List of Iowa Hawkeyes football honorees
The Iowa Hawkeyes football team was founded in 1889 to represent the University of Iowa in intercollegiate competition, and it has participated in the sport every season since. Over the course of the [History of Iowa Hawkeyes football|Iowa Hawkeyes football|team's history], individual Hawkeye players of exceptional ability have received many accolades.
Iowa has had several players inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame, Canadian Football Hall of Fame, and Iowa Sports Hall of Fame. Individual Hawkeyes have won many prestigious national awards, including the Outland Trophy, the Davey O'Brien Award, the Doak Walker Award, the Jim Thorpe Award, and the Heisman Trophy. 113 Hawkeyes have been named a first-team or second-team [College Football College Football All-America Team|All-America Team|All-American], and 35 have been named consensus first-team All-Americans.
The Iowa Hawkeyes have had ten players win the Big Ten Most Valuable Player Award, and 219 Hawks have earned All-Big Ten recognition. Iowa has had 244 NFL draft picks, and several former Hawkeye players have gone on to become NFL head coaches or Division I college head coaches.
Individual award winners
- Heisman Trophy
- :Nile Kinnick – 1939
- Maxwell Award
- :Nile Kinnick – 1939
- :Chuck Long – 1985
- AP Athlete of the Year
- :Nile Kinnick – 1939
- AP Player of the Year
- :Brad Banks – 2002
- Davey O'Brien Award
- :Chuck Long – 1985
- :Brad Banks – 2002
- UPI Lineman of the Year
- :Alex Karras – 1957
- Mosi Tatupu Award
- :Kahlil Hill – 2001
- John Mackey Award
- :Dallas Clark – 2002
- :T. J. Hockenson – 2018
- Ozzie Newsome Award
- :T. J. Hockenson – 2018
- Jack Tatum Trophy
- :Desmond King – 2015
- :Josh Jackson – 2017
- Jack Lambert Trophy
- :Josey Jewell – 2017
- Lott IMPACT Trophy
- :Josey Jewell – 2017
- Lou Groza Award
- :Nate Kaeding – 2002
- Doak Walker Award
- :Shonn Greene – 2008
- Jim Brown Award
- :Shonn Greene – 2008
- Jim Thorpe Award
- :Desmond King – 2015
- Outland Trophy
- :Cal Jones – 1955
- :Alex Karras – 1957
- :Robert Gallery – 2003
- :Brandon Scherff – 2014
- Rimington Trophy
- :Tyler Linderbaum – 2021
- Butkus Award
- :Jack Campbell - 2022
- Ray Guy Award
- :Tory Taylor - 2023
- Jet Award
- :Kaden Wetjen - 2024
Coaching award winners
- AFCA Coach of the Year
- :Eddie Anderson – 1939
- AP Coach of the Year Award
- :Kirk Ferentz – 2002
- Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award
- :Kirk Ferentz – 2002
- Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award
- :Kirk Ferentz – 2015
- Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award
- :Kirk Ferentz – 2015
- Woody Hayes Trophy
- :Kirk Ferentz – 2015
- Amos Alonzo Stagg Award
- :Hayden Fry – 2005
- Sporting News College Football Coach of the Year
- :Hayden Fry – 1981
Team Awards
- Joe Moore Award
- :Iowa – 2016
- Disney's Wide World of Sports Spirit Award
- :Iowa – 2017
- Laureus World Sports Award for Best Sporting Moment
- :Iowa – 2017
Heisman Trophy nominees
The most prestigious of these individual awards is the Heisman Trophy. Nile Kinnick won the award in 1939, and four other Hawkeyes have placed second in the voting. In all, nine Hawkeye players have finished in the top ten in the Heisman Trophy balloting, with Chuck Long doing so twice:| Season | Player | Heisman Finish |
| 1939 | Nile Kinnick | First |
| 1955 | Cal Jones | Tenth |
| 1956 | Ken Ploen | Ninth |
| 1957 | Alex Karras | Second |
| 1958 | Randy Duncan | Second |
| 1984 | Chuck Long | Seventh |
| 1985 | Chuck Long | Second |
| 1997 | Tim Dwight | Seventh |
| 2002 | Brad Banks | Second |
| 2008 | Shonn Greene | Sixth |
Hall of Fame inductees
College Football Hall of Fame
Nile Kinnick, Duke Slater, and coach Howard Jones were all inducted in the inaugural College Football Hall of Fame class in 1951. In all, eleven players and six coaches now represent Iowa in the College Football Hall of Fame:Pro Football Hall of Fame
Five Hawkeyes have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame:Canadian Football Hall of Fame
Three Hawkeyes have been inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame for their play in the Canadian Football League:Iowa Sports Hall of Fame
The Iowa Sports Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Des Moines Register, honors outstanding athletes and sports contributors. To be eligible, members must have either been born in Iowa or gained prominence while competing for a college or university in Iowa. Aubrey Devine, Nile Kinnick, and Duke Slater were three of the five football players inducted when the Hall was founded in 1951. 25 Hawkeye players and 3 Hawkeye coaches have been inducted into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame:University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame
The University of Iowa started an Athletics Hall of Fame in 1989. Ten football players were inducted in the initial class, and it has since expanded to include 50 football players and coaches:Retired numbers
Two numbers have been retired by the Hawkeye football program, Nile Kinnick's #24 and Cal Jones' #62. Both Kinnick and Jones were consensus first team All-Americans, and both men died in separate plane crashes before their 25th birthday.Kinnick won the University of Iowa's only Heisman Trophy in 1939 and is the man for whom Kinnick Stadium is named. Jones was the first African-American to win the Outland Trophy and is the only Hawkeye to be named first-team All-American three times.
All-American selections
Each year, numerous publications and organizations release lists of All-America teams, hypothetical rosters of players considered the best in the nation at their respective positions. The National Collegiate Athletic Association uses officially recognized All-America selectors to determine the consensus selections. Over time, the sources used to determine the consensus selections have varied. Currently, the NCAA uses five "major" selectors to determine consensus All-Americans: the Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association, Football Writers Association of America, The Sporting News, and the Walter Camp Football Foundation. Many other publications and organization compile their own "minor" All-America teams in addition to the selectors listed here.Clyde Williams is often referred to as "Iowa's first All-American". Williams, who led the Hawkeyes to its first Big Ten championship in 1900, was named a third-team All-American by Walter Camp that season. Williams was the first player west of the Mississippi River to garner All-American honors. However, since the following list constitutes only first-team and second-team All-Americans, Williams is not included here.
Iowa has had 81 first-team All-Americans and 34 second-team All-Americans. Of Iowa's 81 first-team All-Americans, 37 were Consensus First-Team All-American selections, while 17 were Unanimous First-Team selections. The Hawkeyes have had multiple consensus All-Americans eight times in program history. As of 2025, Iowa's 17 Unanimous All Americans is ranked 9th most in college football history.
