Quinn Schulte: An undervalued player on the Iowa football defence after being a zero-star recruit.
Quinn Schulte just wanted to get in a lifting session, even late into the night.
Fortunately, Duane Schulte, Schulte’s father, coaches football at Cedar Rapids’ Xavier High School. There, Schulte played for his father as a high school athlete in four different sports. He took his juggling of multiple sports so seriously at Xavier that on Sundays, after Mass, he would lift weights, toss the football, get shots up for basketball, and bat.
“The goal at the time was to improve for every sport,” Schulte stated. “But now that I’m thinking back on it, I think those are the times I wish I could go back to, just because it was so much fun, especially with my dad.”
And now he wanted to lift weights, late into this Saturday night.
The issue?
Show choir was having an event at Xavier. There were many people inside the building. However, Schulte and his father entered the weight room by going around the back and sneaking past a few people. So as not to cause any trouble, they turned out the lights in the weight room. Nevertheless, Schulte continued to exercise.
This kind of work ethic has helped Schulte advance to his current position as one of Iowa’s best players on the defence. Schulte’s senior day is this Saturday, but he still has eligibility left and isn’t sure if he wants to play for Iowa again in the future.
Most fans probably don’t appreciate Schulte’s presence at free safety on an Iowa defence with a lot of star power. On the Hawkeye D, he isn’t the biggest, flashiest, or most productive player. However, those features fall short of his actual worth.
Linebacker Jay Higgins said, “The free safety position at Iowa is not an easy job.” “We like to say that the guy at free safety has a bigger job than Mike (the linebacker), because he is heavily involved in the defence and coverage overall.” And I think he’s been doing a great job because he was able to accomplish that two years in a row.
The next few weeks will see a rise in the significance of Schulte. Prior to their matchup with Illinois on Saturday, Iowa faced even more hardships in a season already full of them. Due to a lower leg injury, standout defensive back Cooper DeJean will miss the rest of the season. Deshaun Lee, a redshirt freshman, is anticipated to take his place on defence.
Given DeJean’s talent, there could be a dropoff without him, and someone like Schulte might have to correct any mistakes.
This week, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz stated on his radio show, “We’re playing good team defence.” “A little bit more of the slack will need to be picked up by the other ten guys on our team,”
Therefore, it’s fortunate that discovering a path to success is nothing new for schulz.
None at all
During a Xavier basketball game, Duane heard someone say, “Make him go right!” Even though it wasn’t necessarily intended to be funny, the comment was funny.
Duane brought up the skill of dribbling with the non-dominant left hand to Schulte’s older brothers, Reggie and Bryce. Quinn also acquired the skill. That was developed as a component of each of the three games.
Duane adds, “But Quinn took it too far.”
Inside the house, Schulte would wander around dribbling with his left hand.
“You hear a ball bouncing and wonder what the heck is going on.” stated Bryce. And all Quinn is doing is dribbling the basketball around.
He developed to such an extent that, during his high school freshman year, an opposing coach yelled, “Make him go right!” as he bounded past a defender while dribbling with his left hand. Make him turn around!
Duane appeared to be saying, “Yeah, sure, make him go right,” as he glanced at another Xavier coach. because he uses his right hand.
Schulte has a younger sister and two older brothers. In 1995, Reggie was born, then Bryce in 1998, Quinn in 2000, and Hope in 2003. Duane and Sherry, their parents, met at the University of Iowa when they were both studying law. Reggie continued his football career at UNI. Bryce and Schulte had some overlap while he was a player at Iowa.
When Schulte was younger, his energy could be hard to control. He would proudly stand at the kitchen table after climbing up from chairs. He simply began climbing on the chairs after his mother Sherry tried to stop him from acting out. It got to the point where she turned the chairs over.
Instead of allowing their children to play video games at home, Sherry and Duane encouraged physical activity. The three brothers used to play tackle football in their basement during the winters of their early childhood. Duane would take a couch seat and pretend to be quarterback while Reggie engaged in combat with Bryce and Quinn. Although some dents serve as proof that there were instances when more force was used than that, touching the wall was still necessary to score a touchdown.
Schulte was shaped by his involvement in a variety of sports with his older brothers and their friends.
When we played football, “I was usually the one getting clocked,” Schulte recalled.
However, not always. His brother Bryce remembers a time when Quinn was running with the ball during a football game when Reggie approached him to tackle him. However, Schulte scored a touchdown by stiff-arming him to the ground.
Schulte had an incredibly successful time in high school. Throughout high school, he won two football, two basketball, and one baseball state championship. But FBS schools didn’t actively recruit Schulte. His 247Sports recruiting profile listed him as a zero-star prospect. Iowa State offered a walk-on opportunity. Iowa followed suit, and Schulte accepted. Since then, he has worked his way up to the Hawkeyes scholarship level.
Duane described Quinn as being “fairly quiet.” Says very little in its entirety. but possesses such grit and inner resolve. That has almost become his signature.
gaining confidence
Schulte struck one of his teammates with a hammer during a practise.
It was a running play, but one of Iowa’s tight ends moved to get closer to anyone vertical after making his presence known to the linebacker outside of him. But the moment he looked up, he saw Schulte charging straight at him and then crushing him.
That player from Iowa taking the hit?
Bryce Cooper.
Bryce said of being bullied by his younger brother, “I hope that video doesn’t come out or see the light of day.” “It’s on video somewhere.”
At Kinnick Stadium, Quinn Schulte and his brother Bryce take the pitch.
On Iowa’s defence, Schulte’s success story is not all that dissimilar from others. Like Sebastian Castro and Jay Higgins, who both began on scholarships, Schulte’s perseverance opened doors to more opportunities. After redshirting his first season, he played in three the following, then double digits the following year.
