I was out of town for the holiday season and have spent this week getting caught up with some things at the office. It was an uneventful Christmas and New Years for me, and I hope all of you had a healthy and happy holiday season. As for the Hawkeyes, a lot went on while I was gone that I want to weigh in on.

Another arrest

Tight end Brandon Myers was booked on an interference with official acts charge Dec. 23, becoming the 12th Iowa player to have a scrape with the law since the conclusion of spring practice last April. The way I heard it, Myers, 22, was trying to break up a fight and got caught in the wrong situation. Not really a big deal — certainly not as serious as some of the previous charges against Iowa players. And Myers is a good kid with a good track record. Still, it was one more instance of the football team having a player with his name in the headlines for the wrong reason, another name on the list that I have pasted below.

I wonder if the Hawkeyes made any New Year’s resolutions???

No jail time for Bowman

By now, you all know sophomore receiver Anthony Bowman entered a guilty plea in the infamous credit card case and has been granted a deferred judgment, which means if he stays out of trouble, he will not serve time, and the aggravated misdemeanor credit card fraud charge — reduced from unauthorized use of a credit card, a Class D felony — will be wiped from his record. Dominique Douglas entered the same plea, but he has not been granted a deferred judgment and has been ordered to appear at sentencing Jan. 25. It certainly doesn’t help Douglas’ cause that he was arrested in October for shoplifting while he was awaiting trial for the credit card theft.

Douglas has announced he is transferring. His facebook page gives some vague indication that he is headed to the Big East, probably Rutgers. We haven’t yet heard what Bowman’s fate will be. I talked to Bowman on the phone yesterday, and he said he will return to school next semester, but he wouldn’t comment on his status with the football team. He said he isn’t supposed to talk to reporters. I’m guessing that means Bowman will be back in uniform next season as long as he meets certain expectations, one of which is giving no comment to reporters like me.

Two more commitments

The Hawkeyes landed two more oral commitments from 3-star prospects right before Christmas. Running back Jeff Brinson and receiver Khalif Staten have said they will play at Iowa. Brinson is the third running back to commit, including juco transfer Nate Guillory, who already has signed a binding letter of intent.

Still no official word on whether Jevon Pugh, Iowa’s only returning scholarship back, will return next season. I’ve been told Pugh is leaving school, but I haven’t been able to get a hold of him at his home in Florida. Pugh ran for 40 yards and a touchdown as a true freshman last season. He was being groomed to take over the starting role. Albert Young said late in the season, after Pugh scored the game-winning touchdown against Michigan State, that Pugh would be a beast in years to come.

The addition of Brinson and Staten bolsters a recruiting class that is shaping up to be a typical Iowa haul — 2- and 3-star guys who have flown somewhat under the radar and will develop once they get to Iowa City. I like Staten’s athleticism. He’s a 6-foot-3, 219-pound receiver, who could also play outside linebacker in college. And with Brinson, Guillory and Jewel Martin, the Hawkeyes should be able to forge a backfield next season behind an experienced offensive line. I’ve pasted below the complete list of players who have orally committed to Iowa. 

Ferentz to Baltimore

It wasn’t too hard to figure out that the Kirk Ferentz-to-the Baltimore Ravens talk would come just seconds after Brian Billick’s firing. Ferentz worked for the Ravens for nine years, when they were in Cleveland and Baltimore, and his name always is thrown out there when NFL jobs open up. He’s not going anywhere. Not Michigan. Not Baltimore. Not anywhere. He is having a press conference Tuesday, but it’s not to announce he’s leaving. It’s his usual postseason presser that just seems really, really late this year because Iowa wasn’t playing in a bowl.

Big Ten bowls

The Big Ten has done OK this bowl season. It was nice to see Michigan send Lloyd Carr out with a victory. He is a great coach and a great man who never got enough credit for the success he had because expectations in Ann Arbor are so far out of whack. Illinois obviously showed its trip to the Rose Bowl was a bit premature, though I do have to say the speed on that team, while not as deep as USC’s, is downright scary, and the Illini are going to be a top-tier Big Ten team for the foreseeable future. I was surprised to see Indiana get pounded in the Insight Bowl. I thought the Hoosiers had the offense to compete with Oklahoma State. Good news for the Hawkeyes today — James Hardy, the IU receiver who has killed Iowa the past three years, is turning pro. Wisconsin had every chance to beat Tennessee. Man, did Badgers quarterback Tyler Donovan take a beating. Michigan State surprised me a bit in hanging with Boston College, while Purdue surprised me a bit in letting Central Michigan hang around. And Penn State got a nice win over Texas A&M in Joe Pa’s 500th game. No, Paterno is not retiring this offseason.

