Takeaways from Iowa’s spring practice
For the first time since November 22, 2025, Iowa fans flooded into Kinnick Stadium on a perfect 64-degree day to watch their beloved Hawkeyes host their spring practice. Iowa finished 2025 with a 9-4 record and No. 17 in the final AP poll. Iowa has many new faces looking to prove themselves and show off their skills for the Hawkeye fans in attendance.
From a competitive quarterback battle to a fully new defensive line, Iowa had plenty to watch at its open practice. Here are some takeaways from the practice.
Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski have been in a battle for the starting quarterback spot since the final whistle blew at the ReliaQuest Bowl on December 31, 2025.
Both quarterbacks shared a similar number of reps in the practice, and each showed flashes of big-play ability but were inconsistent.
Brown and Hecklinski each hit at least two passes of 20 yards or more, with Brown taking more shots downfield than Hecklinski.
Projected number one wide receiver Reece Vander Zee said Brown has seen Brown take those shots all spring.
“He’s taking more shots down the field, being more confident,” Vander Zee said. “Same with Jeremy [Hecklinski], they’re both doing a good job, pushing the ball down the field and giving us a chance to go make plays.” Hecklinski looked more accurate while on the run, while Brown succeeded when getting the ball out quickly to the sideline.
Receiver Dayton Howard had a good connection with Hecklinski, especially in the offense-only and red zone periods.
The big standout offensively for Iowa was wide receiver KJ Parker, who caught multiple contested deep balls during the
A peek at the Hawkeyes’ 2026 defensive strategy
After losing several defensive linemen, many vacant spots lay open in Iowa’s defensive line.
A spring Saturday in Iowa City disguised itself as a fall Saturday, as black and gold trickled its way into Kinnick Stadium for this year’s open spring practice.
After battling a monstrous schedule to finish the 2025 season - , hopes are high for the Iowa Hawkeyes. However, arguably the biggest strength of Iowa over the past few years is now the biggest question mark ahead of the 2026 season — the defense.
The Hawkeye defense took a big cut, losing an abundance of productive defensive linemen in Aaron Graves, Ethan Hurkett, Max Llewellyn, Brian Allen, and Jonah Pace. Defensive coordinator Phil Parker and head coach Kirk Ferentz recognize the loss of big bodies, but see talent in the defensive units they have.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Ferentz said, regarding the defensive line. “It’s a little tougher up front, on both sides of the ball. If you think about it, we lost six out of our top eight last year.”
But Ferentz and Co. aren’t focused on the past. “The good thing about being young and being maybe a little on the undeveloped side is that you can improve faster and grow faster. We just have to realize we have to maximize every opportunity,”
Ferentz said. When it comes to young players, Iose Epenesa is one to keep an eye out for. The defensive end is entering his second season as a Hawkeye, seeking a bigger role in the program with the
scrimmage session. Parker played in 11 games in 2025, catching 3 passes for 18 yards and a touchdown. Kirk Ferentz praised Parker’s growth and compared him to former Hawkeye receiver Warren Holloway.
“I just walked in here after talking to Warren Holloway,” Ferentz said after the practice. “Warren was a young player, always went hard, but didn’t always go the right way or do the right things, and then the rest of his career ended up being pretty good.”
“KJ’s at that point, he’s got a good energy to him,” Ferentz continued. “He’s got some ability, certainly, and goes hard, and is fearless out there.
Lester’s ‘great problem:’ the quarterback ba le
Jeremy Hecklinski and Hank Brown continue to improve as they jostle for the starting spot.
With spring practice nearing a close for Iowa football, the question lingering around the quarterback position remains up in the air. However, to offensive coordinator Tim Lester, the jostle between Jeremy Hecklinski and Hank Brown is “a great problem.” With both returning and incoming talent filling the offense’s skill positions, such as Tony Diaz, DJ Vonnahme, and Reece Vander Zee, the final piece of the puzzle revolves around who their distributor will be.
“You have two [quarterbacks] playing well instead of having to play one because the other one is not playing well,” Lester said an unnamed coach told him after practice.
While Lester noted that both quarterbacks have a long way to go in preparation for the season, he feels they’ve made strides in areas such as completion percentage and explosive plays.
Another strength that Lester noted in Hecklinski and
Just has to learn some of the little details a little bit more, and he’s certainly better now than he was 15 practices ago.”
Parker also earned praise from fellow receiver Vander Zee, who was third on the team in yards per reception last season.
Vander Zee said Parker has been getting better day by day and buying into the program.
