The Iowa Hawkeyes‘ emphasis on special teams was reinforced by the latest name to earn a scholarship.
Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz announced on Wednesday that Hawkeye long snapper Luke Elkin has earned a scholarship. The 6-foot-1, 230 pound long snapper from Neenah, Wis., shared Iowa’s special teams Hayden Fry Award with linebacker Jay Higgins last season. Iowa’s Hayden Fry Award is presented to team members who show exemplary leadership and dedication throughout the year.
Now, that leadership has been rewarded in the form of a scholarship.
“He’s been spectacular since he’s got here. Just consistent, dependable, great team guy. And he can cover, too. He’s actually an athlete. I don’t think we’ll put a snap around pass in, but we might throw it to him. You never know. We’ll see. He’s just been super. We’ve been so lucky with deep snappers for 25 years now and just glad he’s on our team,” Ferentz said of Elkin.
Ferentz also revealed that AJ Lawson is no longer on the Hawkeyes’ roster as he has decided to step away from football. The 6-foot, 193 pound product from Decatur, Ill., is vacating the Iowa defensive backfield to shift his focus entirely to the textbooks.
It’s a decision that Iowa and Ferentz obviously support.
“He’s not. He’s a part of our program, and our commitment to him is graduating right now. We had a discussion back in July and he just came in and he just wants to focus on finishing his degree and should be able to do that next July or August, first week of August. So, that’s our target. Great young guy.
“He was trying to balance both. He was having a hard time, and I told him a while back, really the only thing I care about—and it’s true with every one of our guys—is them walking away with a degree. We’re committed to that, he’s committed to that and we’re going to continue to support him,” Ferentz said.
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