By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – One of the coolest things about covering the Iowa football team is getting to know the players on a personal level.

I was reminded of that on Tuesday as some of the seniors on the Iowa football team met with the media for one of the last times.

Every senior class is unique and special in its own way, and that is especially true of Iowa’s 20-player senior class, which will be honored just prior to kickoff of Saturday’s game against Illinois at Kinnick Stadium.

What makes the current senior class unique are the players who represent it, and three in particular: punter Tory Taylor, defensive end Joe Evans and receiver Nico Ragaini.

While some of Iowa’s seniors still have a free Covid year and could return next season, Evans and Ragaini are both rare sixth-year seniors, so their time as a Hawkeye is running out.

Taylor still has his free Covid year, but he’s also 26-years-old and arguably the greatest punter in program history, either him or the legendary Reggie Roby.

The time is right for Taylor to take his immense talent to the next level, but it won’t be easy moving on from a team, from a school, and from a community that has changed his life forever.

“I’ve really just loved my experience here,” Taylor said Tuesday. “To be in the building every day, I really just love being here. And when there’s great people in the building, it’s really made things a lot easier.

“It’s really hard to put into words. I might have to write a book about it some day and get it all out there.”

Taylor stands out just from his age and being from Australia.

He is part of growing trend of Australian punters in college football, and he is also a fan favorite.

Taylor’s power, consistency, versatility, and his uncanny ability to flip field position, has been crucial to Iowa’s success this season, and throughout his career.

With a victory on Saturday, Iowa (8-2, 5-2) would win the Big Ten West Division for the second time in three seasons, or with a win against Nebraska in the regular-season finale.

Taylor isn’t quite sure what to expect on Saturday during the tribute to the seniors.

He will be joined on the field by his father, Stuart Taylor, and by Iowa special teams coordinator LeVar Woods, who traveled to Taylor’s hometown of Melbourne, Australia to recruit Taylor.

“It’ll probably be a little different,” Taylor said. “There’s never been an Australian punter that’s been here for four years. So, I’m really just grateful to be here and grateful for the friendships and the relationships that I’ve built with the players and coaches.

“And I just hope they know that I never wanted to let them down.”

Taylor considers Woods almost like a second father to him.

“I don’t want to sound like cringe or anything like that but he’s kind of been like a dad to me really since I got here,” Taylor said of Woods. “He’s, obviously, my coach and there’s a fine line between friend and coach and dad, I guess.

“But he’s been a strong figure for me since I got here. He’s someone that I can rely on. And not just on the football field, but more so off it. I hope he knows I’ll always have his back because I know he has mind and the same with his family as well.”

Taylor was asked Tuesday what he will remember the most about being a Hawkeye and his answer might surprise you because it didn’t have anything to do with on-the-field accomplishments.

“Just the small little things,” Taylor said. “People are like, are you going to miss playing out on Kinnick, but that’s only seven times a year for three hours. So, there’s really only 21 hours of the year playing football at Kinnick.

“But it will just be the little stuff in the locker room, just like messing around whether it be with players or the coaches. Even in the training room, there’s a lot of banter that goes on in there. I’ve built really strong relationships with the athletic trainers, and I’ll miss them, too, because they’re great people and they’ve helped me a lot.”

Taylor, who is a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award, has punted 63 times this season, which leads the nation. He is averaging 47.6 yards per punt, with 24 of his punts having been downed inside the 20-yard line.

He also has punted a whopping 265 times as Hawkeye for a 45.9 career average.

The fact that Taylor is now being compared to former All-America punter Reggie Roby is perhaps the ultimate compliment.

“I do hear that a bit and that’s really just down to a matter of opinion,” Taylor said.

Taylor came to Iowa in the summer of 2020 and during tge middle of a global pandemic.

He took a leap of faith because he believed in LeVar Woods the person, and the coach.

“I could kind of tell that he was a really strong family man and so am I,” Taylor said of Woods. “And that’s half the reason I came here.”

Taylor has been a force since he first joined the team in 2020.

He didn’t have any specific goals or expectations when he arrived in Iowa City, other than to be a good and reliable teammate.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I first got here,” Taylor said. “I don’t know if I’m that good. It’s a matter of opinion to others. A lot of the times I’m just going out there and doing what I’m good at and not try to be someone that I’m not. Really just trying to make those around me proud and put the team in the best position I can.”

Evans, meanwhile, is the latest in a long and distinguished line of former walk-ons that would go on to accomplish great things under Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz.

A former high school quarterback from Ames, Evans came to Iowa as a linebacker, but then switched to defensive end in the spring of 2019.

He has since gone on to play in 53 games with 23 starts.

Evans is currently a Bulsworth Trophy semifinalist, which goes to the top former walk-on in the country, and a highly respected team leader.

He has shown a knack throughout his career of getting to the quarterback, and he leads the team with nine quarterback hurries this season.

Evans epitomizes Hawkeye football under Kirk Ferentz, in how he plays and conducts himself.

He is also part of a defense that has allowed just one touchdown over the past four games.

“It’s how we practice, it’s how we go about our things and upholding a standard,” Evans said of Iowa’s success on defense. “Every single day we’re going out there and just giving it our all, improving, just like the little details and all that.

“So, I think by doing that every single week, it’s going to stack on.”

Evans has been a joy for the media to interview because he is friendly and outgoing by nature.

Taylor and Ragaini are the same way, although, each goes about it differently.

Ragaini is probably the most sarcastic of the three, and he’s also traveled a more difficult path as a member of the much-maligned Iowa offense.

He was reprimanded by the Big Ten earlier this season after criticizing an official, and it’s been a struggle on offense, especially since the start of last season when the offense began its stunning decline in productivity, which will ultimately cost offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz his job at the end of the season.

But even with all the frustration and turmoil, the 24-year-old Ragaini has stayed the course and he considers himself lucky to be a Hawkeye.

“It’s like a fourth of my life I’ve spent in Iowa,” Ragaini said. “Iowa is just like the coolest place ever.”

Ragaini came to Iowa from his home state of Connecticut in 2018.

And though the offense has struggled during much of his time as a Hawkeye, Ragaini still has carved out an impressive legacy with 144 career receptions for 1,521 yards and four touchdowns.

He also has embraced everything about being an Iowa student-athlete, although, getting used to food has been a struggle because Ragaini considers the food where he grew up, especially the Italian food, superior to all other food.

“Besides the food part, Iowa is a ten out of ten for real,” Ragaini said. “The downtown area is the best. There’s not professional sports here and Iowa football is the biggest thing ever, which is just so cool the way people look up to you, which is awesome. Little kids want to be Iowa football players. The tradition we have here is just crazy, just the brotherhood and loving each other is so harped on here and such a big thing.

“And playing for coach Ferentz who’s been the coach for 25 years, all this tradition is just another thing that’s like crazy. I’m just some kid from Connecticut who somehow ended up in Iowa with one of the best coaches of all time, which is crazy. I don’t know how it happened. But I’m definitely lucky for that.”

Ragaini was asked Tuesday if he ever thinks about where he would be right now if he wasn’t a Hawkeye.

“I don’t know where I’d be,” he said. “I really don’t know. So, I’m really grateful that I’m here.”