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Kirk Ferentz affirms Iowa will be significantly better at QB
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Kirk Ferentz is entering yet another season at Iowa that is coming off a disappointing season of quarterback play. While that has been an unfortunately common thread in recent history, Ferentz firmly believes the position will be upgraded this fall.
Ever since Nathan Stanley’s final season in 2019, Iowa’s QB room has been consistently forgettable. Spencer Petras took the majority of the reps from 2020-22, but he never came close to completing 60% of his passes in a season.
Cade McNamara was supposed to be the answer after transferring to the program ahead of the 2023 season, but injuries took a toll, and he also struggled to be effective across 2 seasons before transferring. A total of 6 players took snaps at the position across the past 2 seasons, and Ferentz is ready to say it will be better this year.
“I know we’ll be much improved at quarterback,” Kirk Ferentz told ESPN on Thursday. “That’s not a knock on anybody, but if you just go back and chart the games the last two seasons, three seasons for that matter, we’ve had bad health there, we’ve had bad fortune, bad luck and, quite frankly, playing with some guys that weren’t ready to play at this level.”
Whether you want to take Ferentz’s comments as a shot at someone or not, it’s not hard for the Hawkeyes to improve on what has been a dreadful pattern in Iowa City. The good news is that transfer Mark Gronowski, the projected starter from South Dakota State, is not the only upgrade.
While at the podium, Ferentz also said the entire room is better than it has been, and his vision is for pieces competing for the backup job behind Gronowski will be competing for the starting role in 2026:
Along with Gronowski, the Hawkeyes added former Auburn QB Hank Brown in the portal and redshirt freshman Jeremy Hecklinski from Wake Forest. Jackson Stratton, a 2-game starter for Iowa last season, will also have eligibility in 2026 and could be in line to serve as the backup this fall.
Either way, it’s the most positive the program has felt about the QB in quite some time, and that’s saying something. Now, it’s time to put it on the field this fall.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.