Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - SHOCKER: Gronowski's Potential QUESTIONED By Analysts | Will Iowa's Offense Finally CLICK?

Starting point is 00:00:00 24-7 sports ranks Mark Grunowski as the 48th best quarterback in college football this year. We'll tell you why they're dead wrong. You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, welcome in, I'm Trent Condon and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes

Starting point is 00:00:32 your first listen every day. I've been covering the Hawkeyes for over 20 years on the radio here in the great state of Iowa, including currently on the Iowa Sports Radio Network. You can hear me each weekday talking the world of sports and plenty of Hawkeyes on the Iowa Sports Radio Network. You can hear me each weekday talking the world of sports and plenty of Hawkeyes on the Iowa Sports Radio Network. We have stations in the Quad Cities, Sioux City, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and our flagship 106.3 KXNO.

Starting point is 00:00:53 You can hear me each weekday from noon to two. Today's episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKDOWNCOLLege at MonarchMoney.com for 50% off your first year. We got basketball talk for you. Ben McCollum, boy, he was looking the part

Starting point is 00:01:15 as he was going up against Cooper Dejean yesterday in practice. We'll be joined by Scott Dockerman of The Athletic. His thoughts on the 25 different stories that shaped college football over the last 25 years his article a week ago Plus we'll talk about the decommissioned of cash Herrera and what that means for Iowa football But speaking of the quarterback position we begin today with Mark Gronowski So I mentioned yesterday on the show and shout out to every dayers with us each and every day that heard what we talked about yesterday. Just in passing, I mentioned a list that came out from 24 seven sports and a list that lists the top 50 quarterbacks for 2025.

Starting point is 00:01:55 Now, as you'd anticipate, there's plenty of names that you would know on this list. At the number one spot, it's Kate club, Nick of Clemson. After taking them to the playoffs a year ago, Garrett Nussmeyer is number two arch manning at number three. Uh, drew Alora Penn state. He's number six on this list. And as I was scrolling through and getting deeper and deeper and said, where is Mark Grunowski? Well, you gotta go all the way to number 48 on this list before you're going to find, check that, 49 on the list before you find Mark Gronowski's name. The question from 247 Sports, could this be the quarterback who finally fixes the Iowa

Starting point is 00:02:34 offense over his career at South Dakota State? Gronowski threw for 10,309 yards, 93 touchdowns, and ran for another 1,767 yards and 37 scores on the ground. I will start right here. If Mark Grunowski is the 49th best quarterback in college football this year, I was not going to have the big year that they very well could. Mark Grunowski has to be better than that. Mark Grunowski, I believe, needs to be a top 30 type quarterback for Iowa to get to the heights to have that special kind of season that I have a feeling that they can do. So I want to go a couple of different ways with this and looking at this spot. First of all, I get it. Mark Grunowski has never done it at this level, not just at the Big Ten level, but has never done it at the FBS level doing it at the FCS level. There's certainly a step up now

Starting point is 00:03:25 There's been plenty of guys that have been able to do it that the transition moving up from the FCS ranks the old One-double-a to where it is today. They've been able to make a seamless transition There is the other side of it though and guys that just have not been able to do it Why I believe mark granowski will First of all is what he has done. This is not a quarterback that was just a system guy. This is not just a guy that went in there. This is a guy that did it at the highest level.

Starting point is 00:03:52 He delivered South Dakota State, their first FCS championship. He was the guy that did it. He was the guy that won the Walter Payton Award, the Heisman Trophy of the FCS level. He was the guy that was the facilitator, not a system guy took the program to the next tier to a next level. And we're looking at Iowa football on the quarterback spot. He's the kind of guy that I believe is going to do that. There are the other components to go along with it.

Starting point is 00:04:19 And after the disappointment, the last two years of Cade McNamara, after the disappointment of Spencer Petrus, never able to find it out and really seemingly regressing throughout the three years of his career. And we have to go all the way back to Nate Stanley, the last guy that actually exhausted his eligibility at the quarterback position at the University of Iowa. That's how far back we have to go back to even find a guy that feels competent. At the baseline, at the lowest level a Healthy Mark Gronowski is going to be competent. He's going to be able to make the throws

Starting point is 00:04:52 He's going to be able to make the makeables and that's something for the last five years Just hasn't been there at the quarterback position for Iowa you couple it with an offensive coordinator That gets it an offensive coordinator that has brought in the shana han system that is brought back terminology that works at a program like iowa and brings a passing tree brings Just an overall understanding a coordination Of offense that hasn't been there it became so stagnant so frustrating and instead of trying to do things differently It was more digging that hole. we're going to do it. It's gonna pop, we're gonna do it,

