What’s to come for Iowa football’s quarterback room? Tim Lester shares his observations

TAMPA — If there’s a position Iowa football offensive coordinator Tim Lester can talk about, it’s quarterbacks.

The Hawkeyes’ play caller wraps up his second season with Iowa during the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa on New Year’s Eve, then immediately turns his head to the 2026 season — where Iowa has to name a new starting quarterback.

Mark Gronowski was always a one-year guy, though Lester joked he would’ve loved to have the graduate signal caller for a little bit longer. Instead, Iowa has two backups currently waiting in the wings, Jeremy Hecklinski and Hank Brown.

The duo have been getting repetitions in during the month leading to Iowa’s flight to Tampa on Thursday afternoon, and are still working through progressions ahead of the Hawkeyes’ battle against No. 14 Vanderbilt.

“That’s a huge part of our program, is the grow and development in the month of December,” Lester said. “ ... It’s been a lot of real, live team tackling, and it’s been a lot of fun.”

Gronowski is still expected to start against the Commodores — along with the rest of Iowa’s typical starters. However, there’s still some level of competition to monitor.

“There was a lot of competition this December too, but spring will be a huge opportunity for both of them, while giving both equal reps with each group,” Lester said. “And we're gonna see who can do the job better, but I think they're both very capable.”

It’s part of a balance head coach Kirk Ferentz has had to deal with during every bowl game prep. This one just happens to be at the quarterback position.

“Yeah, we've been able to work all the guys actually,” Ferentz said during his press conference on Dec. 16. “I think Jeremy (Hecklinski) and I think Hank (Brown) are both making strides and improving. We're seeing progress out there, so that's encouraging actually. So far, so good.

“As we sit here right now, the goal is not to have to look outside.”

Iowa’s said since National Signing Day at the beginning of the month that it doesn’t intend to portal shop for another quarterback — unless something changes during that portal window from Jan. 2 to Jan. 16. The Hawkeyes’ quarterback room is already four-deep ahead of next year, even with Gronowski’s departure and Jackson Stratton’s declaration to enter the portal.

So for now, Lester’s goal is to help build their confidence to compete for the starting job in the spring.

“They’ve been doing good,” Lester said. “They’ve been getting reps with looks that they haven’t always seen, and none of them have played a lot of game reps. So, we’re giving them a ton of reps. And I kind of front-loaded each one of them ... just so they can get into a rhythm.”

Hecklinski and Brown have played limited snaps this season, with Brown subbing in for Gronowski in Iowa’s loss to now-No. 1 Indiana and Hecklinski finishing Iowa’s games against Wisconsin and Nebraska.

Lester described the two quarterbacks very differently, too — mostly because they’re different kinds of quarterbacks. Lester said Brown has been working playing “like he’s 5-foot-11,” while Hecklinski has been the “interesting bird.”

Make no mistake however, both quarterbacks will be in a Year Two scenario with Lester’s playbook — an opportunity Lester hasn’t had yet. Even though neither potential starter has taken the heavy snap counts, they know what Lester wants to do each play.

And Lester doesn’t have to re-teach much, if anything, over the offseason.

“It’s exciting to have someone who’s in Year Two of the offense,” Lester said. “It makes a big difference.”

The good news for now is that Iowa won’t have to make a decision for another few months, though the bowl game is the ideal time to check in on a brewing quarterback battle.

They’ll just focus on that one last game together, as the Hawkeyes have been saying since learning of their bowl game assignment.

“It's football's, you know? It’s supposed to be like this,” Lester said. “I don't even think it crossed anyone's mind that we're all going out there, we're gonna go out there and play together.”

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