UNI football finalizes 2023 recruiting class

CEDAR FALLS — Northern Iowa finalized its 2023 football recruiting class Wednesday, unofficially announcing 28 signees.

Among the Panthers’ 28 newcomers are Division-I transfers, high school prospects and one junior college transfer.

“The first wave, the emphasis was just the program, which was freshmen, balance and development,” UNI Coach Mark Farley said. “The second phase — I would call the ‘middle phase’ which was January 2 through January 18 — that was the (transfer) portal phase. I call it a phase because we needed to get them in class for this semester. The third wave of recruiting came to finalize this young class again, to go ahead and go back into the high schools and find out what we still had to get.”

Defensive linemen and linebackers dominated UNI’s class with more than six recruits at each position.

Iowa transfer Josh Volk — a former three-star recruit from Cedar Rapids Xavier — headlines the Panthers’ incoming offensive linemen. Meanwhile, among incoming defensive linemen, three-star Lance Berends of Hartley HMS and 6-foot-4, 285-pound Florida native Andre Morris Jr. offer plenty of intrigue among a talented group that includes four Iowans. UNI also added Memphis transfer Warren Peeples — the NJCAA sacks leader in 2020 — and Kansas State graduate transfer Cortez Crook-Jones.

“The defensive line was an emphasis. I thought we had good players coming back, (but) we were lean in depth and you’ve got to be able to stop the run in this league,” Farley said. “We wanted to reemphasize pass rush and size in our front.”

With four quarterbacks on their roster, the Panthers signed just one in their 2023 class, Braylon Kammrad of Council Bluffs Lewis Central. Kammrad threw for 2,778 yards and 35 touchdowns this past season and led the Titans to the Class 4A state championship game.

“I’ve got great hope and great belief in Braylon for (his) intangibles. That’s where I see great upside,” Farley said. “He’s the son of a head coach that came out of the same system as the TCU quarterback (Max Duggan). He’s the closest thing to Eric Sanders, from start to finish, as I’ve seen over the years.”

UNI’s wide receiver recruits also come with intrigue, as two are Division-I transfers and the other two hail from Pennsylvania and Illinois.

DJ Hart and Mason Pierre-Antoine arrive from North Dakota State and Northern Illinois, respectively. Hart played in 11 games this past season for the Bison before leaving the team ahead of the FCS Playoffs. The Georgia native has two years of eligibility remaining after making 15 catches with the Bison.

Pierre-Antoine redshirted for the Huskies in 2021 and recorded no stats this past season. The Frankfort, Ill., native was a three-star recruit out of high school in 2020.

Along with finalizing its 2023 recruiting class Wednesday, UNI officially announced the hirings — and returns — of offensive line coach Rick Nelson and cornerbacks coach Keelon Brookins. Drew Tate also earned a promotion. The former Iowa quarterback will now be a full-time member of the staff as tight ends coach.

“When we lost Rick Nelson, man, that was hard to replace. Then we got Ryan (Clanton) and all the sudden it became a strength again,” Farley said. “Bringing Rick back in we don’t lose a beat. Rick’s got five guys in the NFL. Same way with Keelon — he knows our verbiage, he knows our players, he’s a great recruiter, he’s a UNI guy. Don’t count out Drew Tate, man. That guy did a lot of things that people didn’t see.”

Farley anticipates a spring game on Saturday, April 22, with practices beginning on Monday, March 13.,

UNI football 2023 recruits (Offense)

UNI football 2023 recruits (Defense)