SOTC Update: Iowa Hawkeyes

Kirk Ferentz and company keep rolling and while 2024 was a bit disappointing, there is a path to a return to double-digit wins. This is the State of the Chart™ update for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Feb 28, 2025

State of the Chart™ Recap Edition

Live All-In Ranking: 14th
Offense: 54th
Defense: 8th
2024 Results: 8-5 (6-3 in Big Ten)

All of the information that follows is just the beginning and everything will be updated in our first edition of the State of the Chart™ digital magazine. Slated for a launch in July of 2025, learn more about this and shoot us your email to be kept up-to-speed on launch dates and receive sneak previews…

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|||||| STATE OF THE CHART™ SUMMARY

This Iowa program just keeps humming along under Kirk Ferentz and his loyal and trusted coaching staff. As the change in the landscape passes by many of our, we’ll say ‘more tenured’ coaches, this group keeps turning in good seasons. This one was a bit of a let down, falling to eight wins, losing to their rival Iowa State and dropping two Big Ten games that they don’t normally let happen. The offense was clearly identified as the side holding them back. That improved and the defense stayed strong. So, what gives? Maybe this is just the beginning of the end? Last time we thought that was when they fell to eight wins in 2022. Then they rebounded with a 10-win 2023. We aren’t betting against them. They do it with a sustainable model: play good defense, hold on to the ball and wear teams out on the ground on offense. They also stay disciplined, giving up just 29.8 yards per game in penalties (3rd in FBS) and their specialists are really, really good to help with field position and cashing in for points on field goals. As always, they will lose some key personnel on both sides of the ball, most glaringly at linebacker, but they will promote from within and develop the next household names in Iowa City. Adding the threat of an occasional chunk play on offense could be enough to bring this back to that ten win plateau in 2025.

|||||| HEAD COACH AND COACHING STAFF

Kirk Ferentz is Iowa football. He has set a standard and they just keep winning; though '24 was a step back to eight wins after a ten-win '23 with a really bad offense. The offense improved and the defense was once again very good; but they didn't match their win total. Ferentz continues to generally ignore the portal and get it done with player development. It's not easy, but if anybody can do it -- it's this guy. He’s heading into his 27th season as head coach here and that’s just unprecedented. He has a loyal coaching staff who sticks with him and they have unmatched continuity. 2024 did feature some losses in games that they typically don’t lose. We aren’t saying he’s slipping quite yet. This happened in 2022 and we already told you how they responded in 2023.

Coaching Staff Notes/Changes:

Ferentz is loyal and patient. However, he’s not against making changes to improve his team when needed. Even when putting his own son, Brian Ferentz, serving as offensive coordinator, on a PIP during the 2023 season and letting him go following another sub-par offensive season. Just as important would be the backfill and he went with Tim Lester, a well-respected offensive mind coming in off of a one-year stop off in the NFL after a stint as Western Michigan’s head coach from 2017-22. He did a nice job in his first season with this offense, utilizing the strengths and bringing out the best of it. Another step forward in 2025 could mean a return to the ten-win plateau for the Hawkeyes.
Defensive coordinator Phil Parker just keeps on doing it. He once again molded together a top ten defense and does it every year, utilizing some under-recruited players. It’s really quite remarkable what he has been able to accomplish as he enters his 14th season with Ferentz.
No major changes to the on-field coaching staff at this point.

Update (3/3/25): Tim Lester is adding former Wake Forest offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Warren Ruggiero to the staff. It will be interesting to see how they work together and if the ‘slow mesh’ that the Deacons ran under Ruggiero in the past will influence any further modernization of this offense in Iowa City.