That’s all I’ve got. I’ll have more from Ferentz’s news conference Tuesday. What are you Iowa fans wanting to hear from the coach?   

I’ve received a few e-mails questioning the context of an Albert Young quote I used in a blog post last week. In that post, I was outlining what Iowa’s depth chart at running back will look like if, in fact, sophomore-to-be Jevon Pugh, the frontrunner for the starting job, does not return next season, as has been reported. If Pugh leaves, Iowa will not return a scholarship running back.

There is the possibility that Shonn Greene, who played two seasons at Iowa before leaving the team and the university in June because of academics, could return. He has been taking classes at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids to try to get his grades in order. Greene declined interviews this fall and has not indicated whether he will return to Iowa. He rooms with Young, though, which is why Young was asked Nov. 6 to give an update on Greene’s plans. Young did not want to comment, saying only, “I don’t know. Shonn loves watching TV, man. He’s alright. He’s alright. I don’t know. I don’t want to say anything.” If you want to listen to the question and answer, click twice on the play button above and decide for yourself what you think Young meant.

I took it to mean that Greene has not fully committed to getting his coursework in order and staying in football shape. That might be jumping to conclusions, but Young could have said something like, “Yes. Shonn is working hard to get back into school and back onto this team.” He didn’t. He said Greene loves to watch TV. And, yes, we all love to watch TV, but to me that says Greene has higher priorities than getting back in an Iowa uniform.

There has been no official word on Pugh’s departure. A source told me last week that the Naples, Fla., native was headed home — the same source that told me Cedric Everson and Abe Satterfield were leaving the program, which became official Monday — and multiple recruits have said the coaching staff has told them the same. Iowa has received verbal commitments from two running backs — Nate Guillory, a top-rated junior college player, and Jewel Hampton, a high school senior from Indianapolis. At least two other backs have visited Iowa and have scholarship offers on the table.

Getting Greene back would be a huge boost. While he’s not been a featured runner, he is a proven commodity, having gained 378 yards and scored two touchdowns in his two seasons. He’s a big, bruising runner, and he could carry the load in 2008 behind what is expected to be an improved offensive line.

Or … he could be at home watching on TV. We know he likes that. We likely won’t know until June whether or not he’s coming back.

Contact Eric Page at epage@qctimes.com.

The good news keeps rolling in for the Iowa football team after hosting several recruits on campus for official visits over the weekend.

Monday, New Jersey tight end J.D. Griggs told Web site Rivals.com that he has verbally committed to play for the Hawkeyes.

“This is the final stop for me. I am really happy with my decision. I am done with the recruiting process,” said Griggs, a two-star prospect who had previously committed to Syracuse and Temple.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Griggs also had scholarship offers from Kansas State, Maryland and Hofstra.

Griggs, from Piscataway, could end up playing on defense in college. He is the third tight end and the 18th player from the Class of 2008 to commit to play at Iowa.

As a senior, he had 214 yards receiving and six touchdowns.

The good news keeps rolling in for the Iowa football team after hosting several recruits on campus for official visits over the weekend.

Monday, New Jersey tight end J.D. Griggs told Web site Rivals.com that he has verbally committed to play for the Hawkeyes.

“This is the final stop for me. I am really happy with my decision. I am done with the recruiting process,” said Griggs, a two-star prospect who had previously committed to Syracuse and Temple.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Griggs also had scholarship offers from Kansas State, Maryland and Hofstra.

Griggs, from Piscataway, could end up playing on defense in college. He is the third tight end and the 18th player from the Class of 2008 to commit to play at Iowa.

As a senior, he had 214 yards receiving and six touchdowns.

Highly touted quarterback John Wienke has pulled his commitment from Michigan and will play football at Iowa, according to Web site Rivals.com.

Wienke, a 6-foot-4, 196-pounder from Tuscola, Ill., threw for 2,832 yards and 32 touchdowns while leading Tuscola to an 11-2 record as a senior. After visiting Iowa City last weekend, he said he felt more comfortable coming to Iowa, where he knew what to expect with a coaching staff in place. Michigan still is searching for a replacement for Lloyd Carr.

“With the whole Michigan thing, they don’t have any clue who their coach is going to be, and they don’t know who is going to stick around,” Wienke told Rivals. “So, I kind of felt like I was running out of time.”

