An up-close look at the people behind Iowa football recruiting
IOWA CITY, Iowa – When seated next to each other at a table, it’s easy to tell who between Kelvin Bell, Tyler Barnes and Scott Southmayd played defensive tackle at Iowa.
Bell has that distinction after having joined the Iowa football program as a defensive lineman on scholarship in 2000. His college career was derailed by injuries, but his quest to make something out of his life has stayed on course.
Bell could’ve bolted from Iowa when it became apparent that his football career was over. Because unlike Barnes, who is from Decatur, Ill., and Southmayd, who is from Readlyn, Iowa, Bell grew up in Olive Branch, Miss., so he didn’t have any connections or family in the area.
But Bell came to the University of Iowa to get an education and to play football, in that order. Because if it were the other way around, Bell might not have been seated between his two co-workers on Friday.
But there he was, squeezed between Barnes and Southmayd as all three answered questions about their roles with the Iowa football program, and more specifically about recruiting.
Bell’s journey as a Hawkeye has taken him almost full circle, from player to graduate assistant to on-campus recruiting coordinator to his current job as recruiting coordinator. He also spent seven years from 2004 to 2011 climbing the coaching ladder, beginning with a three-year stint at Iowa City Regina.
Bell came to college when Iowa still had the practice bubble, but he now works in a multi-million dollar facility that helps immensely with recruiting.
Bell acknowledged on Friday that facilities make a difference, but he thinks only to a point because material things shouldn’t be the top priority.
“It’s nice when we have a recruit and their parents show up here to have something nice to show off,” Bell said. “But I tell kids all the time when they walk through the doors and they see the wow factor in the atrium and I say, `if you’re going to play football at the FCS level in a power five conference, every building you’re going to walk into is going to look like this, and if doesn’t, they probably have a picture of some rendering that they’re going to build in the next three or four years.
“So don’t get wowed by, it’s a great place. It’s an unbelievable facility to spend the next four or five years here playing college football. But it’s more about the people in the building than it is the actual building. If a kid comes here and he just falls in love with this building and this is the reason why he is going to come here. He’s probably in for a rude awakening because he’s not going to spend every waking in this building.”
Bell, Barnes and Southmayd form what is sort of Iowa’s first line of offense in recruiting. They’re information gatherers, gate-keepers and the eyes and ears of the program all rolled into one.
Barnes was named Director of Recruiting in April, returning to his alma mater to fill a new position after working for three years at Vanderbilt University. He also worked as a student-assistant and as a graduate assistant with the Iowa football program while in college.
Barnes is married to Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz’s daughter, Joanne, which means Barnes reports not to Ferentz, but to Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta under the school’s nepotism policy.
There were concerns about nepotism when Barnes previously worked under Ferentz at Iowa.
However, Barnes said Friday that he left Iowa for Vanderbilt for different reasons.
“I wanted to see something different,” Barnes said. “That’s why I went to a completely different region of the United States. I wanted to see what else is out there in terms of recruiting. And I felt like that was a great opportunity at the time.”
As for Southmayd, he is entering his 15th season with the Iowa football program, including his third year as Director of Player Personnel. His main responsibilities include prospect identification, roster management and on-campus recruiting, much like Barnes.
Bell is the only one among the three who can leave campus to recruit under NCAA rules. But each plays an integral role in the recruiting process.
All three came to college under different circumstances, from different backgrounds and with different goals and aspirations. But they now share the same goal, which is to find the best fits for the Iowa football program.
Recruiting is a tough business just from the never-ending grind. But factor in all the losing that occurs with recruiting and it can wear on a person.
“I give myself a 24-hour rule to pout and to kind of cry about it, and then the next day you’ve got to move on,” Barnes said. “It’s on to the guys who still want to be Hawkeyes and want to be around here.
“I don’t think you can get too high or too low. You’ve got to focus on, especially here, you’ve got to focus on what’s here in the building and the guys who are going to be in the building, and not the guys who have decided to go elsewhere. It doesn’t do you any good.”
Bell doesn’t appear to have a rule. But if he did, it probably wouldn’t last 24 hours.
“You can’t worry about the ones you miss, especially if you put your best foot forward, if you told the kid the truth and the kid visited here and decided that it wasn’t the place for him,” Bell said. “Whether he comes or he doesn’t come, he’s probably right. You can’t worry about the guys you miss. You have to make sure that the ones that are here are the right ones for the program.”
One of the most interesting things to come from Friday’s press conference was Bell saying that he has permission from Ferentz to extend scholarships offers. It doesn’t seem like it happens very often, though.
“You just better make sure it’s the right fit,” Bell said.
The recruiting process has changed considerably over the years, caused largely by the rise of social media.
Bell and Barnes are both active on Twitter, partly out of necessity because all the other schools are reaching out to recruits via social media.
The recruiting process now operates at an accelerated pace with more players committing at an earlier age and with scholarship offers coming much sooner.
"The process has sped up, but by no means do we want that to speed up our process," Bell said. "We still want and need to do our homework because it’s about finding the right kid, not the right kid before he goes somewhere else. You need to find the right kids. And sometimes if you wait a little bit and your patient and do your homework, the right kid will surface.”
NCAA rules prohibit college coaches from talking about a specific recruit before the recruit has signed a national letter of intent.
That meant reporters couldn’t ask any of the three on Friday to comment on Iowa’s 2017 recruiting class, which currently has 16 players, including five from Texas.
But it’s clear that social media has played a role in building the class thanks largely to the efforts of running back recruit Eno Benjamin. The Wylie, Texas native has been actively recruiting for Iowa on Twitter and it is paying dividends.
One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the importance of building relationships. Bell emphasized that throughout Friday’s press conference.
People make the biggest impression, people like Iowa assistant coach Reese Morgan, who handles most of Iowa’s in-state recruiting. Morgan has a knack for finding hidden gems like Decorah native Josey Jewell, who now starts at middle linebackers for the Hawkeyes.
“We’re always following, we’re always researching and we’re always just watching how kids are doing and coach Morgan has a great feel for what it takes to succeed here,” Southmayd said. “It’s an ongoing process, but he kind of has a great knack for what it takes here. And he’s been right a lot.”