Mason Richman admitted that it bothered him when it looked like someone else was coming in for his job.
Richman has started 39 games at left tackle for Iowa in the last three seasons, but in January he found out that Kadyn Proctor was transferring from Alabama to play left tackle for the Hawkeyes.
Richman was going to have a job on the line somewhere, and he knew that. But he also knew someone was being brought in to replace him.
“At the beginning of it, it was a little difficult for me,” Richman said during Tuesday’s media availability in Iowa City. “But that’s what anybody is going to think.”
After that initial feeling wore off, Richman realized that it was business, not personal.
“I just think if they see a need for an upgrade, that’s their job as coaches,” Richman said. “Their job is to have the best football team on the field. It was up to them, and they decided that was the best thing. Obviously, for what I’ve been hearing about me at the next level, it’s moving inside. I was not resistant at all at moving to left guard.”
The Proctor addition, though, was short-lived. Before the beginning of spring practice, Proctor was headed back to Alabama, and Richman was back in his familiar spot.
Now, he said, it’s all about getting ready for this season with a veteran line group.
“I just understood it was for the best for the team at that point,” Richman said of the addition of Proctor. “I’m not going to say I was shocked that he left. But it was a roller-coaster ride through the spring. I’m just glad that the room is the same as last year, and we’re just focused on being better than what we were last year. That’s the most important thing for us.”
There is a lot of game experience in that room — nine linemen are either fifth-year players, seniors, or juniors.
“It’s very important (to have that continuity),” Richman said. “It makes it a lot easier for transition, knowing who our top dogs are going to be, who we still have to push a little more. It allows the younger guys time to develop behind us. But it also gives the older guys another year under their belt, another offseason to get better.”
Richman said the continuity allows for more competition, whether on the field or in the weight room.
“I think the more we can push ourselves, the more we’ll be prepared for camp in August,” Richman said.
This is “the last ride” for Richman, a senior from Leawood, Kansas, but he’s not quite ready to look back yet.
“You get memories of things, guys remind you of things, you tell stories, things like that,” he said. “But looking back is for five, 10 years from now.”
There may be another Richman on the roster soon — Maguire Richman, Mason’s younger brother, is scheduled for an official visit this weekend.
Mason, though, isn’t going to be in town — he’ll be at a wedding in Kansas City.
Tyler Barnes, Iowa’s director of recruiting, asked Richman if he wanted to be his brother’s host for the weekend.
“Barnes tried to get me to host him, and I said I wasn’t going to be here,” Richman said. “And even if I was, I wasn’t going to host him. I’m not going to be here next year, so he’ll get to experience it without me. To have him experience it all, that’s the most important thing. He’s going to make the most of it.”