In this edition of Hawkeye Conversations, we catch up with former Iowa running back LeShun Daniels. We discuss his recruiting process and how he ended up flipping from Boston College to Iowa, the early years of his Iowa career, the struggle to stay healthy, the magical 2015 season, and pairing up with Akrum Wadley to have two 1,000 yard rushers in one season. We also find out how his 12 year old brother is doing and if he will be a Hawkeye or a Buckeye.

Q: Your recruiting process was interesting because you were originally committed to Boston College and then they fired their coach. How do you look back on it?

DANIELS: Definitely an interesting time. I always wanted to be the superstar that was recruiting by all the schools when I was growing up. I had offers from Power Five schools which was great and also some MAC schools, which was good too.

With the Boston College situation it ended up being for the best. I really enjoyed the school and everything, but with the coaching change and the fact that they were in Boston, which ended up being really far for me. It was just kind of out of the way and not Big Ten country, if you know what I mean. I grew up in Big Ten country with my parents going to Ohio State, so that’s really all I ever knew.

Once they fired their coach it kind of opened things up for me to possibly look for something in Big Ten country and that was a good thing.

Q: Do you remember when Iowa first reached out to you and what that first conversation was like for you? What did you think when you started hearing from Iowa and I think Wisconsin also reached out?

DANIELS: It really kind of happened right after my high school season ended. Coach Brian Ferentz came to my high school. Back then he used to recruit in Ohio and he was making his rounds and came to my school. He talked to me and my brother for a little bit and I think a couple of other guys. He told me a little bit about the program. Honestly, I really didn’t know much about Iowa at that time. I knew they were in the Big Ten and I had heard about Coach Ferentz and that he was well respected. I kind of thought Iowa was in the middle of nowhere.

So he came to the school and he told me that he really liked my film and that he would like to get me on campus sometime so you could see the area. Then about a week later, Coach Ferentz called me and offered me a scholarship. I remember it was late at night and it was an odd number that I didn’t even recognize.

Then I set up an official visit and just fell in love with the school, the campus, and I liked all the guys that I met on my visit.

Q: Did Wisconsin ever get that serious about you?

DANIELS: Wisconsin just called and checked in. It was them and Michigan State. At the time I had a teammate at Michigan State and that was the year that LeVon Bell had declared for the draft, so they were looking for a running back late to fill out that class. They came in a little bit harder and then they contacted me a few days after I had committed to Iowa. They wanted to know if I was interested in taking a visit and wanted to show me their program.

Q: But once you committed to Iowa, you were done?

DANIELS: Yeah.

Q: You come in for your freshman year and there are a couple of other running backs in your class. One of them was Akrum Wadley. Did you guys kind of have to feel each other out a little bit or did you kind of hit it off right away? You guys have different types of personalities and Akrum’s is pretty big.

DANIELS: Yeah. (laugh) We basically hit it off right away. At the time at running back it was me, Parker, Akrum and we kind of got to know each other really well right away. We always hung out together and had a good time. He’s still a big personality and I am much more reserved.

Q: What was the big lesson that first year?

DANIELS: I think it was just the difference in what it takes to succeed in college vs. high school. In high school, even at the highest level in Ohio, you are rarely going to go against guys who were as fast or athletic as you are. In college, all of the guys are the best players in high school so you have to adjust to the speed.

Once you adjust, then it’s about being consistent on a day to day or play to play basis to be successful. There are a lot of guys who can make a splash play, but you have to be consistent. I learned that right away in my freshman year.

Q: One thing that I always think about with your career, unfortunately, is the injuries and how much time that took away from you. What was it like going through it? It had to be frustrating.

DANIELS: That was definitely the toughest part of my career at Iowa. I get to play as a true freshman and I got to play a little bit. I didn’t get to play as much as I wanted to, but it was a nice amount for my first year.

Then I went into my second year and there were some conversations about me redshirting going into the year. That didn’t happen because I played well and had a good camp. My second year starts and the first time I touch the ball I score a touchdown. I’m like I’m off to a great start. Then in that game I tweaked my ankle a little bit. It wasn’t serious and I was able to move around practice on it. Then it ended up being more serious than I thought and I wasn’t playing a lot.

By that time we were in the middle of the season and going into the bye week and we were practicing and Coach White told me that I was going to get some more shots after the bye week. Then I got hurt again and it felt like almost a wasted year. Going into the season there was that possibility that I would redshirt and then I play and get hurt and it basically ends my season halfway through the year was really tough.

Thankfully I had a good support system with my family and teammates to keep my head up during that time.

Then going into my junior season and I see that I am two years in and feel like I haven’t really done much and I wanted to really push myself. I go out and win the starting job and I’m really excited. I feel like I am the RB1 now and I am ready to go.