Wienke, rated a 3-star prospect by Rivals, is the third quarterback from the Class of 2008 to commit to Iowa. They’ll join four signal callers already on scholarship.

According to Rivals, Wienke also had offers from Iowa State, Kentucky, Michigan, Northern Illinois, Colorado, Illinois and Indiana. He threw for more than 6,000 yards and 65 touchdowns in his high school career.

Shane Prater, a receiver from Omaha, Neb., gave a verbal commitment Thursday to play football at Iowa. The 6-foot, 160-pound receiver joins his twin brother, Shaun, as one of 14 players from the Class of 2008 to join the Hawkeyes’ recruiting class.

Shaun Prater, a defensive back, chose Iowa in June. Shane didn’t receive a scholarship offer until his official visit this past weekend.

The Prater brothers led Omaha Central to an 11-2 record and a state championship this past season. Shane, rated a 2-star prospect by Web site Rivals.com, had 32 receptions for 632 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also had a scholarship offer from Air Force.

OK, OK, I know … It’s taken me a long while to get to this, but, in all honesty, I had to let the loss to Western Michigan fully digest so I could step back and look at the whole season without letting that last display sour the entire picture. And I wanted to make sure the season was, in fact, over — Iowa did have a shot at a bowl game, albeit long, until the last day of the season.

So, here goes, my final grades for the 2007 season, position by position, with a brief outlook for the future: 

QUARTERBACKS (D): It’s so hard to grade Jake Christensen because of the amount of pressure he was under when he dropped back to pass and because he was often leading an offense that was playing from behind. He was sacked 46 times, a Big Ten high, which was 12 more than any other team in the league. Coaches and players said some of the sacks were his fault, some were because of the line, some were because of the receivers making mistakes on routes. That’s why you’ll see I’ve given the quarterbacks, receivers and offensive line the same grade. At times, Christensen performed well. At others, he struggled. He just never got into any kind of rhythm that he could carry from game to game. His final numbers were respectable: 2,269 yards and 17 touchdowns with only six interceptions. His completion percentage was only 53 percent, but, in his defense, the receivers did drop a lot of balls, and he was under constant pressure. Still, when he had time and receivers were open, he often hesitated on throws that led to sacks and had trouble throwing on target. OUTLOOK: Christensen is young, and he’s got a good head on his shoulders. With a better offensive line and more experienced receivers down the line, he could develop into a solid Big Ten quarterback. Will he ever be among the conference’s elite passers? I don’t think so, but it’s really too early to tell. I do think he is capable of leading a winner at Iowa. 

RUNNING BACKS (B): I thought Albert Young and Damian Sims were misused the entire season. Iowa never fully committed to the run game, and the coaching staff never took advantage of its two most dangerous offensive weapons. Why weren’t Young and Sims on the field at the same time, either in a two-back set or with one in the backfield and one in the slot? Both are proven runners and receivers and didn’t get a chance to help their team. When they did run, the offensive line often didn’t give them enough room, and they didn’t get any help from a passing game that never evolved into much of a threat. Between the two of them, they had 303 carries for 1,467 yards and nine touchdowns. They both averaged better than 4.5 yards per carry. That’s not bad. But they averaged only 28 touches per game between the two, and I think the Hawkeyes would have had more success if that number was up near 40. Overall, I do think they made the most of their opportunities. OUTLOOK: With Jevon Pugh leaving Iowa, the Hawkeyes have no scholarship running backs returning next season. Shonn Greene might be back, and Iowa has one solid verbal from a top junior college player, but running back has quickly become the biggest question mark on the team.

RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS (D): Given the problems the receiving corps faced — the arrests and suspensions of Dominique Douglas and Anthony Bowman and injuries to Andy Brodell and Tony Moeaki — Iowa had to count on a group of pass-catchers with hardly any experience. They improved drastically as the season progressed. Derrell Johnson-Koulianos proved to be somewhat explosive, and James Cleveland developed into one of the better downfield blocking receivers in the Big Ten. Brandon Myers filled in admirably at tight end after Moeaki went down, and Trey Stross and Paul Chaney flashed some potential. DJK ended up leading the group in receptions and yards with 38 and 482, respectively. Cleveland had 36 catches for 464 yards. Myers, with 21 catches for 208 yards, led the team with five scoring receptions. OUTLOOK: Pretty good. Everyone is back, including possibly Douglas and Bowman. Brodell and Moeaki will be back from injury, and the others will have valuable experience. A two-tight end set with Moeaki and Myers will be strong, and with no running backs, Iowa is going to have to pass a lot. This group will be the strength of the offense in 2008.   

