IOWA CITY -- Rusty VanWetzinga is wearing the colors of the team he grew up cheering for. In a way, the Hawkeyes’ redshirt freshman fullback from Pleasant Valley had no choice. “Our garage is painted black and gold with Hawkeyes all over it,” VanWetzinga said.
“I grew up an Iowa fan. It was my dream to play for the Hawks.” The former PV multi-sport standout is likely to do that this season for Iowa.
VanWetzinga The 6-foot, 235-pounder dressed for all 14 games last season, making his debut in the Citrus Bowl New Year’s Day loss to Tennessee. Going from playing a sport year-round in high school, to focusing on just one sport in college was different, but productive. “My dad always told me, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, but now in college, all of my eggs are in one basket,” he said, referencing his dad, PV head football coach Rusty VanWetzinga.
“It was different last year for sure, but it does make it easier to focus on just football and try to perfect my craft. “I felt like I developed as a football player over the course of the year.” Abdul Hodge, Iowa’s tight ends/fullbacks coach agreed.
“Rusty’s doing well,” said Hodge, a former All-American linebacker at Iowa. “Last year, he traveled with us, and I thought he did a lot of really good work and got better throughout the season.” Even with a change at offensive coordinator, fullbacks and tight ends will continue to be a staple of the Iowa attack.
“You watch what the 49ers run with (Kyle) Juszczyk. The Packers run a lot out of 12 (one running back, two tight ends). It’s the same thing,” said new Hawkeyes’ playcaller Tim Lester.
“The one thing about a conceptual offense is that everyone needs to know every position. The fullbacks fit right in with playing tight end because we line them up everywhere, so it fits in really well.” Hayden Large, who also plays tight end, and Eli Miller are listed 1-2 on Iowa’s preseason depth chart at tight end, but VanWetzinga is firmly in the mix.
“It’s my job as a position coach to develop every guy I have in the room,” Hodge said. “I’ll let Tim decide who goes on the field in terms of personnel, but when he calls our number, we’ll be ready to go.” VanWetzinga has been seeing time at H-back spot during fall camp, a key position traditionally in the Iowa offense, and on special teams as well.
The H-back typically aligns similar to a tight end but is set back a step from the line of scrimmage. “I’m happy to do whatever they tell me to do,” he said. “I’m just taking it one day at a time and hopefully I’ll get in there and contribute in some way.
” VanWetzinga, and the Iowa coaching staff, had a decision to make on what side of the ball he'd be on. An all-state linebacker in high school for the Spartans, he enjoyed dishing out punishment on defense. “I do miss playing linebacker, it was a lot of fun.
It was probably my favorite position,” he said. Playing offense and defense in football set the tone for the rest of his sports calendar. On top of being a state champion wrestler in 2022, he also competed in basketball, soccer and track at PV.
“It was awesome. Just going back to when we were kids, whatever season it was, that’s usually what we were playing,” he said. “It is different when all of the sudden it’s just one sport, but I love football and being a part of this program.
” There will be VanWetzingas on the Iowa roster for years to come. Rusty has three more years after this season, and next fall his brother Joey, a lineman, joins the Hawkeyes. One of the top recruits in the state in the 2025 class, Joey committed to Iowa in the summer of 2023.
He’ll know what to expect when he arrives on campus next year. “We talk pretty much every day, and I’ve told him, it’s a lot different than high school. This is your job now,” Rusty said.
“You’re going to have good days and hard days, but you’re going to love it.” Take a stroll around a vintage car show, and you'll see pops of color everywhere. You might spot a 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner in bright yellow, a common color in the muscle car era, or a 1975 Chevy Nova in sleek orange.
But parking garages and driveways today are filled with white, gray, and black cars—so what gives? Have drivers become more boring and, therefore, now choose more muted colors for their cars? White tops the charts, with 25% of all new car registrations in 2023 being white, according to Edmunds. To see what colors hold sway today in Iowa, CheapInsurance.com compiled a ranking of the most popular car colors using data from Edmunds , based on a national analysis .
Car colors were ranked based on their market share of new vehicle retail registrations to individuals in 2023. Neutrals still top the list of popular car colors, but there are some surprising shades when you get further down. Historically, there are several forces at play when it comes to changing color preferences in cars, including the development of various painting technologies over the years, larger economic trends, and, of course, consumers' preferences, the Consumerist explained.
Ford's original Model T was only offered in black since the black asphalt enamels used on the production line dried the quickest and were more durable than other oil-based options. Assembly-line innovations following World War I allowed for colored cars for the first time, and in 1923, Duco paint arrived on the scene, offering an additional array of beautiful colors. Car manufacturers often hire color experts and assemble focus groups to hypothesize what might be the hot new color, but for the past several decades, black, white, and their child, gray, have led the way in sales.
The recession in the early 2000s may have nudged consumers to more "neutral" colors, Barb Whalen, color and materials design manager at Ford Motor Company, told the Consumerist. Plus, Apple's sleek white tech products helped solidify the color (or lack thereof) as the hue of the future, as consumers may subconsciously decide to match their iPhone to their new Camry. Wondering what your state's color preferences have been? Read on to see the most popular car colors in Iowa.
- Market share: 6% - Market share: 8% - Market share: 22% - Market share: 22% Get local news delivered to your inbox!.
