Iowa football QB competition 'not even close to clear'

The question for the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2026 is not just how the offense will look and how it will run, but who will run it. The Hawkeyes are amid a quarterback battle with Jeremy Hecklinski and Hank Brown each getting time with the first-string offense during spring ball.

Tim Lester, Iowa's offensive coordinator, has seen positive from both, as well as areas each need to continue to grow in. When speaking ot the media, he was asked about what each has shown him and went on to discuss the timeline for naming a starter, which has no timetable.

"They've shown me what I've asked for. Hank is super efficient. He's on time with everything. He's like a machine. He's a little bit like Mark in that my biggest fear with him is that he was going to go out there, complete 80% of his balls for 20 yards, complete 17 of 20 for 17 yards and never be aggressive, right?

"I think he has more explosive plays than anybody right now. I think he has 29 passes of 15 or more. Finding that balance, which is what Mark had to find. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, if you watch Mark, his biggest jump was in understanding when to be aggressive and when not.

"It helped getting Vander Zee back to have that one-on-one guy that you trust to go throw the ball to. That was my challenge with him.

"Then with Heck it was more, hey, we need to make sure we operate within the offense and not take every single chance with a ball. You might throw 30 touchdowns but 40 picks, and he's kept his pick number down and still been aggressive and been smart about it.

"They've been doing that exactly -- that was the goal number one for both of them. They've both done a great job right now. There's really not a time frame. There's part of me thinking it would be great if it was clear by a certain -- by the end of spring or by camp -- it's not even close to clear. It's a good problem to have. It's definitely going to go into camp. It could go into the season. I don't even know.

"I like where they're both at. They're both operating at a high level. If they can keep both growing, then I feel like we're going to have multiple options come the fall, which obviously are for my first year here with the more we can have healthy, the better and playing well, so we don't have two running backs and a safety as a backup as a third stringer. Hopefully we can keep them healthy, but I'm happy with where they're they at," said Lester about Iowa quarterbacks Jeremy Hecklinski and Hank Brown.