Over the last week, I have been catching up with the high school coaches of Iowa State’s current football commits for Q&A style pieces detailing what has allowed the players to have success at the high school level, the coaches’ interactions with Iowa State and more.
The first of those pieces is below as we begin the series with quarterback commit Charles Wright. Wright, a 6-foot-1, 194-pound three-star, is rated as the No. 31 pro-style quarterback in the country and the No. 915 player overall.
He has excelled over the last two seasons while playing for Austin High School in Austin, Texas and head coach Mike Rosenthal, receiving offers from six college programs, including Iowa State and, most recently, North Carolina State. Here is my conversation with Coach Rosenthal.
Q: What is it about Charles that’s allowed him to have success so far in your program and put himself in a position to be a Power 5 quarterback commit?
Rosenthal: I think it’s a lot of things. It’s competitiveness. It’s discipline. It’s work ethic. Obviously, his physical talent is there. He’s a throwback player. He’s our hardest worker. He’s our best leader. He’s been that way since his freshman year. He’s just wired differently. He loves the game of football and he does everything that he can to get better at it, just a crazy work ethic.
Q: How have your interactions with Iowa State been during his recruitment?
Rosenthal: They’ve been phenomenal. All the coaches coming down have been phenomenal. I talked to Coach Campbell maybe two weeks ago on the phone. I can’t say enough about their entire staff. I think they’re tremendous workers. They’re extremely professional. We’ve had great interactions with them. I know they’re excited to get him up there and excited to go. For us, it’s made us feel good about sending Charles there and him going there. We know he’s in good hands.
Q: If you had to describe what the program is getting in him as a player and as a kid, what would you say?
Well, they’re getting a phenomenal person. Not only is his talent obviously there, but he cares about his teammates. He’s always trying to get people involved. Even during this time, if you follow him on Twitter, you can see how he’s turned almost into a lead recruiter for them trying to get kids across the country to go to Iowa State. They’re getting a phenomenal leader and just a great person and a great player. He’ll fit in really well up there. He’s got a chip on his shoulder, just kind of like Iowa State plays. Iowa State is always trying to knock off the big dogs across the country and he’ll fit in perfectly there.
