{"id":14175,"date":"2026-05-05T13:52:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T13:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/how-iowa-football-got-this-offseason-right-and-wrong-entering-2026-hawkeyes-wire\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T13:52:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T13:52:55","slug":"how-iowa-football-got-this-offseason-right-and-wrong-entering-2026-hawkeyes-wire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/how-iowa-football-got-this-offseason-right-and-wrong-entering-2026-hawkeyes-wire\/","title":{"rendered":"How Iowa football got this offseason right and wrong entering 2026 – Hawkeyes Wire"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sport of college football is no longer just August through December. With the transfer portal, spring ball, and constant media narratives being constructed, this sport runs for 24 hours per day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
The Iowa Hawkeyes<\/a> know that well after being forced to be much more active this offseason than in previous years. The Hawkeyes are dealing with a hefty load of talented departures making their way to the NFL and are ushering in the next crop of talent, starting with an intense spring ball schedule.<\/a>
Inevitably, some stuff goes right, while other stuff goes wrong, and there is a constant shuffling among the roster and coaching staff each year. With 2026 now approaching fall camp, ESPN looked at Iowa’s offseason<\/a> and how it handled things.
Iowa played in the transfer portal this year, which is headlined by newcomers in the running back room, defensive line depth, and a revamped secondary. Iowa wins games on the defensive side of the ball, and under offensive coordinator Tim Lester, runs the ball extremely effectively.
The Hawkeyes rarely see coaching staff changes due to the continuity head coach Kirk Ferentz has built, but they are seeing one massive shakeup this year. LeVar Woods, who built Iowa into arguably the top special teams unit in the country, has joined Pat Fitzgerald at Michigan State, creating room for Chris Polizzi. The Hawkeyes can’t afford a drop off in this third of the game.
Biggest coaching move<\/strong>: Longtime Iowa assistant and special teams ace LeVar Woods departed for Michigan State, leaving a significant hole on coach Kirk Ferentz’s staff. Ferentz promoted Chris Polizzi, who spent the past four years on Iowa’s staff and has special teams coordinator experience from Tennessee-Martin, to replace Woods. Former Colorado State and Nevada head coach Jay Norvell, a first-team All-Big Ten safety and team MVP at Iowa in the 1980s, is back as running backs coach, following Omar Young’s return to the NFL. Norvell has coached the other offensive positions, particularly wide receiver, but not running back. – ESPN<\/em>
It’s Iowa. Regardless of today’s college football climate, the Hawkeyes are going to keep their guys. They have a stacked running back room, a secondary led by chess piece Zach Lutmer, and an offensive line that is at the point of simply reloading, rather than rebuilding.
What went right<\/strong>: Iowa maintained continuity on both sides of the ball with lead assistants Parker, co-defensive coordinator Seth Wallace and offensive coordinator Tim Lester all returning. The non-senior offensive linemen from the Joe Moore Award-winning group in 2025 are back, as are key playmakers in linebacker\u00a0Zach Lutmer<\/a>, tight end\u00a0DJ Vonnahme<\/a>\u00a0and running back\u00a0Kamari Moulton<\/a>. Iowa’s transfer group might not be flashy but contains substance, as Phillips had huge numbers at South Dakota (FCS-leading 1,921 rushing yards, 19 touchdowns), and the team filled needs at defensive line and at safety with Brown. The Hawkeyes’ recruiting class includes four four-star prospects, including in-state players in Nielsen and linebacker\u00a0Julian Manson<\/a>. – ESPN<\/em>
Kirk Ferentz and his staff are putting a lot of hope into the prospect of highly-touted FCS transfers being able to quickly adapt to the speed and physicality of the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes scored some of the best talent available from the FCS, but neglected to go after proven Power Four talent. If these hit, Iowa looks like a genius. If the game is too fast, the Hawkeyes may need to reevaluate their transfer portal process.
What went wrong<\/strong>: The Hawkeyes knew they would be losing several talented offensive linemen, defensive backs and others, and had seven players selected in April’s NFL draft. Entringer is a significant transfer loss, as Iowa rarely sees established defensive starters leave coordinator Phil Parker’s unit. Iowa also lost punter\u00a0Rhys Dakin<\/a>, an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection, to Michigan State with Woods, who had been on staff since 2011 and working with the special teams since 2015. The team didn’t replace quarterback\u00a0Mark Gronowski<\/a>\u00a0with an established starter, although the decision wasn’t a surprise. Iowa’s transfer haul is banking on potential, as the team didn’t add players from Power 4 teams and took eight from the FCS. – ESPN<\/em>
Contact\/Follow us\u00a0@HawkeyesWire<\/a>\u00a0on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0to follow ongoing coverage of\u00a0Iowa<\/a>\u00a0news, notes and opinions.\u00a0Follow Riley on X:\u00a0@rileydonald7<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sport of college football is no longer just August through December. With the transfer portal, spring ball, and constant media narratives being constructed, this sport runs for 24 hours per day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.The Iowa Hawkeyes know that well after being forced to be much more active this offseason […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14175","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}