Three Iowa football presents to gift for 2026 on Christmas Day

After another successful regular season under longtime Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz, the Hawkeyes hope to put a nice finish upon the season with a win over No. 14 Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

As Iowa (8-4, 6-3 Big Ten) gears up to battle Vanderbilt (10-2, 6-2 SEC), one of the storylines will be whether or not the Hawkeyes can finally snap their stretch of futility against ranked foes. Iowa has been close on multiple occasions in 2025, falling by one score to each of the ranked opponents they saw this season.

The Hawkeyes meet the Commodores on New Year's Eve at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN. As the season finale nears, that also means it's time to start thinking ahead to 2026, too.

As Hawkeyes Wire wishes you and your family a very Merry Christmas, what gifts are we hoping that Iowa might find under the Christmas tree heading into the 2026 season?

Another proven quarterback from the transfer portal

Iowa signed four-star Tradon Bessinger in its 2026 class and he may very well be the future under center for the black and gold. The buzz is that Hank Brown impressed early, but that the Iowa coaching staff really likes the growth that it's seen from Jeremy Hecklinski over the course of this 2025 campaign.

Both Brown and Hecklinski transferred into the program after the 2024 regular season with Brown coming over from Auburn and Hecklinski from Wake Forest.

Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester would know better than anyone else whether or not the Hawkeyes truly have the answer on campus and ready for 2026. Bowl practices can help answer that question, too.

But, after the way Mark Gronowski lifted Iowa's fortunes this season with his dual-threat ability and leadership qualities, Iowa would be foolish to not seriously explore the idea of trying to find another proven signal-caller in addition to what it already has in-house.

Wide receiver help

Iowa's leading pass-catcher heading into its bowl game against Vanderbilt is tight end DJ Vonnahme, who has reeled in 22 receptions for 288 yards and a pair of scores. The redshirt freshman has a bright future, but the Hawkeyes have to add playmakers at wide receiver.

Sam Phillips, Jacob Gill and Kaden Wetjen have all exhausted their eligibilities and those roles will need to be filled. Iowa needs to get more production at receiver than that group ultimately delivered, too.

Phillips is Iowa's leading wide receiver in receiving yardage with 16 catches for 261 yards. The Hawkeyes have to get more explosive in this unit to take pressure off its roster in other areas.

Reece Vander Zee is a nice starting point, but this is a position group that Iowa general manager Tyler Barnes needs to get serious about allocating transfer portal resources towards.

Additions in the trenches

Iowa loses the Rimington Trophy winner in Logan Jones at center and two other starters along its offensive line in left guard Beau Stephens and in right tackle Gennings Dunker. That trio led the way in Iowa reestablishing its culture as the nation's top offensive line and Joe Moore Award winner.

A proven center would be a nice helper for Iowa this offseason, and an offensive tackle is probably a must as well. Defensively, the Hawkeyes have some nice young pieces at linebacker and are expected to return Koen Entringer as well as Zach Lutmer and Deshaun Lee as starters in their secondary.

With TJ Hall and Xavier Nwankpa's Iowa playing days ending, either corner or safety help could be a possibility, but adding an edge rusher and an interior defensive lineman is a higher priority.

Iowa is replacing Aaron Graves in its interior and both starting defensive ends in Max Llewellyn and Ethan Hurkett. At least one more body both inside and outside feels like an obvious transfer portal direction for Iowa to traverse.

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Three Iowa football presents to gift for 2026 on Christmas Day