Mark Gronowski built the kind of college career that usually belongs to a legend, not a former zero-star recruit from Naperville, Illinois. Now the winningest quarterback in college football history is facing a far less certain finish: he could go undrafted in the NFL Draft this weekend.
Gronowski played his first four seasons at South Dakota State, where he piled up the hardware and the wins that turned him into one of the sport’s defining quarterbacks. He won Phil Steele FCS Freshman of the Year, Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year, MVFC Newcomer of the Year, MVFC Freshman of the Year and an All-MVFC first-team selection, then led the Jackrabbits to a 41-4 record and two FCS national title victories from 2022 to 2024.
That path began long before he reached a Power Four roster. At Neuqua Valley High School, he finished his final two seasons with 2,863 passing yards, 1,219 rushing yards and 39 touchdowns, then arrived at South Dakota State with no stars next to his name. He kept winning anyway, even after tearing the ACL and MCL in his left knee on the final drive of the 2021 FCS national championship game. He redshirted the following season, then came back to help carry South Dakota State through the next three years.
Gronowski transferred to Iowa in 2025 and spent one season with the Hawkeyes, where he helped them go 9-4. He was named the RealiQuest Bowl MVP after Iowa beat No. 14 Vanderbilt 34-27 on New Year’s Eve, and he also earned NFF Hampshire Society induction, the Roy Carver Most Valuable Player honor, the Hayden Fry Award and Iowa’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
The tension in his profile is simple. Gronowski’s résumé says winning, durability and production. His redshirt senior passing season, by contrast, was shaped by Iowa’s offensive style, leaving pro teams to weigh a quarterback with an unmatched college record against a final year that did not fully showcase the arm talent that got him here. That is the decision awaiting him now, and it will define how the next stage of his career begins.
