As the weather warms and the grass begins turning back to its usual green color, Iowa football head coach Kirk Ferentz prepares for his 28th year on the sidelines at Kinnick Stadium. Ferentz has led the Hawkeyes to 13 consecutive winning seasons and looks to repeat that success with unfamiliar faces on the roster.

Iowa finished 9-4 in 2025 with a 34-27 win over No. 14 Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Dec. 31, 2025. The Hawkeyes landed at 17 in the AP and Coaches’ poll, finishing sixth in the Big Ten with a 6-3 conference record.

This year’s spring practices are in full swing for the Hawkeyes, as young and talented transfers look to make a name for themselves in the Big Ten. 

A new look

The transfer portal giveth, and the transfer portal taketh away. Iowa football has been the epitome of that phrase this offseason, losing key starters on defense but replacing them with young talent.

The big move of the offseason defensively was safety Koen Entringer transferring to Louisville after starting every game and racking up a career-high 73 tackles in 2025. Entringer also served as a captain for the team, even representing the Hawkeyes at Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas before last season.

Other contributors transferred out, but none were as big of a loss as Entringer. With Iowa’s other safety, Xavier Nwankpa, graduating and preparing for the NFL Draft, the Hawkeyes were left with a mostly empty secondary.

Ferentz and staff, however, wasted no time replacing those losses with high-level FCS talent. The goal of the transfer portal was simple: find players with something to prove and multiple years of eligibility. 

The Hawkeyes crushed that goal, with just one of 16 transfers being a senior. Iowa also addressed its positional needs in the portal, picking up four defensive linemen, four defensive backs, and three wide receivers.

Perhaps two of the biggest portal additions on the defensive side of the ball are safeties Tyler Brown and Anthony Hawkins.

Brown, a junior from James Madison, racked up 80 tackles and five tackles for loss last season, earning him an all-conference selection. Hawkins, coming in from Villanova, recorded 59 tackles, two interceptions, and nine pass breakups.

Brown, Hawkins, and other young additions to the defensive back room have earned early praise from their new teammates.

“Tyler Brown, Anthony Hawkins, the transfers, we really need help from them,” junior defensive back Jaylen Watson said at media availability on March 31. “A  lot of younger guys, Darien Jones, Marcello Vitti, it’s been a great addition to everybody that comes to the room, just trying to teach them the way and how we do things.”

Junior defensive back Zach Lutmer also noted the importance of getting together as a position group outside of practice and outside the facility to build a strong relationship with each of the new additions.

“We’ve gotten together outside of practice and outside the facility to really get to know each other,” Lutmer said. “Because there’s a lot of new faces, and you’ve got to get to know someone before you can get to next to him on the field and make calls with them and know what each other’s going to call. So I think that’s the biggest thing.”

Bolstered offense

Iowa not only collected talent on the defensive side but offensively as well. The Hawkeyes made a splash in landing wide receiver Tony Diaz from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Diaz was a highly sought after transfer, with offers from Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Illinois.

Diaz has quickly turned heads at practice for the Hawkeyes with his ability to make big plays and go up for the ball. It’s not often that Ferentz discusses wide receivers, but he couldn’t help but mention Diaz’s talent and attitude in the early-going.

“Last year he really caught the ball,” Ferentz said. “I’m a dumb line coach, but the receiver’s first job is to catch the ball, and he likes to catch balls. No matter where they’re at, he’ll find a way to catch it. He runs well, and he has a great attitude.”

In 2025, Diaz caught 67 passes for 881 yards and 11 touchdowns. The 5-foot-11 receiver will pair with the potential number one target, Reece Vander Zee, who hauled in 15 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns in eight games last season.

While the Hawkeyes offense has been considered a laughing stock for most of college football for the last eight to 10 years, offensive coordinator Tim Lester has begun to turn the tide on the narrative.

Since Lester took over in 2024, Iowa went from averaging 15 points per game in 2023 to nearly 30 points per game over the last two seasons. The Hawkeyes hope their new offensive weapons can help continue that upward trend in 2026.

Iowa made multiple moves in its running back room, including a change at running backs coach. Former Colorado State head coach and former Hawkeye defensive back Jay Norvell joined the staff as an analyst on Feb. 4. 

Norvell was then elevated to the running backs coach position after Omar Young left for a job in the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Norvell joins the staff with nine years of head coaching experience, including five years at Nevada and four at Colorado State. Ferentz said Norvell and other assistants who have head coaching experience have enjoyed working directly with their positions.

“I think they probably don’t mind not worrying about this and this and just fully jumping in with the offense and jumping in with their players or defense, whatever the case may be,” Ferentz said. “Yeah, it’s just pure coaching. It’s a pretty good deal.”

Iowa returns around 77 percent of its yards recorded by running backs last season, with leading rusher Kamari Moulton returning for his fourth season. The Hawkeyes also added South Dakota transfer L.J. Phillips. The 5-foot-9 back rushed for over 1,900 yards and 19 touchdowns with the Coyotes in 2025. 

Quarterback battle

None of these offensive weapons can work, however, without the quarterback, a position Iowa has struggled with for a long time. Following one season of Mark Gronowski at the helm, the Hawkeyes turn to a competition between two promising quarterbacks.

Hank Brown transferred from Auburn to Iowa in December 2024, while sophomore Jeremy Hecklinski joined the Hawkeyes prior to the 2025 season. Both have gathered plenty of experience with Lester and his system while on the bench last season.

Brown was listed as the number two quarterback on the depth chart for the first half of the season before Hecklinski climbed the chart to jump him for the backup spot. 

Early in spring practices, both have shown flashes of being a solid option for Iowa under center while having vastly different qualities. 

Hecklinski has shown fearlessness in his ability to push the ball down field and plays with a “gunslinger” mentality, while Brown likes to take what the defense gives him and play a more methodical offense.

While the two are different in on-field attributes and personality, Ferentz believes there’s not a set way to play quarterback, and that the battle between the two will likely continue up until week one.

“Jeremy’s got a good attitude, and he and Hank are different players in terms of statistically but also personality-wise,” Ferentz said. “I think if you learn one thing in football — whether it’s pro, college, it doesn’t matter — there’s no set way to do things. It’s about playing within yourself, who you are, and maximizing what it is that you bring to the game and both those guys are working really hard at it.”

The Hawkeyes will hold their annual open spring practice at Kinnick Stadium on April 25 at 10:45 a.m., with gates opening at 9:45 a.m. The practice will feature positional drills and a scrimmage. The practice is free to attend.