“He’s getting better every day,” Vander Zee said. “Taking the coaching and learning from it. I think that’s his biggest thing, and it showed today for sure with him making those plays.”
After all four defensive line starters from 2025 departed, the Hawkeyes looked to the transfer portal and young players within the program to step up and fill those shoes.
Max Llewellyn, Jonah Pace, Aaron Graves, and Ethan Hurkett all left via graduation, and top rotational piece Brian Allen transferred to Vanderbilt.
With the departures, the Iowa staff picked up defensive end Kahmari Brown from Elon and defensive tackle Brice Stevenson from Holy Cross in the transfer portal. The two look to make an
helping all of us grow.”
Hawthorne also said Stevenson has done a great job of eating double teams in the interior and that he’s been helping him work on his own double teams, something Hawthorne said he struggled with last season.
Offensive guard Kade Pieper said that Hawthorne has been the toughest defender to block, citing his speed and power.
The defensive ends have specifically earned some buzz, and sophomore defensive end Joseph Anderson snagged an interception on a screen pass in the open practice.
Linebacker Jayden Montgomery said that, regardless of the new faces in the defensive line room, they have done a great job of adapting to the program and that he’s enjoyed watching them play.
“A lot of new faces in the defensive line room, which is exciting,” Montgomery said.
“A lot of room to grow, and I’ve seen them grow a bunch throughout spring ball. So it’s been fun watching them play, and I’m excited to see how they can continue to grow throughout the summer phase and into the season.”
Montgomery also added that having a strong pass rush helps his position and the defensive back by providing trust for all three levels, something the Iowa defense is built on.
immediate impact, and defensive tackle Bryce Hawthorne believes they will.
“Kahmari Brown has definitely been standing out,” Hawthorne said. “Watching him, he’s got a nasty pass rush, it’s good to see. He’s helping me, teaching me some of his moves, so I love it. He’s
recent openings in the line.
Taking after his brother A.J., who is now in the NFL, Epenesa is progressing quickly, and Parker predicts he will become a strong asset to the defensive line. Epenesa continues to improve day-byday, fighting to be one of Iowa’s best, a common theme among the locker room.
“Every single guy in the room is showing up, and they’re working as hard as they can every single day,” linebacker Jayden Montgomery said. “I think every guy in the linebacker room could start.”
Ferentz also took advantage of the transfer portal over the offseason, acquiring Kahmari
Brown is their decision-making. Limiting turnovers has been a focus in practice.
“They’re not playing passive, but they’re also not playing ill-advised,” Lester said at a coordinator’s press conference on April 22. “We have to be smart with the ball. They’ve both done a really good job of that.”
Brown was thrust into play in the second half of last year’s game against Indiana, where he went 5-for-13 through the air with an interception. The Hawkeyes would lose, 20-15.
Despite being dissatisfied with his Hawkeye debut, the incoming junior reflected on the performance positively.
“That’s a tough one for sure, I would love to go back and redo that,” Brown said. “Moving forward, learning from that experience and just getting better, knowing that if I were put in that situation again, it would
After losing career field goal record holder Drew Stevens to graduation, Iowa again turned to the portal for a replacement. There,
Brown from Elon.
“He’s definitely sticking out,” defensive tackle Bryce Hawthorne said. “He’s a real good pass rusher. He’s teaching me and helping me out with my pass rushing.”
It was clear to everyone at open practice that Brown fits right in, adapting to his new environment and teammates with ease. Parker plans to utilize Brown as much as possible, developing him efficiently as a pass rusher and building him to be a more intelligent player, learning the ins and outs of Iowa’s defensive strategy.
Meanwhile, the defensive backs were worked in practice, getting non-stop plays for all 105 minutes.
be different.” Brown has continued to build comfort with the offense over the offseason while splitting reps with Hecklinski, leaving Lester happy with what he’s seen. “He’s like a machine,” Lester said, praising Brown’s efficiency and the timeliness of his throws.
Lester’s biggest fear with Brown is not making the aggressive plays when necessary. However, he noted that Brown has “more explosive plays than anybody right now.”
Brown let it fly in Saturday’s scrimmage, taking numerous chances on downfield passes.
The junior’s most notable plays were a 28-yard pass down the sideline to sophomore receiver KJ Parker and a 34-yard pass up the seam to junior receiver Jackson Naeve.
the Hawkeyes found North Dakota State transfer Eli Ozick.
Ozick, an incoming junior, went 16-for-18 on field goals with the Bison last season with a long of 54 yards. Ozick also missed just one PAT in 2025, going 62-of-63.
