Phil Parker is known for turning unheralded recruits into defensive stars. It's what he does.
Cooper DeJean, Riley Moss, Jack Campbell - the list can go on and on. He creates stars on defense, and the Iowa Hawkeyes
play elite defense every year.
But sometimes, the transfer portal offers unique and intriguing options. This year, Parker took a liking to two of those options with key transfer portal additions.
Iowa's transfer portal additions are headlined by wide receiver Tony Diaz and running back L.J. Phillips Jr. for natural reasons. Offense scores the points (unless you're Iowa) and is what draws fans in.
That said, Iowa snagged two safeties from the transfer portal in Anthony Hawkins and Tyler Brown, who have every opportunity to come into the 2026 season as the starting duo on the back end.
Each has starting experience and fits the physical mold that Phil Parker
has long built his secondary around.
On paper and on film, Anthony Hawkins is the physical mold of a safety you draw up in a lab. At 6-foot-3 and a lean 202 pounds, he is a lanky and rangy safety, which is something Iowa has long relied on.
Hawkins has the skills to be a center-field-type safety in this defense for Parker, with freedom to roam the back end of the defense and turn into a ball hawk on balls hanging in the air.
The former Villanova safety comes to Iowa with experience, too. Last year, he posted 57 total tackles and two interceptions for the Wildcats. The FCS Freshman All-American played in 15 games last year.
Hawkins fits the mold of former Iowa safety Xavier Nwankpa, who has since departed Iowa, with his length and natural, flowing athleticism.
Just as Anthony Hawkins is built to roam the secondary, Tyler Brown brings a physical presence to the Hawkeyes' defense with his build and stature.
At 5-foot-10 and 201 pounds, Brown is a stout safety, unafraid to mix it up in the run game, as evidenced by the 80 tackles he tallied for the James Madison Dukes in 2025.
Iowa lost Koen Entringer to the portal in a bit of a stunning turn of events, which is where my intuition tells me Tyler Brown slots in.
Entringer would play in the box, line up as a pseudo-linebacker in the run game, and run the alleys in the run game. With Hawkins manning the secondary, Tyler Brown could be in line to clean up things in the run game.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/iowa as Two Transfer Portal Additions Could be the Difference for Iowa Football's Defense .
