New wide receiver Kaleb Brown acclimates to Iowa football with opportunity to help revitalize offense

IOWA CITY — It did not take long for Ohio State transfer wide receiver Kaleb Brown to realize Iowa was going to be his new home.

He “probably” knew by the middle of the day during his May visit.

“I wasn’t too sure about it, but I slept on it,” Brown said.

When he woke up, he realized, “I really don’t see myself anywhere else. I don’t see anything better than this.”

Now at “a place where I feel home,” Brown is acclimating to a team where he could immediately be one of Iowa’s top wide receivers, if not the No. 1 wide receiver.

“He looks dang good,” quarterback Cade McNamara said earlier in the summer.

Most of Brown’s snaps at Ohio State were in the slot, but the 5-foot-10 receiver sees himself as more than just a slot receiver.

“I don’t have any limits,” Brown said Tuesday. “I really could do whatever I’m put at pretty much, so I can go outside, inside, coming out of the backfield — wherever I’m needed.”

Brown is joining a wide receiver corps that experienced significant attrition after a subpar 2022 season. Nico Ragaini is the only returning wide receiver who found the end zone last year. Ragaini also was the only wide receiver to have 20-plus receptions last season.

“None of us really had the years we wanted to have last year, so we all have that chip on our shoulder,” Ragaini said Tuesday. “I definitely remember the feeling of last year, and I don't want to feel that way again.”

Iowa’s offense might not be feeling that way again in 2023 if Brown lives up to the hype he had as a recruit in Ohio State’s 2022 class.

The Chicago native was the 13th-best wide receiver in 247Sports’ 2022 recruiting rankings. He chose the Buckeyes out of high school over Alabama, Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame and several other schools.

His Iowa teammates have quickly seen why he had such high acclaim as a recruit.

“He’s an athlete,” Ragaini said. “When he gets the ball in his hands, he could do something with it.”

Iowa was among the schools to offer the receiver out of high school. But after he passed up on the Hawkeyes the first time, they “really grabbed my attention” while he was in the portal.

As for leaving Ohio State — a perennial national title contender with a reputation for developing wide receivers — it was “absolutely” a difficult decision.

“It was hard to just kind of up and leave my team,” Brown said. “I definitely felt like I could have stayed and made an impact, but I would say there’s only so much time you got.”

Brown appeared in five games as a true freshman, taking 24 offensive snaps and catching one pass for a five-yard gain.

Now in Iowa City, Brown has been impressed with the Hawkeyes’ off-the-field cohesiveness.

“That’s not really something a lot of schools have honestly,” Brown said. “The way we come together and the way we bond off the field is something that I feel like will win us championships at the end of the day.”

His May 4 commitment to Iowa was in time to join his new quarterback (McNamara) and several fellow receivers in California later in the month.

The trip was “definitely helpful to get to know some of the guys before getting on campus,” Brown said.

“It was important to the chemistry-building,” Brown said.

McNamara was “definitely impressed” with Brown during the week in the California sunshine.

“He earned a lot of respect over the course of the week as a new guy,” McNamara said. “He went about it the right way.”

The learning process is continuing in Iowa City as Brown has another six-plus weeks before the season begins.

“I’m actually going to meet with Cade in a few,” Brown said in the atrium of Iowa’s football facility Tuesday. “I’m not letting up.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com