As transfer portal hits lull, Iowa football has added more experience than it lost

IOWA CITY — Iowa football recruiting director Tyler Barnes dropped a hint in a December news conference.

Just because a school has announced an addition via the transfer portal “doesn't mean we're going to stop recruiting.”

“They are free agents until they start class on campus,” Barnes said.

A few weeks later, Iowa poached offensive lineman Daijon Parker, who was previously committed to Virginia.

Now, the metaphorical dust has mostly settled in the transfer portal.

Five of Iowa’s seven incoming scholarship players from the portal are enrolled this spring as students, according to the university’s online student directory. Walk-on Austin Kutscher, who transferred from Ohio State, also is enrolled.

All of Iowa’s departing transfers found new schools as well. Four are at other Power Five schools, another four are at smaller FBS schools, Josh Volk is at FCS-level Northern Iowa and Carson May is at a community college.

Iowa’s gained more experience than lost via transfer portal

Iowa’s transfer portal departures outnumber arrivals, 10-7, but the Hawkeyes have a net gain in experience.

Iowa’s transfer portal additions have 7,143 career FBS snaps, according to a Gazette analysis of Pro Football Focus data, while its departures had 4,119 career snaps.

The relatively late commitments of offensive lineman Rusty Feth and linebacker Nick Jackson — they both have more than 2,000 career snaps — were the tipping point between a net loss and net gain in experience.

Three of the arrivals — Jackson, quarterback Cade McNamara and tight end Erick All Jr. — have been captains on Power Five teams.

The high volume is a stark contrast from last year, when Iowa brought in only one player from the transfer portal — tight end Steven Stilianos from FCS-level Lafayette. Iowa lost six players via the portal in that offseason cycle.

Between the 2020 and 2021 seasons, defensive back Xavior Williams was the only scholarship player to join the Hawkeyes via the transfer portal.

Relationships play key role in assembling class

As Iowa bolstered its roster via the transfer portal, it benefited from prior connections with some athletes.

Jon Budmayr, now Iowa’s senior special assistant to the head coach, had existing relationships with McNamara and fellow quarterback Deacon Hill from his time at Wisconsin and Colorado State.

All’s former roommate at Michigan, McNamara had already committed to Iowa by the time the tight end entered the transfer portal.

Relationships usually “get you in the door with most guys, especially in this world where things move really, really fast,” Barnes said.

“If you don’t have any familiarity with a guy or his high school coach or somebody in that region, it’s going to be tough the way the portal works these days,” Barnes said.

Can Iowa add more players via the portal?

Some athletes who have made significant contributions at the Power Five level remain available in the portal, including ex-Georgia defensive back Jaheim Singletary and ex-USC wide receiver Gary Bryant Jr.

Whether Iowa can take on more transfers depends on whether it is willing to gamble on some current Hawkeyes leaving in May.

Iowa is at the 85-scholarship limit when including recruits who will arrive in the summer and quarterback Spencer Petras, whose football future is uncertain as he recovers from shoulder surgery.

Kicker Drew Stevens and long snapper Luke Elkin officially are not yet on scholarship, but Kirk Ferentz said the program is “going to do our best to get them on there as soon as we can.”

With 87 players either on scholarship or intended to be on scholarship soon and only 85 spots, conventional wisdom might suggest Iowa is not in a position to add more players from the portal.

However, some schools have been taking on more players than there would be spaces for in the fall.

Nebraska, for example, has 103 scholarship players on track for the fall, according to recruiting websites On3 Sports and Rivals.

Wisconsin has or will have 91 scholarship players, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

“You always kind of assume there's gonna be natural attrition,” new Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell said via the Wisconsin State Journal.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com