Coe is a go for Iowa

Four-star prospect Rodney Coe had been thinking a lot about committing to Iowa lately. In fact, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Coe even made the call to do it once before, but could not get a hold of the coaches at the time. This afternoon, he did and the U.S. Army All-American gave his verbal pledge to the Hawkeyes.

"I was already telling some of my friends and family that I was thinking about committing to Iowa, so it has kind been on my mind a lot lately," said Coe. "I actually called before because I was going to commit, but nobody answered. Then, when Coach Johnson called me back, I told him I'm ready to be a Hawkeye."

Coe fills a key need for Iowa in the 2011 recruiting class at running back. The Hawkeyes announced two transfers at the position this month, so they appear to have playing time available, which appealed to the four-star prospect as did his relationship with the coaching staff.

"Really, just depth chart wise, everybody knows that they're low on running backs," Coe said. "They don't have many coming back next year, so it gives me a good opportunity to go in there and play or maybe start depending on how I do when I get there."

"Then, the coaching staff there is amazing," he continued. "I feel like they have all the tools and all the experience to get me to where I want to go and accomplish the things I want to accomplish."

In the past week, Coe had narrowed his long list of scholarship offers down to two finalists, Iowa and Illinois. The four-star prospect said in the end, it was the stability of Kirk Ferentz's coaching staff that weighed heavily in his decision.

"What I told Coach DeAndre Smith from Illinois when he asked is basically it was the stability they've got at Iowa with their coaching staff," said Coe. "Everybody knows that Illinois has gone through some coaching changes. At Iowa, the coaching staff has all been there a long time and I know they work really well together."

With his decision out of the way, Coe plans to relax a little bit over the holidays before he travels to San Antonio to play in the U.S. Army All-American Game, which will be televised by NBC on January 8.

"It feels great right," Coe said. "I'm really happy now that it's all said and done. I won't really have to take any more calls or visits or anything. It's all downhill from here."

Coe is the eighteenth verbal commitment for the Iowa coaching staff in the Class of 2011.