Brody Brecht has a busy schedule. He sometimes writes notes to himself to remind him of where he is and when he should be there.
This Iowa freshman is doing double duty this spring. A pitcher on the baseball team, and wide receiver on football team.
With football in spring practice and baseball in the season, time management is key.
Brecht stated that you have to prioritize. “
Brecht is one of at least a dozen Division I athletes playing both baseball and spring football simultaneously, according to school and conference sports information directors who responded in an Associated Press survey.
The others known to be doing both are Kansas outfielder-running back Devin Neal and first baseman-tight end Trevor Kardell, Michigan outfielder-linebacker Joey Velasquez, Georgia outfielder-receiver Randon Jernigan, Citadel outfielder-defensive back Dominick Poole and St. Thomas (Minnesota) pitcher-punter Kolby Gartner.
There are at least a dozen other athletes who play football and baseball, but they were not able to participate in spring football because of injuries.
Iowa’s Brecht has high ceilings in both sports.
Brecht is a football scholarship holder. He was expected to be a high-round pick last summer in the Major League Baseball draft. However, he stated that he wants to play two sports with the Hawkeyes.
Rick Heller, Iowa baseball coach, said that he was a mature player who manages his business off the field very well.
Ankeny’s 6-foot-4, 205-pounder was named the 2021 Gatorade state highschool baseball player of year. He has topped 100 mph 21 occasions this season.
In football, as a sophomore, he was a first-team all state selection. However, he is in contention to be a wide receiver this fall.
“It would have been easy for him to say, “Coach, we had a late (baseball), trip last night, couldn’t make the morning, but see you next day,” Kelton Copeland, wide receivers coach, said. “
Spring football and baseball are in a constant balancing act.
Brecht does not practice football in spring, but he does weight training, meets with coaches, and runs route running drills along with other receivers.
Copeland stated that “Whenever he can and whenever he’s free, he practices with us.”
Raimond Braithwaite is the strength and conditioning coach for the football team. Sometimes Brecht will tell Braithwaite he will be returning from a road trip in the early hours of the morning and that he might prefer to go to bed than do a weight training that could begin as early as 6 a.m.
Braithwaite stated, “That makes a lot of sense.” He also said that it would be counterproductive to an athlete in Brecht’s position to go overboard. “
Brecht is making good progress in his first season in college baseball. His first home game saw him throw three pitches that were over 100 mph.
Brecht has been at the top of his game for the past two weeks. He allowed one hit and struck out 16 in just 8 1/3 innings.
Brecht’s success in two sports began in high school. After a successful football season, in which he had 42 catches, he rushed for 599 yards and scored 12 touchdowns to help Ankeny win 2020 Class 4A state title.
Brecht will also be busy during the summer.
He thought about playing baseball in Cape Cod League but that would have prevented him from attending football workouts. On days when he pitches for the Clinton LumberKings, he will drive 90 miles.
Brecht stated, “I’ve done this my whole life.” “
