Hawkeye Football Recruiting: Breaking Down Iowa’s Class of 2027
The Hawkeyes have been rolling on the recruiting trail during the spring season.
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz watches the football team during practice April 9, 2026 in Iowa City, Iowa. | Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Spring practice is underway, the transfer portal window is now closed and Kirk Ferentz’s staff is simultaneously building for the present and the future. While the portal tends to dominate headlines, the 2027 high school recruiting class is quietly shaping up to be one of Iowa’s strongest in recent memory.
Seven commits are already in the fold, the class is ranked 28th nationally per On3 and the Hawkeyes have momentum building through their spring practice season which has historically been fruitful for recruiting. Let’s break it all down. The Scholarship Picture Iowa graduated 27 seniors after the 2025 season and brought in 27 new faces (16 transfers, 11 freshmen) at the start of the spring semester.
With the NCAA’s 105-man roster limit and the natural attrition of transfers, early departures, and graduation, the Hawkeyes are expected to have roughly 20-25 scholarships available in the 2027 class. That number will fluctuate as the portal window plays out and more becomes clear about who’s staying and who’s going. The biggest position group losses heading into 2027 will be along the defensive line (where Iowa already lost 6 of 8 rotational players this past cycle), the secondary, and potentially the offensive line depending on NFL Draft attrition.
Some of this has been addressed via the portal, but Ferentz and his staff are clearly front-loading this class of 2027 with defensive talent and offensive linemen — a classic Iowa approach. The Class So Far: Seven Commits Player Pos Ht/Wt Rating Hometown Committed Gavin Stecker LB 6-3/200 89 (4-star) Bettendorf, IA Dec. 9 Jaxx DeJean TE 6-3.
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