By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Every senior class on the Iowa football team has been special in its own way, filled with talented and determined players with different personalities and from different backgrounds.

A player has to be talented to be a member of a Big Ten football team, and a player also has to be determined to finish what is now a four, five, and even a six-year daily grind.

There is something to be said for starting what you finish, for staying the course and for staying committed to a cause.

The 23 seniors on the Iowa football team will forever share that accomplishment, even those who transferred into the program will share in it.

They will be honored just prior to the start of Friday’s regular-season finale against Nebraska at Kinnick Stadium.

“Can’t say enough about these guys,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said of his seniors. “They’ve all done a great job. Some of the guys have been here the entire time. A couple guys that transferred. Of note, interesting, we have 10 of the 23 are walk-ons originally here. Some have gone on and earned scholarships, other guys haven’t, but they’ve stayed with the program, done a great job.”

For some of the 23 seniors, including sixth-year graduate safety Sebastian Castro, it will be their second Senior Day ceremony.

Castro and linebackers Jay Higgins and Nick Jackson all were honored at last year’s Senior Day ceremony, but all three of them had, or would later gain, another year of eligibility that they ultimately chose to use.

“Same thing, this will be a good day,” Castro said.

For Castro, the decision to return for a sixth year didn’t take much soul searching or deep thought.

“Iowa is a great place to be at and I knew that coming back, so that’s why it was an easy decision to come back,” Castro said. “I knew what I was getting.”

Castro, in so many ways, symbolizes Hawkeye football under Kirk Ferentz, and under defensive coordinator Phil Parker.

Kirk Ferentz has been the Iowa head coach since 1999, and Phil Parke has been on his staff throughout that time.

Castro wasn’t unheralded as a high school recruit from the Chicago area, but he was far from being considered an elite recruit.

Castro needed time to adjust to the college game, and to build his body and mind, and the Iowa program under Kirk Ferentz has a history of turning his type of player into a high-level performer.

“It was kind of an easy decision to make,” Castro said of picking Iowa. “Just the longevity means something to me, and the loyalty. There’s a reason why they’re here, and at the time, they were here for like 20 years.

“So, there’s a reason why that was. And that’s just something I could respect.”

Castro was redshirted as a true freshman in 2019, and he didn’t start to make a significant contribution until the 2022 season when he finished with 33 tackles in his fourth year in the program.

He then had a breakthrough season in 2023, earning All-America and All-Big Ten honors while playing both safety and the cash position.

Castro will make his 31^st career start in Friday’s game against Nebraska. It will also be the 52^nd game in which he has played as a Hawkeye.

If ever there was an example of staying the course, and staying loyal, it’s Castro.

“Great people here, great coaches,” Castro said.

For as long as he can remember, Castro has dreamed of playing in the NFL.

Part of the reason he picked Iowa is that Castro believed that Kirk Ferentz and Phil Parker could put him in a position to achieve that goal.

Castro had watched so many other defensive backs flourish and then prosper under Parker, and he wanted to be a part of it.

And now nearly six years later, Castro looks back with no regrets.

Sure, he would have liked to have won a few more games and made a few more tackles and interceptions.

But the good has far outweighed the bad in Castro’s journey as a Hawkeye.

He was confident, but also naïve in some ways when he joined the team as a true freshman.

“I thought I was a good player when I came here. I had the talent,” Castro said. “But I had no idea what I didn’t know.

“So, when I got here, there was a big learning curve, and this is probably the best decision I could have made.”

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Jay Higgins, meanwhile, has traveled a path that is much like Castro’s path in that he, too, had to wait for his time to star as a Hawkeye.

Higgins played behind former Iowa All-America linebacker Jack Campbell for three seasons.

But when it was time for Higgins to replace Campbell as the starting mike linebacker in 2023, Higgins was more than ready.

In just one season in 2023 the Indianapolis native had gone from being a key player on special teams the season before to one of the top linebackers in the country as he tied the Iowa single-season record for tackles with 171.

Higgins has since added to his legacy with another rock-solid season in 2024 as he is the only player in the nation with 100-plus tackles and four interceptions.

Some have questioned why Higgins wasn’t named a Butkus Award finalist, given his statistics and his consistency.

But Higgins seems more interested in using the snub as fuel and motivation.

“I just keep showing up,” Higgins said. “I have this thing about me having a chip on my shoulder and just keep fighting when things don’t go my way. I enjoy putting my head down and being doubted and just getting to work. I’ve become very comfortable in that head space. I kind of prefer it to this point.”

Instead of transferring to another school in his early years as a Hawkeye, Higgins honored his commitment and he just kept working and grinding, knowing that his day would come.

He will now leave as one of the best linebackers in program history, a tackling machine and a respected leader, on and off the field.

Higgins probably could have been a hot commodity in the transfer portal after how well he played in 2023, but his commitment to Iowa, and to Phil Parker and linebacker coach Seth Wallace, caused him to withstand whatever temptation or curiosity he might have had, if any.

“This opportunity to come back, I feel like I’m a better linebacker this year than I was last year,” Higgins said. “I feel like I have expanded my football knowledge, and I knew all that would happen with coach Wallace and coach Parker.”

Higgins didn’t just come back for the football stuff.

He also came back to be with his friends, and with coaches and support staff that have been instrumental in his success, on and off the field.

He came back to spend one more year living what he calls a dream before the real world becomes his reality.

“I’m aware that there’s a real world out there and people have real jobs, and you got to go to work,” Higgins said. “To me, college athletes, we’re living a dream right now.  And I just hope all the younger guys really appreciate the time that they have in this program and truly cherish it.”

