Twedt keeping things in perspective

Iowa football commit Zach Twedt is lucky.

He’s not lucky that he got hurt on Friday, forcing him to miss the second half of Roland-Story’s 63-7 loss to Nevada.

He’s not lucky his team suffered the defeat.

But he is lucky that unlike many others, he gets to play football this fall, and he knows it.

“As a captain here, one thing that I’ve preached to everyone is just what kind of legacy can you leave because we don’t know if we’re going to practicing the next day or if we’ll have a game at the end of the week,” Twedt said. “With that, there’s a cliché. [People say], ‘Time is valuable, senior year, have fun.’ Well, it’s pretty true this year.”

That leadership is part of the reason he fits with the Hawkeye football program, and he showed it on the field.

After suffering a right hamstring injury, Twedt went back into the game and carried the ball two plays in a row despite facing a 35-point deficit.

Couple that leadership with the business-like mentality Twedt embraces, and he sounds like a player Kirk Ferentz would want in his program.

“That’s one thing I’ve always been about,” Twedt said. “I’ve never been about the hype or the music or the chains or the bling. I’m more just kind of a straight-faced mindset, business-like. That’s exactly what [Iowa is] about.”

That culture is what made Iowa stick out to Twedt.

Playing for Roland-Story and growing up in the backyard of Ames, Twedt originally committed to Iowa State in January 2019.

By Thanksgiving, Iowa had offered a scholarship. Twedt was all in.

“Looking at a few other colleges and then going there, the culture and the business-like way they go about things definitely set them apart compared to anyone else,” Twedt said. “The first day I went there, all the football players greeted me in the weight room. That’s an experience that I’ve never had at any other college, so that was pretty cool.”

Although he plays linebacker, running back, and wide receiver for the Norsemen, Twedt projects as a linebacker at the next level.

Iowa defensive recruiting coordinator Jay Niemann has played a key role in Twedt’s recruitment and has said the Roland-Story athlete reminds him of his own sons, Nick and Ben.

Nick plays outside linebacker for the Hawkeyes now, while Ben played from 2014-2017.

Considering Ben won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs in February, Twedt said it’s probably the best compliment he’s ever received.

“It’d be some big shoes to fill — I’ll put it that way,” Twedt said. “It just leaves me speechless that a coach of his wisdom and his years has that great of a compliment to say to me as a junior or senior in high school. It’s a blessing for sure.”

The time to step into those shoes is coming up.

Twedt will early enroll, meaning he will arrive in Iowa City this winter. That will give Twedt the opportunity to start something he’s been looking forward to for a long time.

“I’m definitely looking forward to just getting into the weight program,” Twedt said. “That was one of the biggest reasons I chose Iowa was the weight program. Beginning to see how they help me grow as a player and how much strength and size they put on me, it’s really exciting.”