Mark Gronowski is healthy, throwing again ... and traveling all over the place

IOWA CITY - There he was in Dallas with some of his new teammates.

There he was at the Lake of the Ozarks having fun with some more of his new teammates.

There he was in the bayous of Louisiana taking part for a second year in a row in a prestigious camp run by the first family of football.

There Mark Gronowski was Wednesday morning, fielding questions from the media in the lobby of the University of Iowa’s Hansen Football Performance Center, after going through some informal workouts. The big takeaway is he’s healthy and ready to go for the 2025 season.

“Gosh, I’m excited,” Gronowski said. “I love playing football, I love being out there with the guys. We’re playing a kids game, so why not go out there and have fun every single day with the guys. It’s my last year in college, so really go out there and enjoy every single moment and enjoy every practice.”

Gronowski is the graduate transfer quarterback from South Dakota State, of course, where he threw for over 10,000 career yards, won two FCS championships and was named the FCS offensive player of the year in 2023-24. He already has been named Iowa’s starter for its season opener August 30 against Albany and has generated a significant amount of buzz from a Hawkeyes fanbase that expects both the moon and the stars from him.

Gronowski has been fully cleared medically after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, an injury that hampered him in a 2024 SDSU season in which he still threw for 2,700-plus yards and 23 touchdowns and ran for 10 touchdowns.

“If anything, I might feel stronger,” Gronowski said. “Just having to incorporate the legs a little more throughout the rehab process. Now that the arm’s back, I feel great.”

“He’s a great quarterback,” said Iowa tight end Addison Ostrenga. “We’ve been trying to throw on the practice field a little bit together. You know, he’s got a great arm, and he can definitely run, is a fast guy, too. So I think it’ll be a really good year, and I’m excited to work with him.”

Now back to all of this traveling.

Gronowski took part in late June with other college quarterbacks in the 29th Manning Passing Academy in Thibodeaux, La., impressing scouts who were there observing. The MPA is owned and operated by Archie Manning and sons Peyton, Eli and Cooper on the campus of Nicholls University.

“It was a great opportunity to meet with a bunch of the other quarterbacks around the country,” Gronowski said. “Kind of learn from them, pick their brains, learn about their routines. Also being able to learn from the Mannings, Eli and Peyton, just being able to ask questions of them. Learn about their routines, learn about their pre-snap reads. I find a lot of benefits from that. It was a great time down there.”

As far as the Dallas trip, that was made with Ostrenga and wide receivers K.J. Parker, Sam Phillips and Jacob Gill. Gronowski got in some work with his personal quarterbacks coach Jeff Christensen and threw to the aforementioned quartet, saying it was great to establish some passing rhythm again.

Christensen’s son, Jake, was one of the most highly acclaimed recruits in Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz’s tenure, starting for the Hawkeyes in the late 2000s before losing his job to Ricky Stanzi and transferring out of the program. Weird how small the football world can be.

“Jake had a different kind of experience here, for sure. Had some ups and downs,” Gronowski said. “But (Jeff) said he is going to be cheering for me through and through, and he’s happy I ended up at Iowa.”

The Lake of the Ozarks journey was with Gronowski’s offensive linemen, because, you know, you’ve got to keep those dudes happy. They block for him and keep him upright.

Taking care of them is part of what good leaders do.

“I kind of bring it back to how it was when I was a freshman at South Dakota State,” he said. “I ended up winning the starting job there, I was a freshman, didn’t know anybody, so I had to go build those relationships. I have kind of taken that same approach here. Building those relationships, not stepping too far out of my boundary.

“Try to build that camaraderie, try and hang around with the guys on the team. Once you build those relationships and build that rapport, you can kind of start holding people accountable. And they’ll start holding you accountable. It makes everyone better.”

The hopes are high for this Iowa team, the hopes are high that the offense under second-year coordinator Tim Lester will take another huge leap forward. A lot of that has to do with the new quarterback.

“I feel 100 percent comfortable with the offense,” Gronowski said. “Just meeting with Coach Lester and the other quarterbacks and the receivers, spending a lot of time on my own with film study. I feel really good with the offense.

“I think this offense is going to be really great.”

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