OFFENSIVE LINE (D): The line improved dramatically after true freshman Bryan Bulaga was inserted at left guard midseason. It still wasn’t good, but it was light years ahead of the unit that surrendered nine sacks against Indiana. Dan Doering also appeared to make an impact at right guard, though he continued to rotate with Julian Vandervelde. Bottom line, 46 sacks is far, far too many to give up. And the Hawkeyes need to be able to establish the run in order to have success as an offense. That’s all going to hinge on the offensive line next season. The good news is they’re all back, all 10 players in the final regular-season depth chart. The bad news is, they’ll be the same players. Will they improve? I don’t know. Dace Richardson, who missed most of the season with a knee injury, could be back next year, but he isn’t expected to be full strength. OUTLOOK: I’d expect the line to be better in 2008, but I’m not sure the pieces are there to be an elite unit like Iowa has leaned on in the past. Keep an eye on Bulaga, though. I think he is going to be one of the top linemen in the country by the time he is through. 

DEFENSIVE LINE (B-): With Kenny Iwebema, Mitch King, Matt Kroul and Bryan Mattison back for a third year starting together, the defense line was supposed to be dominant in 2007. It was good, but it didn’t control games the way expected once the Big Ten season started. Still, no one really ran wild on the Hawkeyes, and a big reason for that was the play of the front four. Freshmen ends Adrian Clayborn and Christian Ballard played some valuable minutes down the stretch of the season, putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks and being very disruptive in the backfield. King was named first-team All-Big Ten by the league’s coaches, which was a testament to how much attention was being paid to him by opposing offensive lines. Even with all that attention, King finished seventh on the team with 58 tackles, including 14 ½ for a loss of yardage. Kroul was fourth on the team with 74 stops, and those two will be back next season to anchor the defense. OUTLOOK: With King and Kroul back and Ballard and Clayborn stepping in as starters, the defensive line might be better in 2008 than it was this past season. Not to take anything away from Mattison and Iwebema, but Ballard and Clayborn could be special. They are more explosive and more disruptive and will cause a lot of problems for opposing teams in the seasons to come. 

LINEBACKERS (B+): The linebacking corps was a nice mix of veterans living up to expectations and young players showing their potential. Mike Humpal emerged as one of the top linebackers in the Big Ten, finishing with 123 tackles. If it weren’t a very strong year for linebackers in the Big Ten, he would have been first-team all-conference. He was named the team’s co-MVP for good reason. He played through injury and carried the defense after Mike Klinkenborg went down with injuries. Klinkenborg played well when he played, but missed three games and parts of three others with injuries. That’s tough for a senior. Sophomore A.J. Edds was a mainstay at outside linebacker, and it looks like he’ll be a good one for the next two years. As for the young guys, Jacody Coleman played a lot at middle linebacker and showed that he is going to be a capable of taking over where Klinkenborg left off. Jeff Tarpinian and Dezman Moses also got on the field and held their own. OUTLOOK: Humpal and Klinkenborg will be missed, but with Edds, Coleman and Moses or Tarpinian in place for next year, this group should be OK. The linebackers won’t be as strong as the Hawkeyes are used to having, but there will be room to grow.  

DEFENSIVE BACKS (C): This was another group on defense that fought through injuries and improved as the season went along. Yes, they got torched for 367 yards in the loss to Western Michigan, but, overall, the secondary played much better at the end of the year than it did at the beginning. Nothing against Adam Shada, but I thought the secondary was much stronger with Bradley Fletcher on the field at the end of the year than it was before Shada went down with an injury. It could have been coincidence or who they were playing, but the Hawkeyes were better with Fletcher on the field. Charles Godfrey led the team with five interceptions and was second-team All-Big Ten pick. He was streaky, but when he was on his game, he was a solid lockdown corner. The safeties were a major weakness early and still weren’t real strong at the end of the year but did show improvement. Former walk-on Brett Greenwood stepped in at free safety after Devan Moylan went down with an injury and really made a difference. He finished with 45 tackles and two interceptions, including a game-sealing pick at the goal line in Iowa’s upset of then No. 18 Illinois. OUTLOOK: Fletcher and sophomore-to-be Jordan Bernstine will be back at corner, as will walk-on Drew Gardner, the hero of the Michigan State game. The loss of Cedric Everson and Abe Satterfield will hurt, but Amari Spievey might be coming back from a semester at Iowa Central. Both Greenwood and Harold Dalton will be back at safety, and Moylan might be granted another year of eligibility. Lance Tillison and Diauntae Morrow are a couple of young safeties who could step in and make a difference, too. The foundation is there with some potential, but there are a lot of question marks.

