Four-star tight end and primary objective Eager to observe Iowa’s next open position hire, Thomas Meyer watches Iowa bowl practice.
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Tight end, four-star Clear Lake Thomas Meyer is Iowa’s #1 target in the 2025 draft class.
Rivaling for the No. 2 prospect in the state of Iowa are the Hawkeyes, Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota, Stanford, Miami (FL), and a host of other schools.
In order to watch an Iowa bowl practice and see the Iowa coaching staff in person for the fourth time this autumn while on campus, Meyer and his parents traveled the 2.5 hours to Iowa City over the weekend.
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Three Keys and a Pick: A duel of quick-witted offenses between UMBC and Iowa
previewing Iowa’s last practice before the holiday, which is not in the conference.
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On Wednesday, December 20, the Iowa men’s basketball team will host UMBC in their final game before the Christmas break.
Prior to this game, Iowa was 6-5 and had just defeated Florida A&M handily in Des Moines. With three straight losses, including six of the last eight games, the Retrievers are 5-8 on the season.
Now let’s get into the match.
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Can Sirianni’s audacious move keep the Eagles’ season alive?
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Castles hopes to leave with a bowl victory, appreciative for his experience in Tennessee.
At the Anderson Training Center on Monday morning, McCallan Castles, a senior tight end, spoke with the media following Tennessee’s Citrus Bowl practice.
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At the Anderson Training Center on Monday morning, McCallan Castles, a senior tight end, spoke with the media following Tennessee’s Citrus Bowl practice.
Castles, who played his last collegiate football season at Tennessee after transferring from FCS program UC Davis, has been an asset to the Vols. The 6-foot-5, 252-pound product of California put on 20 pounds of muscle during the offseason to help him adapt to life in the SEC’s line of scrimmage. He soon established himself as a vital member of the Vols’ offense, catching at least one pass in 11 of the team’s 12 regular-season contests.
Castles never questioned his decision to choose to participate in the bowl game and support head coach Josh Heupel, offensive coordinator Joey Halzle, tight ends coach Alec Abeln, and his “brothers” after his four-touchdown regular season with Tennessee. On New Year’s Day in Orlando, he and the rest of the 21st-ranked Vols will take on the 17th-ranked Iowa Hawks.
This week’s practice for Castles and the Vols will take place in Knoxville. Following a brief Christmas break, the teams will reassemble in Orlando to prepare for the Citrus Bowl on-site.
Following Monday’s practice, Castles said the following.
McCallan Castles, a senior tight end for Tennessee (Photo: John David Mercer, USA TODAY Sports)
ABOUT WHETHER WELL, PREP IS A LITTLE MORE EXCITING DURING A BOWL GAME…
Yes, I agree that it’s a tad more thrilling. It’s also sort of great because it gives you a chance to help the young guys become more involved and develop slightly, which gives them a lot more reps. They’re obviously more enthusiastic because they’re representing our attack and defense rather than just playing scout team. Thus, the energy rises a little bit, and some positive things come out.
Regarding his move to Tennessee and his encounters with the Voals this season…
“It’s a completely different world for football here than it was back home.” That’s crazy. And to be honest, I’m really appreciative that I have the chance to be here, but it was much more special that my family could join me in enjoying this place. I really enjoy playing football here at Tennessee and being in the state.
After the regular season, after a break, on regaining the competitive edge…
“I believe that everyone’s problems have blown over; everything outside of the field has been resolved.” Right now, we simply need to practice and regain our competitive edge by kind of locking into who we are. We’re just getting back into our flow because we have a regular schedule of practices this week.
IF HE SUCCEED IN HIS GOAL OF TRANSFERRING TO TENNESSEE TO ACT AS AN SEC PLAYER AND ESTABLISH HIMSELF AS AN NFL SCOUT…
“I think I’ve become better. The run game alone makes a night and day difference. Since coming here, I’ve gained twenty pounds and transformed the way my physique looks. Our tight ends coach is also a former offensive lineman, so he’s well-versed in the run game. Then, just by being on the pitch with talented players and practicing against talented defensive players, I’ve become better every single day. I believe that I have grown as a person and have put solid stuff on video against SEC opposition, so perhaps I’ll get another chance after this.
