Iowa Lands Ohio State Transfer Safety

The Iowa Hawkeyes have stayed active in the transfer portal and secured a commitment from a conference opponent.

Iowa landed Ohio State transfer safety Cody Haddad, according to Steve Wiltfong of On3, marking one of their top offseason additions.

Haddad recently made a visit to Iowa on Jan. 19, which made enough of an impression, as he is now a member of the Hawkeyes. Iowa also beats out some top competition for Haddad's services, as he also visited Tennessee beforehand and had visits scheduled to rival Nebraska and Texas A&M.

Cody Haddad's Background

Haddad attended St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio, and served as not just a safety, but also at wide receiver and at both kick returner and punt returner. He also played basketball and ran track, posting times of 21.8 seconds in the 200 meter and 10.9 seconds in the 100 meter events.

Haddad's father, Drew Haddad, starred for Buffalo and then the Buffalo Bills made him a seventh round selection in the 2000 NFL Draft.

Rivals, which merged with On3, ranked Haddad as a four-star in the Class of 2025, the 10th best player in Ohio, the 20th safety and 247th in the nation.

247Sports, On3 and ESPN ranked Haddad as a three-star athlete in the Class of 2025, with 247Sports ranking him the 25th best recruit in Ohio and the 57th safety, On3 placing him 45th in the state and 81st at his position and ESPN ranked him 26th in the state, 53rd at safety and 64th in the midwest region.

Haddad had a number of offers, including from Iowa, plus other Big Ten schools in Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue and Wisconsin, ACC schools in Boston College and Duke, Big 12 schools in Cincinnati and Kansas, plus another Power 4 offer from Texas A&M.

He also held offers from mid-major programs in MAC schools like Ball State, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Kent State, Ohio, Toledo and UMass, plus Liberty. Haddad redshirted in his sole season at Ohio State and has four years of eligibility as he joins Iowa.

Iowa Transfer Portal Activity

The Hawkeyes have stayed active in the transfer portal and made a number of additions this winter.

Iowa also landed three other defensive backs, such as FCS additions in Anthony Hawkins from Villanova and Xavier Styles from Robert Morris, plus Tyler Brown from James Madison.

Sep 5, 2025; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals running back Isaac Brown (1) runs the ball against James Madison Dukes safety Tyler Brown (13) during the first half at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

They added four defensive lineman in FCS additions like Brice Stevenson from Holy Cross and Kahmari Brown from Elon, plus Lance Ingold from Northern Illinois and flipped Emmanuel Olagbaju from UConn, who transferred there from FCS program North Dakota.

Iowa landed three wide receiver transfer additions in Lance Beeghley from SMU, plus two more FCS players in Tony Diaz from UTRGV and Evan James from Furman, while also adding running back LJ Phillips from South Dakota and offensive lineman Trent Wilson from James Madison.

The Hawkeyes also had two special teams transfers in punter Tanner Philpott from Division III program Simpson College, plus kicker Eli Ozick from FCS powerhouse North Dakota State.

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