Hawkeye Football | Who Is? Thomas Nardo

A second curious name to be listed as a starter for the Hawkeyes on the Spring two-deeps is Thomas Nardo. Nardo, like Collin Sleeper, joined the Hawkeyes as a preferred walk-on. Nardo may not be a surprise to some like Sleeper since he has seen the field and recorded three tackles, all of which came in 2010.

Nardo originally arrived in Iowa City in 2007 as a 6'4" 260 pound defensive end. Although a walk-on he did receive two stars by Rivals recruiting services.  ESPN recruiting called Nardo a player who is "tough between the tackles." At Catholic High School in Lancaster, PA Thomas earned second team All-State honors as well as All-Conference honors.

For Nardo it was always a dream to play Division I football. He turned down a scholarship offer to attend D-II William and Mary for "a chance to earn his spot." After four years at Iowa he has done just that.

Nardo currently fills what I consider the "wild card" spot along the front four. I assume Binns, Daniel, and Daniels are written in ink on the front line two-deeps. Coach Ferentz says he could see 6-8 guys getting into the rotation along the DLine. Nardo will be pushed by redshirt freshmen Mike Hardy and Carl Davis. Hardy came to Iowa as a defensive end but it wouldn't surprise me to see him move down. Also on the two-deep and pushing Nardo will be Steve Bigach. Bigach will miss the Spring drills due to injury but should push for playing time in Fall camp.

The Nard-dog as some on Twitter have already named him will be one to watch on April 16th when Iowa takes the field in front of the fans.