Four-star quarterback impressed by Iowa summer visit

A relationship with Iowa that began because Nate Stanley starting working with a quarterback coach in New Jersey has the Hawkeyes in the running for a four-star signal caller in the Class of 2023.

Stanley went to train for the NFL Combine with quarterback coach Tony Racioppi in New Jersey and one of his high school players, Marco Lainez, was also putting in his work and the two developed a friendship.

“Nate (Stanley) is almost kind of a big brother for Marco at this point,” Racioppi said. “He’s now here working with Spencer Petras too when he has been out here.”

Those relationships will certainly help the Hawkeyes in their recruitment of the four star signal caller from The Hun School in New Jersey. It was Racioppi who put Lainez on Iowa’s radar early on in the recruiting process.

“I was sharing some video of Nate with Coach O’Keefe and we started talking quite a bit and I shared some video of Marco and told him that I had coached and worked with a lot of good high school quarterbacks and he’s the best kid that I have had, so Iowa ended up being his first power five offer.”

In June once the recruiting restrictions were lifted, Racioppi traveled to Iowa City for the first time with Lainez along to participate in the Hawkeyes camp and to also get to know the Iowa staff better.

“He camped one day and then we spent time around the program,” Racioppi said. “He had a blast and loved seeing Iowa. He was really kind of blown away by it, actually. He really liked the campus and the facilities are fantastic. He also spent a lot of time with the coaches too.”

Racioppi said that he and Lainez plan on making a visit to Iowa City in November for the Illinois game.