At the open practice on Saturday, Ozick nailed a 52-yard field goal and a 50-yard field goal, but missed some shorter ones, mostly to the left.
Ozick’s ability to make longer kicks provides some optimism, but he’ll need to return to his usual accuracy as the Hawkeyes look ahead to fall camp.
Multiple Iowa starters were seen in street clothes on the sidelines of the practice, mostly for precautionary reasons. Headlining that group was wide receiver Tony Diaz, a highly-touted transfer from Texas Rio Grande Valley. Diaz was rumored to have been injured during a recent practice, but offensive coordinator Tim Lester told reporters at Iowa’s coordinators’ press conference
Zach Lutmer is predicted to be one of Iowa’s main defensive pieces after dominating his redshirt sophomore season, recording 71 tackles, seven pass breakups, and three interceptions. In open practice, Lutmer was a gnat, up in his opponent’s face and making it anything but easy for them to make a play.
Participating in drills opposite of Lutmer was third-year sophomore Rashad Godfrey Jr. He appeared in 12 games last season, but broke out in Iowa’s final match-up against Nebraska, recording 9 tackles and forcing a fumble at cornerback.
Overall, Parker and Ferentz seek to build the DBs up, developing them into threats on the turf and using them more to Iowa’s advantage.
“I think we have tremendous
on April 22, that Diaz would likely be practicing if there was a game scheduled for that week.
Also not on the field was starting offensive tackle Trevor Lauck. No injury has been reported for Lauck, but is also likely a precautionary move for Ferentz and staff.
“It’s just spring,” Ferentz said about the injuries. “June will be the same, or until July. I’ll be frustrated in July, too. In a perfect world, you’d like guys to be out there all 15 practices, that’s not the nature of football, and just the way it is, you deal with it.”
Iowa will now turn its focus to summer conditioning to prepare for fall camp in August. Ferentz said the good thing about spring football is that mistakes are out of the way before fall camp.
“The value of the spring is, the guys have been through an eightweek winter program, going through spring practice,”Ferentz said. “So, the mistakes they’ve made, if they are really conscientious about it, really study and learn, they’ll have a chance to make a real big jump in both the summer and when we get into fall camp.”
depth,” Montgomery said, regarding Iowa’s defense as a whole. “We have a high standard, which is important. But, I think our focus for spring was, as a young room, to continue to grow and to learn off of each other.”
“At the end of the day, this whole football team, consistency is going to be a big part of it,” Ferentz said. “I think we’re capable of doing some things, but haven’t shown much consistency in this period of 15 days, but I’ve seen guys grow, which is good.”
The Hawkeye defense will be on full display starting September 5th, in Iowa’s season opener against Northern Illinois.
In contrast to Brown, Hecklinski isn’t afraid to take chances with his throws. In fact, Lester has made it a focal point for Hecklinski to not “take every single chance with the ball” to avoid turnovers.
However, Hecklinski has improved on his decisionmaking in practice to Lester’s satisfaction.
“He’s kept his pick number down and still been aggressive and been smart about it,”
Hecklinski’s accuracy was inconsistent in Saturday’s scrimmage. However, he showed flashes with some impressive downfield throws.
The sophomore’s most notable play was a 23-yard pass to KJ Parker down the middle of
As the quarterbacks started on opposite ends of the spectrum with their decision-making, they’ve continued to trend towards meeting in the middle by playing confidently while still making smart decisions.
“They’re both doing a good job pushing the ball down the field,” junior receiver Reece Vander Zee said.
“They’re slinging it,” junior running back Kamari Mouton said. “We could be very explosive this year.”
Despite the outside noise that comes with a positional battle, there are no hard feelings between Hecklinski and Brown. While the two have embraced the fight for the starting spot, they continue to help and be there for each other along the way.
“We’re cheering each other on, we have each other’s backs, we’re helping each other as much as we can,” Hecklinski said.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Brown said. “It’s exciting having this opportunity to be able to go out there and compete.”
As for a decision, there is currently no set timetable to name a starter for the season.
“We’re just going back and forth and it’ll probably be that way I’m guessing at least through the majority of August,” Ferentz said. “There’s some things that give you some room for optimism.”
Luckily for the coaching staff, it’s not whether or not one of the two can make the jump from bad to good. Instead, it comes down to who will make the jump from good to great.
IOWA FOOTBALL OPEN PRACTICE
The Iowa Hawkeyes hosted an open practice at Kinnick Stadium on the morning of April 25 for fans and the media. The practice brought notable insight to the Hawkeye’s development over the 2026 preseason.
