After an injury plagued junior year at Sartell-St. Stephen High School in Minnesota, running back John Schmidt was ready for a change. The 5-foot-9, 201-pound Schmidt wanted to make a fresh start somewhere else and looked over a couple different options with his family.
What they decided on was West Des Moines Dowling, a program that has won the last four state titles in Iowa’s Class 4A under head coach Tom Wilson. That is where Schmidt is now enrolled and will be playing his senior year this fall as he hopes to help Dowling make it a five-peat.
“After my football season, I just kind of struggled with some injuries,” said Schmidt. “My mom had known Coach Wilson from a friend and some other coaches had suggested Dowling, so we thought it would be the best fit.”
So far, so good, as Schmidt says that he is fitting in well with Dowling’s talented senior class that includes Division I prospects John Waggoner and Zach Ross, among others.
“It’s been awesome,” Schmidt said. “I really like how hard and competitive it is down here. It’s nice because a lot of the guys here have the same goals as me, so it’s really competitive in the weight room and in workouts and everything.”
An ankle injury forced Schmidt to miss all but three games his junior year, limiting him to 66 carries for 256 yards on the season, but his goal to play college football remains the same.
“My goal has always been the Big Ten, but I’d like to play FBS or FCS anywhere really,” said Schmidt. “The goal is just to play Division I football.”
Last fall, Schmidt made game day visits to Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, and North Dakota State during the season, and is in the process of reconnecting with those schools and others after making the move to Iowa.
“It’s pretty slow right now due to my injury, but I know my coach has talked to South Dakota State and will be talking to Iowa State next week,” Schmidt said. “Also, I just had a Gopher junior day last week and I’ve heard from North Dakota State lately too.”
Right now, Schmidt’s main focus is on maintaining his health and getting into the best shape of his life for his senior year, so the recruiting stuff will hopefully take care of itself once his film gets out there.
“We’ve been doing a lot of weightlifting and I’ve gained 16 pounds, so I’m up to 201,” said Schmidt. “Now we’re kind of transitioning to the speed part. I’m doing track right now, trying to get my forty down and get ready for The Opening and Rivals Camp coming up.”
Meanwhile, Schmidt looks forward to playing a role in Dowling’s quest to add a fifth state title in a row this upcoming season.
“I don’t really have any personal goals for myself this season because they are about the team and our goal together is to win five in a row,” Schmidt said.
