Jeremy Hecklinski says Iowa’s quarterback battle has stayed simple in his mind: split the reps, keep competing, and be ready whenever his turn comes.
With Iowa set to face Northern Illinois on Saturday, Hecklinski said Tuesday that the Hawkeyes still haven’t been told who will start. For now, he and Hank Brown are sharing the work in practice and leaning on each other while the staff keeps the decision close to the vest.
“We're still splitting reps, and we're just taking it day by day. Me and Hank are cheering each other on and also competing.”
That uncertainty is part of the deal, but Hecklinski said he’s trying not to let it turn into noise. He pointed back to a situation last season against Wisconsin, when Mark had gone down and the quarterback picture changed fast, as one of the few times he’s felt anything close to this kind of wait-and-see setup.
“I don't think I have entered a game with this much uncertainty. Maybe last year against Wisconsin when Mark had gone down or whatever, and we didn't know what was going on. But I mean, I'm not so much uncertainty as it is, just be ready when my number gets called.”
His approach has been to stay locked on the next snap instead of the bigger picture. That mindset has shaped the week for him and Brown as Iowa works toward Saturday without revealing which quarterback will take the field first.
“Yeah, we're honing in on days and just not looking ahead too far and just being, 'What do I gotta do next? What's this next play?' One play life is kind of what I like to call it, and I'm just focused on what's in front of me.”
Hecklinski said the coaching staff has only told the quarterbacks that the reps will keep getting divided through the week and a call will be made later. Even with the uncertainty, he said the two quarterbacks are prepared for either outcome and trust the plan in place.
“They haven't said much. Just that we're going to continue to split reps throughout the week, and then they'll make the call call when that time comes.”
“The staff hasn't said much, just we're going to continue to split reps throughout the week, and then they'll make the call when that time comes.”
“We don't really know who's going to be out there on the field on Saturday. We know scheme and stuff like that, but me and Hank are just preparing for whoever's going to play and we have each other's backs.”
“It’s a different process, but we trust in Coach Ferentz and Coach Lester and what they're doing.”
“We have no idea when the starter will be named, no. We haven't been told anything, we're just focusing day at a time.”
Hecklinski also pointed to his Kids’ Day performance as a sign that the connection with Iowa’s receivers is building.
“I think it was just an accumulation of building that trust between receiver and quarterback and then also just knowing what's going on at all times. ... It makes you feel good when you go out there and perform like that, but you've got to continue to grind every day and keep showing up and work.”
By his own assessment, fall camp gave Iowa a chance to sharpen that chemistry.
“I thought it was good. I thought a good fall camp, and it was good to get with all the guys and build that chemistry more. I thought we were executing very highly.”
As for Northern Illinois, Hecklinski said Iowa is expecting something different because of how much the defense has changed.
“I mean, they got a lot of new guys. I think the whole defense is basically new, so seeing what they come out in will be interesting. But, we have a basic knowledge of what their scheme is.”
He said his preparation for this season has gone deeper than it did a year ago. Last year, he was still learning the offense and getting only limited work. This time, he’s spending more time on film study and digging into how defenses are put together.
“Last year, I would have been a three, so I was not getting a whole lot of reps, kind of still learning the offense. But this year, it's more diving deeper into the scheme of the defense and things like that and really understanding what they do and how we can beat them.”
“I mean, diving deeper into things, staying late here, watching more film. I was on the phone with a couple of my ex-quarterback buddies, like 'How do you dissect film?
How do you look at defenses and how do you study the film?' And I think that's kind of brought out a sense of studying in me that I didn't know I had, so it's been good to grow in that field.”
Hecklinski said he reached out to Mark Gronowski and also to Hank Bachmeier, who was a close friend of his at Wake Forest. The message he got was simple.
“I talked to Mark (Gronowski) on, I don't know if it was Sunday or Saturday, but I talked to Mark and then I was at Wake Forest, it was Hank Bachmeier. He was a really close friend of mine.”
“He was just telling me to be myself. That's what everybody's been telling me, just be myself and play my game.”
He doesn’t see the quarterback competition as a distraction. To him, it’s part of the job, and part of what makes the position demanding.
“I think football is the ultimate competition, so you have to be a competitor to play the sport. In a quarterback competition, it's fun, there are ups and downs, and you kind of just have to roll with the punches at all times. But definitely have to put your best foot forward every day.”
“I haven't really had any problems with it, because when I'll go, I'll do my plays, and then I'll step out, and I'll watch, and I'll learn. I'll take mental reps from Hank.”
When mistakes happen, Hecklinski said the key is moving on quickly.
“You've got to fail fast and move on, Coach Lester says it all the time. Football's an imperfect game, and we're imperfect people. So you're going to make mistakes, things are going to happen, you've just got to focus on the next play after that and continue to build on good plays.”
Hecklinski said he’s been through something similar before. In high school, he split reps with an older quarterback, and that experience is helping him handle this week.
“My freshman and sophomore year of high school, I split reps with a senior who was ahead of me.”
“This week just kinda thinking, I've been in this position before, kind of looking back on how I handled it then and how I've grown since to kinda be able to handle it now.”
He said his mindset has changed since then, too.
“I would say when I was in high school, my freshman year when we competed and stuff like that, I was kind of focused on being better than he was. But as I kind of progressed throughout that season, into my sophomore year, it's more like, just be the best me I can be. I feel like that's where I'm getting at right now.”
He admitted he can be hard on himself, but he’s trying to balance that edge with the need to reset quickly.
“ I would say I'm pretty hard on myself, but I'm learning to be able to fail fast and move on. Get on yourself a little bit, maybe cuss yourself out a little bit, but then you gotta move on to the next play, cuz that's what the quarterback life is.”
Even with the competition still unresolved, Hecklinski said the process hasn’t taken the fun out of it.
“We're still having a lot of fun, and I'm enjoying it. It's fun to be in those meetings and game plan with Coach Lester and stuff like that, so I wouldn't say it takes any of the fun away.
I would say we're just focused on -- today we're focused on practice today, and tomorrow we're gonna be focused on practice tomorrow. So it's just one day at a time, focusing on that.”
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