Kirk Ferentz, Iowa confident in both Hank Brown, Jeremy Hecklinski amid QB battle

The Iowa Hawkeyes went into the 2025 college football season with a clear-cut starting quarterback. 

They had gone out and poached two-time FCS national champion quarterback Mark Gronowski from the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in the transfer portal.

Gronowski went into fall camp as the player head coach Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes were building their season around. 

That won't be the case heading into 2026, at least at quarterback.

Gronowski is now trying to make it in the NFL as an undrafted free agent. Iowa, in the meantime, is anticipating a fall camp battle between junior Hank Brown and redshirt sophomore Jeremy Hecklinski.

Ferentz admitted at Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday that he has no idea which player will win the competition, though he does believe either player can lead a Big Ten team into battle.

“They’re different guys, different individuals, but they’re both totally capable of leading a football team," Ferentz said, according to Jackson Miller of The Daily Iowan. I’m as excited or anxious about it as you guys are to see how it all plays out.”

Iowa Hawkeyes go into 2026 with two inexperienced quarterbacks in a battle

This is all going according to plan, though. Ferentz said the Hawkeyes intentionally had recruited players to sit behind Gronowski last season to learn offensive coordinator Tim Lester's system.

Both Brown and Hecklinski fit that bill, as both sat behind Gronowski last season at Iowa. Brown was at Auburn in 2023 and 2024 and started two games for the Tigers, against New Mexico State and Arkansas. Hecklinski was at Wake Forest in 2024 and took a total of three snaps for the Demon Deacons.

Neither player has a ton of experience. Brown does have 73 career passing attempts, 642 yards and seven touchdowns to his name, but he has also thrown four career interceptions. In the meantime, Hecklinski has a total of two career throws under his belt.

This is all by design, though. Ferentz and the Hawkeyes wanted quarterbacks they could mold.

“We wanted to get another young guy in the room, preferably younger than older,” Ferentz said. “The idea was to start building on that.”