It is no secret that the Iowa Hawkeyes Football program wants to build from within. Head Coach Kirk Ferentz has repeatedly stated he would rather develop internally than relying on the transfer portal to fix holes in the roster.
After the spring transfer portal window closed, the Hawkeyes added nine players and lost 13. On3 Sports ranked Iowa's transfer class No. 15 in the Big Ten and No. 57 overall. Of the nine players the Hawkeyes added, only quarterback Mark Gronowski was ranked as a four-star transfer or higher.
According to On3 Sports, the average player score for entering players was 64.20, and 66.69 for exiting players. When you have better talent leaving than entering, you have issues.
The "Big Ten Huddle Podcast" discussed On3's transfer metrics and claimed Iowa's roster talent took a hit.
Based solely on the On3 composite metric, the Big Ten Huddle Podcast determined Iowa's roster talent "declined" after the transfer portal closed.
Metrics can differ from expert to expert, but it is hard to see Iowa's current roster as an improvement. The Hawkeyes lost largely unproven commodities, outside of Brendan Sullivan and Leshon Williams, and made very few significant additions.
The nine additions fill roster gaps, but did not significantly push the needle in a positive direction.
This is a typical "same story, different year" scenario for the Hawkeyes because Ferentz refuses to embrace the transfer portal. Ferentz is excellent at player development, but the Hawkeyes have only managed eight 10-plus win seasons (one 12-win season in 2015) and have a losing record in Bowl Games (10-11) in his 26 years as head coach.
Ferentz has had continued success developing lightly recruited players and turning them into All-Big Ten or NFL players, but he must better utilize the transfer portal to succeed in this Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) era of college sports.
Iowa fans are happy with 12 straight winning seasons, but do not want to get left behind in the new, divisionless Big Ten Conference.