Big Ten · Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa Football
2026 college football program hub
The short version
Iowa football in 2026
Iowa is 5-1 through 6 completed games: 5 wins, 1 loss.
Latest confirmed result: Iowa beat Washington Huskies, 41-24, on Friday, October 9, 2026.
Iowa plays next against Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday, October 24, 2026, on the road. The kickoff time is TBD. TV coverage is TBD.
Program center
Iowa football pages
2026 season
Big Ten football
5-1 current recordHead coach
Kirk Ferentz
Leading the Iowa Hawkeyes through the 2026 season.
Program profile
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa
In pictures
IOWA on game day
Program background · Reviewed 2026-09-03
The longest tenure in the sport, still adding to it
Kirk Ferentz is in his 28th season at Iowa, longer than any other active head coach has spent at one school, and September 2025 added a new line to that record: a win over UMass made him the winningest coach in Big Ten history, passing Ohio State's Woody Hayes. He carries a 209-128 record at Iowa into 2026, with 11 career bowl victories, also a Big Ten record.
None of that answers the question hanging over the program entering this season. Mark Gronowski, the graduate transfer who started the last two years, is gone, and neither replacement has separated himself. Fourth-year Hank Brown, a transfer from Auburn by way of Lipscomb Academy, and third-year Jeremy Hecklinski, a transfer from Wake Forest, remained close enough through fall camp that Ferentz said a decision would have to wait until game week.
Program background · Reviewed 2026-09-03
What has to be replaced
Iowa's 9-4 finish in 2025 was built on a defense that lost four of its losses by a combined 15 points to ranked opponents, then closed the year by beating Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl. That defense now has to replace nine starters, and the offense loses three starting linemen alongside its quarterback. Special teams changes hands too: kicker, punter and return specialist Kaden Wetjen all need replacing, and longtime special teams coordinator LeVar Woods left in December for an NFL job, with analyst Chris Polizzi promoted to fill the role.
The response was an active transfer portal offseason: 22 of the players on the 2026 roster arrived that way, including both quarterbacks in the starting competition, adding pieces at every level of the roster to offset the departures.
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More on IOWA
Players
Roster
Published player records by position group, with available class years, measurements, and hometowns.
Staff
Coaches
Kirk Ferentz and the published staff directory.
Numbers
Season stats
Confirmed results, points scored and allowed, and per-game scoring averages.
Archive
Program history
Championships, milestones, and the program’s history.
League
Big Ten
The rest of the conference and how the title race is shaping up.
Nearby
Teams in Iowa
Other programs in the same state, if you follow more than one.
FAQ
IOWA frequently asked questions
What is the IOWA 2026 football record?
Iowa is 5-1 through 6 completed games: 5 wins, 1 loss.
When does IOWA play next?
Iowa plays next against Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday, October 24, 2026, on the road. The kickoff time is TBD. TV coverage is TBD.
Who coaches Iowa?
Kirk Ferentz is the head coach.
What conference does IOWA play in?
Iowa competes in the Big Ten.
How many bowl games has Kirk Ferentz won at Iowa?
11, a Big Ten record. The most recent came in the 2025 season, a 34-27 win over 14th-ranked Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl, which capped a 9-4 season.
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