Iowa Football Recruiting: 3-Star DB Khalil Tate Commits to Hawkeyes

The Iowa Hawkeyes have been absolutely rolling on the recruiting trail. Since hosting their big official visit weekend at the end of June, the Hawkeyes have landed four big time commitments to help jump the recruiting class to the highest ranking in more than 15 years.

Now, the recruiting cycle isn’t done yet and there are sure to be some major movements between now and signing day. But Iowa continues to keep the ball rolling by adding highly ranked prospects, as well as commitments from preps who had big time offers and narrowed their finalist lists down to Iowa and a few key rivals.

On Tuesday, the next in that line was Chicago defensive back Kahlil Tate, who announced his commitment to the Hawkeyes.

Tate made the announcement live on YouTube via a conversation with 247 Sports. He was surrounded by his parents and head coach while ultimately leaving the official announcement up to his younger brother. Tate credited his family and coaches for helping to shape his future while also thanking everyone involved for helping to open doors early for his younger brother.

You can view the entire discussion here.

Tate is yet another incredible weapon for Phil Parker in what is becoming an overflowing arsenal. The Kenwood Academy product has positional flexibility in the secondary but is expected to get a look at safety initially.

A 3-star prospect, Tate has good length for a defensive back at 6’1”. On film, he shows off some great straight line speed on the offensive side of the ball, often running past defenders or outrunning them in a chase to the goal line. On the defensive side of the ball, he’s got great instincts to go with that speed and length. He has a nose for the football and tends to keep an eye inside at the QB.

Part of the reason Tate is likely to start his career at safety, however, is his big hit ability. Multiple times on film he appear shot out of a cannon as he comes up in run support or even makes a break downfield on special teams for a bone-shaking shot.

As a junior, he amassed 65 tackles, 5 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles on defense, as well as 451 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns on the offensive side of the ball.

All that led to a slew of offers from the Chicago native. Tate amassed more than 20 offers in total, including from Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Illinois, Oregon, Tennessee, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Boston College, Syracuse and others.

Tate is the second Chicago native to join Parker’s secondary in this year’s class joining Marist safety John Nestor. He’s also the third commitment in the class to hail from the Land of Lincoln along with Gilman offensive lineman Cannon Leondard. The addition takes Iowa up to 16 total commitments in the class of 2023 and jumps the Hawkeyes back up to 15th in the national rankings according to Rivals while 247 Sports is as of yet not updated with the Hawkeyes still holding at 19th nationally.

Welcome aboard, Kahlil Tate!

Khalil Tate, S
Ht: 6’1”
Wt: 185 lbs
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois (Kenwood)
Stars: 247 Sports - 3; Rivals - 3