DB Koen Entringer surprised to rep Hawkeyes in Vegas, but teammates chose him

LAS VEGAS — It was little surprise that senior offensive lineman Logan Jones and senior defensive end Ethan Hurkett were two-thirds of Iowa’s player delegation to the Big Ten football media days here.

Jones has 38 career starts and was first-team All-Big Ten last year. Hurkett started every game in 2024 and led the Hawkeyes in quarterback sacks, tackles for losses and forced fumbles.

The third man here is a fourth-year junior safety defensive back with one career start. Some in Iowa Media World wondered why likely 2025 starter Koen Entringer would be brought to Las Vegas and two-year starting safety Xavier Nwampka, for instance, would not.

“I’ve just basically thrown it to our (players) leadership group,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said here Thursday. “They then vote, and I let them select who they want to represent them.

“There’s no hidden messages. It doesn’t mean anybody’s in the doghouse.”

The news caught Entringer off guard. “I was shocked,” he said. “KF told us in a team meeting, the guys that were going to Big Ten media day. He said my name and I was like ‘Huh?’

“Just to have my peers just think so highly of me is probably one of the best accomplishments. I'm just internally grateful to be a part of this team, and I just hope that all my teammates know how much I love them and how grateful I am to just be a part of this team.”

Rest assured Ferentz was comfortable with his players’ choice.

“I think (the vote) speaks to Koen in particular,” Ferentz said. “He’s a guy that’s just impressed everybody in the program. He’s got a great attitude, great work-ethic.

“I think we’re all optimistic he’ll play really well for us this year. He hasn’t played a lot, but I think he’s capable of playing great. … On top of that, he’s just a great leader, and a great young man.

“He’s the same guy every day. He just shows up and works. He’s got a great attitude. He was the same way when we recruited him.”

Hurkett, following defensive back Quinn Schulte as a Hawkeye of impact from Cedar Rapids Xavier, is an Entringer supporter.

“He's a guy that's going to come in there and do things right, on and off the field. He's also a guy that is very vocal in his leadership style. I think guys kind of gravitate toward that, and they see what he can be. He can be a really good player.

“I think he will just have a breakout year. Honestly, he's a freak athlete, and he takes the game seriously and does things the right way.”

Iowa pulled Entringer out of Ypsilanti, Mich., next door to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan. Entringer went to high school in Ann Arbor.

Michigan offered Entringer a scholarship. So did Notre Dame and Wisconsin.

“When I just came on that official visit (to Iowa) … I realized that this the program I want to be a part of, this the culture I want to be a part of. And, you know, I just decided said to myself, I can't see myself anywhere else but wearing black and gold.”

For the second-straight year, Entringer is hosting a free youth football camp in Iowa City for grades 3 through 8. It’s Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. at Iowa City High School.

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OFFENSIVE LINEMAN CODY FOX of Winthrop is no longer on the Hawkeyes team, Ferentz said.

"Cody decided to walk away from football," Ferentz said. "Great kid."

Fox, was a four-star recruit out of East Buchanan High, where he was a three-time first-team all-state player. He played in one game last season as an Iowa freshman.

FERENTZ AND THE OTHER BIG TEN COACHES fall in line with league Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti, who advocates a future 16-team College Football Playoff format in which his conference and the SEC get four automatic qualifiers, with two going to the ACC and Big 12 and one to the highest-ranked Group of Six team.

Petitti wants the Big Ten to have its own CFP play-in weekend with the No. 3 team playing the No. 6, and the No. 4 facing the No. 5 on campus sites with the winners getting automatic CFP berths.

“I think it makes a lot of sense,” Ferentz said, “an opportunity for a couple teams to host games in the postseason. To have a chance to play in, what’s wrong with that? I think it’ll be great for fan-interest.”

The rest of college football has considerably less enthusiasm over the possibility of a 4-loss, 6th-place team in their playoff.

Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com