This season’s version of the Iowa football team is going to have a very different look to it compared with the squad that swarmed into Kinnick last season.

Gone is Mackey Award-winning tight end T.J. Hockenson, as well as fellow first-round NFL Draft pick Noah Fant. Reigning Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year Amani Hooker also declared for the draft a year early, as did the Big Ten’s third-leading sack man, Anthony Nelson.

Add in the graduations of team captain Parker Hesse, starting offensive linemen Ross Reynolds and Keegan Render, sure-handed slot receiver Nick Easley, and several other now-former Hawkeyes, and Iowa has plenty of adjustments that need to be made before opening kickoff against Miami (Ohio) on Aug.t 31.

The good news for Iowa is this is not a new spot for head coach Kirk Ferentz.

“We lost a lot of good players, but I think we have some really good players coming back,” hes said. “They’ll kind of be the guys that will have to lead the way a little bit for us and hopefully when September rolls around, late August, we’ll be able to play competitive football.”

Now entering Year 21 as the leader of the Iowa football program, Ferentz has dealt with his fair share of roster turnover in the past, experience that can only make this season’s transition much smoother.

Ferentz pointed out at the Big Ten media days that, especially this time of the year, no one knows who is going to step up and contribute.

“Brad Banks, August 2002, or July, whenever it was we had these meetings then, nobody even knew who the guy was,” he said. “He hadn’t started a game in major college football, ends up being the runner-up to the Heisman, AP Player of the Year, Big Ten Player of the Year.”

RELATED: Hawkeyes relish deep depth chart

The same could be said for last year’s team — nobody predicted Hockenson would win the Mackey Award or be a top-10 NFL Draft pick.

At the same time, Ferentz acknowledged that a team can’t just replace players who declared for the NFL, let alone one who went in the first round.

“On that team, Bob Sanders, Dallas Clark, two other guys, Robert Gallery, those guys graduated, then next year [Nate] Kaeding,” Ferentz said. “You don’t replace guys like that. They’re legendary players. I think any time you talk about losing a first-round player, that’s a pretty special accomplishment.”

Iowa could find itself in the same boat a year from now, as the team will likely lose more talent to the NFL.

Along with the 21 to be graduating seniors, A.J. Epenesa, Tristan Wirfs, and Alaric Jackson could enter their last seasons as a Hawkeye.

Draft analysts have fallen in love with the three young Hawkeyes, and numerous media outlets have projected the trio to be drafted in the first round of the 2020 draft if they declare early. Epenesa has been described as a top-five pick, according to ESPN draft insider Mel Kiper Jr., an opinion shared by many in the industry.

No matter the departures or the roster for this season or the next, Ferentz is just focused at finding the right player to put on the field.

You just never know how guys are going to emerge, how they’re going to develop, and how they’re going to play and compete on the field,” Ferentz said. “But that’s just football. You kind of adjust every year to where your strengths are and try to feature the guys that you know can do a good job for you.”