Starting point is 00:05:29 guys just have to execute. The easy excuse of execution is not there with Tim Lester. It's being better. Iron sharpening iron, bringing in quarterbacks that are going to compete. Back to Mark Rudowski, and mention the numbers at the top and what he was able to do and bringing national championships and back to back years at South Dakota

Starting point is 00:05:50 state. Another thing you look at the numbers and yes, the passing numbers are great. Sophomore year, 65% completion percentage, nearly 3000 yards, 26 touchdowns against five interceptions. His junior year was the high water mark. Another national championship completed 68% of his passes over 3000 yards, 29 touchdowns against five interceptions, but also the physicality, the ability to run the ability to lower his shoulder and hopefully a healthy shoulder and get the job done and looking at highlights and looking at getting the quarterback sneak back in there. Right?

Starting point is 00:06:24 I hasn't been able to quarterback sneak that fourth and one that has become Automatic under date Stanley getting that back in there the tough guy attitude the leadership skills that are real Not saying the right thing not trying to be that kind of guy But actually going out there and being the kind of leader that Iowa football has. I think he has the intangibles and as long as he is healthy he is going to be able to make the place. That still remains the biggest question. For me it's not the transition up from the Missouri Valley football conference to the Big Ten. I think he'll be able to make that. It is will he be healthy enough to see the

Starting point is 00:07:00 best of Mark Gornowski and that's a question we just don't know the answer to. Now he was throwing the football a little bit at the end of mark or now ski and that's a question We just don't know the answer to now He was throwing the football a little bit at the end of practice and a spring practice. He's back on the right path Sounds like this summer as you're going through individual workouts. He's being able to do all those different things I believe mark or now skis are gonna be a lot higher on that list So another list that had him 12th in the big 10 this season I think you're gonna see heights we haven't seen in a long time at that spot.

Starting point is 00:07:26 Get excited about Mark Grunowski. I am, I hope you're jumping aboard along with me. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. As we continue here on the program, we're gonna talk with Scott Dockerman. Got some college football topics and kind of a history lesson, a look back.

Starting point is 00:07:41 He wrote an article last week talking about the 25 stories that shaped college football over the last quarter century, as we sit here in 2025, and some Iowa specific topics, including Connor Stallions. Yeah, there's an Iowa angle to that story, and an Iowa angle that I think some Hawkeye fans maybe have missed. We'll talk about that with him.

Starting point is 00:08:00 Plus, Cash Herrera, the decommitment from the Iowa program, what that means at the quarterback spot We'll get into all of that Scott Dockerman from the athletic joins us next on the locked on Hawkeyes podcast Ever check your bank account wonder where do I make money go between dining out online shopping and entertainment? It's easy to lose track. That's where Monarch Money comes in. It's your personal CFO, giving you full visibility and control over your finances. Monarch Money isn't just a budgeting app,

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Starting point is 00:09:12 Use the code locked on college at monarch money comm for 50% off your first year That's monarch money comm with the code locked on college for 50% off your first year monarch money comm with the code locked on college for 50% off your first year. monarchmoney.com. Scott Dockerman joins us. Right, it's for the athletic. It's a great debate, right? It's great fodder as to what's overranked, what shouldn't have been in there,

Starting point is 00:09:38 what were you surprised to see in there? I guess just your thoughts on maybe some of the feedback that you got from the article. There were certainly some big ones that you know as you scroll through it oh gosh I forgot all about that that really did reverberate and change the landscape of the sport. Um you know I guess it's an interesting exercise because you know games are one thing. You can kind of go back and go on the schedules and remember who won the national title and what game was great. And or same thing with coaches or teams and, and what have you. But when you start to look at things

Starting point is 00:10:18 in developments that, you know, have changed over the last 25 years, you really have to take a lot of things into consideration. And among them is just how much weight do you give a scandal? How much weight do you give things such as fun things, like the video game versus how much does pay to play and transfer portal matter in the big picture? So it was a, it was an interesting exercise. It took me a long time to go through it, try to figure out what, what mattered and what didn't. And ultimately, kind of compiled that list. One of the more recent ones that, that is interesting. And I wonder when we look back and we get to 2050 and we put the 50 together on this list, where Connor Stallions is going to

Starting point is 00:11:06 sit. It impacted Iowa. I mean, you go back to two of those games, the Big Ten Championship game and the regular season matchup where, boy, Michigan had a great time getting the quarterback pretty easily throughout that one. How will we remember Connor Stallions? Because it is so close when we're talking about a 25 year period when we look maybe with a little deeper understanding and look back of it of that college Connor Stallion situation. There's a lot to that Connor Stallion. I mean, the upset nature of Big Ten opponents really, you know, I've talked to some of them, I've written about it and it lingers.

