How Iowa’s Kaleb Brown went from sizzling transfer portal addition to fizzling departure

IOWA CITY — Kaleb Brown arrived at Iowa with no shortage of fanfare.

His social media posts (and quarterback Cade McNamara’s post celebrating it) received thousands of likes, and understandably so. A fan base thirsting for more offensive production got a quarterback from Michigan (McNamara) and a wide receiver from Ohio State (Brown).

“Seeing the comments on Instagram, Twitter, whatever it may be — I felt the love from Day 1,” Brown said before his first season as a Hawkeye.

But for as much sizzle as the ex-Buckeye’s arrival had, his actual tenure as a Hawkeye was much more of a fizzle.

Brown had 22 receptions in 2023 — all in the last six games after he went through September and October without any receptions.

Then in 2024, he had only one catch for 18 yards. He took 19 snaps in three games, according to Pro Football Focus, including only one in Iowa’s Sept. 21 win over Minnesota.

“I don’t want to talk about players that aren’t here,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said when asked about why things didn’t work with Brown.

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Ten different players — three wideouts, three tight ends, three running backs and one fullback, if one goes off players’ official positions on the online roster — all have more receptions than Brown through five games.

“We've had him targeted a couple times, and he just hasn't run the route quite like we needed him to,” Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester said during the Hawkeyes’ bye week — about two weeks before Brown’s decision to depart.

Other receivers seem to have a better grasp of the offense despite having less time to learn. That includes Jacob Gill, who arrived on campus in June after transferring from Northwestern.

“I wouldn’t say it’s too hard,” Gill said of learning Lester’s offensive scheme. “A lot of the concepts we run are universal . … Once you get into the playbook, get to learning it, you pick it up decently quick.”

Reece Vander Zee also did not seem to have many issues learning the system. The true freshman was another summer arrival and already has 10 receptions for 123 yards.

“He has tremendous upside; he has a great attitude,” Ferentz said of Vander Zee. “I’m not saying somebody else didn’t. I’m just talking about those two individuals (Gill and Vander Zee) that were really focused on the details.”

Brown’s off-the-field issues surely did not help his on-the-field results.

Brown was held out of the 2023 Purdue game because of what Ferentz described at the time as “personal reasons.”

Then this summer, Brown was arrested on an OWI charge after he allegedly drove his vehicle onto a lawn and began spinning the tires. Iowa suspended him for its Aug. 31 season opener against Illinois State as a result.

Brown was not the only one to depart the team this week. Running back Leshon Williams announced his intention to transfer on Monday a few hours after Brown’s decision. Williams was the Hawkeyes’ leading rusher in 2023, but he fell behind Kaleb Johnson, Kamari Moulton and Jaziun Patterson in his injury-hampered 2024 season.

“We all are family,” cornerback Jermari Harris said of the two departures. “And those who left, we wish them the best of luck. And to me, they’re still family.”

Gill, likewise, said Brown and Williams made “the best decision for themselves.”

“You can’t fault them for it,” Gill said. “At the end of the day, they’re grown men, they got to make decisions for themselves.”

Ferentz, despite now having one less option in two different position groups, appreciated their midseason decisions to depart.

“I applaud both guys because what you don’t want is somebody in the program that doesn’t have both feet in the circle and totally committed to the team,” said Ferentz, who also wished them well and hopes “they find happiness wherever they do go.”

That also is perhaps easier to say when Williams “really hasn’t been healthy since April” and Brown’s production has lacked the sizzle that many fans expected 17 months ago when the Hawkeyes landed a former Ohio State wide receiver in the transfer portal.

“Not to be callous, but if a player's really not playing, it's not like you lose anything that way,” Ferentz said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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