By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Mark Gronowski was among more than a dozen members of the Iowa football team that were made available to the media at approximately 11 a.m. Wednesday morning.

But Iowa’s new starting quarterback was running slightly behind schedule, so he texted UI Sports Information Director Matt Weitzel to say that he might be a little late for his interview.

“That’s just how he is,” Weitzel said of Gronowski. “He exudes leadership.”

Mark Gronowski has the weight of the Hawkeye football world on his broad shoulders as he prepares for his first and only season as Iowa’s starting quarterback.

He already has achieved stardom as a four-year starter for South Dakota State where he won two FCS national titles, and now Gronowski hopes to bring success and respectability back to the Iowa quarterback position while playing on a much bigger stage.

One of the first steps in this transition has been to establish himself as a trusted leader, but with little time to do so.

“I kind of bring it back to where I was when I was a freshman at South Dakota State and I ended up winning the starting job there, and I was a freshman, I didn’t know anybody,” Gronowski said. “I had to go build those relationships, and I’m kind of taking that same approach here. Building those relationships and not stepping too far out of my boundary and try to build that camaraderie and hang around with the guys on the team.

“And once you build those relationships and that rapport you can kind of start holding people accountable and they’ll start holding you accountable. It makes everyone better. That level of competition around the team rises up and I’m able to start speaking in front of the team and start talking to more guys and have that outreach amongst everybody.”

Gronowski spent about 25 minutes answering all sort of questions from the media on Wednesday.

He seems to understand that as bright as the spotlight shined on him at South Dakota State, what lies ahead this fall from a media scrutiny standpoint will take it to a whole new level.

Hawkeye fans are desperate for a quarterback to not only stay healthy through the course of a season, but to also play well, because frankly, it’s been a while since an Iowa quarterback hasn’t been a liability.

Injuries have certainly been a factor, especially in the case of Cade McNamara, who combined to start only 13 games over the past two seasons because of multiple injuries.

McNamara, who now plays for East Tennessee State, missed the final nine games in 2023 because of a knee injury and he missed the final five games last season after suffering a concussion.

But even when he was healthy, McNamara struggled to make plays.

His lack of mobility and his inaccuracy as a passer caused the offense to sputter.

It was hardly what fans and the media had envisioned when McNamara announced that he was transferring from Michigan to Iowa shortly after the 2022 season.

McNamara led Michigan to the 2021 Big Ten title as its starting quarterback, so he brought credibility with him, maybe even more than what Gronowski brings as a former FCS star.

However, on the other hand, Gronowski has four years of starting experience to fall back on, albeit at the FCS level, while McNamara only started one season at Michigan as he lost the starting position to J.J. McCarthy early in the 2022 season.

From a physical standpoint, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Gronowski is both taller and heavier than McNamara, who was listed at 6-1 and 205 pounds at Iowa.

Gronowski also should benefit from having arguably the deepest group of Hawkeye receivers in quite some time.

“We’ve got six, seven, eight receivers that are going to be competing for the starting spots and that just adds another level of competition to camp and everyone is going to be playing that much better and everyone wants it, too,’ Gronowski said. “Everyone is hungry for those spots, so it’s going to be a real fun camp and just throwing to those guys is going to be a lot of fun.”

Gronowski isn’t necessarily a dual-threat quarterback, but he is a threat to run as he had over 1,700 rushing yards over four seasons at South Dakota State, while also passing for over 10,000 yards.

Gronowski passed and rushed for touchdowns in the same game 26 times in 55 career starts at South Dakota State.

His speed apparently has caught some of his new teammates by surprise.

“I think everyone is kind of surprised by it because I’m one of those guys who doesn’t look like he runs fast,” Gronowski said. “But once I get moving, I have those long strides and I’m going to get rolling out there and some guys have been impressed by that.”

Gronowski has made it a point of emphasis this spring and summer to getter better acquainted with his new teammates. He organized a trip in which he and tight end Addison Ostrenga and receivers Jacob Gill, Sam Phillips and K.J Parker all recently traveled to Dallas to train under the supervision of Gronowski’s long-time quarterback coach, Jeff Christensen.

If that names sound familiar, it should since Jeff Christensen is the father of former Iowa quarterback Jake Christensen.

“It was really good and beneficial to me kind of just getting my rhythm back throwing wise and then just getting into a rhythm with those guys, too,” Gronowski said the trip to Dallas.

Jake Christensen started every game for Iowa at quarterback in 2007, but it was a rough season for him and for the team as Iowa finished 6-6 and failed to make a bowl game.

Jake Christensen would go on to lose the starting position to Ricky Stanzi early in the 2008 season before transferring to Eastern Illinois where he finished his career.

Gronowski was asked Wednesday if Jeff Christensen has talked to him at all about Iowa.

“He told me a couple things,” Gronowski said. “Jake had a different kind of experience here for sure. It had its ups-and-downs, but he said he’s going to be cheering for me through and through and he’s happy I ended up at Iowa.”

K.J. Parker had never been to Dallas before, but other than the blistering heat, the trip with Iowa’s new starting quarterback seems to have been productive in a number of ways.

“It was really hot in Texas, I had never been to Dallas before,” said Parker, who is from Bellwood, Illinois. “I definitely enjoyed being able to train with my buddies and grow that connection for the upcoming season. I really feel like we’ve got something great coming up.”

Gronowski also recently traveled to the Ozarks with some of the big guys up front that will be protecting him this fall.

“Me and the O-line ended up going down to the Ozarks,” Gronowski said. “It was a lot of fun, again, just building those relationships like I was saying before is one of the most important things to any football team. And if you can have a closer team than the team across from you, you’re going to win a lot more games.”

Gronowski received medical clearance at the start of this summer following shoulder surgery.

He now said he feels great and he had a chance recently to show where he is physically as he participated in the 2025 Manning Passing Academy where he had the chance to compete with some of the top collegiate quarterbacks in the country, and learn from both Peyton Manning and his brother Eli Manning, both of whom won two Super Bowls as NFL starting quarterbacks.

“It’s a great opportunity to meet with a bunch of the other quarterbacks from around the country and kind of learn from them, pick their brain and learn about their routines, and also being able to learn from guys like the Mannings, Eli and Peyton,” Gronowski said. ” Just being able to ask questions of them and learn about their routines and learn about their pre-snap reads, I find a lot of benefits from that and it was great time down there.”

And while having strong leadership skills is part of playing quarterback, Gronowski will ultimately be judged by what he accomplishes on the field.

McNamara also had plenty of hype and optimism as he launched his Hawkeye career. But it just didn’t work for a number of reasons.

So, it could be argued that Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz is taking another chance as he looks for another quick fix at quarterback.

But so far, the vibe as been very positive since Gronowski climbed aboard.

His skills go without saying, but it’s those little things, including how he treats people and how he handles his responsibilities, that have those close to football program feeling good about where the offense is headed under second-year offensive coordinator Tim Lester.

Iowa also has hired former Wake Forest offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero as a senior analyst, giving Gronowski another person to turn to for advice.

“When coach Lester is not here, or he’s in meeting that he has to be in for being an OC, it’s great that we can meet with Warren whenever we want to and have that ability to continuously learn and continuously learn from a high-level coach that knows a lot about football,” Gronowski said.