Starting point is 00:11:42 I mean, they are not happy about what happened and how it transpired because I mean there were situations where they had, uh, you know, they knew what was coming and you know, he was standing next to a coordinator and they would point to the sky if it was going to be a pass or point to the ground, if it was going to be a run. And when you're on third down and you're going to get that defense with Aiden Hutchinson, David Ajabo, and some of the other players, if they know what's coming, that is going to impact that play significantly and

Starting point is 00:12:11 make your difficulty so much heightened. And so they knew it and he did a really interesting job of figuring out the signals and everything. And I would say with Iowa, that in Indianapolis, the outcome wouldn't have mattered. I think the score might've mattered. But in Kenwick Stadium, that might've been a different, I don't know, that might've had a shot at a different outcome.

Starting point is 00:12:38 And Connor Stallions was given the game ball after that game in the pink locker room. So that was, what, 27-14. And they, Iowa wins a lot of those games against good teams, you know, top five teams at Kinnick. And it had that same kind of aura, but they were a play ahead of Iowa every single snap. So that one might have been closer, I'll just say that. No. nine was the one that stuck with me. I remember 2000, I think it was 2010, the merger that we're on the cusp of, it's Oklahoma and it's Texas and they're going to the Pac-12 and no, wait a sec. I remember leaving work on that Friday thinking the Big 12 was absolutely

Starting point is 00:13:18 dead. There was no saving it. We know what happened. It was saved for a little while with Oklahoma and Texas. It's still fine. It still lingers to this day. But then further down the list, it does more to linger by the way, it's still very much in operation. But the one that's just still to this day is it's just when you read it, just shocking that the pack 12 is gone. I mean, that's number three on your list, the pack 12 of all of the power conferences, doc. And I don't know, maybe it was just the Rose Bowl tie-in. It just seemed like if, you know, that there's no way that this conference is not going to be around once we get to 2024. That's not going to happen. No way, no how. Right. I was

Starting point is 00:13:59 in Kansas City the day it all kind of blew up when Orange of Bloods reported about the Pac-16 and it looked like the Pac-12 was going to take the at least the heavy hitters away from the Big 12 and you know, they took Colorado and ultimately Utah from Mountain West but but that seemed like it was more likely to rip apart the Big 12 than it was with the Pac-12. And I guess what, you know, you could kind of say, you know, ruined it. I mean, poor leadership. I mean, you got to start there. I mean, they had two horrible commissioners, probably the two worst, you know, Klee-Afkof at the end and Larry Scott, I mean, having ivory towers in San Francisco offices and, and then, um, you know, still can't, couldn't get any distribution for their packed wall network.

Starting point is 00:14:50 And then that's what caused some discontent. And then once the opportunities were there for the big tend to, to, uh, you know, grab USC UCLA and they did, and then that changed everything. And then, and then even at the end, um then even at the end, your mark was just very aggressive with the Pac-12 or remaining 10 teams, I guess. Whereas the Pac-12 could have consolidated. They could have said, well, all right, well, we're going to replace them with San Diego State and Boise State or something to that effect.

Starting point is 00:15:22 And it probably would have pacified everybody, but instead it'll, you know, left the door open, couldn't decide anything. Then their, their contract came in really low and then boom, it was all gone. And yeah, it's a real surprise because they, they were such lockstep with the big 10 for, for decades and see it completely dissolved. I mean, it's coming back, but it's not the same. Yeah, that is one that just still comes across as very surprising. Number one, the NCAA is not above the law.

Starting point is 00:15:56 In fact, we were just talking about this in our first segment in a kind of different capacity, but the Supreme Court getting whooping the NCAA 9-0. Full circle to where our conversation was today for you, Doc. We were talking about what's next, what this new era of college athletics is going to look like. It's my belief the twenty and a half million dollars that university is going to go. It's not going to cover everything and we're going to go back to the days where it's going to be a lot of shadiness and a lot of under the table type of dealings. How do you see financially things

Starting point is 00:16:28 for now the student athletes? How's it going to look now in this next era? You know, I'm going to close my eyes and if I, if I try to imagine 2028, I think it'll be a lot different than it was. I mean, just think back three years ago, we really know what would happen today. So I know it's hard to say. I don't, I mean, just think back three years ago, we really didn't know what would happen today. So, it's hard to say. I mean, the court case now has been resolved. And I would anticipate there's gonna be multiple challenges. There already are, Title IX, what have you. I mean, I'm not an attorney, but I would think that it largely will remain intact. The one question I'm gonna to have is, and this probably would relate to a top five type of scenario in this situation would be, does college football

