Sep 6, 2013
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — If Scott Pospisil listened to critics, he might not have lasted as a college football player.
Pospisil was a senior in 1999, the first season for Kirk Ferentz as head coach of the Hawkeyes. While outsiders saw an undersized and less-than-durable defensive lineman, Ferentz saw an extra heartbeat.
Pospisil is honorary captain for Iowa’s game against Missouri State on Sept. 7 inside Kinnick Stadium. Kickoff is set for 11:01 a.m. (CT).
“I planned for what I needed to do and everything started to fall in place that way,” Pospisil said Friday after Iowa’s walk-through in the indoor practice facility. “It got engrained in me that you had to make a plan to be successful. If I used my hands and feet, I would do alright. I needed to be good at my technique and not worry about what people were saying when I found success.”
Pospisil led Mount Vernon (Iowa) High School to back-to-back Class 2A state football championships in 1993 and 1994. As a wrestler, he placed third at 189 pounds in 1995.
After attending Nebraska for one year, Pospisil joined the Hawkeyes as a walk-on during spring practice in 1996. He saw limited action in 1997 and 1998. In 1999, Pospisil played all 11 games with six starts, making 70 tackles, nine for a loss (six sacks).
“Who you were and where you came from wasn’t important. It’s how you play during the time you have,” Pospisil said.
The Hawkeyes were 1-10 in 1999, but because of improvement — and play from student-athletes like Pospisil — it would have been interesting to see what would have happened during an extended season. That year, Iowa lost to Iowa State (17-10), Northwestern (23-21), Indiana (38-31), and Minnesota (25-21).
“We made good strides,” Pospisil said. “We did well and played some good teams and the (final result) didn’t work out.”
Following college, Pospisil served on Iowa’s strength and conditioning staff for one year under Chris Doyle. He then began his professional football career, playing three years in NFL Europe: one season with Berlin and two with Amsterdam. Pospisil later spent time in the NFL with New England, Denver and San Diego. He completed his playing career with two seasons in the Arena Football League, spending one year with Chicago and one with Utah.
A veteran of several Strong Man competitions, Pospisil remains active and competitive the past five years with Jiu-Jitsu.
He is a frequent visitor to the Hayden Fry Football Complex and he sees great things for Iowa football in the near future.
“They can be a great team, it’s going to be up to them concentrating and not worrying about what’s going on outside,” Pospisil said. “There are so many more avenues for distraction for teams these days. If they can keep that under control and work on getting this team better, they can be successful.”