REPORTS:QB Conundrum: Deacon Hill’s Departure Leaves Hawkeyes with Questions…

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Deacon Hill, the quarterback who started nine games for Iowa last season, announced on Instagram on Tuesday that he has entered the transfer portal with two years remaining.
As a freshman in September of last year, Hill was thrown into the fire when Iowa’s initial starter, Cade McNamara, sustained an ACL tear early in the team’s fifth game against Michigan State. For the remainder of the season, Hill oversaw the Hawkeyes’ offense, and they finished with a 10-4 record and the Big Ten West Division championship.

With 234.6 yards per game in the fall of last year, the Hawkeyes’ offense was the lowest in the country. With 262.8 yards per game, Eastern Michigan had the second-lowest. As a matter of fact, Iowa’s production was the lowest of any Big Ten team since 1984’s Northwestern (230.2).

Nobody else but former offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz—whose contract was not renewed—shouldered more of the blame and attention for Iowa’s offensive problems than 6-foot-3, 258-pound Hill. In the previous season, Hill completed 48.6% of his throws for 1,152 yards, five touchdowns, and eight interceptions.

Hill fumbled 11 times and lost six of them, including at least one fumble loss in each of Iowa’s four losses. In their final two games of the previous season, the Hawkeyes were shut out.

Hill expressed gratitude to his former teammates and coaches in a statement. He continued “Iowa, you have given me one of the best years of my life. I have built some of the most important relationships in my life and I am eternally grateful for that.”

Hill transferred to Iowa in spring 2023 after two seasons at Wisconsin.

Tim Lester, the new offensive coordinator, only had Hill and redshirt freshman Marco Lainez III as scholarship quarterbacks to lead his offense this spring because McNamara was still recovering from a left knee injury. Lainez took photos with the second and third groups, but Hill worked mainly with the first squad.

James Resar of Jacksonville, Florida, an incoming freshman, will join the Hawkeyes in June, giving them three quarterbacks available for summer practices. It’s very likely that Iowa will add a quarterback via the transfer portal to the training camp roster to go up against McNamara and Lainez.

“We’ll do anything we can to help our team,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said about signing players from the portal. “If an opportunity presents itself that makes sense, we’ll consider it.”