester is a gem. He is the type of person that you want to be around. His energy is infectious. I anticipate a lot of scoring under his watch.
What can we say about Coach Ferentz? I mean, he is a legend. As my handle displays, I am a Kansas State guy. I'm fully aware of the Bill Snyder connection to Coaches Fry and Ferentz. Meeting Coach Ferentz was, to me, like meeting a celebrity. However, he was so humble and normal. He was easy to talk to and to trust.
I fully believe that Iowa will take good care of LJ, and we are all very excited about the next two years of Iowa Hawkeye football!!
Coach Lester is a gem. He is the type of person that you want to be around. His energy is infectious. I anticipate a lot of scoring under his watch.
What can we say about Coach Ferentz? I mean, he is a legend. As my handle displays, I am a Kansas State guy. I'm fully aware of the Bill Snyder connection to Coaches Fry and Ferentz. Meeting Coach Ferentz was, to me, like meeting a celebrity. However, he was so humble and normal. He was easy to talk to and to trust.
I fully believe that Iowa will take good care of LJ, and we are all very excited about the next two years of Iowa Hawkeye football!!
There are enough carries for every back to get some.
Then it is up to the RB’s to prove they should get more.
Then it is up to the RB’s to prove they should get more.
Thanks for posting, always great to hear the types of stories that you just told. We are very proud to have had Fry, Ferentz, and staff for the past 47 years!
Very excited to have LJ on board, his past production speaks for itself. Looking forward to him getting to work and making a successful jump to Big Ten Football. Go Hawks!
This is just about the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen here or on the old Rivals site.
Welcome aboard! An 87 U of I alum here, and Iowa City and the University of Iowa are two of the things I cherish most about my life. Hopefully you and LJ will feel the same years from now. Go Hawks!!!
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Teams that run the ball like Iowa had better start a Season with 4 RBs who can be RB1 if needed , That is Every school that runs at least 40% of the time
Thanks so much for your insider post. Appreciate that someone coming from outside can see right away what makes Iowa's "culture" and its people different. This sometimes escapes even our own fans, but its something that sets Iowa apart from so many other schools.
I imagine winning the "meaningless" bowl game against a top 15 team was......meaningful.
Agreed. But Phillips addition puts McNeil and Williams at #3/4 for two more years when one of them was looking at #2 this Fall. I bet we lose one of 'em.
He was rated #50 RB in the portal vs #119 for Jaz per On3.
Sounds like had offers/interest from PSU and Rutgers among others. Had a hard time finding out who the others were though.
I don’t know that there is enough distance between the 4 for anyone’s spot to be guaranteed going into the season. If you want to be #1/#2, go earn it. I think anyone who assumes Moulton can’t be overtaken, are mistaken. Not saying he will, just that you never know when a young player will make a leap.
Every team of Iowa’s stature or better is going to have competition at the RB spot. Players always have the option of dropping down a level and having a much greater chance of starting if that’s what is most important to them.
Much less fanfare and there is something about playing in the Big Ten.
Maybe one leaves, wouldn’t be shocked if they all stay and compete for it either.
Many thanks for your post luw. Here's to LJ getting his degree from the University of Iowa, landing a good job, and being a good citizen wherever he lives. Pretty sure those are important to Kirk Ferentz too.
Jaz is a good RB, but LJ has the quickness and speed Jaz and Iowa's other backs lack. The RB room is better with LJ, much better. Get that kid any room at all, and he's gonna be gone. Trying to tackle a small, powerful back like LJ is a challenge for the best defenses. Can't wait to see him bust loose next season.
#2 & #3, 190 carries from last year, are now gone. Williams and McNeil will almost certainly get more carries than last year, even if Phillips is able to pass them. How many more will be determined by who plays the best, as it should.
XW had the largest yards/carry at 5.8, however a large part of that was during the non conference games. Had a big game against Wisconsin, but kind of disappeared after that. Maybe dinged up?
Moulton is consistently around his 5.2 yards/carry regardless of competition. He is a chain mover, but not a home run hitter for the most part.
McNeil had a 4.6 yards/carry average. I would put him #3 on the depth chart currently. Was a Freshman, so getting on the field and showing flashes is a good sign for such a young player.
Phillips was definitely the bell cow for South Dakota, 125 more carries than Moulton last year, with a 6.5 yards/carry average. How will that translate to Big Ten play? One certainty is he will not tote the rock nearly as many times on a Big Ten team regardless of where he ends up on the depth chart.
Too physical of play in the Big Ten, can share the carries between multiple quality RB’s, and hopefully keep them fresh and healthy as much as possible.
I like it! Can't have too many RBs in the Big Ten and having a change of pace back is always a good thing.
Hope he is a break away back that was missing this year. Good pick up. Welcome to the Hawks SDHawk.
Loading up on FCS All-American weapons, with a bit of Mid-Major All Conference guys. I’m ready for next year to start, boyz.
Fair points. That said:
1. They don't bring in a guy like Phillips to bury him on the depth chart
2. Moulton has a union card. Yeah I know, some hate that phrase but he's not the most physically gifted RB on our roster by a long stretch.
3. I could be wrong on #2. Maybe Lester isn't as locked in to the KFz "he practices good" (as in makes no mistakes) mantra.
We'll see. IMHO McNeil has the biggest upside and he's the one most likely to leave.
Welcome to the Hawkeye family. LJ is a talented young man, best of luck!
Kid looks like a beast that has some jets...def a welcome addition to the room, well done LJ and Iowa staff, he will flourish behind the Hawkeye OL!
Fred Russell size back. Hope he has the success Fred did. That was one helluva of line he got to run behind.
Bigger/Thicker than Fred. Fred was 5’9”, 195. This guy is 225 but runs similarly. I could see him competing for RB1 snaps.
All Kamari Moulton did was carry the ball 170 times, for 5.2 yards a carry. He's solid as hell.
Give me a bunch of that and I'm good.
Thanks for the info. How about this... your son and KSU can both beat Iowa St. this year. A win/win/win?
Welcome to the Hawks!
Break away speed or not this is a RB that puts up numbers can catch the ball , and has the RB type body to punish LBs and DBs who do try to tackle Him and would be a nightmare in short yardage for a defense He is like a slightly bigger Fred Russell , Not fun at all to tackle
I wonder in Iowa's case how much back channels was happening this fall/winter with this portal class? We certainly couldn't do all this research and outreach during bowl prep no? I'm sure agents for all these kids were doing this late fall, could be wrong but a crazy time indeed as Iowa was prepping for bowl, looking at portal, wrapping the '26 class etc.