2025 was full of memorable moments in sports – from championships to changes and even controversy, the year in sports truly had it all. But what were the top stories that resonated with sports fans in the state of Iowa? In no particular order, here are some of the biggest stories from the Hawkeye State that had people talking this year.
When you look back at what made headlines this year in Iowa, coaching news – from coaching changes to one big milestone in particular – took the top spot by far.
Let’s start with coaching changes – there were two, really three impactful moves that involved Iowa teams this year. First, and most recent, was Matt Campbell’s departure as Iowa State football coach to take the same job at Penn State.
Campbell left after a decade in Ames, where he was the school’s all-time winningest coach. The move came as a little bit of a surprise, considering he had passed on other opportunities (college and pro) in the past, and was taking a big risk leaving a place where he had built such a solid foundation and had a lot of stability – but, his opportunity came and with just the sheer number of Power 4 coaching jobs that opened this cycle, in the end it would have been more surprising if he didn’t take another job this time around.
Iowa State moved quickly and hired Jimmy Rogers away from Washington State after one year as head coach of the Cougars. Just like any new coach these days in college sports – Rogers will need to field almost an entirely new roster, as 40+ Cyclones, including star quarterback Rocco Becht, have entered the Transfer Portal as of this writing.
The second coaching move that made headlines this year was Fran McCaffery’s dismissal as head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball team and the subsequent hiring of Ben McCollum after one year at Drake to lead the Iowa program.
In the end, I think McCaffery’s dismissal was a necessary move, but it had to have been a tough decision for Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz. Fran had built the program back up from the rock bottom that it was at at the end of the Todd Lickliter era, guiding the Hawkeyes to seven NCAA Tournament appearances and 143 wins in the Big Ten, but a lack of a deep tournament run – still no Sweet 16 appearances since 1999 for the program, consecutive NCAA Tournament misses, and growing fan apathy forced her to make a move.
A national search for McCaffery’s replacement led them to a guy just two hours down I-80 in Des Moines, as Ben McCollum was hired away from Drake to take over as the leader of the Hawkeyes. McCollum brought nearly all of his Bulldogs’ roster with him to Iowa City – including star point guard Bennett Stirtz, and early returns have been positive – with an 11-2 record through the first two months of the season. His move east added to a bittersweet run for Drake, who is on their third coach in as many seasons after Darian DeVries and McCollum both moved on to bigger schools. The Bulldogs found a good replacement, though, in Iowa native and former South Dakota State head coach Eric Henderson.
When it came to milestones in 2025, there was one that stood above all for Iowa sports. Sure, to some it was just a 40-point blowout of a bad UMass team for the Hawkeyes, but the dominant win over the MinuteMen was the win that put Kirk Ferentz over the top, and made him the winningest coach in Big Ten history – passing Woody Hayes with his 206th win in the conference. Ferentz has made every indication he plans to keep coaching in 2026 and beyond, so that wins number in all likelihood will continue to grow as his tenure in Iowa City continues.
A bit of trivia – can you name the coach with the next-highest win total in the Big Ten? I’ll give you a minute…
If you said Greg Schiano at Rutgers – you’d be right! He’s got 99 wins. Ryan Day at Ohio State is third in line with 82, Minnesota’s PJ Fleck is fourth with 66. That’s a lot of boat rowing, and winning, needed to catch up to Kirk.
Speaking of milestones – It seems like eons ago but it was only last February when Caitlin Clark had her number 22 retired and raised to the rafters at Carver Hawkeye Arena. It was basically a guarantee that it would happen after her record-setting career as a member of the Hawkeyes came to a close, they just needed to make the date official – and Clark saw that exact thing happen on February 2nd in front of yet another sold-out crowd at Carver. The Hawkeyes that day fed off the energy of having the superstar in the building and the crowd itself, as they went on to upset a ranked USC team with JuJu Watkins.
Clark would return to Carver later in the spring as a member of the Indiana Fever for an exhibition game against the Brazilian National Team, but her sophomore season as a pro would be marred by injuries and would get cut short.
Honorable Mentions:
There was a lot of other stuff that happened involving Iowa sports, or someone with Iowa ties this year.
How about Cooper DeJean’s pick six of Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl? That + a Super Bowl championship makes for a happy birthday, doesn’t it?
Iowa State Wrestling ended Iowa’s 20-match win streak in the CyHawk Series in November, beating the Hawkeyes 20-14 at Hilton Coliseum. The win by the Cyclone’s grapplers, paired with wins by their football, men’s and women’s basketball teams allowed Iowa State to sweep Iowa in the “big four” sports for the first time in series history.
Not to re-open any old wounds for any Drake fans reading this (again), but the Bulldogs winning 31 games and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament was definitely a story to follow. Drake doesn’t get a ton of love outside of Des Moines, especially here in eastern Iowa, so I think it’s important to acknowledge a great season when it happens – even if it did lead to big changes for the team thanks to their success.
Lastly, the Iowa Football team ended the year on a strong note, holding on for a win over a 10-2 Vanderbilt team in the ReliaQuest Bowl on New Year’s Eve. It was Iowa’s offense that helped them win the game – with Mark Gronowski throwing for 212 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and adding a rushing score in the win. The victory was Iowa’s first over a ranked team since 2021, and serves as a nice ending for a team that played really well all season, but came up just short in all four of their losses.
What were your top sports stories of the year? Follow me on X or send me an email: spencer@kgymradio.com to continue the conversation.
Spencer Wagen is the host of “Spencer on Sports”, weekdays from 4-6 PM on 1600 ESPN. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @SWOnTheRadio