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Senior defensive tackle Yahya Black has certainly helped his NFL stock with how well he has played this season.

The Minnesota native will make his 26^th career start on Friday, and his 52nd appearance overall as a Hawkeye.

Black has come a long way on and off the field.

He can clog running lanes as well as anybody, and he seems way more comfortable being interviewed by the media compared to his early years.

But he also has a regret in that he wishes he would have taken more time to embrace the grind.

“It’s crazy because it went by really fast,” Black said. “But at the same time, some of these weeks go really slow and I wished I would have enjoyed it a little more.”

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One of the cool sub-plots with the 2024 senior class is the friendship that Higgins and sixth-year linebacker Nick Jackson now share.

They didn’t even know each other two years ago, and now they are friends for life, and one of the best linebacker tandems in the country this season and last season.

“It’s just crazy how that world works,” said Jackson, who played his first four season for Virginia. “I probably would say a shared focus. I think we have the same goals, just to come out and compete every day and put everything forward for our team, both team-first oriented.

“And I think that’s really kind of put us together and put our pride aside and we just compete for one another. And we’re just really similar kids. We like to joke around. We like to have fun, the simple things in life.”

Jackson is one of four sixth-year graduates that start on defense for Iowa, the others being Castro, free safety Quinn Schulte and cornerback Jermari Harris, though Harris didn’t play against Maryland last Saturday, nor will he play against Nebraska on Friday.

Jackson ranks second all time in FBS history with 540 career tackles.

The Atlanta, Georgia native was a multi-year starter for Virginia and a multi-year starter for Iowa over two seasons.

He has been the perfect sidekick and complement to Higgins at linebacker.

“I don’t have any regrets in coming back,” Jackson said. “I think that was the best decision for me. And I think that’s just ultimately where my heart is, and I would encourage more kids to do it. There’s no opportunity you get with your brothers like this. It’s just been unbelievable.

“Six months in Iowa wasn’t really enough. And just having that extra year was awesome because I got to be more involved with my friends and more involved with the community. I got to learn the defense for a whole offseason instead of three weeks of fall camps getting into it. I just feel blessed that I got to be a Hawkeye. It feels like I’m not just a transfer anymore. It’s not a six-month transfer. It feels like I’m a Hawkeye for life.”

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Iowa has won 51 games since the sixth-year graduate players joined the program in 2019.

“That’s a lot of games,” Castro said. “That’s a lot of games; 51 wins since I’ve been here.”

The sixth-year players that have stayed the course have seen so many other players come and go along the way.

Rosters are fluid in this age of the transfer portal, so to have multiple sixth-year players stay the course is a tribute to the Iowa program, and to the players.

“Being here since freshman year, I’ve seem a lot of faces come and go,” Castro said. “There’s been a lot of people here.

“It just means a lot. There’s a lot of people that care about this program.”

The fifth and sixth-year players have experienced a lot in their time as Hawkeyes, including a global pandemic and the racial unrest from the summer of 2020 when multiple former black Iowa players accused the program of racism..

But they have stuck together and helped to make the culture better.

“This program will challenge you to be responsible, accountable and a good person,” Castro said. “It will make you a better person and a better player if you just trust the process and the people around you.”

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Fifth-year senior tight end Luke Lachey is the latest in a long and distinguished list of tight ends that have thrived under Kirk Ferentz at Iowa.

The Ohio native had his 2023 season cut short due to a season-ending lower leg injury in the third game.

But Lachey has played in all but one game this season and he has 63 career receptions and for 826 yards and four touchdowns.

Lachey is also in the unique position of having a father who played football for Ohio State, and in the NFL and who now works as a radio broadcaster for Ohio State football.

Jim Lachey hasn’t has the opportunity to watch his on play much in college due to his radio job.

But Jim will be there on Friday to share in the special moment.

“It’ll be cool,” Luke Lachey said. ‘I know he’s excited to be here. My whole family will be here. They’re going to spend Thanksgiving with us and being able to spend the day with us on Saturday. All my nieces and nephews will be here, and all my siblings, So it’ll be good.”

Luke Lachey has mixed emotions as he nears the end of his Hawkeye career.

While he is excited about what the future holds for him, he will forever cherish these past five years in Iowa City.

“It’s bittersweet for sure, the last time playing in Kinnick Stadium” he said. “Obviously it’s a very historic stadium and something we never take for granted, even just going in the to practice.

“So, we really want to take advantage of every opportunity. So, I’m super stoked about it. I can’t wait to be back in there again on Friday night.”

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Cade McNamara is nearing the end of a six-year journey that has been filled with incredible peaks and sobering valleys.

Iowa’s sixth-year quarterback from Reno, Nevada was riding high in 2021 after having led Michigan to a Big Ten title and to the college playoff that season as its starting quarterback.

But it’s mostly been downhill since then.

McNamara lost the starting job at Michigan early in the 2022 season and then he transferred to Iowa late in the 2022 calendar year.

He came to Iowa with enormous hype and expectations, but injuries and his own sub-par play have caused McNamara to struggle.

It’s uncertain what roll, if any, he will play in Friday’s game against Nebraska.

Walk-on quarterback Jackson Stratton is expected to start the game, and whether McNamara will even be in uniform is uncertain.

There were rumors that McNamara had quit the team, but he released a statement on social media last Friday calling the rumors baseless accusations.

He also said that he was hoping to be ready for the Nebraska game.

And while many fans have moved on from Cade McNamara, he still is part of the 2024 senior class and has often been voted as a team captain.

That doesn’t happen without having earned some respect.