People probably know more about Dan Doering than my previous "Spotlight on" subject, Mike Daniels, but there is only 74 days left until Iowa Football kicks off against UNI and Doering is #74 and could easily be one of the starting offensive guards this fall (especially with Julian Vandervelde's uncomfirmed injury). So, I decided to dig a little deeper to find out more about the heralded 2005 recruit.
High School: Dan Doering attended Barrington High School in Barrington Illinois. As a Bronco, Doering earned award after award. In his senior year he was First Team All-American (by USA Today, Parade, and EA Sports), the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year, and a member of the 2004 Illinois Super Team All-State (along with Jake Christensen, Tony Moeaki, and Dace Richardson). He also played in the U.S. Army-All American Bowl. His abilities earned him scholarship offers from big name schools like Oklahom, Notre Dame, and of course Iowa. He also earned 5 star ratings from both Scout and Rivals and was even named one of the nation's top 10 players by Rivals. So all these accolades led to great success in college, right?...right?
College: I'm not trying to give Doering a hard time or anything, but his play in college has not met the hype he received out of high school. Dan was drawn to Iowa in many ways. His sister attended Iowa and he is good friends with Jake Christensen who had a hand in getting many of the 2005 recruits to commit. Once at Iowa, Doering's freshman year of college he redshirted. Then as a redshirt freshman he was stuck behind the very solid Marshal Yanda, so Doering only played in clean up time in the blow out victory against Purdue. His sophomore year, 2007, was when Doering finally earned a starting spot, but not right away. Half way through the season he was still in backup duty and some complained he was not living up to his expectations. However, he became the starter at right guard by the 8th game of the year against Purdue and started the remaining games helping Iowa beat Michigan State, Northwestern, and Minnesota (I won't mention the last game of the year here). In 2008, he was expected to be a starter again, this time at left guard. However, a hand/wrist injury held him back. He missed the first 6 games of the year with the injury, but then played in 5 games as a backup. With all that said, I expect Doering to finally have a chance to prove his worth this season. Right now he looks like he will be the starter at right guard. With the supporting cast he has around him on the offensive line I expect him to have a good year that should propel him to the NFL.
Other Stuff: In addition to football, Dan Doering is a well rounded athlete. In high school he was a state qualifier in shot put and on the basketball team. He's also pretty good at golf and an avid hunter.