By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The spring and summer of 2014 was an important time for A.J. Epenesa because that’s when he started to realize that football was more than just a fun game to play.

That’s when he started to realize that he had chance to be something special in football because of his rare talent.

And that has since come true with Epenesa now entering his junior season with the Iowa football team as an All-Big Ten defensive end, a feared pass rusher and as a top prospect for the NFL.

Two things happened in 2014 to make Epenesa believe that football could be his path to success.

The Edwardsville, Ill., native received his very first recruiting letter from Florida State late in his freshman year of high school, and it came as a huge surprise because Epenesa had suffered a broken leg as a freshman and only played in five games.

And it wasn’t just his first recruiting letter, it was a letter from Florida State of all places, one of college football’s premier programs.

“I was wondering, what in the world is this?” Epenesa said Tuesday. “I had only played in five games. I had never been to a camp or anything. And I was just kind of interested. I was like, what is this?

“I always wanted to play college football, and I always to play in the NFL. Every kid that plays football does want that. But I never really put much thought into it until that first letter.”

So with his curiosity piqued, Epenesa decided to see where he stood as a prospect.

He attended the Nike Regional Camp in Chicago in the summer of 2014 between his freshman and sophomore year of high school and that’s when he truly arrived on the recruiting scene.

But success didn’t happen right away at the camp. 

“I remember there were some guys there bragging about being a five star or this and that,” Epenesa said. “And I was just a nobody, a freshman, a 15-year old kid from Edwardsville, who drove up to Chicago to do a camp. I got cut in all the drills and they were cutting in line, they were doing this and that, and I was like my first camp, really.”

Epenesa’s chance to shine finally came when they did a drill in which he was matched against an individual blocker.

He stood 6-foot-5 and weighed about 230 pounds at the time.

“So I was lighter, but I was still big and I could run,” Epenesa said.  “When I was 230, I could move pretty well and I just ran around guys and got put into the final five or whatever it’s called. And I just ran around those guys there, too, and I ended up getting the d-line MVP.

“And then that’s when my recruiting just kind of exploded. That’s when all that stuff started happening. That’s when the offers started coming.”

Born to be a Hawkeye

The recruiting process would ultimately lead Epenesa to the University of Iowa, if ever there was any doubt.

Epenesa is about as close as it gets to being born and raised a Hawkeye.

He is the son of former Iowa defensive lineman Eppy Epenesa and his Godfather is former Iowa defensive lineman Jared DeVries.

The J in A.J actually stands for Jared. They’re that close.

A.J. Epenesa had scholarship offers from just about every blue blood program in the country. He was the kind of five-star recruit that rarely even considers Iowa.

But he was also different because of his Hawkeye roots, and because his humility and team-first mentality.

Unlike some five-star recruits, A.J. Epenesa had no sense of entitlement when he was being recruited or when he came to Iowa.

“The only school I was aiming for when I was young is Iowa,” Epenesa said. “In the beginning, that’s all I ever wanted because that was my dream school.

“And then other schools came in and that just made me think more about other places. But at the end, I came where I wanted.”

Epenesa’s love for Iowa goes far beyond being a legacy. It almost seems with his personality that Epenesa was made to play for Kirk Ferentz and made to train under strength coach Chris Doyle.

“I really thought that with the experience and the knowledge that these coaches have, I thought that I would reach my potential coming here,” Epenesa said. “I figured if anybody can make me become the best I can be, it’s going to be these guys who have done it to countless people before me.”

A late bloomer

Compared to his friends growing up, A.J. Epenesa was a late bloomer in football.

It wasn’t that he lacked the size or the skills to dominate at a young age.

In fact, it was just the opposite because A.J. was large for his size as a kid and was blessed with immense physical talent.

But his father still didn’t let A.J. start playing football until the fourth grade, even though most of A.J.’s friends had started playing as early as five years old.

When his father finally gave A.J. permission to play football, it was love at first sight, or first hit probably would be more appropriate.

“I begged him to let me play, and he was like, `not yet, not yet,” A.J. said of his father. “Finally, he let me play and I remember my first practice. We were doing this hitting drill and I was like whoa, whoa, whoa; I just went into it with full speed and hit one of the guys and it was just love from that point on.”

Epenesa's combination of size and speed combined with what he learned about technique from his father made him a nightmare for his opponents in youth football.

“I had an advantage when I was younger," Epenesa said. "I was a lot bigger and faster and more athletic than everybody, but I also knew the moves just because of my dad. I was swim moving, spinning; I was dipping and ripping and clubbing, I was doing all of that in my first year of football.

"So I mean it was unfair just because these kids were a lot smaller than me and a lot lighter. So I basically could just physically move them, but when I added some of those moves to it, it was just not fair, pee wee football wise.”

Epenesa would go on to dominate in high school and is now showing signs of dominance in college.

He led the Big Ten last season with 10.5 sacks despite not being a starter. He also had 16.5 tackles for loss and was second in the conference with four forced fumbles.

Epenesa’s situation is unusual in that he hasn’t started a game yet in college, but he has already made first-team all-Big Ten and is considered a lock to be a top-10 pick if he declares for the 2020 NFL Draft as a junior.

Epenesa downplayed the NFL talk with the media on Tuesday and focused more on the importance of living in the moment. He talked about how much he loves being in college and being a Hawkeye and being part of a football program that has meant so much to him and to his family.

He talked about assuming more of a leadership role this season now that former defensive linemen Parker Hesse, Anthony Nelson and Matt Nelson have moved on.

And he talked about his never-ending quest to get better.

Epenesa is known mostly for his ability to sack and pressure the quarterback, but he is always working to expand his game, especially in the spring.

“I want to be better at every aspect of the game, pass rush, run stopping, special teams,” Epenesa said. “Anything you need, I just want to be better at that.

“I think everybody knows I enjoy pass rusher, but I’m working on my run stopping.”

Epenesa has the luxury in practice of working on his run stopping against two of the Big Ten’s top offensive tackles in Iowa juniors Alaric Jackson and Tristan Wirfs.

“And obviously, going against Tristan and A.J. every day, that’s a lot of man coming at you," Epenesa said. "So I’ve been able to hold my own against those guys. So I’m confident I can play with anybody on the run as well.”

Epenesa won't have the luxury of playing under Reese Morgan anymore, though. Morgan recently retired as the Iowa defensive coach and was replaced by Kelvin Bell.

Epenesa said Tuesday that the only difference between Bell and Morgan is their physical appearance. That was Epenesa's way of praising Bell for also being a gifted coach.

Bell then returned the praise when explaining why Epenesa is unique and a perfect fit for the culture at Iowa.

"If you're anything but about the team, it'll push you out,' Bell said of the culture at Iowa. "It'll make you really uncomfortable and it'll push you out. And I think that is just a testament to the kid. You don't get that skill set often, but more rarely is to find that skill set with that type of temperament. It just makes it a pleasure to coach.

"And I can get on him. I can be really hard with him and he understands that there's an expectation around here because his dad played here, his Godfather is Jared DeVries. He understands there's a standard here and he doesn't want to let anyone down."