The transfer portal window has officially closed, and across the college football landscape, teams are locking in their rosters and shifting focus toward spring ball. For the Iowa Hawkeyes, that means it’s time to get to work with what they’ve got-and what they’ve got is a familiar formula that’s kept them in the Big Ten mix for years.
Now sitting at No. 8 in CBS Sports’ post-portal power rankings for the Big Ten, Iowa finds itself right where it often does: not flashy, but firmly in the conversation. That’s the Hawkeye way. They’re the team you can pencil in for eight wins before the season even kicks off, and if things break right, they’ll push for more.
Last season, they were one of the few teams that managed to put up a fight against Indiana, a small but telling reminder that Iowa doesn’t back down. The offense took a meaningful step forward in 2025, thanks in large part to quarterback Mark Gronowski.
He brought stability and playmaking to a position that’s seen more turnover than a bakery on a Sunday morning. But now he’s gone, and that leaves Iowa with a big question mark under center heading into 2026.
The Hawkeyes didn’t dip into the portal for a new QB, which means the job likely falls to either Jeremy Hecklinski or Hank Brown. Between them, they’ve thrown just 75 career passes.
That’s not a ton of experience, but it’s not unfamiliar territory for Iowa either. This is a program that’s cycled through a carousel of quarterbacks in recent years-Spencer Petras, Alex Padilla, Cade McNamara, Deacon Hill, Jackson Stratton, and Gronowski have all taken their turns trying to steady the ship.
And yet, through it all, Iowa has stayed true to its identity. This is a team built on defense, trench play, and a ground game that wears you down. They’re not trying to outscore you in a shootout; they’re trying to beat you up at the line of scrimmage and grind out wins the old-fashioned way.
That formula might seem outdated in today’s high-octane college football world, but it works-especially when the quarterback play is even just serviceable. If Hecklinski or Brown can give Iowa anything close to what Gronowski brought last year, the Hawkeyes are going to be a tough out once again.
So while the Big Ten’s top tier might feel like a guessing game right now, don’t be surprised if Iowa is still hanging around in November, doing what they do best-playing smart, physical football and making life miserable for teams that overlook them.