Regarding the recent practices of redshirting freshmen ETHAN DAVIS, based on his observations…
Even though he’s not used to needing to run as much while gaining weight, you can sense he’s a little exhausted, even though he looks good outside. He has undoubtedly become more adept at running the system and has taken to the run-blocking role in it. Additionally, it is evident that he has given careful thought to each rep that he performs.
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Linebacker Jay Higgins of Iowa (image courtesy of Matthew Holst/Getty)
ASSEMBLING IOWA IN HIS IMAGINATION
They do make a good defense, after all. They’re all good tacklers and a strong front, so I believe this is just an opportunity for us to demonstrate our offensive identity. Additionally, I believe that we need to rise to the occasion because we are up against strong opposition.
About the duration of his adjustment to Tennessee’s space-and-space offense…
After you practice it a little bit, like in real life, it’s not that horrible. On the other hand, if you’re not used to it, the tempo and sudden change in intensity may be rather taxing and cause frustration. That, I believe, was the most important lesson I learned: not everything will always be great when played quickly, and sometimes you just have to brush things aside and move on to the next play.
ON THE DIFFERENCE IN GETTING READY FOR A BOWL AND AN FCS PLAYOFF GAME, WHICH HE DID AT UC DAVIS IN 2021…
“Well, the turnaround time for the FCS playoffs is usually fairly short.” Whereas here you get a whole month, so you kind of get your body back, you play your final game of the season and then the very next week you’re playing in the first round. The vet guys have kind of, like, decreased on reps over the past few weeks, so I feel fairly good about it heading in. And then you have a little extra time to watch some film on them, where it seems like a typical game week for the FCS with a rapid turnaround.
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Senior tight end McCallan Castles of Tennessee The Knoxville News Sentinel’s Angelina Alcantar is pictured.
ABOUT HOW MUCH HE’S TAKING CARE OF HIS FINAL PRACTICES PRIOR TO HIS FINAL GAME AS A VOL.
“Undoubtedly, it’s… It’s simply a matter of soaking it all in and having fun before, you know, this turns into a job interview. So I’m just trying to take in everything that a bowl game has to offer, including my brothers and my teammates.”
ABOUT HIS ADVICE FOR UPCOMING NOTRE DAME TRANSFER TIGHT END HOLDEN STAES, WHO WILL DO SOME TENNESSEE PRACTICE PRIOR TO THE CITRUS BOWL.
Holden’s first goal, in my opinion, should be to check out the place and get to know the guys better. When you get here for bowl week, don’t stress too much about needing to pick up the offense right away because, after a few weeks, he’ll return home and hang out before joining us for spring ball and really getting things rolling in our scheme.
About their efforts to push Davis in practice in order to help him be ready for the upcoming season, he and Jacob Warren
“I believe just by encouraging him during each rep. He often asks me and Warren, “What do you think?” after he comes off. In your case, what would you do? Your thoughts about the representative? The largest thing he needs to work on, in my opinion, is accepting that he will need to put in a lot of work over the course of the next year and that both success and failure are inevitable. I believe that the main issue is that, in certain cases, you can see that he becomes frustrated if he’s not doing anything correctly. I can definitely identify with this. And you’re like, “Dude, you have a whole year to get ready.” Like, “You’re going to be fine; just keep working on your things, and you’ll succeed.” Funny enough, there are some similarities between it and the run game—I didn’t do it much and he hasn’t done it much either. Thus, we are somewhat alike. You can tell it gets aggravating because it’s so similar to that. You’ve not been doing that for that long, dude, like you’re going to succeed. Put it out of your mind.
Concerning whether or if his experience helping him adjust was aided by his transfer to Tennessee in time for him to practice with the team before the Orange Bowl
Indeed, it seems that you merely get a sense of how the practice will proceed. You get a general idea of the males in the room and can continue to develop your friendship with each one of them. Additionally, we lacked a coach when I arrived because [Abeln] was not the official coach yet. Over the following week, though, he will come to know Abes and his coaching style. In my opinion, the most crucial element is simply being exposed to the culture and learning about what its goals and standards are. And it’s kind of like how it was intended to be.
Five for 2025: Five Crucial Objectives for Iowa Football in the 2025 Draft
As attention shifts to the 2025 class, which Iowa has three commitments in, we examine five major goals for the Hawkeyes in 2025.
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