Iowa 2-sport athlete Brody Brecht juggles throwing 100-mph fastballs, developing as wide receiver

IOWA CITY — Sunday was a rather late night for Brody Brecht.

The freshman pitcher and the Iowa baseball team had a game in Ann Arbor, Mich., that wrapped up at about 4:20 p.m. local time.

Then he had a 453-mile bus ride back to Iowa City that night.

Even with the hour gained from the time zone change, that didn’t leave much time before his other major commitment on campus — playing wide receiver on the football team, which has early-morning team meetings in the spring.

“I got a quick nap in before football,” Brecht said.

That itinerary has been routine for Brecht as he juggles competing as a hard-throwing freshman and training for football at a competitive wide receiver position.

“When I first started, it was really tough, but I’ve kind of gotten the hang of it now,” Brecht said. “It’s gotten a lot better, but it’s tough.”

On a typical Tuesday, he starts the day at the football facility. Then he has class. Then he has time for a “quick” lunch before heading to Duane Banks Field for his primary sport in the spring.

“We're trying to give him as much slack as we can so that he can be there and be able to compete as best he can and still not take away from baseball,” Iowa baseball coach Rick Heller said.

If baseball has a game that day, he won’t practice for football, but will still be at the facility.

Brecht has appeared in seven games as a relief pitcher, posting a 4.22 ERA. He has 19 strikeouts and 12 walks in 10 2/3 innings.

The most impressive part of his baseball season might be his velocity. His first three pitches at Duane Banks Field were at 100-plus mph.

Brecht’s fastest pitch? Between 101 and 102 mph, Heller said.

The key for Brecht, Heller said, is locating that fastball.

“Guys are coming into every at-bat with Brody saying, ‘All right, we’re going to take until we get a strike. We’re going to make him throw strikes,’” Heller said. “He knows that, and he’s doing a much better job.”

When Brecht falls behind in the count and has to turn to his fastball, hitters are a bit more prepared than at the high school level.

“When they know the fastball is coming, even though it’s 100, he’s given up hits here,” Heller said. “I don’t think that’s happened to him much in the past.”

On the football side, the Ankeny native redshirted in 2021 and did not see any playing time, but he could have a larger role in 2022.

Wide receivers coach Kelton Copeland said he expects Brecht to have the opportunity to “at least earn the opportunity to compete for that job” as the team’s X receiver in 2022.

Brecht credited the support from the baseball and football staffs for making his two-sport pursuit possible.

“When you’ve got two great coaches and staffs that have been working together to try to make things run smoothly, it’s going pretty good,” Brecht said.

Copeland has tried to follow Brecht’s baseball pursuits, but there’s a reason he coaches wide receivers and not pitchers.

“I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to baseball,” Copeland said. “Half the stuff about baseball — you might as well be talking French to me. But selfishly, I have an investment in Brody, so I try to pay attention that way and support the Iowa baseball program.”

Copeland said Brecht has been “tremendous” at communicating with the football staff about his various baseball commitments.

“He's going beyond measure to make sure that he's been accountable to football and to his other sport, baseball,” Copeland said.

Heller has a similar observation from the baseball side.

“He handles his business off the field extremely well,” Heller said.

Copeland has taken notice of the times when Brecht has only had enough time for a “quick nap” between evening baseball commitments and morning football commitments.

“It’d be easy for him to be like, ‘Coach, I can’t make it this morning. We had a late trip last night. Can’t make it. I’ll see you the next day,’” Copeland said. “That’s not Brody. Brody is at every meeting. Brody is at every practice he’s able to be at.”

As much zigzagging around campus as Brecht does to get to all of his responsibilities, he still misses out on some time other athletes have in each sport.

“He only has so much time per week, so if he’s spending time in one place, then he’s taking time away from the other place,” Heller said.

For now, baseball is the focus because that’s in season.

“I’m prioritizing baseball right now, so obviously I’m not going to be able to 100 percent be in all the football drills and everything,” Brecht said.

Then in the fall, he’ll prioritize football, and baseball will take a back seat.

His goal is to compete in both sports “as long as I can.”

“Eventually one day, I’m going to have to pick, but hopefully that’s not for a couple years or so,” Brecht said.

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