Gazette sportswriters Jeff Johnson, Jeff Linder and K.J. Pilcher discuss rankings and their season predictions ahead of the 2026 Iowa High School Football Season kickoff. They also preview the return of The Program, a Gazette series where a sportswriter is embedded with an Eastern Iowa high school football team. This year, K.J. Pilcher will follow Cedar Rapids Xavier throughout the season, writing the player and coach features you know and love while giving fans a more in-depth look at the school’s football program.

Triple Option podcast is a weekly Iowa high school football podcast that runs weekly during football season. This episode was produced by Gazette deputy digital content manager Bailey Cichon and Southeast Iowa Union multimedia content producer Peter Kamp.

Follow our high school sports coverage: https://www.thegazette.com/sports/high-school/

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