Pierschbacher excited about his decision
Growing up in Cedar Falls, Iowa, four-star prospect Ross Pierschbacher says he has been following the Hawkeyes his whole life. Now, the 6-foot-4, 275-pound offensive lineman is ready to join them as he gave his verbal commitment to the Iowa coaching staff on Saturday. We caught up with Pierschbacher to talk about his decision, recruiting some of the other in-state players in his class, and much more.
Q: Okay, first of all, tell me about your decision. What kind of made today the day?
PIERSCHBACHER: I just felt really comfortable with it. Waking up this morning, I just kind of knew what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. I just felt really comfortable and just thought why not today and make it the day.
Q: Tell me about the call. Who did you talk with, what did you tell them, and what was their reaction?
PIERSCHBACHER: I talked to Coach Morgan, Coach Brian Ferentz, and Coach Kirk Ferentz, and just told them that I wanted to commit to the University of Iowa. They were all super excited. They have a lot of goals for me and they're going to push me obviously just to help me get those goals and I trust in them. They do a great job, especially with offensive linemen.
Q: You obviously had some other visits planned. Was this kind of in the back of your mind the whole time or did it just happen recently?
PIERSCHBACHER: It was between Iowa and Notre Dame coming down to it and just with the stuff with Coach Kelly, I know Coach Ferentz is going to be there for a while and just the stability. It's a big deal to me to play in front of Iowa people. I grew up here and I've been an Iowa fan for my whole life, so it just meant a lot to me. I couldn't see myself going anywhere else really.
Q: Are those other visits off now?
PIERSCHBACHER: Yep. I called Notre Dame today and cancelled that. While I was on the phone with Coach Ferentz, I told him that I'd be down on the 20th for their junior day.
Q: Beyond growing up an Iowa fan, what else was it that you liked about Iowa as you got into the recruiting process?
PIERSCHBACHER: Just the people. I love the Iowa people. It's a great fan base and they're all very supportive. Kinnick is great. It's probably the loudest stadium I've ever been to. Just playing in front of that and the offensive line tradition. No one is better than Iowa right now for offensive line wise, so that was a big attraction and just what they can do to help me reach my full potential. Coach Doyle does a great job with the strength program and that was a big part going into it too. Just comfortability wise, a bunch of my friends are going to go to Iowa like Ike (Boettger) and Barkley (Hill) is already down there. So I just felt very comfortable with it.
Q: Have they talked to you about working at tackle or guard in college or where do they kind of project you?
PIERSCHBACHER: Yeah, they think they're going to do what they did with Bulaga and Reiff and all of them. They're going to start me out at guard my first couple of years or first year and then they're going to move me out to left tackle. So that's the plan right now.
Q: Was it important to you to be that first commit in the '14 class for them?
PIERSCHBACHER: It's definitely an honor to be the first commit and just kind of help get things going for 2014 and start building something special, but that wasn't my objective to commit first. It just happened to be that way.
Q: I know you know Jay Scheel and some of the other in-state guys. Do you kind of turn into a recruiter now?
PIERSCHBACHER: Yeah, a little bit. I actually talked to Jay Scheel this morning, but it's his point to talk about his recruitment so I'm not going to fill in anything for him.
Q: What was that conversation, just letting him know that you decided?
PIERSCHBACHER: Yeah, just kind of seeing where he's at and I told him where I'm at and that I'll be down there at the junior day and just wondering if he'll be there too.
Q: Is he going down there?
PIERSCHBACHER: Yep, he'll be at the junior day, so I'll just talk to him more then. He knows that I committed and he's happy for me obviously.
Q: Obviously a lot of interviews today and all of that, but what's just kind of the overall feeling like for you after making the decision?
PIERSCHBACHER: It's pretty surreal actually right now. I'm kind of on cloud nine. Just growing up in Iowa and watching the Hawkeyes my whole life and now actually realizing that I'm going to be playing for them is just amazing. I couldn't ask for anything else.
Pierschbacher is Iowa's first verbal commitment in the Class of 2014. The four-star prospect chose the Hawkeyes over early scholarship offers from Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Iowa State, and Boise State, among others.