IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz and three student-athletes are holding a press conference Friday nearly a week after Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Chris Doyle was placed on administrative leave for racial disparity allegations.
Ferentz announced that an advisory board is being developed that will consist of some former players.
"I'm responsible for anything that happens here," Ferentz said. "Anything that happens here is a failure. What I can do is try to do a better job moving forward. The focus is always on what do we have to do to have a better experience for our players."
Kaevon Merriweather, Ivory Kelly-Martin and Keith Duncan all attended the conference. Last week, Iowa football lifted a long-standing ban on player's social media accounts and several took to Twitter to make statements on racial injustice.
"The statement was for our Iowa fans and the Iowa community," Merriweather said. "Any movement we do decide to make as a team, we want your support. I expected to get some backlash, but the support from the Iowa fans was amazing."
Kelly-Martin: "Not only does Iowa football have a change of mindset, I think the world is having a change of mindset."
Keith Duncan: "I've been here for four years. This isn't a one-sided thing. We voiced our opinions on Monday and so did the coaches. It was a really great experience. I said Iowa football got better today and I truly believe that. I would say we need to speak up more. We see everything. It's us as leaders as captains on what can happen and what can improve."