Hawk Central Hour

Live from Kinnick Stadium, the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman break down Iowa football's thrilling win over Penn State.

The Hawkeyes (4-2) welcome the Nittany Lions (3-3) for a Kinnick Stadium night game (6 p.m., Peacock) on Oct. 18 with high stakes for the home team especially. The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman break down the importance of Iowa needing to win a "big game," and we definitely believe that this still constitutes a big game with Penn State's reputation and talent levels. Later, Chad and Dargan Southard team up to bring you hot takes from Iowa women's basketball media day.

The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman dissect what Iowa football can expect from Penn State as the Nittany Lions look to push forward after firing James Franklin.

On the drive home from Camp Randall Stadium, the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman unpack what was a dominating 37-0 thumping by Iowa over Wisconsin. Mark Gronowski's comeback was the first big story of the day, and the stories just kept coming in this extended version of our postgame pod.

The Iowa football team comes out of a bye week with more mystery than ever, with quarterback questions while facing an opponent in Wisconsin with its own question marks. The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman first take the QB out of the equation and look at the big-picture implications of this game before diving into a detailed game preview from Iowa's perspective. We also dabble with some Iowa men's basketball talk ahead of Big Ten Media Days.  

With Mark Gronowski's status up in the air for Saturday's game vs. Wisconsin, the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman assess how the Hawkeyes can escape Camp Randall Stadium victorious.

We were hoping to have more concrete injury information for you on quarterback Mark Gronowski, but his status remains "cloudy" according to offensive coordinator Tim Lester. The good news: It's an Iowa bye week, so there's time to sift through it all. The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman spend at least half of this week's Hawk Central Hour discussing the quarterback possibilities with Gronowski, Hank Brown and even Jeremy Hecklinski going forward. We also dig into the good and bad of Iowa's defense and special teams through five games.

The Register's Chad Leistikow and Dargan Southard dissect every angle of McKenna Woliczko's commitment to Iowa women's basketball.

Live from Kinnick Stadium, the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman dissect Iowa's 20-15 home loss to No. 12 Indiana. A game in which the Hawkeyes had a chance to end their losing streak vs. ranked teams, but couldn't push the upset bid across the finish line.

A tough task awaits the Hawkeyes against No. 12 Indiana this Saturday at Kinnick Stadium. The Register's Tyler Tachman and Chad Leistikow get your set for this Homecoming matchup with our five big questions about the game while also discussing the Ferentz vs. Cignetti angle and debate who Iowa's best defensive player might be. 

Listen as the Register's Tyler Tachman and Dargan Southard break down where Iowa football stands entering a pivotal Week 5 showdown against No. 12 Indiana. 

Live from SHI Stadium, the Register's Chad Leistikow joins Tyler Tachman to dissect Iowa's gritty 38-28 win at Rutgers.

Iowa football opens Big Ten Conference play this Friday night at Rutgers, and the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman break down this winnable matchup for the slightly-favored Hawkeyes. We also touch on new basketball recruit Ethan Harris and make our score predictions for the game.

After Iowa put together its best offensive showing of the year in Week 3 against UMass, the Hawkeyes head to Rutgers for Friday's Big Ten opener. The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman dissect where the Hawkeyes stand as the competition intensifies.

Live from Kinnick Stadium, the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman dissect Iowa's offensive performance in Saturday's 47-7 win over UMass.

As Iowa licks its wounds from a 16-13 loss at Iowa State, the Hawkeyes' ineffective passing game remains the top focus. The Register's Tyler Tachman and Chad Leistikow dig into the bubbling questions that Tim Lester's offense could be too refined to get right at the college level. We also preview Iowa vs. UMass with five big questions and offer our predictions.

Listen as the Register’s Tyler Tachman and Dargan Southard dissect Iowa’s disappointing passing game and what steps forward can be taken in Week 3 against UMass.

Live from Jack Trice Stadium, the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman dissect Iowa's uninspiring loss to No. 18 Iowa State. More struggles for quarterback Mark Gronowski despite the Hawkeyes' strong defensive and special teams work.

Listen as the Register's Tyler Tachman catches up with former Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins, who recently made the Baltimore Ravens' 53-man roster out of training camp as an undrafted free agent.