First game against Illinois State I rush for 100 yards. Boom. Everything felt great and I was moving really well. That was the start I wanted to have. Then I go into the Iowa State game and early on a get a high ankle sprain and that basically puts me down for like half the season. I played a few weeks and tried to play through that whole thing. I played against Pitt and North Texas and then the coaches basically told me to shut it down for a bit. I was like this again. I’m going to miss more time. It was really frustrating time for me, but my teammates and family kept me going.

When you only have such a small window of time to cash in on those opportunities and you get hurt it can be really frustrating for a player.

Q: It’s almost like the Drew Ott type deal where you miss a bunch of time in two years and it never feels like you got your full four years to play college football.

DANIELS: Yep, it’s like I almost got cheated out of time that I should have been able to have in my career and I wanted to also help us win more football games too.

Q: With the 2015 season, that was such a special season as it played out. Did you sense it going in or did you really only sense it at a certain point in the year?

DANIELS: Personally I didn’t know until it was happening.

We have our goals and we set out every year to win a Big Ten Championship. That’s one of the top goals for us each and every year. You never really know if your team is special until it’s happening. We are going through the game and we are winning the close ones. Guys are getting hurt and other guys are stepping up and making huge plays. The next man mentality is so big with that team. Then we just continue to win the close games and blow out a few teams.

Then we go to Wisconsin and we beat them in a wild game where they fumble the ball on the one yard line. It was insane. When we won that game, I thought it was the turning point for us as a team and I thought we might be able to do something big. During my career, Wisconsin was a team was struggled with and to beat them was big for us.

Then we go to Northwestern and I’m out and Canzeri gets hurt early and Akrum and D Mitch step up and have a hell of a game to help us win. I kind of felt like we couldn’t be beat. We are still going one game at a time, but you also feel like no one can beat us. Even when guys were going down, other guys were just stepping up and making plays.

As the season went along we really felt it grow that year.

Q: The Minnesota game that year had to be pretty special for you because you had battled back from the high ankle sprain and had a huge game with three touchdowns. That was a wild game.

DANIELS: Yeah that was a wild game with a lot of points scored. It was my first start since the Iowa State game and I was kind of nervous. I kept telling myself, ok, I am back in and we were wearing the special uniforms and trying to get to 10-0 on the season. Plus it’s a rivalry game and they don’t like us and we don’t like them.

I just told myself to relax and do my thing. During the season it was our defense that was making all the big plays and keeping us in games. With the offense we were just scoring enough to get the win. When we went into the game, I don’t think the game plan was really about running me as much as we did. It was just kind of one of those things that happened. Coach White just said we are going to ride the hot hand and it started early and we just rolled with it.

We would score and they would score and we just made plays in the run game and the pass game. C.J. Beathard and Tevaun Smith made plays too. It just felt so good for me personally to have a good game after coming back from injury.

Q: The one play in that game that always sticks out is the 51 yard touchdown run that you had to basically put the game away late in the fourth quarter. Do you remember how it opened up for you?

DANIELS: We went into a timeout and Coach Brian said we are going to run outside zone and add a little wrinkle to it. We are going to have a fullback lead up instead of a lineman on the Mike linebacker. Basically the full back would take the Mike and there was nothing else fancy about it. He just said hold on to the ball and try to get the first down.

I get set and get the ball and go towards the line and I wasn’t really even thinking about anything more than what he said, hold on to the ball and get the first down. I get the ball and the second I see it the hole opens up. The offensive line did a great job. Then Macon Plewa does an excellent job on the block and the hole really opens up.

One of the big rules for a running back is not to get tackled by the first person and that was the only thing on my mind. I did a nice little jump cut and the rest was history. There wasn’t anymore thinking about just getting the first down. That didn’t cross my mind. Looking back at it, I probably should have gone down, but it wouldn’t have looked as cool. (laugh)

Q: The Big Ten Championship game against Michigan State was such a war out there. Was that a case where both teams just kind of left everything on the field that night?

DANIELS: That was a tough game. We knew we were going against a great team. They had beaten a very talented Ohio State team in the regular season. If they could beat the Buckeyes, we knew we would be in for a tough game. It was going to be a fist fight and it was going to be really physical.

It was four quarters of both teams battling and we were trying to get what we could. When C.J. and Tevaun hook up on that touchdown pass, I thinking we are winning this game. That was the play that would send us to the College Football Playoff.

I think it was our next offensive possession, we were around midfield and we got stopped on a third and short and we punted it and then they go on their magical 22 play drive. That drive took the wind out of everyone. You just felt it on the sideline. The energy went away. You have to give credit to them for converting over and over again and we just couldn’t get the stop. Honestly, I think that game just completely drained us. Guys were hurt for a while after the game and if you ask guys from that game, they will tell you it still stings to this day.

