Kirk Ferentz Offers Big News On Iowa's Championship-Winning Transfer QB

Quarterback Mark Gronowski could be a big-time quarterback for the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2025 if he's healthy.

Aug 31, 2024; Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA; South Dakota State Jackrabbits quarterback Mark Gronowski (11) looks to pass during the first quarter against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes have quite a few intriguing options to go with at quarterback heading into the 2025 season, but none are more interesting than Mark Gronowski. None offer the high risk-high reward factor that Gronowski does, which makes him one of the pivotal players to keep an eye on this offseason.

The most important thing right now for both Gronowski and the Hawkeyes is that he gets healthy. The South Dakota State transfer quarterback underwent shoulder surgery earlier this offseason to address an issue he played through last season at SDSU.

“Mark played last season with a common football-related injury. While he could have continued to play through the injury, Mark is choosing to have a procedure to address the issue, and we support him in his decision," Ferentz had said in a January statement regarding his new quarterback.

That was a few months ago, and now that spring ball has started up in Iowa City, Ferentz has provided another update on the super-senior quarterback. Recovery is apparently going swimmingly for Gronowski.

“I think he’ll be throwing lightly here," Ferentz said on Wednesday, according to Tyler Tachman of The Des Moines Register. "Probably in a couple of weeks, but not with the team. The biggest area (of caution) right now is just to make sure nobody runs into him or he doesn’t fall down. So just being cautious with that with him. But the recovery’s going great. Everything’s right on schedule. He’s probably a little bit ahead, that type of deal."

Gronowski is expected to begin on-field team workouts in June, so he'll still have plenty of time to prepare for the 2025 season. If he's healthy, and it sounds like he'll be, there's a great case to be made that he'll be Iowa's starting quarterback.

Here's the high upside part of the discussion. Gronowski played four seasons for the SDSU Jackrabbits and led them to back-to-back FCS national titles in 2022 and 2023. Over the course of his career in Brookings, he threw for 10,330 yards and 93 touchdowns while also rushing for 1,767 yards and 37 touchdowns.

The kid's a gamer, and if he's heathy and his talent can translate to the Big Ten — and therein lies the risk for Iowa — he could end up being a big-time quarterback for the Hawkeyes in 2025.