Kale Krogh discusses his decision

Offensive lineman Kale Krogh grew up a Hawkeye fan, but that was not the only thing that led to his commitment to Iowa today. As Krogh went through the recruiting process, he also found that Iowa was the perfect fit. We caught up with Krogh to talk in-depth about his decision and much more.

Q: First, can you please tell us a little bit about the decision and what led up to it today?

KROGH: I’ve been talking to Iowa since my freshman year. My dad is a big Iowa fan and went there and played rugby. He always said, "If Iowa offers you, you say yes, thank you, where can I sign?'" Then, after Coach Niemann contacted me my freshman year, he said, "You’ve got a chance of doing this." So now seeing the process come all the way through is amazing. I was there Friday for an unofficial visit and I started feeling it then, like yeah this is the place," said Krogh. "Then I talked to my family about it and thought this is the place and I talked to the players and thought this is definitely it. I went ahead and took the weekend to think about it and by Monday I knew this was the right fit.

Q: Did you yourself grow up a big Iowa fan or how would you put it?

KROGH: We were definitely Iowa fans and I had a Hawkeye jersey. We also followed Iowa State because they’re so close, but if it was an Iowa-Iowa State game, we were definitely cheering for Iowa. With the recruiting process, I didn’t really pick a team and tried to be unbiased because I just wanted to get recruited. But seeing the process some through like it did, I’m really excited about it. It’s really neat for me to find that was my true team even though I didn’t know it going into the process.

Q: Beyond following Iowa, what do you think made it a good fit for you?

KROGH: I think just their beliefs are really close to mine, being smart, tough, and physical. Especially the tough aspect of it, I really like because I think that’s how football should be played. Then just with the coaches there, and the people and the culture, I just love it.

Q: Did you say your dad played rugby at Iowa?

KROGH: Yeah, he played rugby there for a couple years before going on to Palmer to get his chiropractic degree.

Q: Did you ever get into rugby at all?

KROGH: No. He told me he wasn’t allowing it because I could get hurt and ruin my football opportunities.

Q: What was it like going through this whole process with Iowa as it slowly developed into an offer at camp this month?

KROGH: Through the entire process, it’s all been about them wanting to see me in person. Each year progressively they liked my film as I developed and improved. As a sophomore, they said if I come into camp and rock it, I could get an offer but then we have COVID so I wasn’t able to do that. This year, I think I got better and they liked my film once again, and then they saw me in person and it confirmed what they thought so they went ahead and offered.

Q: Have the Iowa coaches said tackle, guard, or both?

KROGH: Coach Barnett said he sees me as a true tackle. He said I could play guard if I needed to, but most likely tackle.

Q: Did they measure you at camp?

KROGH: Yeah, I measured just over 6-5 and 271 pounds.

Q: As you thought about things over the weekend, what kind of stood out to you that led to the decision?

KROGH: I was just thinking about it and it seemed like it really fit, like this is the place. I just felt like I didn’t see any place fitting better for me. One, it’s O-Line University, which is obviously huge, but it’s also a big medical university and that’s probably what I’ll go into, so I just see it being a really good fit for me.

Q: What do you want to study in college?

KROGH: I’ll probably go into something with sports science just because I want to stay in athletics, but as a profession I’m not sure yet.

Q: What is the feeling like now, just knowing where you are headed to college next year?

KROGH: It’s great because not only is the recruiting process over, but I know exactly what I’m getting into with Iowa. I don’t feel like there are any holes that I’m going to discover when I get there. I know exactly what I’m going to see and what I’m going to get.

A three-star prospect, Krogh chose the Hawkeyes over scholarship offers from Minnesota, Tulane, Toledo, Northern Illinois, Miami-OH, Eastern Michigan, Bowling Green, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Penn, and Northern Iowa.

Overall, Krogh is commitment No. 5 for Iowa, joining Aaron Graves, Caden Crawford, Jack Dotzler, and Jayden Montgomery in the Class of 2022 for the Hawkeyes.

See highlights from Krogh's junior year at Ballard High School in Huxley, IA in the video below.