We get you set for Saturday's Iowa-Iowa State showdown, as host Chad Leistikow previews the game from Iowa State's side with the Register's Travis Hines and from Iowa's side with the Register's Tyler Tachman. Chad and Tyler finish the show with their game predictions.

Ahead of Iowa's Week 2 showdown at No. 18 Iowa State, the Register's Chad Leistikow and Dargan Southard break down the level of urgency surrounding the Hawkeyes offense after a lackluster showing in Week 1 vs. Albany.

Live from Kinnick Stadium, the Register's Chad Lestikow and Tyler Tachman break down every angle of Iowa's season-opening win over Albany.

We're all ready for the games now, yes? To size up expectations for the Hawkeyes' season football opener against UAlbany, the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman evaluate the quarterback, left tackle, receivers and other spots with a game of "better, the same or worse." Then, in a return staple to our preview show, we answer Five Big Questions about the upcoming game and learn a little bit more about Albany.

With Iowa expected to cruise against an overmatched FCS foe, the Register's Tyler Tachman and Chad Leistikow dissect what should be considered a successful season opener.

The Iowa football regular season is 10 days away, and the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman look at the Hawkeyes' schedule of opportunity and challenge. We also look at bold predictions for the upcoming season. In the final segment, Dargan Southard joins Chad to discuss the Iowa women's basketball official visit ahead for mega-prospect McKenna Woliczko.

With Iowa football's media day and Kids Day practice in the books, the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman provide a big-picture review on what we learned, which pairs nicely with our "instant reaction" podcast after Saturday's scrimmage action. We have rewatched the film and look back at the quarterback performances of Mark Gronowski, Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski while discussing what the No. 2 QB battle might look like as things spill into the fall.

Live from Kinnick Stadium on a steamy Saturday afternoon, the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman dissect every element of Iowa's Kids Day open practice.

Now it's really starting to feel like football season. The pads are popping in Iowa's fall camp, and the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman get you set for this week's media day and open practice with a breakdown of five key position battles on the Hawkeyes roster.

Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester sits down with the Register's Chad Leistikow for the full hour to discuss the progress of his offense, play-calling and the 2025 Hawkeyes.

Live from Las Vegas, the Register's Tyler Tachman joins colleague Chad Leistikow to dissect all we learned from Iowa football's appearance at Big Ten media days. Plus, Dargan Southard joins the show to talk Iowa women's basketball after their summer media sessions.

On this July 16 episode of Hawk Central Hour, the Register's Chad Leistikow dives into the latest on Ben McCollum's busy offseason leading Iowa basketball. Plus, Iowa football strength and conditioning director Raimond Braithwaite joins the show with the 2025 season roughly six weeks away.   

In a special edition of the Hawk Central Hour, Iowa wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr sits down with the Register's Chad Leistikow for more than 40 minutes to break down his ascending room ahead fo the 2025 football season. To finish the show, Chad and Tyler Tachman discuss the impact of four-star basketball commitment of Trey Thompson.

This week's Hawk Central radio show is basically a game of "What Did Chad Miss?" while on vacation? Now, as the Register's Chad Leistikow returns to the fold from Maine, teammate Tyler Tachman takes his turn with some time off but not before sharing insights on Iowa men's basketball practice plus some news bits in Iowa football and women's basketball observations.

As he readies for year 27 as Iowa's defensive coordinator, Phil Parker joins the Register's Chad Leistikow to recap the Hawkeyes' 2024 defensive performance and what to expect this coming fall. 

The big news of the week was approval of the $2.8 billion House vs. NCAA court settlement, which opens the door for the salary-cap era of college athletics. The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman use most of our 48-minute show to discuss the impact on Iowa athletics.

For about 38 minutes, Barnes and the Register's Chad Leistikow go over the future and drive of Kirk Ferentz, the pay model that Iowa is using when revenue sharing (likely) begins July 1 and what recruiting strategies and needs are looming for the Class of 2026.

Ben McCollum seems to have put the finishing touches on his first Iowa men's basketball roster, adding two more pieces in the closing weeks of May. The Register's Chad Leistikow is joined by basketball beat writer Tyler Tachman to size up the 13 players (12 scholarship) now in the fold for the Hawkeyes and what our expectations might be for this rotation and roster. We also dig into football and baseball in our final two segments.

This week's Hawk Central radio show leads off with some newsy developments in Iowa women's basketball, headlined by the addition of Central Florida transfer Emely Rodriguez. The Register's Chad Leistikow is joined by Dargan Southard, who updates listeners on why he's on the disabled list while providing fun conversation about the 2025-26 Hawkeyes. We also preview the Big Ten Baseball Tournament path for Iowa before making room for Register colleague Tyler Tachman, who talks Iowa football with Chad about what we've learned in recent conversations with Seth Wallace and Tim Lester.

You've (maybe) heard of the Golden Herkys. Now, it's time for the Hawk Central Herkys. The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman, on this finals week at the University of Iowa, put a bow on the year of Hawkeye athletics with some unique categories and awards.

Kirk Ferentz suggested some final transfer-portal additions "wouldn't be headline news," but any roster adjustments for Iowa football warrant headlines. So, the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman take a closer look at the impact of incoming transfers Jeremy Hecklinski, Shahid Barros and Ty Hudkins ... and what that tells us about the Hawkeyes' future plans.

This week's Hawk Central Hour features a one-on-one with the Register's Chad Leistikow and special guest Jan Jensen, who gets set to enter Year 2 as Iowa women's basketball coach. She revisits the key moments of Year 1 while looking ahead to the future of Hawkeye women's hoops.

Iowa's open practice Saturday at Kinnick Stadium produced plenty of pass-game connections, which got our attention. The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman revisit their top takeaways and notebooks from the two-plus hours.

The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman take you wire-to-wire on an information-packed episode, starting a a strong 22 minutes on the impact of Robert Morris transfer Alvaro Folgeuiras to the Iowa basketball team. Chad teases a coming commitment for the women's team, too, while the attention turns a deep dive on the final days of spring football and top story lines to watch in Saturday's open practice.

The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman break down the Hawkeyes' in-progress roster build − including with recent additions Trevin Jirak and Brendan Hausen. We also look at what other names might be possible to join the fold. There's some big happenings in Iowa's quarterbacks room in football. And then time to panic with the lack of transfer-portal success for Iowa women's basketball?

A special edition of the Hawk Central Hour features new Iowa men's basketball coach Ben McCollum, who sat down with the Register's Chad Leistikow for two information-packed segments totaling 40 minutes that you won't want to miss. McCollum discusses how he teaches defense, the misconceptions of his offense, the transfer-portal additions so far for the Hawkeyes and what's to come.

Iowa basketball has a lot of positive momentum right now, and the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman dig into the early roster-building stages of the Ben McCollum era. Iowa football also is in full swing, and we've got updates on the quarterbacks, the offense and plenty to discuss there, too, after a glimpse into Thursday's practice. And what to make for Aaliyah Guyton's portal entry? Chad is joined by Dargan Southard to discuss the latest there.

What a week. First, Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman of the Des Moines Register break down Ben McCollum's introduction as Iowa's men's basketball coach and look at the potential roster that he might be able to assemble. Later, Chad and Dargan Southard look back on the Iowa women's basketball season and preview portal additions for Jan Jensen and Co.

Monday morning delivered the news Iowa fans had been waiting for. Ben McCollum is the Hawkeyes' new head coach after one year at Drake that ended in the NCAA Tournament second round. A program with potential but in need of restoration is now McCollum's to turn around. The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman dissect the coaching search and Beth Goetz's eventual decision.

The Iowa men's basketball coaching search is evolving by the minute, and the Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman dig into the transfer portal, Darian DeVries and Ben McCollum on this Tuesday morning. Chad is later joined by Dargan Southard to preview the Iowa women's basketball path in the NCAA Tournament. Could this team make a Sweet 16 run?

What was long rumored became official Friday afternoon. The Fran McCaffery era has ended at Iowa after 15 seasons. As a result, AD Beth Goetz faces her most crucial hire yet in hopes of re-igniting energy around the Hawkeyes basketball program. The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman dissect the good and bad of McCaffery's tenure, while analyzing what Iowa might do next.