Brian Smith made the drive up from Overland Park, Kan. this past week to visit with Coach Kirk Ferentz and attend practice at the Iowa facilities. The 6-foot-two and a half-inch LB out of Overland Park, Kan. traveled up on Friday night, and attended one of the team’s first practices on Saturday.
“It went well, we got to meet with academic advisors, we got to meet with coaches, meet with a lot of important people on campus,” Smith said. “Coach Ferentz, Coach Wilson, Coach Parker, all of them. All of them, really.”
The head man at Iowa, Kirk Ferentz went out of his way to make sure Smith felt welcome on his visit.
“He stopped in when we were talking to the strength and conditioning coach, Coach Doyle. He stopped in to say hi, make sure we knew he we were there. Then we got to meet with him one on one,” he said. “We talked about a little football stuff, but we more talked about his coaching style, what he believes in, stuff like that.”
Kirk also spent time with Smith during the practice itself, a practice that surprised Smith.
“I was surprised at the pace of the practice. I knew it was going to be fast, but they were to a 'T'. Everything was run smoothly, everything was run perfectly, they were in and out,” Smith said.
While he was visiting practice, Smith met current Hawkeye verbal Bryan Bulaga, who immediately struck up conversation.
“He just texted me, as a matter of fact, so we're going to start communicating here now. He's real nice,” he said.
In no particular order, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas State, and Michigan State lead for Brian’s services, but Smith said this unofficial visit didn’t make his decision any easier, and neither did a certain national college football analyst.
“It's definitely going to be tough. Iowa, they can compete for big time championships. I was just reading an article the other day where Kirk Herbstreit was saying if they get past Iowa State and Ohio State, they're going to be trying to win the national championship, so that's intriguing,” Smith said.
What’s the decision going to come down to for Smith? Likely the coaches.
“Player-coach relationships. I'm real close to all the coaches at those schools. It would be real nice to play for a coach I really like,” he said.
Smith said he plans to take another unofficial visit to Iowa on September 16th when Iowa plays Iowa State, and his official visit is tentatively scheduled for September 30th, when Iowa plays Ohio State under the lights.
Smith said he likely will wait until after taking a few official visits before making his decision, likely after his high school season is completed.
We’ll check back in with Smith in September and see what he has to say after experiencing the Cy-Hawk Rivalry firsthand.