Persistence Paying Off for Caleb Shudak

6th-Year Senior Takes Over Iowa's Place-Kicking Duties

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Caleb Shudak thought about leaving.

It was at the end of the 2019 season and Keith Duncan, one of Shudak’s closest friends, was having an All-American season as Iowa’s kicker.

Duncan would be coming back in 2020 and Shudak, who was handling the Hawkeyes’ kickoff duties, thought he might want something more.

“Keith was having a successful year,” Shudak said. “I’m a huge fan of Keith. One of my best friends. It was awesome seeing it. But now I’m thinking hey, if I ever want a chance to play beyond college, play in college, it may not be here.”

So Shudak put his name into the NCAA’s transfer portal. And then he changed his mind, and decided to stay.

He thought about the friends he had made at Iowa. No way, he said, was he going to give that up.

“It was a no-brainer,” Shudak said, “to stay here.”

So he stayed, was Iowa’s man for kickoffs in 2020, and watched Duncan have another strong season.

Duncan is gone now. And Shudak, taking advantage of a sixth season of eligibility, is now Iowa’s No. 1 kicker.

The patience, he said, was worth it.

“I’ve definitely considered, maybe, hanging up my cleats, get a job, start my career,” said Shudak, a civil and environmental engineering major. “I kept seeing all of this improvement. My best friends are here. It got to the point where it was hard for me to leave that. I’ve met some of the most amazing people here. My parents always told me, ‘Why rush any of that? It’s an amazing experience.’

“And it has been an amazing experience.”

Shudak has attempted one extra point — he made it — and one field goal — he missed it — in his Iowa career.

But Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said even though Shudak was behind Duncan on the depth chart, the competition was a lot closer than anyone realized.

“I know Caleb wasn't our starter, but we feel like he was,” Ferentz said. “And it literally — and I've been saying this for two years — it literally was almost flipping a coin between he and Keith Duncan. They were on each other's tails. They were really close. There are some things Caleb did a little better, maybe, than Keith.”

Shudak chose Iowa because of its engineering program.

“I loved that small atmosphere,” he said. “It seemed really more personal, somewhere I can excel at.

“I couldn’t be more grateful to be here.”

“He's been here, I think, six years,” Ferentz quipped. “I think this is his sixth year. I've lost track. He's been here a long time. But he really performs well in practice. Did a nice job on kickoffs. I have total confidence he'll play like a veteran player for us, so we really feel like he is a returning starter.”

Shudak said it doesn’t feel like he’s been at Iowa that long.

“It went so fast,” said Shudak, who went to Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs. “I remember waking up in the dorms, thinking, ‘I’m on my own now. What am I going to do?’ It was nerve-wracking. Looking back, it was a quick six years. I couldn’t be more happy with how it turned out.”

Shudak is solidly in the No. 1 spot on the depth chart. But he appreciated the competition over his career.

“The competition really drove, added the pressure, added the simulation of what it was like to be in a game,” Shudak said. “It added some confidence, added some anxiousness.

“I’m prepared. I’m ready to go.”