By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Slightly more than two years after the Iowa football team had supposedly fixed its problems at the quarterback position, the fix is on again.

Only now there is new person leading the fix in Tim Lester and a new quarterback to carry out the fix on the field in Mark Gronowski.

Brian Ferentz and Cade McNamara have both moved on, leaving behind unfulfilled expectations and disappointment.

The buzz being felt from Gronowski’s decision to play his final season in college for Iowa is maybe even louder than the buzz that was created from McNamara’s decision to transfer from Michigan to Iowa late in 2022.

McNamara certainly had credibility after having led Michigan to the 2021 Big Ten title, and to the college playoff that season.

But he also had lost the starting position at Michigan early in the 2022 season, and was coming off a season-ending knee injury when he joined the Hawkeyes in the winter of 2023.

McNamara would go on to suffer another season ending knee injury in his fifth game as a Hawkeye in 2023, and then he had a concussion this past season.

McNamara started 13 games over two seasons as a Hawkeye, but rarely did he play very well.

Of course, it wasn’t all his fault because his supporting cast often left much to be desired.

But McNamara is a quarterback, and with that responsibility comes too much praise and too much criticism.

McNamara was considered the savior of the offense when he arrived at Iowa, but when that failed to happen, he couldn’t get out of town fast enough to please those who had called him the savior.

McNamara is now in the transfer portal for the second time and is looking for a school to play his seventh season in college.

Gronowski, meanwhile, has been signed, sealed and delivered to Iowa.

He comes from South Dakota State where he had one of the greatest careers ever for a quarterback at the FCS level. He passed for over 10,000 yards, rushed for over 1,700 yards and combined for 130 touchdowns while leading the Jackrabbits to two national titles as a four-year starter.

A cynic would try to minimize Gronowski’s accomplishments by saying that he compiled those numbers at a lower level and against competition that is inferior to what he will face as  Hawkeye.

And while there is some truth in that, the numbers still are very impressive.

Gronowski, who is the son of former Drake quarterback Ray Gronowski,  is what is called a late bloomer in recruiting.

Iowa, along with a few other Division I programs wanted him to walk-on, but when South Dakota State came through with an offer, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Gronowski embraced the opportunity and then made the most of it.

Iowa fans certainly have reason to be excited, and maybe even optimistic, that the quarterback position will improve under offensive coordinator Tim Lester.

Iowa recently lost three quarterbacks to the portal in McNamara, Marco Lainez and James Resar, but also has added Gronowski and Auburn backup Hank Brown, who has three seasons of eligibility.

Gronowski only has one season of eligibility, so it’s important that Lester keeps adding to the position.

It’s also important to remember that Gronowski can’t do this by himself.

Iowa led the Big Ten in rushing this past season, and yet the performance at quarterback still was mediocre at best.

It will be interesting to see how the quarterback competition plays itself out because Gronowski didn’t sign with Iowa to play behind Brendan Sullivan, and Brendan Sullivan didn’t transfer from Northwestern last summer to spend two seasons as a backup, or as a change of pace in goal-line situations.

Gronowski reportedly tested the NFL waters to see where he stood, and then he seems to have zeroed in on Iowa and vice versa.

Other than a reported visit to Wisconsin, all road seems to have led from Brookings, South Dakota, which is the home of South Dakota State, to Iowa City.

Lester faced a daunting task when he replaced Brian Ferentz as the offensive coordinator shortly after the 2023 season, and perhaps the biggest challenge was upgrading the quarterback position.

The Cade McNamara experiment didn’t work out for a number of reasons, and that might cause some fans to have a wait-and-see approach with Gronowski and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

Anytime a player is added from the transfer portal, there is a leap of faith that comes with that player.

What’s different about Gronowski’s situation compared to McNamara’s situation is that Gronowski was looking for a bigger stage to challenge himself, and to improve as an NFL prospect, whereas McNamara was looking for a soft landing and a chance for redemption after having lost the starting position at Michigan, and Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz provided that for him.

It just didn’t work out.

There is always a risk in adding a player from the portal, and Iowa has had some impressive hits, most notably linebacker Nick Jackson and tight end Erick All, but also some big misses, most notably McNamara and receiver Kaleb Brown.

Gronowski already has played once at Kinnick Stadium, but that didn’t go well for him as he only completed 10-of-26 passes for 87 yards in a 7-3 loss in the 2022 season opener.

But it would be unfair to judge him solely on that performance because the Iowa defense was dominant in 2022 and Gronowski just didn’t have enough help around him.

That game was also played more than two years ago, so it’s reasonable to believe that Gronowski is a better quarterback now than he was back then.

Time and performance will ultimately determine if Gronowski is a hit or a miss.

It seems hard for some to not get carried away in these kinds of situations, especially with social media being such a convenient stage for getting carried away.

Iowa, and especially Tim Lester, deserve praise for winning one half of the transfer portal challenge.

But now now comes the other part of the challenge, turning hype into results.