Note: This is a “dynamic” article; meaning we will update any information that comes in this “off-season” and post a note when impactful moves are made or news breaks.

|||||| 2024 SCHEDULE / RESULTS ANALYSIS

This came in ranked as the 41st toughest slate and one of the easier ones in the Big Ten. They avoided Penn State, Oregon and even upstart Indiana on this one. The heartbreaking (but deserved) loss to Iowa State in the CyHawk game in week two was rough. They were blown out by the eventual National Champion Buckeyes in Columbus in week six and had two more disappointing results against Michigan State and UCLA. Those types of losses are few and far between on Ferentz’ record and they derailed this season. The positive notes come in the form of really not playing any other close games until the final week when they escaped Nebraska with a 13-10 win in a game they did not deserve to win.

||||||| POSITION GROUP CHECK-INS

OFFENSE: The Tim Lester experiment paid off and they did it without changing up their identity on offense. They remained super slow, run-heavy and ball possession. He runs the “Shanahan” west coach style offense which features different types of runs (wide stretch runs and inside zones) to keep defenses off balance and when the right plays are picked, with the kind of offensive line the Hawkeyes had, that can work. For many offenses to succeed, they need the true threat of the pass to accomplish this — not this one. They ran the ball 65.1% of the time (6th most in FBS) and they allowed 29.5 seconds to tick between plays. This is a Ferentz staple that is as much about ball control on offense as it is about giving that fearsome defense a rest. The had the stable of horses in the backfield once again in 2025 with Kaleb Johnson and Kamari Moulton leading the way. It helps that eventual starter at quarterback, Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan is also dynamic with his legs and can extend plays and produce. It doesn’t mean it was perfect. Having that down-field threat in the passing game would bring it to another level.

||| QB

Cade McNamara was banged up once again and eventually surrendered this job to Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan, who struggled passing, but made a lot of plays with his legs. McNamara heads to the FCS level for his final season and Sullivan returns to be challenged by South Dakota transfer Mark Gronowski, who fits the mold for what they are looking for in running this offense. This will be quite the battle to watch leading up to the 2025 season.

||| RB

Kaleb Johnson took a bit to get started in ‘24, but ended up leading the way and having a fantastic season, running for over 1,500 yards and 21 scores. He’s headed to the NFL a year early. Kamari Moulton showed his ability in 83 touches and Jaziun Patterson is starting to come of age and received 63 carries behind the top two. It’s most likely that we’ll see Moulton in the Johnson role and Patterson getting more touches. Hybrid RB/WR Terrell Washington Jr. is also in play for ‘25.

||| WR

Jacob Gill was the most reliable receiver in this group. Reece Vander Zee burst on the scene early in the season as a true freshman and ended up at the No. 2 despite battling injuries and missing a few games. Expect a big step up from the big outside receiver. This group did not produce much down field and that may need to change in 2025. FCS Chattanooga transfer Sam Phillips may help as he appears to be a bit more dynamic and a welcome addition to this room for 2025.

||| TE

Tight end is a big part of this offense. There have been plenty of NFL stars coming out of this program. Luke Lachey is the next one heading to the NFL, but he doesn’t rate out the same as his predecessors. Addison Ostrenga is next in line and with health returning should take on a big role in 2025. They continue to bring in tight ends in the recruiting classes and reload at this postion. It’s key to giving the offense an outlet in the passing game.

||| OL

This was one of the best offensive lines in the country. I mean, when you have this kind of success when the opposition knows what you are doing — well, that’s a sure sign. They will lose a great RG in Connor Colby and LT Mason Richman graduates, but they have C Logan Jones and their best lineman RT Gennings Dunker returning. So far, they appear ready to backfill in house (as usual) and while it may take a minute in ‘25 but this line should get right back to where it was.

