Grinnell’s Will Slagle keeps his D1 football options open

GRINNELL — Grinnell’s Will Slagle is excited about new Division 1 college football opportunities after the junior committed to the Iowa State University Cyclones Nov. 22 and then decommitted two weeks later, Dec. 9.

When asked about his decision to decommit, Slagle said it came on the heels of then Cyclone Head Coach Matt Campbell and Offensive Coach Ryan Clanton and staff departing to Penn State.

“After a lot of prayer and heartfelt conversations with my parents, coaches, and closest friends, I’ve made the tough decision to decommit from Iowa State,” Slagle said in a Facebook post. “

I want to give a special thank you to Coach Matt Campbell and Coach Ryan Clanton for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to be a Cyclone. I truly believe God is opening new doors for me, and I’m trusting His plan for my future.

“I also want to thank my family and friends for always supporting me through this journey. Iowa State is still a school I’m considering, and I look forward to taking some time to get to know Coach Jimmy Rogers and the new coaching staff before making my final decision,” Slagle wrote.

“With that being said, I will be fully reopening my recruitment. Thank you again Cyclone Nation.”

The 6’4” and 300-pound Slagle, a 4-star offensive lineman recruit, has been on the radar of D1 colleges since his sophomore year at Grinnell.

Thanks, in part, goes to J.C. Moreau of Iowa City. Slagle works out with Moreau during the spring months, and Moreau helped get Slagle’s name on the radar.

“He sent out some of my tapes and got me noticed,” Slagle said in an earlier interview.

Moreau is the founder and sports performance coach and consultant at Strength U, a company that provides sports performance training for youth and high school students. He is the former director of strength and conditioning at the University of Iowa and two other universities.

In addition to sending out tapes, Slagle has a Twitter account were coaches can watch tape of his performances online.

On 3, one of several recruiting website companies for high school students, has rated Slagle as a Top 3 recruit in the state of Iowa and number 1 for offensive line. Other recruiting websites that have ranked Slagle include 247 Sports, Rivals and Prep Redzone.

That ranking has stayed strong in spite of Slagle snapping a bone in his right foot during practice in August, an injury that sidelined him for eight weeks.

Slagle wore a boot while injured and served as an assistant offensive line coach for the Tigers while he healed. He was able to play in the last three games of his junior campaign against Marion, Newton and Pella.

Prior to his junior season, Slagle had received verbal commits to play football from Iowa State, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Stanford, Arkansas and Auburn.

Arizona state, Ohio State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt also expressed an interest in Slagle, but have not given him a verbal offer.

Slagle has since checked off Auburn as the team, like ISU, has a new coach.

Since his decision to decommit from ISU, Slagle has received verbal offers from Duke and Penn State after reconnecting with his former coach and has also had interest from Michigan state. He also recently visited Notre Dame; he visited Old Miss University in the fall.

It remains possible that Slagle will recommit to ISU. A lot depends on how he connects with the new head coach Jimmy Rogers and staff.

“As for my future,” Slagle said. “I plan to go on a few more college visits in the next couple months with plans to make my decision later in the spring.”