Ross Pierschbacher was a former Iowa Hawkeye commit, but flipped to Alabama. Five years later he is a preseason All-SEC. What could have been?
The Iowa Hawkeyes have a history of developing outstanding offensive line talent. That’s what happens when a former NFL offensive line coach is paired with the hard-working, athletic, and raw talent that typically graces Iowa City’s campus. Current preseason All-SEC Ross Pierschbacher was almost part of that storied tradition.
It’s not telling what may have happened to Pierschbacher had he stayed committed to the Hawks, but I wish we could have found out. Instead, Ross will be spending his redshirt senior season with Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.
It’s not often that Iowa is competing for players that Alabama is competing for, but it’s also not common for a player of Pierschbacher’s talent to be found in Iowa’s backyard. The young center hails from Cedar Falls and dominated opposing high schools as an offensive tackle.
He was talented enough to be named the 107th best player in the country and a four-star recruit on rivals.com. Per ESPN, Ross was a little better than that coming in as the 48th overall prospect and the number one overall guard. Needless to say it was quite a blow when Ross flipped from Iowa to Alabama before the start of his senior year.
Despite going up against a plethora of four and five-star recruits at Alabama, Pierschbacher managed to separate himself from the pack in Tuscaloosa. After redshirting his freshman season, Ross has played in 43 out of a possible 44 games. Only one of those did he not start. I don’t care who you are, that’s impressive no matter what school you go to.
In that time, he has racked up numerous awards including SEC All-Freshman Team, second team All-SEC, and first team All-SEC honors. The awards continue to come in as Pierschbacher is now a 2018 preseason All-SEC center. In such a tough conference like the SEC, that’s no laughing matter.
Although Iowa’s offensive line remains one of the best in the country, Ross would have surely been an integral part of it. At this point, one can only dream of how nice it would be to have Pierschbacher clearing the way for LeShun Daniels or Akrum Wadley the previous two seasons or providing fantastic pass protection for Nate Stanley.
As much he was an Iowa Hawkeye, as a fellow Iowan, I wish him the best of luck in the 2018 season!