A global pandemic has not stopped Roland-Story linebacker Zach Twedt from his development as a football player. We caught up with his former coach, Aaron Stensland, and talked to him about what has helped him stand out on the gridiron.

Q: How has the off-season been going for him overall?

STENSLAND: For him, he has been crazy busy. They farmed all spring and he was able to work out down at Premiere Athlete, now that they have been able to re-open with their restrictions. He and a buddy have a gym and they are working out there nightly. He is still up at 6 AM on the farm or working at the lawn care company. He is lifting, running, and doing things all day.

Q: What areas is he going to continue working on as he prepares for the rest of this season and beyond?

STENSLAND: It is probably the same as last year. We talked to Coach Wallace several times over the last month and Zach is really starting to grow. He is at 225 right now, and they said that he is good on the weight end. He said that they’ll redistribute it when you get here. Everything that Coach Wallace has talked about is lateral movement. The big thing with the Hawkeye linebackers is that they have to move tackle to tackle laterally as fast as they can.

Q: What do you feel are his main strengths at this point?

STENSLAND: I think the reason he’ll be successful this year as a senior and at Iowa is his work ethic. I don’t know how many kids are up at 6 AM getting in a full workday that includes two lifts. He will fit in very well with those guys at Iowa. His work ethic is off the charts. Being a farmer, he has been raised as a farmer, so it is ingrained in him. I never met a kid that never wears out. He never quits and goes onto the next thing. He is just a relentless worker.

Q: What separates him from his peers to get the type of attention and honors that he has received?

STENSLAND: It helps when you have a 4.0 in the classroom along with being involved in church and the community. Those things stand out and that is why it is a good fit at Iowa. He is a good kid to represent the university well. It has been crazy lately because when I coached him, I saw him in the weight room every day. People say he is getting bigger and you don’t really see it when you see him every day. Once you have some distance from it, it looks like how you think he would look at the end of college. He has some things genetically that are off the charts. He could grow into a tight end or defensive end. He could become enormous. His hands and feet are off the charts size wise. He continues to grow in a good way. There is no bad weight. He just packs on size week after week. It has been amazing.

Q: When did you know he had a chance to be a special athlete?

STENSLAND: I would say probably as an eighth grader in track just because he was so big then. He was 6-1, 6-2 and maybe 175-180 pounds. But the thing was that he was running an 11.8 in the 100. Being that big and fast early, you knew he had a chance. He was also so under-developed and still doing that stuff. With all of the track stuff he was doing, you knew there was something a little different with him. Once you match that with his work ethic, it is unlimited on what he can do really.

As a junior at Roland-Story High School, Twedt finished the season with 113.5 tackles on defense to go along with 474 yards rushing, 260 yards receiving, and six touchdown on offense.

See highlights from Twedt's junior year in the video below.