8 observations from Iowa football’s 2025 spring practice

IOWA CITY — As Hayden Large stepped onto Duke Slater Field from the northwest tunnel for Iowa’s open spring practice on Saturday, he was quick to exclaim, “What a beautiful day for the spring game this is!”

Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said in his opening statement to reporters that it was a “beautiful day, best day we’ve had.”

As for the practice itself, the Hawkeyes made some plays as radiant as the forecast and others that show need for continued improvement before August.

Here are eight observations from Iowa’s open spring practice (with the usual caveat that Saturday’s open practice represents a small sample size):

Many key players out

Several first or second-team players were not dressed for Saturday’s open practice.

Players who were in attendance, but not participating include the following:

Nwankpa said he has “a little foot problem” that happened earlier this week, and it is “not really serious.” Jones said offensive line coach George Barnett is “kind of spoiling the seniors a little bit” with a lighter workload.

Hurkett said he has “a little turf toe going on, nothing serious, though.”

First-team right tackle Gennings Dunker was not seen at Saturday’s practice. Dunker has "been playing with a little bit of an orthopedic issue," Ferentz said, but it's "nothing major."

"He got that addressed this week,“ Ferentz said.

For as many players were out, though, Ferentz said there is “nothing that’s going to inhibit where we’re at in August.”

“So that’s good news, if there is good news,” Ferentz said. “You hate to have anybody miss time or be out medically, but they should be back here in short time.”

Encouraging sign for Mark Gronowski

One of the biggest takeaways from Saturday’s practice at the quarterback position was from someone who was not participating in it.

South Dakota State quarterback transfer Mark Gronowski, as expected, did not participate in Saturday’s open practice. He was able to do some throwing during warm-ups, however — an impressive sign of progress for someone who underwent shoulder surgery in January.

He told reporters earlier in the spring that his recovery is “definitely ahead of schedule,” and he expects to be back “100 percent” by June 1.

KJ Parker’s rising stock

Redshirt freshman wide receiver K.J. Parker delivered one of the Hawkeyes’ biggest offensive plays on Saturday when he caught a deep ball from Jackson Stratton for roughly a 35-yard gain.

Later in practice, Parker jumped to haul in a pass that was overthrown and almost stayed on his feet after the catch, turning an incompletion into a 15-yard gain.

Parker has caught Ferentz’s eye, and not just on Saturday.

“He really did a good job last year,” Ferentz said. “He was on our scout team and tortured our defense. He’s really kind of fearless out there, aggressive, got a really good attitude, and I don’t think he realizes he’s a first-year guy. … These next three months will be huge for him.”

Parker was the only redshirt freshman on offense to earn a spot on Iowa’s depth chart that was released at the beginning of spring practices.

“Now instead of running whoever we’re playing’s plays, he’s been running our offense this whole spring,” Ferentz said, “and hopefully he’ll take this experience and be more refined when we get out there in August.”

Some positives and some work to do for Hank Brown

Auburn transfer Hank Brown took the first-team quarterback reps while Gronowski continues to recover from shoulder surgery. Brown had some high moments during Saturday’s practice, including his seven-yard gain on a keeper for a touchdown.

“Today was pretty fun — getting to run that touchdown in,” Brown said.

The sophomore also showed some growing pains in his first opportunity to compete in front of fans at Kinnick. That included an underthrown pass to Reece Vander Zee, who was only about eight yards past the line of scrimmage.

“Today, there’s a lot of things that I could learn from,” Brown said. “Some two-minute I think that I struggled with. But overall, I think I progressed over the 15 practices. … Starting to learn and get a better grasp of what we’re trying to do with this system.”

Out of Iowa’s three quarterbacks who participated in practice — Brown, Stratton and early enrollee Jimmy Sullivan — Stratton had the best showing. It helped that Stratton was going against the second-team defense, though.

Impressive day for Iowa’s pass rush

Iowa’s defensive line capitalized on a shorthanded offensive line and often applied pressure on the Hawkeyes’ quarterbacks.

By the time Sullivan dropped back on one play-action pass, three different pass rushers evaded their blockers and had a straight path to him. Sullivan’s hurried pass was unsurprisingly deflected in the backfield.

Defensive end Max Llewellyn was especially impressive throughout the day. On one play, for example, he needed about two seconds to easily evade the right tackle and hurry the throw by quarterback Hank Brown.

“He’s always been a really good rusher, and this spring’s been no different,” fellow defensive end Ethan Hurkett said. “He’s been working all his moves and making a big difference.”

Will Hubert — a backup defensive tackle who took 51 defensive snaps in 2024 — also received praise from the sidelines when he hustled to tackle running back Terrell Washington Jr. on a screen pass.

“He’s really improved, especially in his pass rush game,” Hurkett said of Hubert. “Him and (Luke) Gaffney — I think both have taken some steps forward.”

Shaky afternoon for Drew Stevens, but impressive showing by Caden Buhr

Drew Stevens was stellar during the 2024 season, hitting 20 of 23 field goals (with all three misses being from 50-plus yards out).

Saturday’s open practice was a different story. Stevens missed field goals from 45, 47, 53 and 54 yards out. He was successful on attempts from 21, 46 and 51 yards.

It was a significant deviation from the continually-improving Stevens that special teams coordinator LeVar Woods described earlier in the week.

“He's in a good place right now,” Woods said. “He's kicking the ball really well. He's working on his leadership, which isn't necessarily natural to him because he is a pretty quiet, focused guy. … Kicking the ball incredibly well. As good as I've seen here. That's fun to watch.”

Early enrollee Caden Buhr, meanwhile, kicked in front of fans at Kinnick Stadium for the first time. The Bettendorf native missed a 48-yard attempt, but made his attempts from 52, 45, 46, 53, 54 and 51 yards.

Kael Kolarik stands out in secondary

Backup safety Kael Kolarik were among the players to shine during Saturday’s open practice.

The Indianola native grabbed an interception after fellow defensive back Jaylen Watson deflected a Stratton pass into the air and had a promising return before the officials blew the play dead.

Later in practice, Kolarik read what quarterback Hank Brown wanted to do on a rollout, and he perfectly defended the pass intended for Parker.

“He’s been making plays,” Nwankpa said of his fellow safety. “Has a few picks this spring, and he’s really just gotten better every single day.”

Kolarik, Ferentz said, has “probably improved more than anybody, maybe on our defense.”

“He’s really playing at a whole different level than he was two years ago,” Ferentz said.

Few too many false starts

Iowa had a lack of experienced offensive linemen available in Saturday’s open practice, and that showed with some of the false starts and other mistakes. (The false starts were not exclusively on the offensive line, as Parker committed a false start despite playing wide receiver.)

“We had about 63 false starts today,” Ferentz said. “And that’s everybody. It’s not just the center, not just the quarterback, it’s everybody being involved in that.”

Before getting too concerned, it’s worth noting that the starting offensive line on Week 1 will likely look a lot different from what Hawkeye fans saw on Saturday. Jones, Stephens and Dunker — all out on Saturday — are returning starters, and Division II All-American Bryce George has not arrived on campus yet.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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