Hawk Central: 90 minutes with Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester

For the third straight summer, Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester sits down with the Des Moines Register's Chad Leistikow to talk football and preview the upcoming Hawkeye season. Big topics covered include the quarterback battle ahead, the Shanahan system evoluation at Iowa and whether Lester h…

Hawk Central: A full hour with Iowa offensive line coach George Barnett

The Register's Chad Leistikow sits down with George Barnett, who is entering his sixth year as Iowa's offensive line coach, and they cover a lot of good ground. This is Barnett's first interview since his offensive line won the Joe Moore Award. We discuss the impact of that honor, the NFL Draft, ho…

Hawk Central: Iowa basketball ramps up schedule, 1-on-1 with Jay Niemann

The Register's Chad Leistikow outlines how the layoffs at KXnO impact Hawk Central going forward before bringing on Tyler Tachman to discuss Iowa basketball's latest schedule addition (Virginia Tech) and the NBA Draft experience for first-rounder Bennett Stirtz. The last 70% of the show is Chad's s…

Where Iowa football, men's basketball stand on recruiting trail

The Register's Hawkeye beat reporter Tyler Tachman breaks down where the Iowa football and men's basketball programs stand on the recruiting trail. 

Talking all things Iowa men's basketball with Sean Bock

Sean Bock of 247Sports joins the Register's Tyler Tachman to talk all things Iowa men's basketball. We dive into recruiting, along with potential lineup combinations and schemes for the 2026-27 season.

Hawk Central: Summer preview for Iowa's football, basketball programs

The summer program is about to begin for Iowa football and men's and women's basketball, and it is a really big summer for all three. The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman start with football's biggest summer story lines, including of course the quarterback situation between Hank Brown an…

Hawk Central: "Ask Us Anything" tackles big-picture Hawkeye topics, how we do our jobs

Readers wanted to know who would be tougher to replace, Kirk Ferentz or Beth Goetz? Is Iowa's next football coach on staff? How much patience will Goetz have with Tom Brands? And in the back half of our show, Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman take questions about the manner in which we cover the Haw…

Hawk Central: Sitdown with Iowa women's basketball assistant coaches LaSondra Barrett, Sean Sullivan

The Register's Chad Leistikow hosts a special-edition Hawk Central with the architects of the Iowa women's basketball offseason in LaSondra Barrett (recruiting coordinator) and Sean Sullivan (general manager). The coaches explain how the five-player class (four college transfers, one freshman) came…

Hawk Central: Ben McCollum contract explainers, grading Iowa's Big Ten schedule

A heavy men's basketball episode of Hawk Central this week, as head coach Ben McCollum's new contract opens up a lot of discussion about the future of the program. The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman, who is at the NBA Combine, talk through the particulars plus look ahead to the recentl…

Hawk Central: Our year-ending Hawkeye awards show, top 1-on-1 takes with Ben McCollum

With spring football and the NFL Draft in the books, we truly usher in the offseason Iowa's major sports, and it's a good time to reflect on the some award-winning performances. The Register's Chad Leistikow and Tyler Tachman debate the top transfer, top freshman, most surprising story and more in …