By Tyler Devine

IOWA CITY, Iowa – As a four-star prospect with multiple Power 5 scholarship offers, Max Duggan is already arguably the most heavily recruited high school quarterback to come from Iowa and he’s only halfway through his junior year.

Further proof of that came this past week when Ohio State extended a scholarship offer to the Council Bluffs native.

In what can be a grueling process, Duggan is trying to drink in this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“The process has been unbelievable,” Duggan said Wednesday. “It’s a huge honor to be in this spot and there are a lot of good people around me that have helped me through it. 

“I try to just take it all in because a lot of these things are only going to happen once in my life and a lot of people don’t get to be in the position I’m in right now. It’s a huge honor and a blessing to be where I am now.”

Iowa was the first school to take an interest in Duggan and the first to offer him a scholarship during his sophomore year at Council Bluffs Lewis Central High School. The Hawkeyes have not relented in trying to sway the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Duggan towards Iowa City.

Being the first to offer Duggan a scholarship could help Iowa as it now recruits against the likes of Ohio State, Penn State and Georgia. Duggan already has started to build relationships with Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, quarterback coach Ken O'Keefe and defensive line coach Reese Morgan, who recruits in the state of Iowa.

“They showed an interest in me first,” Duggan said. “I’m really liking Iowa. My relationship grows with them every time I talk to them. I’ve had coach Morgan come talk to me a couple times and coach O’Keefe and coach Kirk Ferentz came and visited me. 

“My relationship with them has been awesome, and hopefully, I’ll get up for a visit soon. They’re still high on my list and I really enjoy talking to them and getting to know them and visiting up in Iowa City.

“I’m just really thankful for Iowa being the first ones to offer. They believed in me so I’m really thankful for that coaching staff for believing in me as a person and player to go into their program.”

And though Iowa is high on Duggan's list, he is in no hurry to make a decision about college.

“I’m wide open right now recruiting wise,” Duggan said. “I’m going to take visits this spring or maybe even this winter when I get off crutches. Honestly, I’ll probably take visits with the schools and coaches that are the most involved with me and that talk to me a lot and I feel more comfortable at.”

Duggan is the highest-rated quarterback from Iowa since former Southeast Polk standout Kyle Orton in the early 2000s.

Rivals ranks Duggan seventh nationally among pro-style quarterbacks in the 2019 class. Orton, who played for Purdue, also was ranked seventh in his class

However, Orton didn’t have a scholarship offer from Ohio State or from teams in four of the Power 5 conferences.

Duggan thinks players from Iowa often get overlooked due to being tucked in the Midwest.

Former Northern Iowa quarterback and Cedar Rapids native Kurt Warner is a prime example.

Warner went from being lightly recruited out of high school to undrafted out of college and stocking shelves at Hy-Vee to a Super Bowl champion and a Hall of Fame quarterback.

“It’s crazy,” Duggan said. “There are a bunch of great athletes from Iowa. There are a lot of great football players and just athletes in general from Iowa that probably get overlooked from being in the state. Tremendous athletes and football players come out of this state each and every year. And there has been plenty that have gone on and done great things in the NFL just like Kurt Warner.”

Warner and Orton both were considered pro-style quarterbacks who preferred to throw from the pocket, whereas Duggan is also a threat to run.

Duggan rushed for 551 yards and scored nine touchdowns on 96 attempts, to go along with passing for 758 yards and eight touchdowns in slightly more than six games this season.

Duggan missed time early in the season after suffering a broken thumb and was knocked out of his team’s state quarterfinal game with a broken fibula.

Duggan expects to be off crutches in less than a week and to make a full recovery.

Duggan’s current scholarship offer list: Central Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, Marshall, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, South Dakota State, Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech.