Video: Who has been ascending for Iowa? Ethan Hurkett gives his take.
Ethan Hurkett meets with media at Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas on July 24.
- Logan Jones began his Iowa football career as a defensive lineman before moving to the center position.
- Jones has been a key figure in the rebuild of Iowa’s offensive line under position coach George Barnett, which was validated with a breakout 2024 campaign.
- Jones could’ve opted to pursue his NFL ambitions after last season, but instead elected to return to the Hawkeyes.
LAS VEGAS — Logan Jones lets out a laugh.
The Iowa football center has already started racking up preseason recognition. Jones was one of 16 players to earn 2025 Big Ten Preseason Honors. He was one of five unanimous selections on the preseason USA TODAY All-Big Ten team.
But this?
This one was on another level.
In a media poll organized by cleveland.com, Jones received one third-place vote for Big Ten preseason Offensive Player of the Year.
For an offensive lineman to win this award would be almost impossible. The category is saturated with players who score touchdowns, such as quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers, not those who block for them.
So, for Jones to even make an appearance in the preseason conversation is an impressive feat and speaks to how highly he is regarded.
Upon being told about his single third-place vote, Jones had to double-check he understood correctly.
“For offensive player?” Jones said with his eyebrows raised.
Jones lets out a laugh.
“I mean, that’s funny,” Jones said. “Whoever that is, I appreciate their belief. That’s pretty cool to have an offensive lineman up there. I like them a lot. Hopefully, we can find who that is so I can write them a letter or something. That’s pretty cool.”
Video: Logan Jones reflects on transition from defensive line to center
Iowa’s Logan Jones meets with media at Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas on July 24, 2025.
That’s not bad for someone who began his Iowa career as a defensive lineman. Now, Jones enters the 2025 season considered among the best centers in college football.
The Council Bluffs product redshirted his first season and then missed a majority of his second due to injury. With standout center Tyler Linderbaum on his way to the next level after the 2021 season, Iowa didn’t have an heir apparent at center. Kirk Ferentz approached Jones with the idea of switching to the other side of the ball.
“Even though I talk to everybody about taking care of today, I’ve got to look down the road a little bit,” Ferentz said at Big Ten Media Days on July 24. “During that time period, I just didn’t see somebody that seemed like the natural next center for us. The same thing with Linderbaum. That’s why I moved him over there. And we felt like we could afford to. He (Logan Jones) wasn’t doing a bad job on defense, but we felt like we could afford it.”
Video: Kirk Ferentz confident that Jonah Pace, Bryce Hawthorne will play roles on D-line
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz met with the media at Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas on July 24, 2025
Ferentz left the decision up to Jones, who played offensive and defensive line at Lewis Central High School, but only had limited experience at center. Still, Jones elected to make the switch, following in the footsteps of Linderbaum, who had made the same move.
“It was a pretty easy decision for me,” Jones said. “You look at the guys who have switched positions — Dallas Clark, Aaron Kampman, Tyler Linderbaum. They’re all super successful, especially at the NFL level, right? So if I were to be like, ‘Nah, I don’t want to do it,’ then I’d be an idiot. He (Ferentz) knows what he’s doing.”
The transition did not produce immediate results. Linderbaum, who was selected in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, left big shoes to fill. Jones started all 13 games at center in 2022 on an offensive line that struggled and was not near the program standard.
“I was like, ‘Oh, Lindy did it, I’m going to be really good this year,’” Jones said of his first season as Iowa’s center. “‘That’s what you think — you’re like, ‘I’m going to be really good.’ But the hard reality is, I wasn’t. That’s the truth.
“You have to have an honest self-evaluation and look back at that season. You could say, ‘Oh, it was my first year, it’s OK.’ It’s not. You have to be able to be real with yourself and understand that’s not where you want to be. That’s where the growth happens, right? You understand where you were and you understand where you need to be. That first season was humbling, man. I think I needed to be humbled.”
But those trials helped build the foundation for success in the future.
Jones has been a key figure in Iowa’s offensive line transformation. That unit improved in 2023, a season in which Jones was again a regular starter. Then the offensive line broke through last season, paving the way for star Kaleb Johnson, who emerged as one of the top running backs in college football.
The Hawkeyes’ offensive line rebuild under position coach George Barnett was validated in 2024.
“The standard was set a long time ago,” Jones said. “Old guys like Robert Gallery, Austin Blythe, Brandon Scherff, all these guys, I could name however many, they set the standard for what it takes to play offensive line at Iowa. Kind of lost that along the way, but I felt like these past couple of years, we brought it back to what it’s supposed to be.
“And if you’re going to play offensive line at Iowa, there’s a standard that you have to abide by. And if you don’t, get out. We don’t need you. We’re going to bring in somebody who’s going to play with that standard and how we operate.”
Last season could’ve been the end of Jones’ college career. But he elected to put his ambitions at the next level on hold. During an exit meeting lasting around 90 minutes, Jones and Barnett went through what the offensive line could look like in 2025.
Jones couldn’t help but get excited.
“You have an opportunity to go play in the NFL — that’s something you dream of,” Jones said in December after announcing his return. “But playing here is also something you dream about, too.”
Though last season was an emphatic success for the offensive line, Jones believes there is still plenty of room for the unit to continue elevating its play. The Hawkeyes will try to do so after losing a sizeable amount of depth and experience with the departures of Connor Colby, Mason Richman, Tyler Elsbury and Nick DeJong.
“I don’t think we’re even close (to being done growing) and I think that’s the most exciting part,” Jones said. “We’ve got some young guys that are going to get opportunities to play this year and I’m sure excited for them. The second you think you’re ‘microwaved,’ you’re done for. You’re going to get beat.
“Everybody in that room knows that we’re not where we want to be and we’re going to continue to grow and get better. You’ve got to do that every day if you want to be the best. If you just stop and get complacent, that’s when you get ran over.”
Iowa has veterans Gennings Dunker, Beau Stephens and Jones to help try to bridge the offensive line’s revitalization to sustained success in 2025.
“I think right when he switched over, I could tell he was going to be really good,” defensive lineman Ethan Hurkett said of Jones. “He was obviously super strong, super athletic and he had good leverage and balance, too, in the pass game. But he’s taken leaps and bounds from there and now he’s a super good player.”
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
