Iowa football: Three things we learned from yesterday’s early signing period

Honesty goes along ways in the Iowa football program

Four-star linebacker Jestin Jacobs stayed strong to his commitment to the Iowa football team despite living in Buckeye country and being heavily coveted by the Buckeyes late in the recruiting process. That sparked an interesting question that has, in the past, caused controversy when commits decide to explore other options, but Kirk cleared it up pretty quickly. It’s all about integrity and being honest throughout the process, which is something he really respected from Jacobs.

Kirk had this to say about Jacobs’ mild flirtation with other schools and why he respected the young man’s wishes to look around.

"We ask every recruit to be honest with us, and then obviously we tell them they can expect that from us. Just like when they come here, we ask them to work hard, but they can expect the same thing from us as a staff. We’re here to work for them, as well, so it’s got to be a two-way street all the time, and to me that’s the best way to have any kind of relationship that’s meaningful."

He also this specifically about Jacobs as a player and person.

"First of all, we’re really excited about him, and I think more excited now that they made a run at him, another school made a run at him, and I think there were some people in the community obviously that would have hoped he would have gone there, but he stood his ground. He was firmly committed to us, and that certainly makes us feel good, and that’s not easy when you’re 17, 18 years old to make a firm commitment and then stick with it when there’s maybe some outside pressure to do something differently."

What’s great about Kirk and the Hawkeyes is that they believe honesty is a the two-way street he referenced above, and it’s important for not just the commitment to be up front but for the Hawkeyes to be up front as well, especially in an era where colleges offer hundreds of kids at free will.

In typical Kirk fashion, he had this to say:

"I guess maybe we’re outdated, too, but to us, to make an offer, and I read an article this morning that referenced non-committable offers. I don’t get that, but I guess that’s a common term now. If we offer somebody then we’re serious about it, and obviously things can change. If you offer these guys at one position and one guy commits, that may be it, but we typically try to give guys that heads up that it’s one offer, we’re offered a couple guys."

Personally, I love how the Iowa football team handles their business because when they win, they won by doing things the right way.