football coach at Adel, recalled that "Kinnick was determined to go to some school that was down ... He didn't want to go to Minnesota, because they were on top ... He finally went to Iowa as he figured they were at their lowest ebb." The account is persuasive, because it was typical of Kinnick. To start from nothing and test himself against his own weakness as well as outside resistance were challenges Kinnick always pursued if they were available. He was recruited to Iowa by Coach Ossie Solem in 1936. Kinnick was named the co-captain of the freshman team. He also played baseball and basketball his freshman year. After the 1936 season, Solem left Iowa to go to Syracuse University, and the University of Iowa hired Irl Tubbs to replace him. As a sophomore, Kinnick was terrific, but the Hawkeyes just could not win. Iowa battled Washington, the eventual Pacific Coast Conference champions, to the wire in a 14–0 defeat and then scored an early victory over Bradley University. It was Iowa's only win of the year. But opponents raved about Kinnick. After scoring Iowa's only touchdown in a 13–6 loss to Wisconsin, Solem wrote the Des Moines Register sportswriter Sec Taylor from Syracuse, "I was sure that Kinnick was destined to be the greatest back in all Iowa history, and I am more convinced than ever that he will be." Iowa lost all five Big Ten Conference games in 1937. The "heartbreaking" loss was a 7–6 defeat at the hands of Michigan, despite Kinnick's 74-yard punt return for a touchdown. Sportswriter Bert McGrane wrote, "I can't recall a single break that favored Iowa ... You'd think Iowa would win the toss by accident once in a while." Iowa had not won the coin toss in 13 games. Kinnick, the lone bright spot of the 1937 season, led the nation in punting and was named first team All-Big Ten and a third team All-American. Kinnick played basketball, too, and he was Iowa's second leading scorer and the 15th leading scorer in the Big Ten his sophomore year in 1937–38. After a brief stint in baseball that summer, Nile dropped the third sport. In 1938, he hurt his ankle in preseason football practice and was not at full strength for his entire junior year. Kinnick played through the pain, but it hampered his effectiveness. His Christian Science beliefs limited the