I'm considering this move as insurance. After all, the last two placekickers ISU signed (Josh Griebahn and Chris Mahoski) both were injured before even setting foot on the turf at Jack Trice. Plus, with Brandtner a junior, one or the other could eventually succeed him, since both appear to ahve strong legs. However, we're still a long way from knowing that we finally have a quality kicker.
Then there's the fact that until signing day, we don't know that both are actually receiving scholarships. After all, various other players have announced that they are "committed", then it turns out that they are grey shirts, will be walking on, or in one elusive case, "signed a contract" to receive a scholarship in their junior year. Never heard from that guy again.
I am glad that Chizik doesn't seem to be under pressure to sign Iowa kids just to be signing Iowa kids, the way McCarney was. That quota that the administration put him on was probably what killed Mac's program. Doesn't do much good when you're throwing away a good percentage of your roster every year. Those twenty-odd scholarships might have helped. I don't care what they say, signing Iowa kids just because their scholarships cost less, or whatever other reason, just drives the program into the ground.