With signing day just one day away, Shane DiBona has wrapped up his plans for a moment he has been working towards for a long time, earning the opportunity to play football at the college level. The Duxbury, MA native talks about the upcoming events, if a few local schools tried to make a late run at stealing him away from the Hawkeyes, and what the Iowa coaches told him about how they might use him in the offensive backfield.

Q: Are you getting anxious about signing day on Wednesday?


DiBona: Yeah, I am really excited about it and ready for it to get here.

Q: What are your plans for Wednesday morning and signing?

DiBona: I actually just talked to Coach O'Keefe and I am signing the papers at around nine. Then around 9:30 my parents and I are going to call the Iowa coaches and talk with them for a few minutes.

Q: Will you have a ceremony at your high school?

DiBona: Yeah, there will be a ceremony at my school. I think there are some reporters from places like the Boston Globe that will be at school to cover it.

Q: What will the moment be like for you?

DiBona: It will be a really gratifying moment that all of the hard work and time put into having something like this happen is finally here.

Q: What has life been like since committing to Iowa? Have there been other schools making a run at you?

DiBona: I talked to BC a little bit since they called and UCONN has also called a few times.

Q: What did they tell you?

DiBona: I just kind of listened to them, but nothing really ever happened with anyone else. BC said that they were going to offer me if something opened up or they lost someone, but nothing ever did.

Q: Did you talk to Iowa about it and how did you handle it with them?

DiBona: Even if BC would have come up with an offer, I was still going to go to Iowa and I told that to Coach O'Keefe. He came to my house about two weeks ago and I told him that no matter what, I was sticking with Iowa.

Q: Your high school coach has a close relationship with Coach Doyle, so that probably helped with your comfort level with Iowa.

DiBona: Yeah, they grew up together in Quincy.

Q: What has he told you about Coach Doyle?

DiBona: He is a great guy. He is the best in the business when it comes to strength and conditioning in college football today. It will be a great experience working with him for the next five years.

Q: Is your high school coach as intense as Coach Doyle is in the weight room?

DiBona: Probably not. I haven't worked with Coach Doyle yet, but from what I have heard he is pretty driven in the weight room, which is great.

Q: So no breaks for you in the weight room just because you and Coach Doyle are from the same home area?

DiBona: (laugh) He told me the last time that I was out there that I better come here ready to work.

Q: Does Coach O'Keefe still have you penciled in at fullback?

DiBona: They had offered me based on my junior tape and he said he saw my senior tape recently and he was surprised at how well I ran the ball. He said that if he had his choice I could maybe be kind of like a goal line tailback too.


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