Brown is leaning on his growing experience in Tim Lester's system and his faith to help guide him through a tough game at Michigan on Saturday.
When Hank Brown was told he would be Iowa's full-time starting quarterback for the rest of the 2026 season, there wasn't much of an exhale.
There was a bit of elation, of course, but Brown simply doesn't have much time to enjoy his official promotion to the most coveted position in sports. The No. 17 Hawkeyes (3-0) are just four days away from a very important Big Ten opener at Michigan on Saturday (2:30 CT, CBS) and that's where Brown's focus is at right now.
"I think as a quarterback, the goal is always to to be on the field playing. But also as a quarterback, I don't think there's ever an exhale," Brown said at media availability on Sept. 22. There's always different things that are being thrown at you, and throughout the week, just continuing to to stay dialed into all the things that we're doing."
Preparing for the No. 18 Wolverines (3-0) will be a stiff challenge by itself, but Brown is also mentally preparing himself for his first road game as a starting quarterback. Iowa's first three games of the year have been home games, but that sentence isn't just about his brief tenure in Iowa City - it's about his whole college football career.
That's right. Brown's first-ever road game as a starter is on Saturday in one of the most historic venues in all of sports - Michigan Stadium, better known as the "Big House."
"I'm super fired up to to play in there. I know that it has a rich history and a cool atmosphere," Brown said.
But how does Brown prepare for the tough environment? While the Big House isn't known as one of the noisiest places to play in the conference, playing in front of 107,000 fans (in a stripe-out nonetheless) won't be easy. The Iowa coaching staff has played artificial noise in Brown's helmet speakers in practice, but that's only a small detail that may not even come close to mimicking the crowd noise in the stadium on Saturday.
The helmet noise certainly helps, but there's two things that Brown is relying on to help get himself ready for this game.
The first is remembering the past. Though Brown hasn't been under center in any of his previous road trips to intimidating environments like Alabama and Georgia while he was at Auburn or even last season's rivalry trip to then-No. 16 Iowa State with Iowa, he had plenty of time to take in the environment and see how his team handled it (his team lost all three games).
"Getting those experiences for sure, just [helped me] to understand what it's like, but [it's] obviously different now, being able to play in that environment [at Michigan]," Brown said. "I think just it comes down to communication."
Speaking of communication, the relationship Brown has developed with his offensive coordinator, Tim Lester, has been strong. Brown will visit Lester in his office whenever he has time to look over practice film.
From there, Lester will answer any questions Brown has from there and address the primary focus for the next practice (red zone, third down, etc.)
"I think we're constantly communicating throughout the week, just continuing to stay on the same page," Brown said. "We have a plan each day what our emphasis is and how we're going to prepare that way."
Preparation aside, it's easy to see the confidence Brown is playing with right now. He's fresh off an efficient outing against Northern Iowa last weekend where he completed every pass and tallied 153 passing yards and two touchdowns.
While the fourth-year attributes his confidence to his growing experience in the system, he ultimately credits his faith for his early success this year.
"[The] majority of my confidence comes from my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the fact that I know that He's already won," Brown said. "What that means to me is the fact that God sent His Son to die on the cross for my sins, and knowing that the victory's already won."
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HawkeyeRoundtable publisher Brad Schultz has covered the Iowa Hawkeyes since 2023. To send him story ideas, scoops, or criticize his writing, reach him at [email protected]
