Pushing Defenders And SUVs: Inside David Davidkov's Commitment To Iowa

At 10 p.m. on a Friday, New Trier football coach Brian Doll sat down to watch television with his wife when his phone went off with a text from David Davidkov.

Confused as to why one of his players was texting him so late, Doll opened the message and discovered it was a video.

“I look down and it’s him pushing an SUV in a parking lot with three other linemen,” Doll said. “He’s like, ‘I told the team they need to send two videos a week of them pushing SUVs in parking lots, otherwise we aren’t doing enough work on getting our legs stronger.’

To be fair, pushing SUVs in a parking lot is a good workout.

“It’s a leg burner,” Davidkov said matter-of-factly. “It’s really good. It helps your explosiveness and it’s similar to blocking. The challenge is really good, so I like it.”

That physicality has always followed Davidkov, a four-star offensive tackle from Winnetka, Illinois, who headlines Iowa’s 2021 recruiting class.

Growing up, Davidkov played football and rugby, and he excelled at both. But as early as fourth or fifth grade, he knew football was going to be his sport.

“I got a couple big hits and the kids just would not get up,” Davidkov said. “That’s when I knew. That feeling of adrenaline when you get a huge hit stuck with me.”

By the time he was a sophomore at New Trier, teams started to take note. He received his first offer from Western Michigan, and after that, things took off.

Davidkov wanted to play for a Big Ten program. As his interest mounted late in the process, coaches from the SEC and Pac 12 wanted to fly out and watch him, but Doll advised them against doing so. It wasn’t worth their time, according to the coach.

“David pretty much had every offer you can imagine,” Doll said.

Davidkov considered Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin before ultimately selecting the Hawkeyes on April 27.

COMMITTED pic.twitter.com/vy2LBLKlxP
— David Davidkov (@davidkov_d) April 27, 2020

“I’ve talked to other coaches in the Big Ten, including head coaches, who have told me Iowa is a great fit for him,” Doll said. “ Some other head coaches already knew that’s where he was going to land, just based on his personality and who he is.”

At the time of his commitment, Davidkov still had visits scheduled with Michigan and Ohio State, but the decision to select Iowa had been brewing in his mind for a while.

“Knowing myself, those officials weren’t going to change my mind,” Davidkov said.

Why Iowa?

Davidkov pointed to coaching stability as one of the factors in his decision. He wanted a group that would be there for his whole time with the program. Kirk Ferentz, who’s entering his 22nd season with Iowa, fits that mold.

But the way Iowa went about communicating with Davidkov stood out compared to other programs. He developed a bond with offensive line coach Tim Polasek, whether that was over the phone or on Zoom meetings.

“The thing about Iowa’s recruitment is they don’t bombard you with calls and texts all the time,” Davidkov said. “When I got on the phone with the coaches at Iowa, it was a quality call, rather than quantity and same old conversations. When I would get on the phone with Coach Polasek, we talked about being a better football player, a better person, that type of stuff. I really value that.”

Above all, though, it was Iowa’s proven development of offensive linemen.

And who can blame him? Ten Iowa offensive linemen have been drafted since 2010. One of which was Tristan Wirfs, who Polasek connected with Davidkov during his recruitment. Wirfs went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of this year's draft.

“It was great," Davidkov said. "I asked him pretty simple questions. ‘How was your time at Iowa, what was freshman year like, how were your teammates around you, life outside football, and how different did you feel when you first came to Iowa compared to now?’ He was really helpful.”

All gas, no brakes

Looking at the long list of former Hawkeyes taken in the NFL Daft, many point to Brandon Scherff of the Washington Redskins as a viable comparison to Davidkov, and it makes sense; Davidkov excels in the run game, has a great frame, and doesn’t have an off switch, even in practice.

Against his own teammates, Davidkov’s strength and technique combine to what Doll tabbed “a liability.”

Multiple teammates complained to Davidkov, telling him to turn down his energy.

He declined.

“He came to me last year at one point in time and said specifically: ‘You guys better find some better people to put up against me because practice needs to be harder,’” Doll said.

His practice intensity ramped up even farther as New Trier faced Barrington, giving Davidkov a chance to block 2020 Iowa commit Lukas Van Ness.

“The whole week, he kept talking to me about the excitement he had of challenging someone at such a high level,” Doll said. “It might be a bit different than other stories I might tell of others. Other kids might be like, ‘Crap, I’ve got to go up against Van Ness this week.’ David that week, the whole week, was like, ‘I can’t wait to play him.’”

Doll will tell you (and so will others that know Davidkov) that the Iowa commit’s yearning for a new challenge never dwindles.

Starting out his high school career, Davidkov played primarily at right tackle. But Doll switched him to left tackle, not strictly out of necessity, but for what he believed would be best for his post-high school career.

In moving to the left side, pass blocking was something Davidkov knew he needed to improve. He attended a lineman camp in the Midwest, where he was told that he was the best run-blocker out of the group, but his pass protection needed work.

“(After that camp) he spent almost all his time in the offseason this year just working on his pass protection,” Doll said. “He gets it.”

So, where does his work ethic come from?

Davidkov is a first-generation American. His parents immigrated to American from Bulgaria in 1997, before he was born.

“They applied for a green card in the lottery,” Davidkov said. “It was a very small change they would get it. One day my mom heard that she got it, and from there, they left their family and everyone they knew to start a new life with barely any money in their pocket.”

The whole recruiting process was new for his family.

“When I first started getting offers, (my mom) really didn’t know the extent of it. She thought it was a common thing that most high schoolers got. She thought, ‘Oh, you go to college and you just choose what sport to play.’ She thought that was available for all the high schoolers.”

But as the offers kept piling on, it was clear Davidkov was special.

He’s in line to be one of Iowa’s next great blockers with NFL aspirations, and giving back to his family is his number one priority.

“I’m not going to let my parents’ risk to move to another country and start a new life go to waste,” he said.