Iowa gains from Nebraska skipping over Prater
For any Nebraska fan that holds it against Omaha native Shaun Prater for playing football at the University of Iowa, he had good reason for siding with an enemy.
Former Nebraska coach Bill Callahan didn’t want Prater, but Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz did.
Now knowing what we know about Prater, that might explain why Ferentz is one of the highest paid and longest tenured coaches in Division I football while Callahan is to Nebraska football what Todd Lickliter is to Iowa men’s basketball.
“He never came to my school,” Prater said of Callahan, who compiled a ho-hum 27-22 record in four seasons as the Nebraska head coach from 2004-07. “He never even tried to offer me a scholarship.
“So that whole time Bill wasn’t there, coach Ferentz was talking to me just about every single day and coming to my school.”
Ferentz looks like a genius with Prater now entering his senior season ranked among the top cornerbacks in the country.
Ferentz saw something in Prater that Callahan apparently didn’t, and Iowa has been reaping the benefits ever since.
Iowa loses a wealth of talent on defense from last season, including three starters up front. But it has to be reassuring to know that an all-Big Ten cornerback is patrolling one side of the field.
Prater isn’t an elite lock-down corner, you know, somebody who eliminates half of the field just with his presence. But he’s pretty darn close.
So whoever ends up starting for Iowa at the other cornerback position should plan on being tested over and over this fall.
Prater is tested every time he returns home to Omaha because it’s bad enough that he plays for a different school, but when the school is a border rival and now a member of the same conference and division, the animosity intensifies.
“I just try to avoid Husker fans,” Prater said. “My brother got married just this past weekend and there were a bunch of Husker fans in there just hassling me about stuff and arguing.
“So I just try to stay calm and say, ‘Hey, hey, whoever plays the best is going to win the game.’”
The game to which Prater referred is the Nov. 25 showdown between Iowa and Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb., to close the 2011 regular season.
It’ll be their inaugural game as Big Ten opponents and Prater’s only chance to make the Cornhuskers pay for not offering him a scholarship.
Actually, he makes them pay with each stellar performance because it’s another reminder of somebody from close to home that got away from Nebraska.
We’ll never know what Prater would’ve done if Callahan had offered him a scholarship, but at this stage, who cares?
Ferentz took a chance on Prater and it paid off.
Prater was not only talented enough to exceed at this level, but he figured out early in college what it took to maximize his talent.
Of course, it helps that Prater has gained 25 pounds since entering college, but he’s strengthened his football mind as much as his body.
“I never watched film as a freshman,” Prater said. “I just showed up, listened to the game plan and then I left.
“So now every single day, I spend at least two hours studying film. As a growing process, you’ve got to watch the film.”
Prater and his twin brother, Shane, were sort of a package deal when they came to Iowa in 2008. But Shane, a receiver, has since left the program.
Shaun Prater thought about leaving Iowa a year early to enter the NFL draft, but he chose to stay in college after not being satisfied with his draft prospects.
Prater now gets another year to work toward his degree and a chance to face Nebraska in what he hopes will be a divisional title game.
“It is going to be a great atmosphere, and I’m looking forward to that game,” Prater said. “So I’m just trying to stay as calm as I possibly can to get ready for that game.”
In other words, he’s trying to avoid Nebraska fans.
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes Football
We will beat the CornholerZ like the step children they are!!!
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