Stephens is a tough, physical OL

Blue Springs offensive lineman Beau Stephens knew what he was looking for in his future college and found it at the University of Iowa. We caught up with his high school coach, David White, and talked to him about what the Hawkeyes are getting in this long time commitment.

Q: How would you describe him overall as a football player?

WHITE: I think he has been a standout offensive player and a standout team player. He is just an overall leader that you want. He is a great, All American type player, but he gave great effort and played within the team. He had a bang out career, especially this year. He was lights out when it came to grit, toughness, and all of that.

Q: What do you feel are his main strengths at this point?

WHITE: Toughness. It is not just because he is tough in games, Monday through Thursday in practice he is mentally and physically tough. That is his biggest strength. He likes contact and likes making plays happen.

Q: What areas is he going to continue working on?

WHITE: I think just working on his feet and agility stuff. He will fluctuate weight wise with football and wrestling, but it is getting his feet at the next level. He is a player that understands the game. At the next level, you have to have great feet because guys are faster. You have to come out with a lower pad level and have to have great feet to do things against them.

Q: What separates him from his peers to get the type of attention and honors that he has received?

WHITE: Just being so dominant. You watch his highlights and everything he does is so dominant. He really picked it up on the defensive line. We ended up using him a lot more than he thought and he really rose to the challenge.

Q: How did you use him on the field this season?

WHITE: We used him at left tackle. During the first game, we tried him at center and then he would rotate around. We were playing with the old school football mentality where we run behind him and they have to stop us. We just did that during the last four or five games.

Q: What type of season did he end up having?

WHITE: I thought he had a great season. I thought he did everything we asked. He competed, worked hard, and listened. When you are a big guy with that attention, some can think they made it. He listens and remained coachable. That ability with him is huge.

Q: Where does he project out at the college level position wise?

WHITE: I think from my understanding, they are looking at him as going inside to guard. Iowa has attracted a lot of good linemen with their ability to get them to the next level. I think he might project out inside. I haven’t had too many conversations with their coaches about that to be honest. It is what I assume is going to happen when he moves to the Big Ten and Iowa.

Q: Why did he pick the Hawkeyes in the end?

WHITE: I just think the fit. His mindset was that he wanted to stay close to home. He is close with his family and they want to see him play. He also knows that Iowa puts people in the NFL. They checked all the boxes for him. He was looking at Florida, Florida State, and Alabama was looking at him, but he said this is what I want to do. You have to tip your hat to the kid. He found his fit and is focused on being a Hawkeye.

See highlights from Stephens' senior year at Blue Springs in the video below.