When he’s not sprinting down the field, Kaden Wetjen is still. Very still. The Iowa football team’s kick and punt returner waits near the end zone, arms at his sides. The ball will arrive eventually – all he has to do is wait.
The 22-year-old has been in this position plenty of times before. Spending his off days perched up in a tree or planted along a river bank, Wetjen’s hunting and fishing experiences have made him well-versed in patience.
“It’s a perfect fit,” he said.
A deer won’t immediately cross his line of sight. Neither will a bass instantly snag his bait. The same applies on the football field. Finding success is a long process, but is worth the wait.
In his fourth season of college football, Wetjen has carved out a role on the Hawkeyes as a dynamic playmaker on special teams recording 432 kick return yards and another 260 on punts – each ranking atop the Big Ten.
For Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, these prolific numbers were more so a surprise than an expectation.
“I don’t mind telling you going into the season I was a little worried about him,” Ferentz said of Wetjen. “Judgment, fielding balls. I’ll say that; I’ll admit it now. But he’s certainly earned my trust.”
Before receiving Ferentz’s vote of confidence, Wetjen had to grab the attention of the Iowa coaching staff. Born in Iowa City, Wetjen grew up 30 minutes west of Kinnick Stadium in Williamsburg, Iowa. A star at Williamsburg High School, Wetjen scored 31 touchdowns his senior season while playing at running back, wide receiver, and defensive back.
Despite this success, scholarship offers were few, confined to the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
Rather than play at the FCS level, Wetjen opted to take an untraditional route and play junior college ball, enrolling at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
“I knew it could make it at the Division-1 level, and I just had to prove it,” he said.
Wetjen quickly blossomed into a star for the Reivers, collecting 952 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. He was a formidable wide receiver, posting 304 yards and one touchdown on 18 receptions, but made a name for himself returning kicks, scoring two touchdowns on punt returns while also adding 129 yards on kickoff returns.
His efforts propelled Iowa Western to a 10-1 record and a berth in the NJCAA National Championship Game, where the Reivers lost to the New Mexico Military Institute, 31-13.
Despite the loss, Wetjen ultimately achieved his goal of playing high-level football, earning a preferred walk-on offer from Ferentz and Iowa prior to the 2022 season. He credits the strong culture of the Reiver program for helping him achieve his goals.
Wetjen didn’t see any game action during his first season as a Hawkeye, but he played in all 14 games during the 2023 season. Watching film of former Iowa return stars Charlie Jones and Tim Dwight – each of whom played in the NFL – Wetjen said he learned how to utilize speed.
This tutelage paid off in 2023 when he led the team with 14 kickoff returns for 335 yards. He averaged 23.9 yards per return on those attempts, which ranked fourth in the Big Ten.
Following the season, Wetjen earned Iowa’s Next Man In award for special teams, a recognition awarded by Ferentz to the players that have stepped up with the “next man in” mentality.
“Since he’s been here, he seems like he enjoys football, enjoys the group, being part of the team,” Ferentz said. “He’s typically a pretty positive guy.”
“I think anytime Kaden has the ball in his hands, it’s good for us to try to give him the ball whenever we can,” special teams coordinator LeVar Woods added. “He’s pretty fearless, and that’s one of the first traits you look for.”
After breaking out in 2023, the next step for Wetjen was to find the end zone, and he appeared to do just that in the season opener against Illinois State.
With five minutes to play in the opening quarter, Wetjen snatched a low, line-drive punt from Redbird punter Hayden Futch and found a gaping hole on the right side of the field, walking in for what seemed to be an easy touchdown.
After hearing the roar of the Kinnick crowd as he crossed the goal line, he initially thought the play was clean. But just as Wetjen turned around, he saw the dreaded yellow penalty flag resting near the 50-yard line.
“I was, like, ‘That’s just great,’” he said with a smile.
As the season wore on, Wetjen continued to come close to the long-awaited score, but came up short each time. One defender would always bring him to the turf.
“People don’t realize how hard of a job that is,” Ferentz said. “I think that’s one of the hardest jobs on the football field, maybe outside of playing quarterback.”
Wetjen’s difficult job finally bore the fruits of its labor in Iowa’s game against Northwestern on Oct. 26.
With under nine minutes to play in the third quarter and Iowa leading 19-7, Wetjen wiggled through a multitude of Wildcat defenders into the open field, then tightroped the near sideline for an 85-yard touchdown, sending the crowd at Kinnick Stadium into a frenzy.
Wetjen again turned around looking for a flag, but this time, there were none, but his touchdown wasn’t official yet. The play was placed under review to make sure he was in bounds – much to Wetjen’s dismay.
“I was like, again, ‘Man are you serious?’” Wetjen said.
After a few minutes, replay confirmed what Wetjen and the crowd already knew – the celebration was on. Swarmed by his teammates,Wetjen joked he may have gotten a concussion from all the pats on his helmet.
Just one year ago, the 5-foot-10 Wetjen said he was outmatched by taller and stronger Nebraska defenders. In the Hawkeyes game against the Cornhuskers last November, Wetjen was hit so hard his face mask bent in. As Ferentz said, Wetjen’s job doesn’t come without struggles, but it requires determination.
“Just put your head down and run,” Wetjen said. “That’s really the key to being a successful returner. You got guys flying full speed at you, so you might as well do the same thing back at them.”