Stephens talks in-depth about his decision
Offensive lineman Beau Stephens says that his commitment to Iowa today is, "Not just a four-year decision, but a 40-year decision."
After the 6-foot-6, 295-pound Stephens made the announcement, we caught up with him to talk in-depth about how he arrived at his decision, his future with the Hawkeyes, and much more.
Q: What’s the news this morning?
STEPHENS: I’m committing to the University of Iowa.
Q: What led you to pick the Hawkeyes?
STEPHENS: When I first stepped on campus last summer, I just kind of knew that it felt right. Ever since then, every offer that I’ve gotten I’ve always compared them to Iowa. They’ve been my favorite for the longest time. I just didn’t know when it would be right to commit, but I feel like now it’s the right time to especially with all of these visits being cancelled and everything.
Q: What do you think it was that made you feel at home there?
STEPHENS: It just felt right. With Coach Polasek, every time that I talk to him he always gets me fired up, and with Coach Kirk Ferentz, he felt like the right head coach to learn from. Then with Coach Doyle’s strength program, I’m excited to be a part of it.
Q: Can you tell me about making the call? Which coaches did you talk with and what was that conversation like?
STEPHENS: I talked to Coach Polasek this morning. He was really excited and said he woke up his wife because he screamed so loud. He said it was a great decision and felt like he kind of knew, which he really did because I’ve kind of wanted to go to Iowa the entire time. Then, around 10 AM today I’ll be talking to Coach Ferentz.
Q: Are they still looking mostly at offensive guard or what is the fit like when you get there?
STEPHENS: They see me mostly as an inside guy, but said I have the versatility to play outside too if I need to. I could also even play center because I’m probably going to be playing center this year for my high school team. Coach Polasek said he can see me playing four games my freshman year.
Q: With the move to center for your senior year of high school, is that just to help anchor your offensive line?
STEPHENS: Yeah. We lost our center last year and have some returning guys that can play tackle. So we don’t necessarily need a big guy playing just on one side, but a big guy playing in the middle will help move the defensive line more. That’s basically what my coach’s idea is to put me in the middle to help our inside zone plays and get some good movement.
Q: When you look back at the whole recruiting process, did you ever imagine you would end up with 15 scholarship offers or whatever it is?
STEPHENS: I think it’s either 14 or 15, but no I never thought that would happen. I thought once I got offered by Mizzou, that was probably it. I didn’t even think I’d get that offer in the first place because my grades didn’t really show college material my freshman year. I wasn’t even thinking about going to college at that point. I was always bigger than everyone, but I didn’t know I was good enough to play at the next level.
Q: What flipped the switch for you that made you start looking at it more seriously?
STEPHENS: The switch was really once I started getting more interest. Then I started going to camps and watching videos online. I started using some of the things that I learned in practice and then tried it in games and started playing really well. From my sophomore year to my junior year, there was a big difference and my football IQ went up tremendously. My offensive line coach (Jed Paulsen) used to be at NC State where he was a center for Philip Rivers, so I trust what he says and he was the one that really taught me a lot about football.
Q: Did your grades progress too as you got more interested in playing college football?
STEPHENS: Yeah. My freshman and sophomore year weren’t the best just because I wasn’t motivated, but once I started getting more attention I realized I was shorting myself in the classroom. I started caring more about my grades and what I put in my body and what I ate and how much I worked out. Now, I’m at the point where I’m talking to strength and conditioning coaches and nutritionists and all of that just trying to find the best workouts to do and the best things to put in my body whether it’s food, amino acids, or proteins.
Q: So your success in football really helped you turn things around in multiple areas?
STEPHENS: Yeah, definitely. I’m very passionate about strength and conditioning and nutrition, so I think that was another reason why I wanted to go to Iowa because Coach Doyle is second to none. I feel like that will be a great person to lean from in the strength and conditioning room.
Q: Height and weight wise, are you still at 6-6, 305 lbs.?
STEPHENS: I would say about 295 lbs. right now because I lost some weight for wrestling season.
Q: How did your wrestling season go?
STEPHENS: It was my first year wrestling, so there were a lot of matches where I lost because guys just knew how to put me into a weird position I couldn’t get out of because I didn’t know what I was doing. But there were also a lot of times I won because I just outmuscled the guy because I was the biggest guy anyone had seen on the wrestling mat in a while.
Q: What made you decide to try wrestling at this point?
STEPHENS: I just saw the benefits for guys like Tristan Wirfs. Iowa talked about it and said how much they liked guys who wrestled. Also, my offensive line coach wrestled in high school and said it would benefit me so much and they weren’t wrong. It really has gotten me to be more flexible and stay lower and learn more about leverage.
Q: Going back to your decision, what is the feeling like this morning just knowing where you are going and ending the recruiting process?
STEPHENS: It’s really just a relief. It hasn’t been an easy process, but I feel really great about the decision. I think it’s not just a four-year decision, but a 40-year decision, and I feel really good about it.
A three-star prospect, Stephens chose Iowa over scholarship offers from LSU, Michigan, Kansas State, Texas A&M, West Virginia, Missouri, Minnesota, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas, and Louisville.
Overall, Stephens is commitment No. 11 for the Hawkeyes in 2021, as he joins Max Llewellyn, Jordan Oladokun, Cooper DeJean, Jeff Bowie, Zach Twedt, Griffin Liddle, Justice Sullivan, Connor Colby, Jaden Harrell, and Gennings Dunker in the Iowa's recruiting class.
See highlights from Stephens' junior year at Blue Springs in the video below.