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THE RISING STAR: PART II

There are two popular YouTube videos that, when watched simultaneously, tell you all you need to know about future NFL first-round draft pick Brandon Scherff. Forget about all the awards and watch the videos.

The first is a 34-second clip shot by renowned University of Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle last summer. In it, the best collegiate offensive linemen in the country hang cleans 443 pounds three times as teammates ooh and aah around him. As Scherff loudly exhales and grunts as the bar inconceivably surges past his chest, you get the feeling that a grizzly bear would have no chance in a fight.

The second is from the Hawkeyes’ 24-20 victory over Pittsburgh this past Sept. 20, and like the first it has more than 20,000 views. On a third-and-4 play from Iowa’s 20-yard line, Scherff drops back to pass block against Panthers’ defensive lineman Shakir Soto, but just as the two are about to engage, Iowa’s 6-foot-5, 319-pound behemoth quickly shifts to the right and pancakes a blitzing Pat Amara from the corner. The video plays on a loop as “Turn Down For What” by DJ Snake and Lil Jon blares in the background, and it’s easy to get mesmerized by Amara getting decleated on national television.

What does any of this have to do with Boone Myers, the 2013 Webster City High School graduate who played behind Scherff this past season? A lot, actually, particularly when Iowa’s 2014 Outland Trophy winner talks about his protege.

“Boone has really come a long way and improved a great amount,” Scherff, a first-team All-Big Ten and All-American left tackle during his senior campaign, said. “He’s a lot farther along than I was as a redshirt freshman and he’s a hard worker who wants to get better.”

When Brandon Scherff speaks, people listen. He sees the possibilities and thinks Myers has a bright future.

And he’s not the only one.

Going to Lineman U

Scherff was the fourth Iowa interior lineman to take home the Outland Trophy in 2014 – the others are Cal Jones (1955), Alex Karras (1957) and Robert Gallery (2003) – and he’ll soon be the ninth Hawkeye offensive lineman currently in the NFL.

Myers doesn’t know quite yet if he has what it takes to fill those clown-sized shoes, but he’s ready to try. It’s why he opted to walk-on at Iowa in the fall of 2013; to have that chance to learn from head coach Kirk Ferentz and assistant Brian Ferentz, as well as play alongside talents such as Scherff.

“It was one of the main factors in going to Iowa,” Myers said. “I figured I was going to have the best coaches and the best school to reach my potential, so why not at least go and try to give it a shot? They pump out some of the best offensive linemen in the NFL.

“(Scherff) helped me out a lot, especially when I got to play a little bit this year. He told me that you think it’s going to be really fast, but if you just take a breath before each play, it’s going to be a lot slower than practice.”

Scherff learned the ropes from left tackle Riley Reiff, who started at Iowa before becoming the 23rd pick in the 2012 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions. Before Reiff protected the quarterback’s blind side at Iowa there was Bryan Bulaga, who went to the Green Bay Packers with the 23rd selection of the 2010 NFL draft.

Can Myers follow the tradition of those that came before him? It’s way too early to debate that, but he is ready to take on that challenge.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time and working towards it every day,” he said. “Now is my chance to finally prove it that I can play, I can start, and be one of the greats at Iowa.”

First taste of the field

Myers made the pilgrimage to Kinnick Stadium to watch his beloved Hawkeyes play more times than he can remember as a kid. The scores weren’t important, but the dream was always the same.

Walking down the tunnel. Hearing AC/DC’s “Back In Black” over the stadium’s sound system as the fans make the ground shake. The eruption reaching its crescendo as the Iowa Swarm makes its way onto the field.

“You always want to run out and I finally got the chance to do that, so it was a dream come true,” Myers said. “Your heart starts beating faster as you get closer to the entrance. It’s one of the best feelings ever.”

But for most of the 2014 season, that entrance had to be enough for Myers. He began the season listed as the No. 2 left guard, and then moved into a back-up role at right guard and briefly at right tackle.

Myers finally got his chance in back-to-back November games, first in a 51-14 loss at Minnesota and then again in a 30-14 victory at Illinois. Back at left tackle, he more than held his own.

