Iowa has spent a generation building its identity around a simple idea: “win, graduate, do it right.” That wasn’t just a slogan in Iowa City. It became the way Hawkeye fans explained the program to themselves when the trophies didn’t quite match the consistency.
Now, as NIL has reshaped college sports into something far messier than the people in charge ever wanted to admit, Iowa has found a way to stay recognizable. The money has changed the game, but the Hawkeyes have not chased it the way some others have. Instead, they’ve leaned even harder into the same traits that defined them before NIL ever arrived.
That approach has helped Iowa keep finding the right kind of leaders in its major programs. The football side has had only two coaches in 50 years, and men’s basketball appears to be moving toward another long-term fit as well. In a sport where coaches have been coming and going at a wild pace, that kind of stability stands out.
A lot of the current turnover around college athletics gets blamed on the broader environment, and there’s plenty to point to: talent bunching up at the wealthiest schools, transfers piling up every year, and players often making more to move to a top program than they would at the professional level in many cases. Then there’s the NCAA itself, which keeps trying to regain control and keeps losing in court.
Iowa, though, has kept pushing forward through all of it. If anything, the Hawkeyes seem to be performing better in the middle of the chaos.
For football coach Kirk Ferentz and his staff, the modern landscape has actually clarified the process. They’re not trying to win a bidding war for the biggest payday.
That isn’t realistic, and it’s not really the point. Instead, the program can identify cultural fits earlier, especially when other schools are spending so freely that recruits reveal their priorities almost immediately.
As the article notes, kids asking about their payday in the first 20 minutes of a visit are probably not built to last once competition actually starts deciding roles.
That self-selection works in Iowa’s favor. Ferentz and company have always valued fit, and now they can build the roster in the image they want with even more precision.
Returning players get the bulk of the money, the trenches and defense remain the priority, and the Hawkeyes can still be selective elsewhere. This cycle, that meant putting money into wide receiver after not needing to add a quarterback for the first time in the Tim Lester era.
Early signs suggest the investment in players like Tony Diaz could pay off.
Ben McCollum looks like he’s taking a similar path on the basketball side. His first year in Iowa City is still too early to fully define, but the early evidence points in the same direction as the football program: recruit for fit, value defense, and build carefully. He’s been focused on the high school ranks, even if the transition from the Fran era has required some portal spending along the way.
That formula mattered right away. In year one, McCollum’s team pushed past the ceiling that had been there before him and turned what was essentially a Drake and D2 Northwest Missouri State roster into an Elite Eight team.
It’s all in the DNA.
The bigger question now hangs over Ferentz. McCollum is just getting started and has momentum to build on.
Ferentz, meanwhile, has already shown he can adapt to the new world better than most people expected. The ongoing mess of college athletics probably won’t be what pushes him out the door.
But how much longer he wants to keep running things in Iowa City is another matter entirely.
In Other News...
Luka Garza Just Earned Another Huge Chance To Prove He Belongs
Luka Garza is getting another meaningful runway this summer, and it comes far from Iowa City. The former Hawkeye has been set to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers, adding another layer to a career that has already taken him from college stardom to the Boston Celtics and now back onto an international stage.
For Garza, the timing matters. He just turned in a career-best season in Boston, and the extra reps with Bosnia and Herzegovina give him more high-level experience as he heads into a contract year. It is also a chance to keep building momentum while he tries to show he can be more than a depth piece, with the next chapter of his NBA future still very much open. [Read more 🡒]
Two Iowa Freshmen Suddenly Have A Real Chance To Matter
Iowa is heading into the season with more than a few rotation spots up for grabs after the departures of Bennett Stirtz, Alvaro Folgueiras and Tavion Banks, and two freshmen are suddenly in position to make the conversation interesting. Jaidyn Coon and Ethan Harris arrived with the kind of recruiting profiles that usually point to long-term upside, but the Hawkeyes need help sooner than that, and both players bring the sort of size and versatility that can ease the transition if they adapt quickly.
Coon has the look of a wing who can stretch the floor and do a little of everything, which gives him a path to early minutes in a lineup that will need fresh options on the perimeter and at forward. Harris, meanwhile, brings a different kind of intrigue with his frame and athleticism, and Iowa will spend the coming weeks finding out how much of that can translate against Big Ten competition. The staff does not have the luxury of waiting too long, and these two freshmen may end up being part of the answer sooner than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Iowa Has A Special Teams Question Fans Cant Ignore
Iowas special teams has always been one of the programs defining edges, so the transition from LeVar Woods to Chris Polizzi is more than a routine coaching change. It comes with the usual Hawkeye expectation that the kicking game will be organized, reliable and ready to matter in tight Big Ten games, and the early focus has been on sorting out who handles the most visible jobs on the unit.
North Dakota State transfer Eli Ozick looks like the front-runner to take over kicking duties, while the punter spot remains unsettled as Tanner Philpott and Boston Everett keep working through the competition. Polizzi has framed the battle as a productive one, and the staff is also sorting out the rest of the operation with Ike Speltz back at long snapper and Zach Lutmer leading the way at punt returner, leaving the final pieces of the return game still to be sorted out. [Read more 🡒]