What is it about Iowa players -- beyond the familiar black and gold -- that appeals to the Steelers?

PITTSBURGH — In 1979, Iowa coach Hayden Fry called Chuck Noll and asked if he could copy the Steelers’ uniforms.

Fry took over a Hawkeyes program that hadn’t had a winning season since 1961 and he said he wanted his team to “look like winners.” The Steelers had just won their third Super Bowl and were the dominant team in the NFL.

The Steelers coach granted Fry’s request, and ever since, the Hawkeyes and Steelers have been connected.

But until recent years, the Steelers did not have many Hawkeyes players on their roster.

Noll only drafted one. That was linebacker Larry Station, whose NFL career lasted all of six games, in the 11th round of the 1986 draft. Linebacker Mike Humpal, a sixth-rounder in 2008 who never played in an NFL game, was the only other Iowa player selected by the Steelers in the span of 36 years.

Today, it seems every other Steelers draft pick had already worn that familiar black and gold.

General manager Omar Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl have drafted five Iowa players since 2024, and seven Hawkeyes were at training camp this summer.

It’s a wonder it has taken so long, given that Iowa’s longtime coach is Kirk Ferentz — an Upper St. Clair graduate who has made a career out of recruiting and developing tough, gritty players in his Western Pennsylvania image.

Ferentz has been Iowa’s coach since 1999 and last year became the Big Ten’s all-time winningest coach. He has won 209 games, more than Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler or Joe Paterno won during their times in the conference.

“Coach Ferentz is one of the best to ever do it,” Weidl said. “They have a history there with linemen, good football players that end up being good pros.”

The Steelers drafted defensive lineman Logan Lee in 2024, running back Kaleb Johnson and defensive lineman Yahya Black in 2025 and offensive lineman Gennings Dunker and receiver Kaden Wetjen in 2026.

Two other Hawkeyes, safety Sebastian Castro and wide receiver Brandon Smith, are trying to make the team as undrafted free agents. Lee, meanwhile, was placed on injured reserve this month.

Iowa was the school with the most players in Steelers camp followed by Ohio State (five) and Wisconsin (four).

“I think it’s a credit to the program he has there,” Steelers coach Mike McCarthy said of his fellow Pittsburgher.

McCarthy coached a number of Iowa players in Green Bay and Dallas, including 2010 first-round pick and longtime Packers offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga.

“One thing about young men that come from Iowa is they’re pro-ready,” McCarthy said. “The fundamentals are the first thing that always jumps out at me. I look over the years of Iowa players that I’ve been able to coach, they’re very instinctive, very high on awareness. I think that’s been a constant of the type of players that he’s produced through his program.”

McCarthy and Ferentz both got their coaching starts at Pitt as graduate assistants.

McCarthy’s early influences included quarterback guru Paul Hackett, then Pitt’s head coach in the early 1990s. A decade earlier, Ferentz was mentored by legendary Pitt offensive line coach Joe Moore.

So it’s no coincidence Iowa’s greatest exports to the NFL over the years have been offensive linemen.

“Guys from [Iowa], they’ve been coached well,” Weidl said. “They’ve been coached hard. They’re tough.”

Black grew up in Marshall, Minn., a three-hour drive from the University of Minnesota, but he instead went six hours away to Iowa because of the tradition Ferentz built.

“What brought me to Iowa was the longevity and the stability,” Black said. “K.F. is going on 28 years there. Coach [Phil] Parker’s defense has always been there. They have a really good, cohesive coaching staff. When you have something like that that goes on that long, you can really produce guys. They can be five-stars or one-stars. It doesn’t matter. They can do it all.”

Black’s other offers coming out of high school were from Minnesota, Buffalo and Kansas State.

Wetjen also was not a highly recruited player coming out of Williamsburg, Iowa. His other offers were from Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri State, Central Arkansas and Massachusetts.

Iowa has never won an NCAA championship in the modern era and has not won a Big Ten title in more than two decades, but Ferentz keeps churning out NFLers.

Last season, Iowa ranked 12th among NCAA teams, with 28 NFL players on Week 1 rosters. They were fourth in the Big Ten behind perennial powers Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State.

“I just think it’s the consistency and how they go about things,” said Wetjen, a 2026 fourth-round pick. “It’s very similar to the way we run things here. They just run a very professional program there. That’s why a bunch of guys come out every single year. We have a bunch of the top guys in the league right now.”

Former Iowa defenders Cooper DeJean (Philadelphia) and Jack Campbell (Detroit) were named first-team All-Pro last season. Tight end George Kittle (San Francisco) and offensive lineman Tristan Wirfs (Tampa Bay) were second team.

Ferentz has produced six first-round picks in the past eight years.

Las Vegas center Tyler Linderbaum, a three-time Pro Bowler, was one of them. He was selected with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2022 draft and had some memorable battles with Black on the practice field at Iowa.

“He kicked my ass when I got there, but that’s what really made me better,” Black said.

Ferentz worked in the NFL as an offensive line coach under Bill Belichick in Cleveland and Ted Marchibroda in Baltimore before he headed to Iowa.

Dunker, the burly rookie guard, is one of 101 Iowa players drafted into the NFL under Ferentz’s watch.

He believes he is well prepared as he makes the transition from college to the Steelers because of the little details that are important to the Hawkeyes.

“At Iowa, you have to be at least five minutes early for everything,” Dunker said. “No one is going to hold your hand and babysit you. You have to have some self-accountability. That’s how it is here, too.”

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