“(Playing against Minnesota) is one of my best memories of being at Iowa so far,” Myers said. “It was really awesome to be able to go out there and see how I matched up with some of the other Big Ten defensive linemen and see if I could handle it, and I think I did pretty well.”

Myers walked off the field both times wanting more. A whole lot more.

The mean streak

Off the field, Myers enjoys the solitude of the wilderness and shares a hunting and fishing bond with Scherff.

He’s quiet. Respectful. Those that know him aren’t intimidated by his 6-foot-5, 300-pound frame. He’s just Boone Myers, a country boy from Webster City.

But like any good football player, he can flip the switch when he gets between the lines. The boyish smile and aw-shucks demeanor are left in the locker room.

“To be a good football player and excel, you have to have a little bit of mean,” Brian Ferentz, who served as Myers’ position coach in 2013 and 2014, said. “Boone is able to flip that switch pretty easily. He enjoys inflicting a little bit of pain and discomfort and physically he’s very tough. But off the field he’s unassuming, or as unassuming as a guy that’s 6-5 and 300 pounds can be.”

Going helmet-to-helmet with an opposing defensive lineman who would like nothing better than to drop him is what keeps Myers coming back for more. The game is in his blood.

Is he next?

The apprenticeship that Myers undertook in 2014 has him prepared for what is next. As the back-up to Scherff, it only made sense that he took the reigns at the spotlight line position on Iowa’s first depth chart, which was surprisingly released just days after the Hawkeyes lost to Tennessee, 45-28, in the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl.

Very quickly the term “heir apparent” was floated anytime Myers name was brought into the conversation. It’s unfair to think he’ll slip into the lineup and make fans immediately forget about Scherff, but at the same time he’s not overwhelmed by the lofty expectations heaped upon his shoulders.

This is why he chose Iowa.

“I can’t wait to prove myself to everybody – all of the other schools, all of the Iowa fans and everybody back home – that I can do this,” Myers said. “I can potentially be one of the next great offensive tackles that comes from Iowa.”

That’s not false bravado either. Brian Ferentz has watched Myers’ steady climb on a daily basis and he thinks the sky is the limit.

“Based on what I’ve seen at the U of I since 1999, I think his future is bright,” Ferentz said. “If I was going to bet money and hedge my bets and buy stock in somebody, I’d buy him. But he has a lot of work to do and he knows that.”

That work has already begun. The offseason is Doyle’s world, and Myers has spent the past three months adding to his already large frame in the weight room. Soon spring drills will get underway and the onus will be on him to prove that the coaches’ faith in him is warranted.

“I just can’t wait for spring ball to get out there,” Myers said. “(The depth chart is) basically just predictions. That’s not set in stone and every guy on the team knows that. We still know we have to prove it.”

A solid spring would certainly springboard him into a good position come the fall, but even then Myers knows he still needs to stay hungry. A starting spot, or any playing time for that matter, aren’t going to be spoon fed.

“For a year and a half Boone has handled himself as well as he could. He’s moved past some guys that were older than him,” Ferentz said. “What’s going to be really important is where we’re at come the end of August and September, that’s Boone’s challenge. He’s on the top of the heap right now (in March), but there are younger guys and older guys that are working really hard to try to unseat him.”

But playing isn’t the one and only goal. Myers wants to flourish. He wants to help erase the bitter remnants of last season’s 7-6 record, which included losses in four of the Hawkeyes’ final five games.

He also knows that the offensive line is a question mark in the eyes of the media and fans as Iowa is forced to replace 60 percent of its five-man front.

“You hear people saying on all of the news channels and newspapers that we lost 60 percent of our line. All of us young guys, we’re looking to prove ourselves and show there isn’t going to be a drop off,” Myers said. “It’s a big motivator.”

Scherff knows what Myers is feeling at this stage of his budding career. He thinks he’s left his spot on the line in capable hands, too.

“He’s a tough competitor and he never likes to get beat,” Scherff said of Myers. “He’s got the right coaching and he can be as good as he wants to be.”

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