DEFENSE: Phil Parker at it again. Producing a top ten defensive unit despite sustaining losses in personnel. The approach is to dominate on the line of scrimmage, shut down the run games and then rely on the secondary to keep things in front of them, tackle well and avoid any big plays. This Hawkeyes run defense allowed just one play that went for over 30 yards. One. They limited big passing plays too — 22 of them — ranking 4th in all of college football. Overall, they allowed just 17.8 points per game and did so without creating much havoc in the backfield. They limited opponents to 6.3 yards per attempt in the passing game, again, with quality coverage schemes, not allowing receivers to get behind them and immediately tackling when they are able to catch passes. It may be boring, but it’s effective.

||| DL

All the success starts here. Just a lot of talent in this group. Deontae Craig, Ethan Hurkett and Aaron Graves played the most and were dynamic and impactful both in the run game and getting in the backfield. Craig graduates but Hurkett and Graves are back for 2025, joined by Max Llewellyn, who didn’t see full playing time and that needs to change. He’s showing incredibly well in his chances. Don’t expect any drop off from this group and it’s a key to success.

||| LB

Jay Higgins was the leader of this defense. He was all over the field from his middle linebacker spot and he’ll be missed as he heads to the NFL a year early. They also lose two more key contributors, Nick Jackson and Kyler Fisher to graduation. So, there needs to be a reload here. They will handle this in-house again and while that has worked in the past, we still need to see it. Jaden Harrell and Karson Sharar have the most experience as backups and may become the next household names.

||| DB

A lot of talent in this room and deep too. They are losing their top three with FS Quinn Schulte and CBs Sebastian Castro and Jermari Harris moving on. That just means others will need to step up/in to roles. They’ve done this before. Expect TJ Hall and Deshaun Lee to be first in line to handle that responsibility on the corners. S Xavier Nwankpa showed well in limited opportunities, so he will be thrown more to the fire in ‘25. We do expect there to be some growing pains here, but this is driven by scheme and that’s in place. Not much should change.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Drew Stevens was one of the best kickers in the land, hitting 20/23 and all 20 under 50 yards (plus, 4 over 50 yards). He’ll return as a specialists weapon. So important. True freshman punter Rhys Dakin was also very good and comes back with three years left. This tandem, along with Kaden Wetjen returning kicks makes up the very best specialists unit in the land. They need to tighten on punt coverage after allowing 19 yards per return in the rare instances that Dakin allowed those returns.

Reader feedback is requested and encouraged! Who knows these teams better than their passionate fan bases? We don’t pretend to know it all and would love your feedback. We will update/edit based (and credit) for anything that is brought to our attention. Let’s do this together…

|||||| TRANSFER PORTAL TRACKER

As mentioned earlier, the portal game is not a focus of this leadership and it hasn’t had to be. They continue to develop players in-house and utilize the portal when needed. They tried it last year and OL Kadyn Proctor came to Iowa City for a few weeks before heading back to Alabama. The red arrow shows that this may be a bit impactful, but the losses are not going to be too damaging.

Below is a screen shot of the full, live Transfer Portal Tracker over at CFBDepth.com. Click the image or the button below to view it in its entirety…

Live Iowa Portal Tracker >

|||||| 2025 RECRUITING CLASS

This class doesn’t come in very highly rated, but the Hawkeyes classes never really do. They focus on scouting and development. They really kept it in the midwest this year, getting commitments from five 4-star recruits from either Illinois (4) or Iowa (1). They hit Florida for two and Michigan for one in the lower levels of the class. As usual, they focused on getting in on some impact tight ends, which has been their ‘thing’ for a while now. Expect more of the same. Iowa fans don’t fret over low-ranked recruiting classes.

Here is a snapshot of the 2025 Recruiting Class+ with a link to the live page with updates throughout the cycle:

2025 Iowa Recruiting Class+ >

|||||| 2025 SCHEDULE LOOK AHEAD

The CyHawk game comes to Iowa City in week two, so that’s a good thing. They trade Troy for UMass in the non-conference, so that’s another notch on the easier side. They get rid of the champs in Ohio State, but they get Penn State, Indiana and Oregon on this one — but they are all also at home. They have to travel to LA to take on USC. All told, this is just as difficult a schedule as it was in 2024 — that is to say, pretty darn tough.

There is a lot of movement and decisions to be made throughout the off-season, including more portal moves, winter workouts and spring ball. Get all caught up with the full-on State of the Chart Magazine coming in July. If you missed the ad before, get more information and give us your e-mail to stay in the loop on everything SOTC!

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