Iowa prospects Ford and Gossling commit to South Dakota, Northern Iowa
Chris Ford’s 39 catches, 661 yards and five return scores made him a South Dakota fit, while Northern Iowa and North Dakota also landed Iowa standouts.
Iowa has become a clean fight for FCS talent, and South Dakota, Northern Iowa and North Dakota all walked away with different pieces of the same prize. The Coyotes landed Sioux City East athlete Chris Ford, UNI added Johnston defensive lineman Evan Gossling, and the Fighting Hawks secured Spirit Lake tight end Bennett Stecker. Taken together, the three commitments showed how much of the Upper Midwest recruiting map still gets drawn by programs that can sell role, fit and immediate opportunity.
Ford was the headliner because he filled the stat sheet in every phase. He chose South Dakota over Northern Iowa and Illinois State after putting together a junior season that made him look like three players in one. Ford caught 39 passes for 661 yards and four touchdowns, averaged nearly 17 yards per reception, and also handled defensive duties with 47.5 tackles, 33 solo stops, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and two interceptions. His return production was even more explosive, with more than 600 return yards and five kick or punt returns for touchdowns, including three kickoff returns. That kind of all-purpose profile is exactly why FCS staffs chase multi-use athletes, especially when one commitment can patch holes on offense, defense and special teams.
UNI’s win with Gossling looked different, but no less important. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound defensive lineman brought a 4.03 GPA and a junior line that included 12.5 tackles, 11 solo stops, 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. For the Panthers, that is the kind of in-state evaluation that matters in the Missouri Valley, where front-seven depth usually decides whether a team can hang with the league’s heavyweights deep into November. Gossling does not need to arrive as a finished product to matter, because his frame and production point to a player who can be developed into a disruption piece on the interior or off the edge.
North Dakota’s addition of Stecker pushed the story beyond a simple in-state haul. The Spirit Lake tight end had also drawn offers from Wake Forest, Western Michigan and Navy, a sign that FCS programs are still winning key battles when they can pair family familiarity with a clearer developmental path. With brothers already at Iowa and Iowa State, Stecker fit the kind of recruit who can weigh bigger names and still choose the place that makes the football path clearer.
That is the real takeaway from this Iowa snapshot. South Dakota got the most dynamic weapon, UNI got the strongest trench piece, and North Dakota got the tight end with the widest recruiting radar. In a subdivision built on margins, that is how programs keep climbing toward the tier that spends every season chasing South Dakota State and the rest of the brand-name powers.
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