SPECIAL TEAMS (C+): After struggling at the beginning of the season, Ryan Donahue blossomed into one of the top punters in the Big Ten, earning honorable-mention all-conference honors. He’s only going to get better. Though Daniel Murray settled in at place-kicker for the second half of the season, he never was what I would call a reliable option. Before Brodell went down in late September, his explosive ability on punt returns looked like it would be a huge asset to this team. But after he was lost, the Hawkeyes really had no threat returning punts. DJK showed some explosiveness on kickoff return, but had trouble handling kickoffs cleanly late in the season. OUTLOOK: There will be another battle through the spring and fall for the kicking duties, and the return of Brodell and maturation of DJK will help in the return game. Donahue will continue to be a weapon.

COACHES (D-): On the field, the coaches did a decent job of bringing the team back from a dreadful 2-4 start to nearly qualify for a bowl game. Off the field, the staff lost control of a team that has had far too many run-ins with the law the past year. Kirk Ferentz explains the 15 arrests since April as a cyclical thing, but it still is his responsibility to minimize off-the-field problems, and things like that don’t help an already struggling team come Saturday. I can’t even tell you how many times the players and coaches said, “For some reason, we just didn’t come out ready to go.” That’s got to fall on the coaches. As for scheme, Iowa is behind the times. The play calling is conservative and predictable on both sides of the ball. That works when you have more talent than the opponent, but when you’re dealing with young, inexperienced players, it’s not going to win games. OUTLOOK: Don’t expect any wholesale changes. The coaching staff will return intact, and the scheme, for the most part, will remain the same. It worked for the Hawkeyes from 2002-05, and I’m sure the coaches expect it to work again. There will be some new wrinkles here and there to play to the strengths and weaknesses of the roster, but I’d expect to see a similar team on the field in 2008.

VERY EARLY PREDICTION FOR 2008: 6-6, 3-5 Big Ten

Three freshmen who figured to play key roles in the future of Iowa football are leaving the team and the university when the semester ends next week, a source close to the program has confirmed.

Running back Jevon Pugh and defensive backs Cedric Everson and Abe Satterfield won’t be with the Hawkeyes when they open spring practice. The source could not confirm why they are leaving, but they have been implicated in an investigation of an alleged sexual assault on the Iowa campus.

The Iowa athletic department issued a release last month indicating three Iowa football players were being questioned in the investigation of the incident that allegedly took place in a university dormitory in mid-October. The release did not name names, and police have not filed charges in the investigation, which remains open. But Pugh, Everson and Satterfield have been named in newspaper reports as being involved in the investigation.

Everson and Satterfield were suspended from all team activities Oct. 18. The alleged sexual assault took place Oct. 14. Pugh is not known to have served a suspension. He dressed for all of Iowa’s game, including the regular-season finale in which he did not play. 

Pugh, from Naples, Fla., was to be the Hawkeyes’ starter in the backfield next season after carrying 17 times for 40 yards and a touchdown in five games as a true freshman. He scored the game-winning touchdown in a 34-27 double-overtime win over Michigan State.

Everson, an explosive cornerback from Detroit who had three interceptions in Iowa’s open scrimmage in August, played in five games as a true freshman, mostly on special teams. He finished the year with one tackle.

Satterfield, from Erie, Pa., redshirted his first season on campus.

The loss of Pugh leaves a huge hole in Iowa’s backfield, where no scholarship players will return next season. Shonn Greene, a 5-foot-11, 225-pound bruiser, might return from a semester hiatus. He’s been at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids this fall after leaving Iowa because of academic problems in June, but his return is not certain.

Albert Young, Iowa’s leading rusher who rooms with Greene didn’t want to comment on Greene’s possible return last month, saying only, “Man, Shonn likes to watch TV.”

That doesn’t sound like good news for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa has received verbal commitments from two running backs who could see the field immediately next season. Nate Guillory, the No. 42-ranked junior college player in the country, will probably be the most ready. Tony Cornelius, a high school senior and the cousin of former Iowa back Damian Sims, also has committed to the Hawkeyes.

Iowa has scholarship offers out to several other running backs, including 4-star prospect Mark Ingram, who was on campus last week for his official visit. His comments after the visit further confirm Pugh will be leaving.

