Iowa tackle Brandon Scherff says he stayed in college because he has plenty of room for improvement. The Denison native passed up a chance to enter the NFL draft after earning second team All American honors. He feels he will be even better next season. “Pass blocking, run blocking and finishing at the second level,” Scherff says. He says he also wants to be a better leader to help the line become one of the best in the nation.

The Hawkeyes are in the midst of spring practice and have high expectations for next season after posting an 8-5 record in 2013. He says they are a little over halfway through and he says they try to make improvement with every practice.

Scherff says he will have more of a leadership role as a senior after they lost several key seniors from last year’s team. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says having Scherff back is a big lift for next season. “When a guy choses to come back like that it’s usually because he really still likes the college experience, he hasn’t grown tired of that. And he is here for all the right reasons,” Ferentz says. “So the energy and all the positives that player shares with his teammates, that’s something that’s just invaluable.”

Ferentz says it is much like when Robert Gallery returned for his final season and ended up winning the Outland Trophy. He says both are very good and they chose to be back and wanted to be back. The Hawkeyes will hold at practice at Valley High School in West Des Moines on Saturday afternoon.