By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – In this age of NIL and the transfer portal, you never should assume anything when it comes to rosters and depth charts.

But with that being said, it’s looking more and more like the Iowa football coaches, namely head coach Kirk Ferentz and offensive coordinator Tim Lester, are content with what they have at the quarterback position where sophomore Jeremey Hecklinski and junior Hank Brown are expected to compete for the starting position this coming spring and fall.

Of course, that could always change at any time, but Iowa has added at least a dozen players from the transfer portal over the last two weeks, but not a quarterback.

That would suggest that Kirk Ferentz and Tim Lester both like what they already have at the quarterback position.

Hecklinski spent his freshman season at Wake Forest before transferring to Iowa where he appeared briefly in two games this past season, completing 2-of-2 passes for eight yards.

Brown, who transferred from Auburn, started the 2025 season as the backup to graduate Mark Gronowski.

Brown was then thrown into the fire when Gronowski suffered a knee sprain early in the fourth quarter against Indiana. Brown struggled against the Hoosiers, as many quarterbacks have over the past two seasons, completing 5-of-13 passes for 40 yards and one interception in the 20-15 loss at Kinnick Stadium. He also missed an open receiver on a screen play that looked promising.

Maybe it was just a coincidence that Hecklinski’s name moved ahead of Brown’s name on the depth chart about midway through the season. The word “or” still was listed next to their names, suggesting they still were on equal ground.

Iowa recently lost Warren Ruggiero as an offensive analyst as he accepted a similar position under new Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin.

Ruggerio spent the 2025 season on the Iowa staff after having been the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Wake Forest from 2014 to 2024.

He and Hecklinski weren’t necessarily a package deal, but it’s reasonable to assume that they probably had some discussions about coming to Iowa.

Ruggerio wasn’t expected to be in Iowa City very long and now he’s gone, causing some to wonder if Hecklinski might follow him again.

But so far that hasn’t happened.

The 5-foot-11, 188-pound Hecklinski appears to have a good situation developing at Iowa where the starting position is now wide open, but also maybe his to lose.

In addition to Hecklinski and Brown, Iowa also redshirt freshmen Jimmy Sullivan and Ryan Fitzgerald on the roster at quarterback, and will add another quarterback with the addition of incoming freshman an Utah native Tradon Bessinger, who singed with Iowa in December.

Ryan Fitzgerald came to Iowa as a preferred walk-on and is the son of new Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald.

Bessinger, who was previously committed to Boise State, is ranked as a four-star prospect.

Linebacker is another position where Iowa hasn’t added any players from the portal this offseason despite having to replace departed senior starters Karson Sharar, Jaden Harrell Jaxon Rexroth.

That would suggest that the Iowa coaches believe strongly in the young talent that they have at linebacker.

But again, the situation with rosters in this era is always fluid.

What seems certain one day might be different the next day.

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Three more roster additions: Iowa has recently received verbal commitments from a college punter, a college receiver and a high school long snapper.

Former Simpson punter Tanner Philpott is headed to Iowa City after having earned Division III third-team All-America recognition this past season for Simpson College in Indianola.

Philpott averaged 43.9 yards on 40 punts this past season with 16 of his punts downed inside the 20-yard line.

Iowa has a void to fill after punter after two-year starter Rhys Dakin transferred to Michigan State where former Iowa special teams coordinator LeVar Woods is now the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator under new head coach Pat Fitzgerald.

Philpott has two seasons of eligibility.

Former SMU receiver Lance Beeghley also has committed to Iowa as a preferred walk-on, while high school long snapper Matty McLaughlin announced his commitment to Iowa Friday on social media. McLaughlin is from St. Louis, Missouri.

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Iowa football portal additions

name, height-weight, position, previous school, years of eligibility

Anthony Hawkins, 6-3, 195, DB, Villanova, three years

Eli Ozick, 5-11, 191, kicker, North Dakota State, two years

Kahmari Brown, 6-2, 225, DE, Elon, two years

Brice Stevenson, 6-1, 295, DT, Holy Cross, one year

Trent Wilson, 6-5, 310, OL, James Madison, three years

Lance Ingold, 6-5, 260, DL, Northern Illinois, three years

Tyler Brown, 5-11, 194, DB, James Madison, two years

Tony Diaz, 5-11, 176, WR, UT Rio Grande Valley, three years

LJ Phillips, Jr., 5-9, 225, RB, South Dakota, two years

Evan James, 5-11, 170, WR, Furman, three years

Xavier Styles, 6-2, 180, DB, Robert Morris, three years

Emmanuel Olagbaju, 6-2, 295,  DT, North Dakota, two years

Lance Beeghley, 6-2, 195, WR, SMU, three years