| Season | Player | Remarks |
| 1959 | Don Norton | |
| 1960 | Larry Ferguson | |
| 1960 | Wilburn Hollis | |
| 1960 | Mark Manders | |
| 1961 | Bill Van Buren | |
| 1963 | Mike Reilly | |
| 1964 | John Niland | |
| 1964 | Karl Noonan | |
| 1965 | Dave Long | |
| 1965 | John Niland | Second selection |
| 1971 | Craig Clemons | |
| 1975 | Joe Devlin | |
| 1975 | Rod Walters | |
| 1979 | Dennis Mosley | |
| 1980 | John Harty | |
| 1981 | Pat Dean | |
| 1981 | Reggie Roby | |
| 1981 | Andre Tippett | |
| 1982 | Mark Bortz | |
| 1982 | Reggie Roby | Second first-team selection |
| 1983 | Joel Hilgenberg | |
| 1983 | Larry Station | |
| 1984 | Ronnie Harmon | |
| 1984 | Jonathan Hayes | |
| 1984 | Larry Station | Second selection |
| 1985 | Ronnie Harmon | Second selection |
| 1985 | Chuck Long* | Unanimous selection |
| 1985 | Larry Station* | Unanimous selection; Second consensus selection; Third selection |
| 1986 | Dave Croston | |
| 1987 | Dave Haight | |
| 1988 | Marv Cook | |
| 1988 | Dave Haight | Second selection |
| 1990 | Nick Bell | |
| 1990 | Merton Hanks | |
| 1991 | Leroy Smith | |
| 1992 | Mike Devlin |
Big Ten honorees
Most Valuable Players
The Chicago Tribune Silver Football has been awarded since 1924 by the Chicago Tribune to the college football player determined to be the Most Valuable Player of the Big Ten Conference. Ten Hawkeyes have won the Big Ten MVP award, the third largest number of winners by any school, trailing only Michigan and Ohio State:| Inducted | Player |
| 1929 | Willis Glassgow |
| 1933 | Joe Laws |
| 1939 | Nile Kinnick |
| 1951 | Bill Reichardt |
| 1956 | Ken Ploen |
Annual individual honors
Coaches and media of the Big Ten also make annual selections for additional individual honors:All-conference selections
Through the 2025 season, Iowa has had 265 first team All-Big Ten selections, comprising 196 players, starting with Clyde Williams and Joe Warner in 1900. There have been 59 players named multiple years, 10 of whom were three-time selections.| Season | Player |
| 2024 | Jay Higgins |
| 2024 | Kaleb Johnson |
| 2024 | Logan Jones |
| 2024 | Connor Colby |
| 2024 | Kaden Wetjen |
| 2025 | Logan Jones |
| 2025 | Kaden Wetjen |
| 2025 | Gennings Dunker |
| 2025 | Beau Stephens |
All-time team
In 1989, Iowa fans selected an all-time University of Iowa football team during the 100th anniversary celebration of Iowa football. Twelve starters and eight honorable mentions were selected on both offense and defense, along with a Most Valuable Player:NCAA FBS all-time records
The following is a list of team and individual NCAA FBS records that are held by the Iowa Hawkeyes.- Best Perfect Passing Game - Iowa vs. Northwestern, 2002 - 12 for 12
- Most Touchdowns on Fumble Returns - Iowa vs. Minnesota, 1994 - 2
- Most Opponent's Field Goals Blocked, One Quarter - Iowa vs. Northern Iowa, 2009 - 2
- Most Games Gaining 100 or More Rushing in a Season - Shonn Greene, 2008–13
- Most Consecutive Rushes for a Touchdown in a Game - Aaron Greving, Iowa vs. Kent State 2001 - 3,
- Highest Average per Punt in a Season - Reggie Roby, 1981 - 49.8
- Most Passes Intercepted by a Linebacker in One Game - Grant Steen, Iowa vs. Indiana 2002 - 3
- Players Gaining 1,000 Yards on Punt Returns and 1,000 Yards on Kickoff Returns in a Career - Tim Dwight, 1994-1997 -
- Most Touchdowns Scored on Kick Returns in a Game - Kahlil Hill, Iowa vs. Western Michigan 1998 - 2
- Most Blocked Field Goals in a Game - Kenny Iwebema, Iowa vs. Syracuse 2008 - 2
- Passing for a Touchdown and Scoring on a Pass Reception and Punt Return in a Game - Tim Dwight, Iowa vs. Indiana 1997
- Most Field Goals Made, 50 Yards or More in a Game - Tim Douglas, Iowa vs. Illinois 1998 - 3,
NFL draft picks
Iowa has had at least one player drafted in every NFL draft since 1978. Through the 2023 NFL draft, Iowa has had 290 draft picks: 276 in the NFL, 21 in the AFL, and seven in the AAFC. Iowa has had the following 26 first round NFL Draft selections:Hawkeye head coachesSeveral former Hawkeye players have later been named NFL head coaches or Division I college head coaches:
Other notable players
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