Iowa Football is bringing in Mark Gronowski, the QB transfer from South Dakota State

IOWA CITY – Iowa football has brought another quarterback out of the transfer portal.

South Dakota State transfer Mark Gronowski has committed to the Hawkeyes.

Gronowski, who also considered pursuing a future in the NFL, will come to Iowa with one season remaining.

Gronowski was a productive player at the FCS level, throwing for more than 10,300 yards and running for more than 1,700 yards in his college career. His career pass touchdown to interception ratio is 93 to 20. He has also scored 37 touchdowns.

Not only was Gronowski an extremely productive player, but he also helped lead winning teams. South Dakota State was a back-to-back FCS national champion before failing to make three-pointers this season.

Gronowski has a long list of honors and accolades on his resume throughout his career at South Dakota State. Among them: Missouri Valley Football Conference Freshman of the Year, Phil Steele FCS Offensive Player of the Year and winner of the Walter Payton Award (awarded to the FCS’s most outstanding offensive player).

Gronowski was a standout player in each of his four seasons with the Jackrabbits. He threw more than 20 touchdowns in three of those four seasons. What he didn’t do, Gronowski had a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 15-3. He scored no fewer than seven touchdowns in each of those four seasons.

Gronowski’s mobility is a weapon, something Iowa’s quarterbacks other than Brendan Sullivan have lacked in recent seasons. Gronowski gives Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester a compelling skill set to work with.

For Gronowski, many criteria are important for the Hawkeyes, not least experience. He has played college football for five seasons (missing one of them due to injury). Gronowski has played 55 games in his career.

Gronowski has played at Kinnick Stadium before. The Jackrabbits faced off against the Hawkeyes in the 2022 season opener. Iowa won that match 7-3.

Landing Gronowski is a major surprise in the transfer portal that significantly brightens the outlook for Iowa’s 2025 season.

The addition of Gronowski continues the changes in Iowa’s quarterbacks room ahead of the 2025 season.

Cade McNamara and Marco Lainez entered the transfer portal. Iowa also moved quarterback prospect James Resar to receiver before entering the transfer portal.

Iowa has signed two quarterbacks in its 2025 recruiting class – Jimmy Sullivan and Ryan Fitzgerald (preferred walk-on).

Early in the transfer portal cycle, Iowa received a commitment from Auburn quarterback transfer Hank Brown. During his career with the Tigers, he appeared in five games and completed 34 of 52 passes (65.4%) for 535 yards with six touchdowns and three picks.

Signing Brown hasn’t stopped Iowa from seeking more help at the quarterback position in 2025. The Hawkeyes arguably have more talent in the quarterback room now than they have in recent seasons.

“Coach Lester is super transparent,” Brendan Sullivan said of Iowa’s transfer portal quarterback aspirations before the Music City Bowl. “Of course you see this on social media too. But it’s super transparent. That’s the motto these days. You have to compete. If you’re afraid of competing, you shouldn’t play the game.” And so I’ll stay here, play for Iowa and continue to do my best.

Since the departure of Nate Stanley, Iowa’s quarterback play has not been where it should be. This season, it was arguably the biggest factor slowing Iowa’s offense. The Hawkeyes made significant progress under Lester, largely thanks to running back Kaleb Johnson and the offensive line. Although injuries didn’t help matters, the quarterback play failed.

“Not quite up to par,” Lester said of Iowa’s passing game in November. “I would like to use the word terrible. Because we still have a long way to go.”

In a short amount of time, the Hawkeyes have offered hope for what quarterback play could look like in 2025. Brendan Sullivan has started multiple games for a Big Ten program each of the last three seasons. Brown is still relatively early in his development process, but still has potential. Jackson Stratton started the final two games of the 2024 regular season for Iowa.

And now this group is led by Gronowski.

From Spencer Petras to Deacon Hill to McNamara, Iowa hasn’t found a solution at the quarterback position since Stanley. McNamara was once viewed as a potential savior, but that wasn’t the case and served as a cautionary tale to refrain from full judgment until the hype turns into actual performance on the field.

But Gronowski is unlike anyone Iowa has had in recent seasons and has a legitimate chance to finally address Iowa’s quarterback deficiencies.

Iowa Football is bringing in Mark Gronowski, the QB transfer from South Dakota State

ByAmelia Journalton

By Amelia Journalton

Related Post

2 bodies found in undercarriage of JetBlue plane at Fort Lauderdale airport

Galatasaray Türkiye Kupası’nda sezonu Başakşehir maçıyla açıyor, Şampiyon Oran farkı Misli’de öne çıkıyor!

“Really disgusting performance”, “I’ve seen non-league players are more creative than him”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You missed

2 bodies found in undercarriage of JetBlue plane at Fort Lauderdale airport

Galatasaray Türkiye Kupası’nda sezonu Başakşehir maçıyla açıyor, Şampiyon Oran farkı Misli’de öne çıkıyor!

“Really disgusting performance”, “I’ve seen non-league players are more creative than him”

Bucks bring Khris Middleton off the bench