Three-Star Tight End Gavin Hoffman Signs With Iowa
Iowa has officially signed 2024 three-star tight end, Gavin Hoffman. The tight end prospect from Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, KS signed his letter of intent this morning.
Hoffman chose Iowa over offers from a host of competing programs, including Tennessee, Texas Tech, Nebraska, Auburn, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Purdue, Arizona State, Old Dominion, Miami (OH), and several other MAC programs.
Hoffman's recruitment first started to pick up steam in the spring, but it really blew up in June, when Hoffman was seemingly picking up a handful of FBS offers every day for a few weeks. Iowa offered on June 5 (alongside ASU, Texas Tech, and Nebraska) and immediately moved near the top of Hoffman's list.
"At a development standpoint, they have a really good reputation of their tight ends getting to the next level," Hoffman told us after receiving his Iowa offer.
"That's obviously a dream of mine. I like Coach (Abdul) Hodge, but also, it's definitely the reputation of what they've been developing there the last 30 years. I feel like my chances of getting to the league [at Iowa] are a lot higher."
Three weeks later, Hoffman made his official visit to Iowa after having made official visits to Arizona State and Missouri in previous weeks. The straightforward, football-first approach of Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa staff appealed to Hoffman. "Sitting down with Coach Hodge and talking about football was awesome," he said after his visit.
"Meeting Coach Ferentz and actually talking with him for a while was great, too. They said that if I go there, 'Nothing's going to be given to you. You're going to have to work.' They didn't promise anything like a lot of colleges do. Coach Ferentz just said 'You've got to come here and work hard.'"
As premium subscribers at Go Iowa Awesome know, we had Hoffman FutureCasted to Iowa shortly after his official visit. And four days after that visit, Hoffman made his decision -- and committed to Iowa.
As a junior, Hoffman had 38 receptions for 685 yards (long of 78) and 11 touchdowns in 10 games while playing as a wide receiver. As a senior, Hoffman transitioned into a tight end role and hauled in 22 receptions for 542 yards (long of 83) and six touchdowns in eight games.
Iowa's reputation as a NFL tight end pipeline played a key role in Hoffman's decision. "Ultimately, if you go there and put your head down and work, you have a really high chance of going to the NFL," Hoffman said in explaining his commitment to Iowa.
"That's been my dream since I was a kid. So, I feel like I have the best chance to make it through Iowa with the program they've established over the last 25 years. That's the biggest part."
With three former Hawkeye tight ends (TJ Hockenson, George Kittle, and Sam LaPorta) ranking among the NFL's leaders in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns at the position this season, Iowa's reputation as Tight End U has only been further solidified. Hoffman has designs on joining that Iowa-to-the-NFL pipeline, and he could make the first steps on that path as soon as next season -- Hoffman plans to early enroll at Iowa next month.