Q: Let’s look at 2016 and you are healthy and you and Akrum did something special, with both of you going over 1,000 yards. You really finished strong that year with big games against Illinois and Nebraska. How big was it for both of you to reach that 1,000 yard number?

DANIELS: It was huge. Going into the season it was something that we talked about a little bit. We really kind of even talked about it the year before after the Indiana game. We both had good games and we kind of said next year we could do some crazy damage.

Early in the year we started off pretty strong and we were running the ball really well. Both of us were really going. Then for us to reach that number it was big for us in the running back room and for the offensive linemen. They were really proud of it.

We had no idea that it hadn’t been done at Iowa until later in the year. It was pretty incredible that we met that goal. We would have loved to have won more football games, but we made big plays that year that helped us win games.

Q: End of the year you were named one of the team captain and got the Iron Hawk Award as well. What did that mean to you coming from your teammate and the coaching staff?

DANIELS: it meant a lot especially having gone through all the struggles with the injuries in my career at Iowa. It meant a lot that I had gained the respect of my teammates and coaches. That was huge for me. I was just so proud to be named a team captain. I still have a few of those awards in my apartment and there are a few at my parents’ house and they are hung up and on display.

Q: Do you and your brother James look back on those couple of years together now? That had to be really special to have that experience together at Iowa.

DANIELS: It was great. It’s not often you get to play with your sibling at the college level. It’s even more rare at the level we played at. Then being on the same side of the ball and being on the field together was special.

We have pictures around my parents house of me running the ball and he’s blocking for me all over the place. We really cherish those time. We are a football family and we talked about it growing up that it would be cool if we were on the same team and got to play together. It would feel like we were twins, even though we were two years apart. We have a lot of great memories from those two years and the good times we had at Iowa.

Q: Then after that you took your shot with the NFL. You bounced around a bit in those couple of years. Did you enjoy that experience? It’s a tough business.

DANIELS: I am really thankful for the opportunities that I had with every organization that took a chance on me. From New England, to the Chargers, to the Packers and the Redskins. All of the time I had was great. It’s a tough business and most people don’t understand just how difficult it is to be able to be successful in the NFL and even just being on a roster.

Earlier I talked about the switch from high school to college, there’s also one from college to the NFL. It’s even bigger. I was undrafted and there are guys who are high draft picks that never really make it. When you are bouncing between trying to make roster to practice squad spots and doing workouts, it’s tough. You have to be mentally strong to keep going and you never know what might happen. They say that the NFL stands for Not For Long, because you are bouncing around a lot. If you have a good support system, which I do, it makes it easier to handle.

Q: Towards the end of the 2017 season you finally got your shot. You are on the active roster for the Redskins and you got an opportunity to carry the ball in an NFL game. Was that a big moment where you felt like you proved you belonged?

DANIELS: All the hard work paid off. I had been playing football since first grade and this was the goal. I wanted to be in the NFL and play in a game and the fact that I actually got in and was on the active roster was special.

My first game was Thanksgiving against the Giants. You don’t get any better than that. It was a night game on TV on Thanksgiving. That was the dream. We all watch football on Thanksgiving and that was my first game. I will never forget it. I still have the jersey from that game and it doesn’t get better than that moment.

Q: The year after you leave Iowa, they play Ohio State, your parent’s old school. Iowa wins that game 55-24. Where were you for that game?

DANIELS: I was in-between rosters for that game so I had time to go to that game and be there on the sidelines. That was a great game.

I didn’t get to play Ohio State but the one time in my freshman year. My brother got the opportunity to put it on them and I was jacked up watching it. I was on the sidelines jumping up and down and thinking it was great. Honestly, I kind of wanted Ohio State in 2015, but Michigan State beat them. I wanted that opportunity to play them again.

To be there with many of my old teammates and watch them beat them like that was really almost as good.

Q: So what are you doing these days?

DANIELS: Right now I am working as a personal trainer at a gym with Faith Ekakitie. He got me involved there. I live in the northern suburbs of Chicago. I am still training and have been doing It for about eight months or so. I’ve been taking care of my wife and daughter and enjoying that.

During the quarantine, I’ve been training James and keeping him in shape for the NFL season. Right now all their facilities have been closed up, so I’m helping him out a little bit and that has been fun.

Q: Last question that everyone always wants to know, how big is your youngest brother Ellis and is he a future Hawkeye?

DANIELS: (Laugh) He’s 12 years old and probably about 5-6 and 200 pounds. He’s massive. (laugh) We are trying to get him right and give him some workouts so he can go and be a Hawkeye. My dad wants him to be a Buckeye and I tell him, no, that’s not the way, you have to be a Hawkeye. We tell him he has to go to Iowa and lead them to a Big Ten Championship and a National Championship.