The minute tight end Addison Ostrenga was helped off the field at Jack Trice Stadium, it seemed like his Iowa career could be over.
Just a few days after the Hawkeyes’ close loss to Iowa State on the road, the senior tight end was ruled out for the remainder of the 2025 season with an Achilles injury. It was a devastating blow for Ostrenga and the Iowa offense, as he was set to be the starting tight end this season. Ostrenga had waited his turn to be the starter in the tight end room, and it all came crashing down in the second game of the season.
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Instead, the Hawkeyes have turned to a revolving door of tight ends, getting little to no results from all of them. However, fans got good news about the future of that position from Kirk Ferentz on Tuesday.
Speaking at his normal Tuesday media availability, Ferentz revealed that Ostrenga will return to the Iowa football program for the 2026 season, receiving a medical redshirt in order to do so. When asked about Ostrenga’s intents to return next season, Ferentz had this to say.
“He does, yeah. We wanted to give him a little time to get through the initial part of the injury, but yeah.”
It’s great news for the Hawkeyes and the tight end room, which will lose senior Hayden Large at the end of the 2025 season. Ostrenga will be joined by Zach Ortwerth, DJ Vonnahme, and Thomas Meyer, assuming no one transfers, giving offensive coordinator Tim Lester lots of weapons to play with.
Across his four-year career at Iowa so far, Ostrenga has played in 35 games, catching 48 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns. He’ll figure to be a safety blanket and reliable veteran option for whichever quarterback replaces Mark Gronowski next season.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football TE Addison Ostrenga to return for 2026 season
