Kirk Ferentz: Iowa "May Never Return a Punt Again"
By Ty Duffy
If any college football coach would be at the cutting edge of risk avoidance, it would be Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz. Michigan State outfoxed Iowa with a fake punt Saturday. Ferentz’ response may be ending the practice of returning punts altogether.
"“If you pressed me today, I’d say we may never return a punt again, just because when you do that, you have to turn and go with those guys to shadow them,” he said. “When you do that, you open the door (to a fake). Michigan State did a pretty good job of taking advantage of it, to their credit. “What helped us a couple of weeks ago we paid for on Saturday and cost us a field goal and a possession. So, yeah, I may be leaning towards where you never see us try to return one again. We may just try to catch it and keep it off the ground.”"
One would think an ironclad contract would encourage risk taking. But it seems the only thing Iowa is willing to be cavalier about is player safety.
[Photo via Getty]