Thomas Hartlieb, The son of former Hawkeye Quarterback Jim Hartlieb, has committed to Iowa and will be a preferred walk-on most likely in the secondary.
Jim was a Hawkeye from 1989-1992 and a starter his senior year throwing for 1,579 with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions battling injuries. He will forever be remembered for his 80-yard game winning touchdown/ two point conversion drive versus the Wisconsin Badgers in Kinnick for a 23-22 win.
The Hartlieb Hawkeye roots don’t end there as Jim’s brother’s Chuck and John both played as well. Chuck was a Hawkeye quarterback from 1985-1988 and threw for 6,269 yards and 34 touchdowns and 17 interceptions leading the Hawkeyes to a 1987 Seaworld Holiday Bowl victory. John was a linebacker.
Thomas hails from the Madison, Wisconsin area and is graduating from Edgewood High School. He stands at 5-11, 185 pounds and played quarterback and secondary his senior year.
As a quarterback, he threw for 922 yards and five touchdowns, completing 49 percent of his passes (89-180) for an 102 yard per game performance with three interceptions. As a rusher, he gained 329 yards and five touchdowns on 94 attempts for a 3.5 yard per carry average with two fumbles in nine games.
Watching highlights of Thomas as quarterback, he is able to use his elusiveness to turn a lot of loss yards into big gainers, but he transitioning to secondary to get onto field anyway he can.
He appeared in two games as a defensive back in which he recorded 13 total tackles( 4 assisted and a tackle for loss) with one interception.
As a walk-on Thomas’s first action will most likely be special teams as he continues to adapt and grow into a secondary player. The Hawkeye secondary has had multiple successful walk-ons in the past, for example Brett Greenwood and Jordan Lomax.
All former player stats are accredited to wissports.net
