By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa football team is always a puzzle, and sort of a mystery, in the spring as players step into new positions and new roles.

Each team is unique, even in the spring, but what separates the 2026 Iowa football team is the amount of changes that have occurred from a personnel standpoint since the 2025 season ended.

When the 2026 season starts against Northern Illinois on Sept. 5 at Kinnick Stadium, Iowa will have a new starting quarterback, three new starters on the offensive line, nine new starters on defense, a new starting kicker, a new starting punter, a new kick and punt returner, a new special teams coordinator, and a new running back coach.

That helps to explain why Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz relied more on the transfer portal this offseason than usual to restock his roster and depth chart as Iowa added 16 players from the portal.

Combine the portal additions with the incoming recruiting class and that’s a lot new faces on the 2026 roster, including 27 that joined the team in January.

“It’s kind of a reflection, I think, the way college football is going right now,” Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday. “It’s a different world than it was. And I’m old enough to remember when scholarships got offered after a senior year, December, January, and then guys showed up in August. Those days are long gone. That was the ’80s. It’s transitioned a little faster 25 years ago, and now very, very different.”

Eight members of the Iowa football team were made available to the media on Tuesday; four linebackers and four defensive backs.

Of those eight players, junior defensive Zach Lutmer is the only one who has been a full-time starter.

The other seven have played mostly on special teams, but now the time has come for them to play bigger roles, and that process starts in the spring when a team builds its foundation.

Third-year sophomore defensive back Rashad Godfrey Jr. was among the four defensive backs that were made available to the media on Tuesday.

A native of Plant City, Florida, Godfrey should have a bigger role this season after appearing in 12 games last season.

He recorded 15 tackles (10 solo, five assists) last season, but nine came in the win over Nebraska in the regular-season finale, including six solo stops while playing cornerback. He also forced a fumble against Nebraska in what was his first extensive playing time.

“Still trying to learn, but trying to have a leadership role, too,” Godfrey said. “I just want to be a leader because I kind of know a lot now. So I’m just trying to help the newcomers.”

And there are certainly plenty of newcomers on defense, including four defensive back just from the transfer portal alone.

“Everybody is learning,” Godfrey said. “We’ve got a lot of fast learners. So I think everything is pretty good so far.”

The four defensive backs from the portal are Tyler Brown, (James Madison); Anthony Hawkins, (Villanova); Xavier Styles, (Robert Morris); and Cody Haddad (Ohio State).

Brown (5-11, 194) started all 14 games at free safety last season for James Madison, finishing with 80 tackles, including five for loss (one sack), one interception and six pass break-ups. He had six or more tackles in eight games and posted a career-high 13 tackles with a pass break-up at Marshall…

Hawkins (6-3, 195) played in 15 games for Villanova last season, recording 59 tackles, including four for loss, two interceptions, nine pass break-ups and one forced one fumble. He is expected to help fill the holes at safety that were caused by Xavier Nwankpa exhausting his eligibility last season, and by Koen Entringer transferring to Louisville.

Styles (6-2, 190) finished with 36 tackles last season for Robert Morris. He also forced two fumbles, had six pass break-ups and one interception.

Haddad (5-11, 186) was redshirted at Ohio State last season and did not see any game action.

And while three of the four new defensive backs from the portal didn’t play for Power 4 schools, Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker has a gift for seeing talent and potential where others maybe don’ts see it.

Parker also coaches the defensive backs, so he obviously signed off on the four additions from the portal.

Junior Zach Lutmer will anchor the secondary and is emerging as Iowa’s next great defensive back after making second-team All-Big Ten last season.

The question with Lutmer is which position will he play between cash, safety and cornerback because he could play all three and has before.

Cash or safety is where Lutmer will most likely end up playing.

Spring practice is often when those kinds of decisions are mad.

Lutmer played so well last season that he considered leaving for the NFL draft as a third-year sophomore.

“I thought the best decision was for me to come back and really take on a leadership role because I didn’t have a leadership role last year as much as I have an opportunity to do this year,” Lutmer said. “I think I can really take another step in my vocal leadership and bring along younger guys.

“And I think that’s just the next step that I need to take and continue.”

Lutmer is taking what he learned from Nwankpa, Entrigner and departed cornerback TJ Hall from a leadership standpoint and using it in his new role.

“I’ve really tried to take some of the stuff that they implemented last year,” Lutmer said. “Maybe it’s not yelling at a guy after a play. Maybe it’s taking them aside and coaching them up on what he should do on this play and not on what he did wrong.”

Iowa football 2026 transfer portal class

Specialists

• Boston Everitt, freshman (University of Melbourne)
• Eli Ozick, junior (North Dakota State)
• Tanner Philpott, junior (Simpson College)