Iowa center Austin Blythe’s pre-snap routine has become second nature.

He makes calls at the line of scrimmage, identifying the middle linebacker to set up blocking assignments on run plays, and counting blitzers in passing situations.

It’s his job to keep his fellow linemen in place on the field, and it’s his family’s to keep him balanced off of it.

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The Blythes don’t just play football, they are a wrestling family through and through. Austin’s father, Curt, wrestled at Williamsburg (Iowa) High in the early 1980s. His older brothers, Holden and Trenton, wrestled and played football before him, and his younger brother Corbin followed the same path.

As impressively athletic as the family is, Blythe began to stand out at the age of 15. He didn’t play varsity football his freshman year, but he contributed on the wrestling team. Observing the potential his younger brother had, Holden, then a senior, took it upon himself to help in typical older-brother fashion.

“He just pushed me in the practice room; it wasn’t fun going against him,” Austin said. “He would just destroy me. At the end of the year, I think I was 60 pounds heavier than him, and he would still kind of mop the mat with me.”

Austin wrestled well enough to qualify for the state wrestling tournament, where his dominance in the sport officially began. According to his high-school wrestling coach, Grant Eckenrod, one match foreshadowed the athletic prowess the state became familiar with over the next few years.

It came in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Blythe took on a senior named Marcus Roths from New Hampton who Eckenrod referred to as a “monster,” complimentary in the way only sports can make it. Blythe’s opponent was ranked No. 3 in his class.

Blythe came out on top. To this day it gives him chills.

“He hit a takedown in overtime that was an athletic move that usually you see out of your 130-pound kids; it was just incredible,” Eckenrod said. “When I saw that takedown, in that situation, it was unbelievable. I pretty much knew he had a shot at being very, very, very special after that.”

Austin and Holden competed in back-to-back matches in the semifinals that year — both advanced. Holden won the state championship at 215 pounds in his next bout, Austin lost and took runner-up at heavyweight. He won state each of his last three years of high school.

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Blythe’s father believes it was his son’s performance as a 15-year-old wrestler that put him on the map of Iowa football. Head coach Kirk Ferentz prefers multisport athletes over today’s generation of the specialized “pick-a-sport-and-stick-with-it” crop.

After his sophomore season of high-school football, his first on varsity, the Hawkeyes were sold and Blythe committed to the program, making a decision to eventually leave wrestling.

“It was a tough decision, but at the end of the day, it’s the total team aspect of football that I love,” he said.

He redshirted in 2011, sacrificing playing time for the chance to develop. What he gained was invaluable.

In camp that season, Blythe roomed with Ferentz’s son, James, then the starting center. James, now a Denver Bronco, carried on what his father calls a program tradition in bringing his eventual successor under his wing.

“I was overwhelmed a little bit by what college football took to be good,” Blythe said. “And he had it, and he did a good job of relaying that information to me. And just watching him, how he carried himself in practice throughout that first year really showed me how to be a good football player, how to be a good teammate, a good leader. He did a lot for me.”

Blythe started at guard his redshirt freshman season in 2012, then took over at center when James Ferentz graduated at season’s end. Blythe hasn’t missed a start since.

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Blythe is often asked to reflect on 2014 — the meltdown against Tennessee in the TaxSlayer Bowl, the 7-6 finish, and the outside discussion surrounding his coach’s job security.

He’s perhaps the exact person Kirk Ferentz wants to face the media. Well-spoken and intelligent, he knows how to stay in bounds in front of the press.

On the field, it’s much of the same. Blythe’s background fits nicely with his unique position. He’s mentally prepared to handle his role before the snap and physically prepared to be one of the best centers in the Big Ten.

Because of the example he sets, teammates see in him as a leader.

“He’s another leader of this offense, and he’s the leader of the offensive line, he gets them in the correct blocking schemes and all that kind of stuff,” quarterback C.J. Beathard said. “We have to be on the same page, or I’ll get hit in the back and not know who’s picked up and who’s protected.”

