Kirk Ferentz has been through many spring practices in his long tenure as Iowa football coach – 26 to be exact. The world has changed drastically in those 26 years, something Ferentz admits he’s a little slow to adapt to.
But what hasn’t changed is Ferentz’s love for football, especially spring practice. For Ferentz, spring ball provides a chance for him and his staff to teach and mentor his young athletes without focusing on game strategies and preparations. Spring also means a short period of relaxation and even a dinner date with his wife, Mary, a moment he considered “a really big deal.”
“But outside of that, what I enjoy is being with our players,” Ferentz said. “That’s the fun of coaching. Spring allows you that, especially with the non-game planning part, which is a challenge in itself, and that’s fun, as well.”
The closing of the women’s basketball season and the hiring of Ben McCollum as the new men’s basketball coach has resulted in a chaotic few days for Iowa athletics, but the attention once again focuses on Ferentz and the football team as the begin their lengthy preparations for the 2025 campaign.
March 26 marks the opening of spring practice, signaling that a new football season is slowly on its way. It will be Ferentz’s 27th spring practice as the Hawkeyes’ head coach. The coach discussed his roster at his opening spring press conference on Wednesday:
New faces
Iowa will bring in plenty of new faces to its roster and coaching staff in 2025. One of those notable additions was quarterback Mark Gronowski out of the transfer portal. The 6-foot-3 Gronowski comes to Iowa City as the likely 2025 starter after a successful career with South Dakota State, where he tallied over 10,000 passing yards and led the Jackrabbits to consecutive Football Championship Subdivision national championships in 2023 and 2024.
Gronowski underwent shoulder surgery shortly after he announced his comittment to the Hawkeyes in January. The senior won’t participate in any on-field team workouts until June due to the injury, but Ferentz offered a positive prognosis for his young signal-caller on Wednesday.
“I think he’ll be throwing lightly here,” Ferentz said. “Probably in a couple of weeks, but not with the team. The biggest area right now is just to make sure nobody runs into him or he doesn’t fall down. So just being cautious with that with him. But the recovery’s going great.”
While roster turnover is expected in the NIL era, the coaching staff has also changed. Running backs coach Ladell Betts left Iowa in February to take the same position with the NFL’s New York Giants, and was replaced by New England Patriots assistant coach Omar Young. Young, 41, previously coached for the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns, and at various colleges.
Ferentz said that the Hawkeyes interviewed three candidates for the open position, but Young “rose” out of the trio.
“I think with his experience and the places he’s been, some of the systems he’s been involved in, the transition is going to be easy for him,” Ferentz said. “Also he’ll add to the equation. He has good personal skills. He’s walking into a good room.”
Iowa also added Warren Ruggiero as a senior offensive analyst on March 3. Ruggiero comes to Iowa City after serving 11 seasons as the offensive coordinator at Wake Forest under Dave Clawson. Ruggiero’s offenses were regularly among the best in the Atlantic Coast Conference, highlighted by a 2021 season that saw the Demon Deacons score a school-record 574 points. Ruggiero was named a finalist for the Broyles Award that year, given to the top assistant coach in college football.
“He’s going to be doing some advance work, and it’s great he’s been here now probably five, six, seven weeks, so he’s really learning what we’re doing, what we do, and then obviously he has a lot of good ideas, too, which is really nice,” Ferentz said. “He has a wealth and depth of experience.”
Depth in the secondary
The Hawkeyes have produced elite defenses for years under Phil Parker, but the 2024 unit took a disappointing step backwards. Iowa allowed only 17.8 points per game, but the normally-clutch defense failed to come through in crucial moments. It allowed 20 second half points in a loss against Iowa State, failed to force a single punt against Michigan State, and crumbled in the Music City Bowl against Missouri.
One primary factor for these struggles could be the Hawkeyes’ depth, or lack thereof, in the secondary. Iowa was experienced in that department last year, but veterans such as Quinn Schulte and Sebastian Castro struggled. Both of those guys have now moved on along with sophomore cornerback John Nestor, who entered the transfer portal on Tuesday.
Ferentz acknowledged the lack of depth in the room, but is hopeful spring practice will help some of the younger players grow.
“I’m excited to see what happens,” Ferentz said. “I think we’ve got a lot of guys. I’ll start with Deshaun [Lee] and TJ [Hall]. Both of them have improved in the winter program. They’re stronger, more mature, tested out much better than a year ago or two years ago, which is what you’re hoping will happen. Then we’ve got some young guys behind them that are eager to have an opportunity, too.”