By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Ethan Hurkett fits the description of an Iowa football player under Kirk Ferentz in so many ways.

He is a shining example of how a development program develops a developmental player.

A former all-state linebacker for Cedar Rapids Xavier, Hurkett has since been transformed into a 6-foot-3, 260-pound defensive end for the Hawkeyes.

It didn’t happen overnight, nor has it come easy.

But all the sweat and suffering, and the blood and tears are well worth it.

Hurkett is a homegrown kid that wanted to be a Hawkeye, and now as a fourth-year junior, he’s living his dream, and is doing so as a major contributor on a deep and talented defensive line.

Hurkett has 32 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery for an Iowa defense that has continued to live up to the high standard that has been set under defensive coordinator Phil Parker.

“I knew they could do it with this weight room and with these lifting coaches and stuff,” Hurkett said Wednesday. “I wasn’t too worried about the size and stuff. I’ve seen them put a lot of size and muscle on guys in the past.

“I trust in the program they have here, just being developmental program and stuff. But I just figured wherever they were going to give me the opportunity, I’d be more than happy to come in and do that.”

Hurkett is one of two Xavier graduates that are playing a prominent role for the Iowa defense, along with senior free safety Quinn Schulte.

Hurkett appeared briefly in eight games in the Covid-shortened 2020 season, and in three games in 2021, but then missed the final 11 games due to an injury.

He saw action in all 13 games last season, and finished with 15 tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack.

Hurkett’s climb up the depth chart has taken some time, but that’s not unusual in a developmental program.

Iowa defensive line coach Kelvin Bell often preaches patience to his players, telling them to embrace the daily grind rather than look for huge jumps.

“It was a process,” Hurkett said. “Kind of just came in here and tried to improve every day. Coach Bell, we have a recipe for improvement, which we focus on not necessarily taking big leaps, but maybe getting one percent better each day.

“So, that’s helped a lot.”

Iowa is coming off an emotional 12-10 loss to Minnesota last Saturday at Kinnick Stadium and is now in a bye week.

“It’s been good just to slow down a little bit. I can definitely tell my body is feeling better already,” Hurkett said. Get some extra sleep and stuff, so it helps a lot.”

Iowa’s next game will be against Northwestern on Nov. 4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

And while the loss to Minnesota was devastating, Iowa has a 6-2 record and still is in contention for the Big Ten West Division title.

“Coach Bell always says everything you want is in front of you,” Hurkett said. “You’ve just got to go take it basically. So, I think it’s up to us to do with whatever we want to do with this opportunity.”

Hurkett is part of a defensive end rotation that also includes sixth-year senior Joe Evans and junior Deontae Craig as the starters.

“It’s amazing to see Joe in his sixth year still going and working his butt off,” Hurkett said

Evans also embodies the developmental spirit of Hawkeye football as a former high school quarterback who came to Iowa as a walk-on.

Kirk Ferentz and his staff have shown a knack for seeing talent and potential where other coaches don’t see it.

They were convinced that Hurkett had what it takes to play defensive end at the Big Ten level, and they were right.

Hurkett credits extensive film study and constructive criticism for helping him reach this point.

“We take the reps and then watch it on film and basically breakdown everything from footwork to hand placement,” Hurkett said. “It’s schematic things. One of the big things we work on is honest self-evaluation. What you see on the film, we say the eye on the sky don’t lie, so wherever you’ve got to work on, you know that you’ve got to work on it basically.”