As attention turns to portal, Iowa has already ‘done our due diligence’

IOWA CITY — The transition from the spring practice season to the transfer portal season has not been much of a transition at all on Evashevski Drive.

Iowa football already has “done our due diligence” in the transfer portal, head coach Kirk Ferentz said moments after the Hawkeyes’ open practice on Saturday, as he and the coaching staff “do everything we can to help our team.”

“One nice thing about spring practice — it’s not like we have game prep, so there are hours outside of practice in our meetings where we can kind of watch that stuff,” Ferentz said.

The Hawkeyes’ potential portal needs in the spring transfer cycle — players can enter from April 16-30 although they can commit any time — include quarterback and wide receiver.

The Hawkeyes are especially reliant at quarterback on Cade McNamara, who is coming off ACL surgery in 2023 and was last able to play a full season in 2021. Meanwhile they have only four upperclassmen at wide receiver (and that includes two walk-ons).

Offensive coordinator Tim Lester, while also expressing confidence in his quarterbacks and wide receivers, said in his news conference last week “you’re always looking” at the transfer portal.

“I don’t think anyone ever turns a blind eye to that at any position,” Lester said. “I think everyone has plans, and Coach (Ferentz) and Tyler (Barnes) will figure out which ones as we move on. But we’re always actively looking everywhere.”

Some portal activity already is evident.

Iowa picked up a commitment on Saturday from North Dakota offensive lineman Cade Borud although he is not expected to be on scholarship. Missouri State wide receiver Raylen Sharpe, a third-team FCS All-American last year, announced on Sunday his plans to visit the Hawkeyes this week.

Iowa’s ability to add via the portal is hamstrung by its current scholarship situation. The Hawkeyes, as of midday Sunday, have 89 players on scholarship — four above the limit.

“I don’t anticipate us having to go out and get 10 guys or something like that,” Ferentz said. “Some people, that’s just kind of how they operate, so it’s a little bit different.”

How much attrition Iowa experiences in the next few days could dictate how much flexibility it has in the portal. Ferentz referenced longtime NFL coach Mike Tomlin’s famous line about needing “volunteers, not hostages” as he talked about attrition in the Iowa program.

“You just don’t want guys on the team that aren’t fully invested and feeling good about things,” Ferentz said.

Iowa finished spring practices on Saturday, so this week will be an opportune time for anyone to enter the portal without missing out on any practice time. There could be more available talent as well for the same reason.

“There will probably be a new round of entries, more participants here this week in the portal because a lot of people are finishing up today,” Ferentz said, referencing the timeline of spring practices across the country.

Each portal cycle comes with some unpredictability. Last spring, Iowa did not lose any scholarship players to the portal. In the preceding winter transfer portal window, however, 10 scholarship players departed.

This winter, Iowa lost four scholarship players via the portal. This spring, wide receiver Jacob Bostick and offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor have entered the portal so far. (Proctor, who committed to Iowa in January, departed before participating in any practices.)

“It’s hard to predict anything,” Ferentz said. “A couple of years ago, we had a bunch of guys leave in December. You just never know. … Because of the circumstances in college football right now — the portal, NIL and all that stuff — any charts that you might have had for the last 20 years, right now they’re not holding true.”

Ferentz is confident it is “going to work itself out,” though.

“I feel pretty good about that,” Ferentz said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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