Starting point is 00:17:12 break out and become, have its own governance structure? Do they remain with the NCAA? Does the Big Ten and SEC in particular remain with the NCAA? But if they do, does football branch out and become its own beefdom within that? Is it autonomous? Is there a commissioner of football? How is the money regulated? Because the one thing is, I don't know if I see it totally because the Big Ten and SEC wield so much power, they're not going to be willing to share anything. They're not going to say, oh, let's go have 70 teams under this one Super League proposal and everybody gets paid the same. Well, the Big Ten and SEC make way more than everybody else. So they're not going to be willing, you know, Iowa

Starting point is 00:17:54 is not going to be willing to share more with Iowa State, let alone everybody else, you know. I mean, why would Ohio State say, well, we're going to take less, so Kansas State can be the same as us. That's just not going to happen. So I think that that's gonna be something that's gonna really come out. And then as far as paying athletes goes, I mean, 20.5 is a starting point. It's not gonna be what it is in three years. It's not gonna be what it is in five years.

Starting point is 00:18:19 It's just gonna go up from there and it's gonna be interesting to see how schools manage that because it's just gonna get more and more how schools manage that because it's just going to get more and more difficult to spend that money on those athletes. Here on the local front, Doc, in the 24 hours, Jett Tamala decommits from Iowa State. He's going to Alabama. Iowa has lost their quarterback for the class of 2026 in cash.

Starting point is 00:18:40 Now, maybe I just got a negative slope. Maybe it's a cloudy weather outside today. I don't know what it is. But you know, with high school recruiting, the way things are going in the transfer portal and quarterbacks and the way they move, I kind of look at this and say, so what? The likelihood that a quarterback is going to stick around long enough to play a lot of these programs doesn't matter. How impactful though do you see it, the losses for both Iowa and Iowa State? It's easy to be cynical and certainly skeptical and somewhat cynical, Trent, and you're right.

Starting point is 00:19:07 I mean, because, I mean, if you're taking the Iowa angle, I mean, they haven't been able to keep a quarterback that they recruited all the way through the end of his eligibility since Nate Stamps. I mean, every single one of them have gone to a different school with eligibility, including several transfer portal guys. You know, in Iowa State, you State, it wasn't that long ago, we're talking about J.J.

Starting point is 00:19:28 Cole, and he's gone. So, really, you're figuring on keeping one quarterback every three years, and in some ways it's almost better for you to booze out on the front end, then get all the way to signing day or a year into it. Then you figure, hey, you know what? This guy's got a chance, but it might take two or three years. Then they go and that makes it even more frustrating. So I mean, it's a tough loss at this point, but it's not as challenging, difficult as it once was because of the transfer portal and because everything's so transient now, you can really, um, you

Starting point is 00:20:05 know, people, other people are going to leave, you know, think about what happens when so-and-so gets fired in November or, you know, they have a bad season and you have a good season and somebody opens up. I mean, it's, it's a real free for all. And, and, uh, you know, and then there are other really good quarterbacks who leave after one year. So I wouldn't, you know, five years ago, you know, this would have been like devastating, you know, but now it's just shrug it off and move on. I mean, I think for Iowa,

Starting point is 00:20:32 you know, out of their recruiting, I think the lack of defensive linemen is probably more concerning than their quarterback situation right now. Scott Dockerman from The Athletic. Doc, congrats on that piece. It was a great read. Reminded me of a lot of things that somehow kind of get pushed aside. What do you got coming up this week at the Athletic? Yeah, I sat down with Kirk Farrance yesterday and talked to him about a lot of different things. And so I've got a story coming out here. I think the next couple of days, I need to write it first. You know, but I got that. And then I've got a couple of projects we're working on that's

Starting point is 00:21:07 really taking up probably more time than it should. But yeah, money issues and the like. So yeah, that's kind of my summer. It's actually almost as busy as it is the fall. So that's what I'm looking at right now, guys. Good stuff, Doc. Appreciate it. We'll talk to you next week. Thanks, Doc. Okay. Thank you so much. See you buddy. Scott Dockerman from the Athletic. Always appreciate Doc's time and getting a look at college football as a whole. And of course, here on the local front with the Hawkeyes quarterback recruiting, just how different it looks and where Iowa is. That's something that we

Starting point is 00:21:36 mentioned yesterday with Heklinsky, his commitment, a lot of buzz about him, what he can be still four years of eligibility there, if that changes the equation kind of going forward and what they're looking at for the class of 2026 now at the quarterback position, some names out there, ball state recruit potentially going after him and some other names. Also saw that there was an amadextrous quarterback that Iowa is going to be welcoming into camp coming up this week. Keep an eye on that.

