Matt Spaulding enters his first year as director of recruiting after spending the previous three years as a recruiting specialist for the University of Iowa football program. Spaulding served as a recruiting analyst for the Hawkeye football program the previous two years after joining the program as an undergraduate assistant in 2017.
In 2023, the Hawkeyes won 10 games, including their final four, to capture the Big Ten West Division for the second time in three years. Iowa advanced to another January bowl game (Citrus Bowl) and finished the season ranked No. 24. The Hawkeyes have been ranked in the final AP Top 25 five of the last six seasons.
Iowa’s streak of 11 straight bowl invitations is the longest in school history and its streak of 11 straight winning seasons ranks seventh best among power conferences. The Hawkeyes have earned 25 conference victories between 2020-23, matching its highest four-year conference win total in program history (1982-85 and 2002-05).
Iowa won eight contests in 2022, concluding the season with a 21-0 win over Kentucky in the Music City Bowl and wins in five of its final six games. Iowa’s streak of 11 straight winning seasons ranks seventh best among power conferences.
The Hawkeyes won 10 games in 2021, winning the Big Ten West Division title and advancing to the conference championship game. Iowa concluded the season with an appearance in the Citrus Bowl and was ranked 23rd in the final national rankings.
Following back-to-back narrow losses to open the 2020 season, Iowa won its final six games, all in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes were ranked 15th in the final CFP rankings and Coaches Poll and 16th by the AP. The Hawkeyes were selected to compete in the 2020 Music City Bowl, but the event was canceled.
The Hawkeyes concluded the 2019 campaign with a 10-3 record following a 49-24 win over No. 22 USC in the Holiday Bowl. The three losses were all to ranked opponents by a combined 14 points. The Hawkeyes were 4-1 in trophy games for the third straight season.
Iowa won 47 games from 2015-19, the highest total in school history over any five-year period, and a total that ranked ninth nationally. Iowa won its final four games in 2019 and ranked 15th in the final AP and Coaches polls.
Iowa completed 2018 with nine wins and a final AP ranking of No. 25. The Hawkeyes earned a 27-22 Outback Bowl win over No. 18 Mississippi State to close the season with three straight wins. The four losses came by a total of 23 points and all were decided in the final minutes of play. Iowa tied for second in the Big Ten West Division.
Iowa won eight games in 2017, including a Pinstripe Bowl victory to conclude the 2017 campaign.
As part of the recruiting staff at Iowa, Spaulding assists with the coordination and logistics of all on-campus recruiting activities such as facility tours, game day visits, prospect camps and official and unofficial visits. He also serves as a liaison and host for potential prospects and their families during campus visits.
Spaulding assists coaching and recruiting staff with prospect identification and evaluation and communicates closely with both offensive and defensive coaches on preferred qualities in prospect identification, evaluation and scheme fit.
Spaulding earned his bachelor’s degree in sport and recreation management from the University of Iowa in 2019. He is a native of Sterling, Illinois, where he competed in football, baseball and track at Sterling High School.
Spaulding was born Aug. 24, 1996.