Iowa DL Bryce Hawthorne has ‘super high’ ceiling after transferring from South Dakota State

IOWA CITY — Reality started to set in for Bryce Hawthorne on his first day with Iowa football — long before any spring practices or even winter workouts.

“I was sitting in meetings, and we were going through all the intro stuff and all that stuff,” Hawthorne said. “And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I really am — I’m here.’”

Now that the former South Dakota State defensive lineman is more settled in as a Hawkeye, Hawthorne has the potential to be a multiyear contributor at a critical position for Iowa’s defense.

Hawthorne, with three years of eligibility remaining, is coming off a 2024 season with 5.5 tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries on a South Dakota State team that advanced to the FCS semifinals. His 29 total pressures were second-best on the Jackrabbits, per Pro Football Focus, despite playing on the interior.

“The first thing I noticed is when they got there during winter workouts, both those guys are really twitchy athletes,” Iowa defensive end Max Llewellyn said of Hawthorne and fellow newcomer Jonah Pace. “The ceiling is super high for both of them.”

One might not immediately pick up on Hawthorne’s high ceiling solely from talking to the ever-so-humble defensive tackle, though. When asked about his skill set, he said “still growing.”

“I have a lot of growth to do,” Hawthorne said. “I have a lot of work to do — learning the playbook, but also learning myself and figuring out what works best for me and how I play.”

One of Hawthorne’s “main focuses” in his first spring as a Hawkeye is his pad level.

“That’s something that I had to work on at my old school, too,” Hawthorne said. “I come here, I still have to keep growing and working on that.”

Hawthorne joins an Iowa defensive line that does not have an abundance of returning experience on the interior. Aaron Graves had 612 defensive snaps last year, per PFF, and Jeremiah Pittman had 247. After that, Will Hubert had the next-highest workload with 51 defensive snaps in 2024.

Why Hawthorne chose Iowa

Now with Hawthorne and Pace in the room, the Hawkeyes have four defensive tackles who took 200-plus defensive snaps in 2024. The process of landing Hawthorne started with a phone call from Iowa defensive line coach Kelvin Bell.

“We were on the phone for a little bit, had a discussion, and he asked me if I wanted to come here and check this place out,” Hawthorne said. “So I took that opportunity, came down here, had amazing meetings and conversations with everybody. And I just realized that this was my new home.”

Hawthorne picked the Hawkeyes over Big Ten rival Wisconsin. He announced his commitment on Jan. 4, less than a week after he announced his plans to enter the transfer portal.

“It was definitely that family feel,” Hawthorne said of the difference-maker for Iowa. “I just felt a real connection, and honestly, it was kind of like just something in my gut. I just knew this was the right place to be.”

For as fast as Hawthorne found the right place, it still might take some time for it to fully set in with the former FCS-level player that Iowa is indeed his place.

“It kind of doesn’t feel real sometimes,” Hawthorne said. “But I’m just so glad I can be here and get to work.”

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