This past week has seen two departures on the offensive side of the ball for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Running back Leshon Williams and wide receiver Kaleb Brown each announced their intentions to transfer and use their remaining eligibility elsewhere.
While it does come in the middle of the season, these moves are less and less surprising in today’s new era of college football. With the transfer portal, players can preserve eligibility and go elsewhere to see the field.
In both cases, Brown and Williams are seeking a chance to get on the field. At his weekly press conference, head coach Kirk Ferentz commented on the two departures.
“I think I used this line before a while ago, you can’t lose what you didn’t have. If somebody really hasn’t been playing, it’s not like you’re losing a lot of contribution, if that makes any sense. I don’t know what the stats are on either player we’re talking about this season. If Leshon had left last November, that would have been impactful because he was right in the thick of it and he was our best option and was playing very well, too. I want to compliment him.
“It’s really not the case now, and I talked about the injuries. That’s affected him greatly, really since April. I feel bad anytime a player can’t do what they want to do that way.
“But the bottom line is it’s, not to be callous, but if a player is really not playing, it’s not like you lose anything that way.
“Then the other part of it, to fall back on a line from Mike Tomlin, you don’t want hostages on your team. Again, it doesn’t do anybody any good, especially the individuals, to be in an environment where they’re not enthused to be there. It’s just not good for anybody. I wish the guys well, and I hope they find happiness wherever they do go. I mean that. I want all of our guys to be successful.
“Right now our focus is on the guys that we’re coaching every day and trying to give them their best chance to be successful moving forward here,” Ferentz said about the transfers and how Iowa handles the situation.
While true that Brown and Williams were a bit lower on the depth chart than in previous seasons, the initial comments are harsh and crass. Both players dedicated time to the program and probably deserve a little more on their way out.
In four seasons with the Hawkeyes, Leshon Williams has appeared in 32 games with 13 starts. He has run the ball 318 times for 1,323 yards and three touchdowns. He has also added 27 receptions for 172 yards and a touchdown. He was Iowa’s top back and grinded on the ground in the 2023 season.
Last year with Iowa, Kaleb Brown hauled in 22 receptions for 215 yards and one touchdown. He had just one reception for 18 yards this season.
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