Starting point is 00:22:02 And as always, we'll keep you covered here on the lockdown Hawkeyes podcast We continue and what a surprise yesterday all of a sudden Open up the Twitter machine open up Instagram. What do I see from Iowa hoops Cooper Jean back in the gym playing basketball? Doing it against the new staff of Iowa hoops and boy coach McCollum, guy can still hoop. We'll talk about that. Cooper versus the coach. It's next Locked On Hawkeyes.

Starting point is 00:22:37 Trent Condon back with you one final time on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day and for making Locked lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day and for making lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen Hit subscribe if you're watching us on YouTube if you're listening on the podcast side five star views Helps us get in front of our Hawkeye fans and thanks to every one of you with us each and every day you every dares So mention there a moment ago if you haven't seen it it is worth opening up But even as I derided social media the other day, if you haven't, give yourself an opportunity. Open it up because watching Cooper DeGene play basketball in its own right is incredible. The athleticism, you know, this high school tape going back four years,

Starting point is 00:23:18 five years ago now, and what he was doing at the high school level, the dunks, drop step dunking at 6' one on people. It was absolutely beautiful. But then we know that the guy can ball. All right, he's great basketball players, grab football player, baseball, you name it, everything he does. He's excellent. And no surprise. So he shows up after probably not played a whole lot of basketball in Iowa City goes to the gym meets Coach McCollum, and the new coaching staff. And the highlights that we got out of that they were all inspiring not just Cooper de Jean doing his thing. We knew that

Starting point is 00:23:51 But to see coach McCollum it is mid 40s Competing going out there still showing some quicks. I mean that guy can still hoop and you know other recruiting front Does that help? I don't know. I'm not in the mind of a 16 17 year old kid or in the transfer portal a 20 21 year old kid But when he got a coach that could still ball a little bit. I don't know. Maybe there's something there I was so impressed though by Ben McCullum what we saw from him on the hardwood. He got by Cooper one time I mean that's they have the quickness to do that. That says something. Now, of course, Cooper, Jean pinned it up against the glass, but shout out to coach McCall and not just him. There's some other clips out there. I believe on the Instagram where the rest of that coaching staff, those guys can ball too.

Starting point is 00:24:36 I don't need to get this fat man over there trying to go up against those guys. I'll stick to old man basketball because playing with those guys is different. But what does that mean? I don't know if it's going to matter the grand scheme of things, but you know, you think of these guys coming on their visits and going out there and rolling the ball out. Yeah, you want to play with the guys, but having another Hooper with coach, I saw something that was really cool. And when you have Cooper to gene a super bowl champion,

Starting point is 00:24:59 the guy that had an interception in the super bowl doing what he did. And then coming back to Iowa city, certainly can't help the street cred for Iowa basketball. A fun, fun one there. And when we're looking for that off season content, speaking of that, had an opportunity to talk with Tom Kaker. He was at the open practice that happened on Thursday.

Starting point is 00:25:19 We will have a full detailed breakdown of that coming your way tomorrow. Some of the things that Tom was able to see at the open practice for the beat members. That'll be coming to weigh on tomorrow's Lockdown Hawkeyes. So you want to be locked in for that one. Looking forward to that. We'll also talk about the big football recruiting weekend that is coming up this weekend for Iowa football and some of the names that we need to know as we get ourselves set for the

Starting point is 00:25:42 recruiting weekend. That's coming to weigh tomorrow. Today, thanks for being with us and making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We will talk to you again tomorrow. Hey, for your second listen, make sure you check out the Portal show. Brian Smith's got the latest rumors,

Starting point is 00:25:56 Portal entry, signings, everything happened in the world of recruiting and in the Transfer Portal. Be the most informed fan on the rapid changes to the college football landscape with the portal You can find the portal on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts your team every day That's what we do here on the lockdown network I got you covered on the Hawkeye front, but not just Hawkeyes your favorite NFL team NBA NHL MLB

Starting point is 00:26:20 Not just that locked on fantasy sports locked on fantasy football Vinny I are over doing that and a whole lot more your team every day your league every day all covered here on Locked on thanks for being with us. We'll talk to you get tomorrow until then go Hawks

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Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - SHOCKER: Gronowski's Potential QUESTIONED By Analysts | Will Iowa's Offense Finally CLICK?

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