By Pat Harty IOWA CITY, Iowa – Until the college football playoff expands to 24 teams, which seems inevitable, anything worse than a 10-2 record would almost certainly eliminate the Iowa football team from playoff contention. That’s a big reason why Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz wants the field to grow from 12 teams to […]
By hawkeyesports.com IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa fourth-year kicker Eli Ozick has been named to the 2026 Lou Groza Place-Kicker Award Watch List, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission announced on Friday. In its 35th season, the award recognizes the nation’s best place-kicker. Ozick joins the Hawkeyes after being named a finalist for the Fred Mitchell […]
Hawk Fanatic podcast for 8/7/26
By hawkeyesports.com IOWA CITY, Iowa – Three University of Iowa football student-athletes have been named to The Sporting News 2026 Preseason All-America teams, it was announced on Thursday. Fourth-year center Kade Pieper earned first-team honors, while third-year tight end DJ Vonnahme and fourth-year defensive back Zach Lutmer were selected to the second team. Pieper, a 2026 Walter Camp Preseason first-team All-American and Outland Trophy […]
By hawkeyesports.com IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa fourth-year offensive lineman Kade Pieper has been named to the Rimington Trophy Watch List on Thursday. The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the country’s top center. Pieper, a 2026 Walter Camp, Sporting News, Athlon Preseason first-team All-American, started all 13 games at guard in 2025 and is coming […]
By Pat Harty IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Hawk Fanatic/KCJJ radio show and podcast sometimes goes off course, or as we like to call it, drifting. Music is often where the drifting takes us, but in Wednesday’s show, a question by a regular caller triggered a conversation about who are the funniest head coaches that […]
By hawkeyesports.com IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa third-year tight end DJ Vonnahme has been named to the John Mackey Award Watch List on Wednesday. The Mackey Award is presented annually to the country’s most outstanding tight end. Vonnahme (6-foot-4, 241 pounds) was named a Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-American in 2025 after becoming […]
Hawk Fanatic podcast for 8/5/26
By Pat Harty IOWA CITY, Iowa – In ranking the Iowa football team 22nd in the 2026 preseason Coaches Poll, Kirk Ferentz’s coaching peers are paying him and the Iowa program a nice compliment. That ranking at first glance might not seem like such a big deal, especially with seven Big Ten teams ranked above […]
By hawkeyesports.com IOWA CITY, Iowa — Three University of Iowa football student-athletes were named to preseason watch lists, the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) announced Tuesday. Fourth-year defensive back Zach Lutmer was named to the 2026 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List, presented annually to the national defensive player of the year. Lutmer was previously tabbed as a […]
By Pat Harty IOWA CITY, Iowa – More than a decade has passed since Iowa radio legend Bob Brooks passed away on June 25, 2016 at the age of 89. Bob was my personal Hawkeye historian, even better and more reliable than the internet, and mixed in with a little dry humor and wit. Rarely […]
Hawk Fanatic for 8/3/26 By Hawk Fanatic IOWA CITY, Iowa – William Hughes was so determined to help push his belief that the 1960 Iowa football team deserves to be called the national champion that he wrote a book about it. Hughes, President of Nebraska Beef in Omaha, recently had his book titled “Standing Up […]
By Pat Harty IOWA CITY, Iowa – I’ve written this before, but it’s always worth repeating, especially with another college football season approaching. The Iowa football program has only had two head coaches since 1979 – Hayden Fry and Kirk Ferentz. Fry hired Ferentz as his offensive line coach in 1981, and it would ultimately […]
Hawk Fanatic podcast for 7/31/26
By hawkeyesports.com IOWA CITY, Iowa — Former Hawkeye pitcher Casey Day has been named pitching coach for the University of Iowa baseball team, head coach Rick Heller announced Wednesday. “We’re excited to have Casey join our coaching staff,” Heller said. “He’s a hard-working, intelligent, and talented pitching coach. As a former player in our program, Casey understands the standards and […]
By Mike Hlas IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa had a national-championship football team that deserves that recognition in Kinnick Stadium. That’s the conclusion of William Hughes, an Omaha businessman and lifelong Hawkeyes fan who has done more than simply state an opinion. Hughes spent time over the last five years researching and writing a book about […]
By Pat Harty Iowa Athletic Director Beth Goetz said Tuesday at Big Ten Media Day in Chicago that a Cy-Hawk contract extension for football is coming soon. The current contract will expire after the 2027 season. Goetz told members of the media that she and Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard have had several conversations […]
By Pat Harty Kirk Ferentz has no interest in ever coaching in the NFL again, which now seems pretty obvious as he prepares for his 28th season as the Iowa head coach and for his 71st birthday on Saturday. But there are two things about the NFL that Ferentz wishes the college game would start […]
By hawkjeyesports.com CHICAGO — University of Iowa fourth-year offensive lineman Kade Pieper has been named to the Big Ten Conference Preseason Honors List, it was announced Tuesday by the league office. Twelve student-athletes from all 18 conference schools were selected by a media panel. Pieper, a 2026 Walter Camp Preseason first-team All-American, started all 13 games at guard […]
HawkFanatic for 7/27/26
By hawkeyesports.com IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa football team’s Oct. 3 contest against Ohio State at Kinnick Stadium is officially sold out, the UI Athletics Department announced Monday. The Buckeyes will be making their first visit to Kinnick Stadium since 2017. The matchup against Ohio State joins previous 2026 home sellouts against Iowa […]
IOWA CITY, Iowa – This year marks the 16th annual Cleveland.com Preseason Big Ten Football Poll, and it should come as little to no surprise that Ohio State has been picked to win the conference yet again. That’s 11 out of 16 years that the media has picked the Buckeyes to win the conference. Ohio […]
By Pat Harty IOWA CITY, Iowa – With the start of the 2026 Iowa football season barely a month away, and with the heat index soon climbing back over 100 degrees, now might not seem like the right time to talk about college basketball. But let’s do it anyway. Over the past six weeks, the […]
By KCJJ radio IOWA CITY, Iowa – The home of University of Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester was damaged in a fire Thursday morning. Firefighters from Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, Solon, West Branch, Tiffin, Oxford, Hills, Swisher, and Lone Tree all responded to the residence at 3686 Forest Gate Drive near North Liberty just […]
By Pat Harty IOWA CITY, Iowa – As a former five-star recruit, McKenna Woliczko had her choice of colleges to attend. In fact, she had so many scholarship offers as a versatile 6-foot-2 forward that she first trimmed her list to 10 schools, and then down to four before ultimately picking the Iowa Hawkeyes over […]
By Pat Harty IOWA CITY, Iowa – When it comes to successfully recruiting four- and five-star prospects in men’s basketball, Iowa fans have reason to be less than optimistic because it just hasn’t happened much. Even before five stars were added to the grading system, Iowa has relied mostly on unheralded recruits to play point […]
Hawkfanatic for 7/22/26
By Pat Harty IOWA CITY, Iowa – Okay, let’s have some fun, and in some cases, at my expense. When you have covered Iowa Hawkeye sports for as long as I have, which dates back to 1992, you’re bound to have some moments that make you laugh. Here are 15 of my funniest moments in […]
