Hawkeye Nation: Hawkeyes Targeting Tim Tebow

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1/15/2005 by Jon Miller of Hawkeye Nation

Want to read some jaw dropping statistics?

Tim Tebow (6-3, 220, 4.61) of St. Augstine (Fla.) threw for state-record 4,304 yards and 46 touchdowns and rushed for 1,272 yards and 24 touchdowns as a junior in 2004. His team finished 11-2, losing in the third round of the state playoffs.

That is more than 5,000 yards of total offense and 70 touchdowns responsible for, both totals being state records.

Tebow was featured in a recent edition of Sports Illustrated in the “Faces in the Crowd” column. He was also third in balloting for Florida’s Mr. Football award behind Pahokee running back Antone Smith and Lakeland Lake Gibson quarterback Matt Grothe.

Tebow and his family made visits to Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Michigan and Notre Dame during the past year.

The Iowa Hawkeyes tried to get the Tebow’s up for a visit, as well.

”They invited us to come out for unofficial visits this year, to games, but we were not able to work that out. But they have written us a lot,” said Bob Tebow, Tim’s father. “They have been writing us letters since September 1st.”

Father and son were hoping to make it to one of Iowa’s Capital One Bowl practices, but things did not come together there, either. But that has not stopped the family from taking notice of the Hawks.

”It’s not like Tim grew up an Iowa fan, but they have a great program, a great school and I would like to hear what Coach Ferentz has to say. If you look at what they have done the last few years, it has been pretty impressive. I look forward to hearing what they have to say when the time is right.” Bob Teabow said.

”All we know about them is what we have been able to see, that over the last several years they have won a lot of football games. It’s pretty impressive. I am impressed with what they have done.”

With such a resume, it wouldn’t have been surprising to hear a player talk about his accomplishments at great length. But when we spoke to Tim Tebow, we got quite the opposite.

”Our team had a great season. It was the best season that our high school has ever had. We went to the third round of the playoffs. Our coach put in a very good offense two years ago, and it has been very successful. It’s a spread offense, and in that type of offense, we have been able to put up some good numbers and that is because we have a lot of great players on the team.” Tim Tebow said.

There is one word that you should notice that is missing from the recent paragraph: “I”.

Tebow doesn’t need to talk about himself, because his performance has done all of the talking he has needed to see recruiting interest level in him shoot through the roof.

”Yes sir, it has picked up quite a bit. But I am still trying to worry about high school and not get too focused into college yet.”

Tebow has been home schooled and his father is a Baptist missionary. His home school background has not created any barriers for him whatsoever.

”My teammates have been good about it. It has not been too awkward, because both of my brothers were home schooled. I still know everyone at school and they treat me as if I go there.” Tim said.

While in San Antonio, I spoke with Class of 2006 Iowa commit Munir Prince and his father. Munir told me about some record setting quarterback from Florida that he had met and spoken with, saying that Tebow was asking about Iowa and had said that he was interested in learning more about the Hawkeyes.

”You have to be interested in a school like Iowa, coming off of their big bowl win and all of the talent that they have this year in their recruiting class.” Tim Teabow said. “I became friends with Munir at the All American camp, and he seems like a really good guy and of course he has already committed to Iowa.”

”Coach (Kirk) Ferentz has done a great job there and they have really been successful the last three years, so you can’t not be interested in a school like Iowa.”

After Tebow brought up Iowa’s Capital One Bowl win and he didn’t just see the highlights on ESPN; he watched the game.

”Yes, I did watch that game. That was a great college football game. I was very impressed with Drew Tate; I think he is a very good quarterback. He is not like a lot of quarterbacks you see that don’t like to run and take a hit. I really like him because he doesn’t play just like a quarterback; he plays like an athlete. It was a fun game to watch, and I really think that Iowa is going to have great teams in the future,” said Tebow, who threw for more than 300 yards in a game as a sophomore when he had suffered a broken leg early on in the contest.

Tebow also brought up the fact that he was impressed with what Iowa accomplished this season, especially in the passing game, with a rushing offense that ranked second to last in the country due to a rash of injuries.

”You have to be impressed. What they were able to accomplish without a running game, you know they are going to throw the ball. To be able to do that, you have to have a good offense in place and have a good coaching staff, and they seem to have that.” Tebow said.

As for the recruiting process, the Tebow’s are in no hurry to make a decision, and considering that Tim cannot sign a letter of intent for another full year, that’s a good thing.

”We are going to hear what everyone has to say. We don’t want to have a narrow focus right now, because you just don’t know. We are not going to lead people on, either. We will listen to what schools have to say, tell them how we feel and then narrow things down by football season.”

Hawkeye Nation was founded by Jon Miller, and later acquired by Rivals and Sports Illustrated. You can visit them at HawkeyeNation.com

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