Iowa football secondary has ingredients to be elite in 2024: 'We’re capable of big things'

IOWA CITY — There was a period of Iowa football’s winter when several key, individual decisions hung in the balance. Most of those were on the defensive side of the ball. And a healthy portion of those were in the secondary.

The dilemma: Move on from the Iowa program, or return to Iowa City?

Many of the pivotal dominoes fell in Iowa's favor.

“They were saying if one of them comes back, they’ll all come back,” Iowa safety Xavier Nwankpa said. “So once one came back, it was kinda like, OK, everybody’s coming back. So it was pretty cool to see.”

That isn’t quite all the way true. Because there was one major defensive piece to decide to move on from the program: Cooper DeJean. But outside of DeJean, Iowa mostly got good news. Members of the secondary mulling their future — Quinn Schulte, Jermari Harris and Sebastian Castro — elected to return to Iowa for 2024.

That has set up Iowa’s secondary in a favorable position.

Stacked with talent, even more experience than last season and the 2023 Broyles Award winner pulling the strings, Iowa's secondary has the ingredients to be elite. There are few restrictions to what they can accomplish. While Iowa’s offense tries to get back on its feet, the secondary could provide a game-changing cushion.

“We’re capable of big things,” defensive back Deshaun Lee said Tuesday of Iowa’s secondary. “Every year, it’s a new team. So we can’t really pay attention to what we did last year. We’ve got to go above and beyond.”

That will mean doing it without DeJean, who is preparing for the 2024 NFL Draft. The electrifying Hawkeye will be a substantial void to fill. Though it's not fair to ask anyone to replicate the impact of DeJean, there is reason to believe Iowa is at least equipped to make do.

As a redshirt freshman, Lee started the first two and last four games — putting bookends on Iowa’s season. The final four-game stretch with Harris might’ve been a preview of what Iowa’s cornerback tandem could look like this season. A member of the program since 2019, Harris started the final 12 games for Iowa last season and provides an experienced presence.

But the importance of depth has been made clear the last two seasons. Iowa was on the wrong side of that in 2022 when, after DeJean went down against Nebraska, the secondary crumbled in a disappointing loss. Last season, Lee held it together in separate stints during Harris' suspension and DeJean's injury. This season, TJ Hall, John Nestor and Deavin Hilson are among the other names to know.

One of the biggest returnees this offseason was Sebastian Castro, who is somewhat of a wild card defensively because of his ability to create chaos. Castro broke out in 2023 with his physical, hard-hitting play and is primed to take another step forward this season playing the leo/cash position.

Safety nets are important, too. Iowa has that in Schulte and Nwankpa. Schulte has started every game for Iowa over the last two seasons. Nwankpa started every game for Iowa last season. Having built chemistry last season, that duo could be on its way to even bigger things in 2024.

“He’s like the king of our defense,” Nwankpa said of Schulte. “He makes the checks. If we have to make a certain check, Quinn can get us in and out of stuff. He’s a big piece to have back, so excited to have another season with him.”

This, of course, is all tied together by defensive coordinator Phil Parker, who also coaches defensive backs. The fiery yet compassionate coach has become a living legend in Iowa City because of the consistent heights his defenses have reached. Parker has quite a few weapons at his disposal this season.

“His whole goal, in my mind, is to push you greater than what (you think) you can even be,” Nestor said. “We have a lot of talent in our group and a lot of guys that love the game of football, which is really rare to find — a passionate group of guys. So I think it’s really good for us because he pushes us so hard because he wants us to be so good in the future. And he wants to propel us to the next level. So I think he does a really good job with us.”

As good as Iowa’s defense was last season, there is still some room for growth. The Hawkeyes’ defensive takeaways were down last season (15) in comparison to 2022 (23). Those extra possessions can be crucial for an offense as inefficient as Iowa's has been.

“Really try to force more fumbles when we’re tackling,” Nwankpa said. “High-point the ball (to get interceptions). We dropped a few picks last year so just capitalizing on those little things.”

Rightfully, much of the focus leading up to the 2024 season is on the progress of Iowa’s offensive. So much of that has been defined by change. And that makes the contrast with Iowa’s defense even more drastic, which is so much of the same. But given how productive Iowa's defense has been, retention is a good thing.

“We all can trust each other to do our jobs,” Lee said. “So when you’re not worried about if somebody else is going to do their job. You got that same trust that you have for yourself then you just play a lot faster and more confident.”

Follow Tyler Tachman on X@Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com