You don’t win games sitting idle and lacking intensity. To be one of the best, it requires a special type of intangible qualities built around leadership, competitiveness, and an inner drive to succeed.
Fortunately, for the Iowa Hawkeyes, their quarterback, Mark Gronowski, possesses all of those and has taken on a leadership role that is being embraced by the rest of the offense.
Head coach Kirk Ferentz discussed Gronowski’s fiery attitude and how the rest of the offense has fed off his constant encouragement on the sidelines.
“Well, you might imagine, like Drew Tate had his moments. Kind of interesting, as you might imagine. But it’s all based on personality. I think it’s like anything you do in life; you have to be who you have and you have to do it within the framework of how you are. So for him, it’s authentic. He is an underdog story. Nobody recruiting him out of high school, at least nobody to my knowledge in the Big Ten or the MAC. I’m sure he’s got a chip on his shoulder. But he’s worked extremely hard. That’s very clear the last four years. You can tell he’s done it in the classroom, and he’s done it certainly as a football player.
“These games mean a lot to him. The personalities are different for everybody. Brad Banks never showed any emotion and barely said a word, and everybody followed him. They’d follow him right off a cliff. So there’s different ways of projecting your leadership, I think, and Mark has got his way of doing it, and it comes off really well, but it’s all genuine.
“You talk about quarterbacks, but it’s true at any position, it’s more about the doing than it is the talking, no matter — there’s a lot of guys that can talk but not all of them can do it or have done it, and Mark has done it, so he’s certainly earned everybody’s respect here,” Ferentz said of Gronowski’s leadership displayed.
Mark Gronowski has taken strides for the Hawkeyes over the last two contests, posting his best numbers in the passing game while also finding the endzone six times between the air and ground.
On the year, Gronowski is 49-81 for 492 yards and three touchdowns to one interception. He has added 143 yards and six touchdowns on the ground to display his dual-threat ability as well.
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