Iowa football legacy announces BYU transfer portal commitment

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Familial ties run deep when it comes to the Iowa football program.

Whether it’s Kirk Ferentz’s sons playing and coaching with the Hawkeyes, LeVar Woods’ son being on the team, or numerous other legacy players and commits, there’s something special about the program that keeps bringing families and people back to Iowa City.

Once a Hawkeye, always a Hawkeye means something at the program that Hayden Fry and Ferentz have built. It’s not just a catchy slogan to put on a t-shirt. Most former players, coaches and staff members have a strong loyalty to Iowa and feel very comfortable with their children joining the program. It’s not often that a legacy recruit slips through Ferentz’s fingers, but that’s what happened with Kyler Kasper.

Kasper, the son of former Hawkeye star wide receiver Kevin Kasper, was a four-star wide receiver prospect in the 2022 recruiting class. The 6-foot-6, 212-pound receiver held offers from several national powerhouses, including Iowa, which felt good about its chances to land the legacy prospect. Instead, Kasper chose to forge his own legacy and committed to the Oregon Ducks.

He struggled to find consistent playing time on a stacked roster in Eugene, catching six passes for 77 yards across four seasons with the Ducks. With his redshirt senior campaign coming up, Kasper decided to enter the transfer portal in hopes of finding an opportunity to have a bigger role and show off his talent.

On Thursday, he found the perfect home when word came out that he would be heading to Provo, Utah, to become a BYU Cougar.

BYU had an outstanding 2025 season, going 11-1 in the regular season before losing to Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship game. A bowl win over Georgia Tech gave the program 12 wins and an excellent building block toward a potential College Football Playoff appearance in 2026. Kasper has a chance to be a big part of that.

The Cougars are losing their second-leading receiver, Chase Roberts, to graduation and will need someone to fill the 802 yards and six touchdowns of production Roberts provided them in 2025. With star quarterback Bear Bachmeier set to return, Kasper will have a big chance to do just that. The quarterback is great, the running game is elite, and the scheme is very receiver-friendly.

While things didn’t work out at Oregon for Kasper, he’ll have a huge opportunity to do what his dad did at Iowa: have a monster senior season. The talent is there, and Kasper could prove a lot of people wrong with a big 2026 season.

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football legacy announces BYU transfer portal commitment

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