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Pete Thamel, Senior College Sports Insider
After showing signs of life on offense in 2024, Iowa is making moves to carry that momentum into 2025.
Former South Dakota State star quarterback Mark Gronowski has committed to Iowa, he told ESPN on Tuesday.
Gronowski, who made an official visit to Iowa on Jan. 3, also strongly considered the NFL, as he had already been issued an invite to the NFL scouting combine, sources told ESPN.
He is the top remaining quarterback in ESPN’s transfer portal rankings, the No. 4 overall quarterback and No. 19 overall player. He’s the most experienced and accomplished quarterback available in this cycle.
“It’s a great coaching staff,” Gronowski told ESPN of the Hawkeyes. “With Coach [Tim] Lester being there and being in the NFL last year and bringing an NFL offense to Iowa, it’s a great opportunity to develop as a player, learn an NFL offense and win a lot of games.”
He comes from a dominant career at South Dakota State, where he tied the FCS all-time mark with 49 wins as a starting quarterback and won two national titles.
Gronowski brings dual-threat capability to the Hawkeyes, as he’s thrown for 10,330 yards and 93 touchdowns and ran for 1,767 yards and 37 touchdowns.
“The culture at Iowa reminds me a lot of the classic Midwest culture I grew up in,” Gronowski said. “It’s a family atmosphere, and all the coaches are welcoming. It’s a similar situation to where I’ve been. It’s a big part of why I ended up going there.”
Iowa finished 129th out of 130 teams in scoring offense in 2023, averaging 15.4 points per game. The Hawkeyes improved this season under Lester, averaging 27.7 points per game to rise to No. 72 in the rankings.
Lester worked for the Green Bay Packers prior to coming to Iowa and brought with him the NFL offense run by Matt LaFleur that’s derived from Kyle Shanahan’s tree.
That appealed to Gronowski.
“It’s the Shanahan system that they are running there,” Gronowski said. “That’s what a lot of NFL teams are running. My goal throughout the process of transferring was getting in a situation to become the best player and be the best potential prospect for the NFL.”
There’s still plenty of work to go in Iowa’s passing game after they averaged 131.6 yards per game through the air this season — fifth worst in college football.