If one player on the team can carry extra weight on his shoulders, it’s Blythe. Responsibility and commitment are not new to him.

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At 23, Austin Blythe is a married man, the only one on the team. To him and those close to him, it’s not as unusual as it sounds.

In May, he married Kiley Ritchie, his high-school sweetheart — sort of. She’s the daughter of Curt Ritchie, Blythe’s high-school football coach. But the two didn’t start dating until they left for the University of Iowa.

Kiley said the two met in third grade and didn’t get along for much of their childhood. But through high school, they grew close, going to Homecoming together their junior year.

Missing home during her first semester, it wasn’t uncommon for Kiley to head back to Williamsburg on Fridays after class.

After one of those trips home, Kiley’s father, knowing Blythe was home for the weekend as well, asked him to drive his daughter back.

“We got to talking on our ride home to Iowa City,” she recalled. “And we just kind of hit it off, and I think that we both saw each other in a different way than we normally had.”

Blythe asked her out not long after, and the two have been together since.

His parents married young, too, as did his two older brothers. Away from the endless hours he puts into the program, Austin relishes any chance he can get with his family.

Curt Blythe isn’t the type of father to chide his son for mistakes on the field or revel in his accomplishments. When they’re together, football isn’t the main focus. Instead, they enjoy the opportunity to have loved ones together.

“Austin’s really good about leaving football at football,” Kiley said. “When he comes home, he’s home.”

It might be one reason Blythe decided to attend school in Iowa City, just 28 miles east of his hometown. An offer from Stanford was on the table; he spurned it for the opportunity to stay close by.

In just a few short months, he’ll likely relocate again — this time potentially in another part of the country.

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Since 2012, two centers have been selected in the first round of the NFL draft. In that time, 17 tackles and eight guards have been picked. Based on assessments from Hawkeye Gamefilm and Dane Brugler of CBS Sports, Blythe currently grades as a mid- to late-round prospect.

The scouts point to run blocking as a strength and pass blocking as a weaknesses. Both laud his recognition before the snap, and as Brugler puts it, “He is very smart and prepared and makes all the calls, communicating with his teammates.”

Hawkeye Gamefilm points to the same type of intangible attributes that have the center a lock for a shot in the pros, citing the criteria of Florida State offensive-line coach Rick Tricket.

“Rick Tricket lists his five traits for successful offensive linemen as: 1) Intelligence, 2) Toughness, 3) Work ethic, 4) High character, and 5) Athleticism,” Hawkeye Gamefilm said. “Blythe is at least an average athlete for an offensive center and fits the other points perfectly.”

At this point, the NFL is still a dream, though in the grand scheme of things, it might not be far off. For now, however, Blythe has other things on his mind.

“At this point in time, every game for us from here on out is going to be an elimination game,” Blythe said. “We have some goals left to accomplish, and it starts with a good game Friday against a good team, and we’ll go from there.”

Iowa’s two remaining games could cement this squad in history. On Friday, a dangerous Nebraska team hosts the Hawkeyes in Lincoln. Although the team has a spot in the Big Ten title game locked up, one loss would be a huge blow against making the four-team College Football Playoff in January.

Then comes the conference championship game. Michigan State controls its destiny in the East. If Iowa were to win its last two conference tests, the College Football Poll committee would be hard pressed to snub it.

This season, Blythe plays for something bigger than the TaxSlayer Bowl.

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On Nov. 21, Iowa’s seniors ran onto the turf of Kinnick Stadium one final time. Kiley, Curt, and mother Mary were there to greet him.

When asked about what’s different about this season, he’ll always say that it started in January, in the weight room, with a new team mentality. That mentality is maintained throughout the program by players such as Blythe. It’s why he and term leader are synonymous among his teammates and coaches.

It’s why the team is in a position to finish the regular season 12-0 on Friday and is guaranteed to play for the conference crown. Even the College Football Playoff is in reach.

The hard work is paying off for Blythe. Winning isn’t even the best part, and his last few games in a Hawkeye uniform are poised to come on the biggest of stages.