Schaumburg's Iannotti headed to Northern Iowa

The ability to stay calm in tough situations led Anthony Iannotti to the most prolific season for a quarterback in Schaumburg history.

It also served Iannotti well in a long, drawn-out football recruiting process that finally ended last week.

The Cook County honorary captain of the 2008 Daily Herald All-Area football team is headed to Northern Iowa. Iannotti, who scored 35 on the ACT, said he will receive the equivalent of a full scholarship split nearly 50-50 between academics and athletics.

"My patience paid off in the end," Iannotti said.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Iannotti completed 70 percent of his passes for 2,441 yards with 26 touchdowns and 4 interceptions and ran for 953 yards as the Saxons reached the Class 8A quarterfinals.

But numbers that surpassed eventual NFL quarterbacks Paul Justin and Kurt Kittner didn't result in huge college interest.

Iannotti had Ivy League schools interested, but a lack of athletic scholarships didn't make it a financial fit. He was considering walking on at Iowa.

Then, after the February signing date, Iannotti started looking online for teams that hadn't recruited a quarterback.

"Northern Iowa caught my eye," Iannotti said of the 2008 Football Championship Series (formerly Division I-AA) semifinalist.

Iannotti said he sent some film, and head coach Mark Stilling called the Panthers' coaches. Iannotti said they were immediately interested, and he went for a visit around Easter.

But Northern Iowa's staff, including co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco, told Iannotti he would have to be patient until scholarship money was available. The call finally came last week.

"Every coach was excited there and wanted to get something done so bad," said Iannotti, who also credited Schaumburg offensive coordinator Mark Steger for preparing him for college. "They were baffled nothing had happened for me, even with other schools in the (Missouri Valley) conference.

"They said they would do whatever they could to get it done, and I'm glad they did."

Iannotti expects to redshirt this season and then have a chance to compete for the starting job the next season.

"I never lost hope I'd get a deal done here," said Iannotti, who plans to study criminal justice and hopes to eventually become a crime scene investigation detective.

"It's just a great program, and I love the facilities there. It's a great opportunity."