Hawkeyes offer TE James Carnie

After putting together some impressive film early this season, tight end James Carnie has finally landed his first Power Five offer. That came from the Iowa Hawkeyes today as offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz made the call and offered the 6-foot-5, 222-pound Nebraska native, who is currently committed to Miami of Ohio.

"I've never talked to him before, so we just talked about my family a little bit and who was recruiting me before and Miami of Ohio of course," said Carnie. "Then he offered me and said I'll be a good addition to their team and they'd love to have me."

While Carnie has a list of 17 offers that includes Boise State, Wyoming, Colorado State, Air Force, New Mexico, and most of the MAC, receiving news of his first Power Five opportunity was a big deal for the three-star prospect.

"Obviously since I was three years old, I've wanted to play at the highest level and that's the Power Five," Carnie said. "It's super relieving honestly. A lot of weight was lifted off my shoulders once that happened."

Plus, coming from Iowa, a school known for producing NFL tight ends, Carnie is thrilled about the opportunity.

"I'm super excited about it considering they're a tight end factory," said Carnie.

As for what led to the offer, it was actually Carnie's play on defense as much as offense this year. Not that he will play defense in college, but the Iowa coaching staff already knew he was a dynamic receiver and now his toughness as a defender helped shown them he is ready to be a college tight end.

"He mentioned my physicality on defense," Carnie said. "He said obviously they know I'm athletic, but the defensive footage on my film really showed them how much more physical I've gotten from last year."

Carnie, who has visited Iowa City once on his own before, plans to continue to build his relationship with the Hawkeye coaching staff as they look to find their tight end for the Class of 2021.

"He told me that they don't have any other offers out there at tight end, so the ball is kind of in my court," said Carnie. "Obviously it's Iowa so I'd like to move on them quick because they're a bigger school, but he said they'll be making weekly calls and we'll just talk and continue building our relationship."

In addition to Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas State continue to show interest and will be evaluating film this season. Growing up just a short drive from Lincoln, the Huskers have been Carnie's favorite team, but already have two tight end commits in the 2021 class.

"Obviously being from Nebraska, I've grown up a fan of them, but they've always said they're only taking two tight ends and now that they've taken two tight ends I really don't know what's going to happen there," Carnie said.

Through the first three weeks of the season, Carnie has 11 catches for 196 yards and two touchdowns to help Norris High School to a 2-1 start. Ideally, the three-star prospect says he would like to have his final college decision made in the next few weeks.

"I would like to sort of know by week six or week seven where I'm going to go as far as a final decision," said Carnie.