Urbandale linebacker Jaden Harrell used his senior season to continue improving and showcase his versatility to play on both sides of the football. We caught up with his coach, Sam Anderson, and talked to him about this future Hawkeye.
Q: How would you describe him overall as a football player?
ANDERSON: I think he is a player that has performed at a high level for three years against really good competition. This last year, he was a two-way guy for us. He is a player that has a tremendous amount of upside and versatility. I don’t think he is locked into a scheme with where he has to be this or that. I think he is a guy that has tremendous upside and will have a great career.
Q: What do you feel are his main strengths at this point?
ANDERSON: I would say it is his great length and his versatility. He is going to be very powerful and has the energy to play at a high level.
Q: What areas is he going to continue working on?
ANDERSON: I think he will continue working with our strength coach. He is an Iowa guy, so he has been through Coach Doyle’s program in what he needs to do during the off-season. He will stay disciplined with his workouts and really work as hard as he can so that he can be ready to compete once he steps onto campus. He is a guy that knows how to work.
Q: How did you use him on the field this season?
ANDERSON: His role was that he was a leader on defense. We plugged him in as an inside backer. We tried to keep him as clean as we could so that he could make plays for us. He also was our punter on special teams. On offense, he played what I would call our fullback or f back. He would be our lead blocker. Other times he would be the featured back in the backfield. I think he was our second leading rusher. He showed that he could run in beast mode as a running back.
Q: Where does he project out at the college level position wise?
ANDERSON: I can only go by what Coach Niemann and the other Iowa coaches have said and that is he checks what they want as a linebacker. He has a frame that you can put weight on. It gives you versatility as an athlete. He will start out at linebacker for sure.
Q: Why did he pick the Hawkeyes in the end?
ANDERSON: I think first of all was the relationships that the coaches developed with him. They have a track record of having a stable staff. The quality of their program would be one of the main things he looked at. He has gotten to really know some of the other recruits in this class and developed those relationships. That was a key thing and believing in Iowa. It doesn’t hurt that his parents are Hawkeye fans.
A three-star prospect, Harrell committed to Iowa prior to his junior year, choosing the Hawkeyes over a scholarship offer from Nebraska.
As a senior, Harrell finished the season with 45.5 tackles, 5.5 TFL, two sacks, and two fumble recoveries on defense and 58 carries for 381 yards and five touchdowns on offense for Urbandale, who finished 6-2 on the year.
See highlights from Harrell's senior year in the video below.