“They were just telling me how much they want me here and how I can come in and make an immediate impact because they’re real short on running backs,” Ingram told Web site Rivals.com. “All they have is two walk-ons coming back, so they need some players, and I could probably come here and play right away. They think I’m physically ready to play right now and maybe be a starter for four years.”

Ingram, from Flint, Mich., also has offers from Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Tennessee and Washington.

The two walk-ons Iowa will have back are sophomores-to-be Paki O’Meara and Brian Mungongo. Neither has carried the ball in a game. 

Dana Brown, a running back who would have been a junior next fall, was kicked off the team in October after being charged with domestic assault. He also had a pair of shoplifting arrests over the summer.

Iowa thought it had a top-flight back from the Class of ’08 in Jason Ford, the St. Louis area’s all-time leading rusher from Belleville, Ill. Ford committed to the Hawkeyes in June before reopening his recruitment this fall. He then recommitted to Iowa after visiting Nov. 10 but then pulled his commitment again and is considered a “solid verbal” to attend Illinois.   

The loss of Everson and Satterfield is not as damaging as the loss of Pugh, as there was a surplus of young defensive backs on the roster. But it certainly doesn’t help. Everson, at least, probably would have competed for a starting job at corner next season. Five prospects who could play defensive back have given commitments to come to Iowa next season. Also, Amari Spievey, a corner who left Iowa because of academic reasons in June, could return. So, too, could safety Marcus Wilson. Spievey played this past season at Iowa Central Community College. Wilson, the nephew of Iowa assistant coach Darrell Wilson, reportedly attended Kirkwood to try to get his academics in order.       

Running back Nate Guillory, the No. 42-ranked junior college player in the nation according to Web site Rivals.com, has committed to play football at Iowa.

The Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College standout had previously committed to North Carolina and Kansas State. This time, he says he is sure.

“I just think the Big Ten is basically a running conference, and it’s a great place for me to run the ball,” Guillory told Rivals. “I think it’s the best place for me to let my talent be seen and used most.”

Guillory, a 5-foot-10, 180-pounder also had a scholarship offer from Memphis. Rated a 3-star prospect by Rivals, he fills a need for an Iowa team that has only one scholarship running back — sophomore-to-be Jevon Pugh — returning next season.

Tony Cornelius, a 2-star prospect from Boca Raton, Fla., also has committed to play at Iowa next season. Cornelius is the cousin of Damian Sims, a senior running back on this year’s Iowa team.

Kyle Steinbrecher just couldn’t stay away from football.

The former Davenport Assumption four-sport standout who went to Iowa on a track and field scholarship has given up that scholarship and will walk on to the football team in the spring.

“I always wanted to play football here, so it was always in the back of my mind,” Steinbrecher said Monday. “I just wasn’t liking track that much. I got the opportunity, so I took it.”

The opportunity came during a meeting with assistant coach Reese Morgan two Saturdays ago. Morgan, who handles Iowa’s instate recruiting, welcomed the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Steinbrecher, who was an all-state safety as a senior at Assumption in 2006.

Steinbrecher, a 400-meter specialist in track, excelled at safety in high school, recording 13 interceptions in his final two seasons. If he makes the team at Iowa, it likely will be as a safety or wide receiver, a position he also played in high school.

“I’m supporting him 100 percent. I don’t want him to be 40 years old and look back and wonder,” Steinbrecher’s father, Tom, said. “I’m trying not to get too excited. But I will tell you this: If he comes running out of that tunnel, I’ll die a happy man.”

Steinbrecher has watched others from the Mississippi Athletic Conference have success at Iowa, particularly Brett Greenwood (Pleasant Valley), who started at safety this season after walking on in 2006. Receiver Colin Sandeman (Bettendorf) and offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde (Central) also saw time as freshmen this year.

“I’ve played against these guys, and I think I’m as good as these guys, but I guess it’s time to find out,” Steinbrecher said.

Steinbrecher will start working out with the team in late January when school starts up after Christmas break.

Steinbrecher, who also was an all-conference performer in basketball and baseball in high school, was recruited hard coming out of high school by Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Western Illinois, but he didn’t get any Division I offers for football. He grew up a Hawkeyes fan and always wanted to go to Iowa, which led him to accept a partial scholarship for track.

Just making the football team would mean the world. Right now, he doesn’t have any goals beyond that. 

“It’d be great, especially for my family,” Steinbrecher said. “It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to play football at Iowa. So, it would be a dream come true.”

Eric Page can be contacted at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com.