Coordinators met with Media Today. Marco getting more reps than Deacon. Offense 85% installed
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i realize preseason talk is cheap but the tweets in this thread pertaining to the offense are, dare i say it, flagrantly sexy and borderline slutty.
Tim Lester: "Our system is nothing like what's been done here in the past.”
The story from the Gazette:
John Steppe
Apr. 18, 2024 6:45 pm
Incoming Iowa offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tim Lester speaks during a press conference at the Hansen Football Performance Center in Iowa City, Iowa on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
IOWA CITY — As Tim Lester sees it, installing the new Iowa offense this spring has been a “marathon and a sprint.”
“We can't get enough reps every single day,” said Lester, Iowa’s new offensive coordinator. “The answer is always yes when Coach (Kirk Ferentz) says, ‘Do you want more team or --.’ Yes, let's just keep going. Let's just keep running plays.”
After 14 of the 15 practices in Iowa’s offensive marathon/sprint, the Hawkeyes seem to have made substantial progress in implementing the new scheme. Lester estimated the team has “about 85 percent of the playbook in.”
“We installed the plays we knew we needed, and then we've started to add a couple of the wrinkles,” Lester said. “You can write a novel, but you have to learn the alphabet first, and they’re getting there.”
The 85 percent of the playbook installed still has some looming variables, including “who runs that route the best” for the five routes in each passing play.
“We've rotated through with different formations and letting everybody have a shot at running a scar route or a skinner route or all the different routes that there are,” Lester said. “We're still learning about them and giving them chances because their first time they're not going to be great at it.”
In the running game, Iowa has “a different pace of a run game that we've been trying to install.”
“They're running off the ball,” Lester said. “It's looking like I want it to look. I think Coach Ferentz is enjoying coaching it and seeing our guys just get better at it as we come rolling off the ball and the pace of the way the ball hits the line of scrimmage and where it's supposed to.”
Lester’s implementation of presnap motions and run-pass options has been among the most notable schematic changes so far. The Hawkeyes “don’t motion every play, but we've been using it as a way to hopefully lighten the load a little bit to the guys up front.”
Defensive players have talked about the “confusion“ that the motions and RPOs create. Lester prefers the word “consternation” — “really hard to spell, but there's spell check, thank God.”
Regardless of preferred verbiage for the changes, Iowa’s coaching staff has reported some encouraging results.
Lester has seen “linebackers run into each other because one thinks they're supposed to go that way and the other one.” Defensive coordinator Phil Parker said it forces the defense "to concentrate and focus on where your eyes are.”
“It's like driving in Chicago during rush hour,” Parker said.
As for the personnel running Lester’s offense, Deacon Hill has taken the bulk of the QB1 opportunities rather than Marco Lainez while Cade McNamara is very limited because of his knee recovery.
“Deacon has more experience, and so he can go through a progression a little bit more comfortably right now than Marco can. Marco needs more reps. He's a young kid, and he's got talent,” Lester said.
Iowa is especially young at wide receiver — all but two of the scholarship players will be either true freshmen or redshirt freshmen in 2024 — but Lester is “happy with our guys.”
“Kaleb (Brown) has been impressive,” Lester said. “(Kaden) Wetjen has been extremely explosive. Jarriett Buie has been doing a great job. I do think we have some talent there, albeit young talent. … I’m not afraid of that, as long as they work, and they have been.”
When Lester arrived at Iowa, he watched film of some practices “to see what the drills looked like, what they felt like.” However, he “really didn’t watch a ton of the games.”
“Our system is nothing like what's been done here in the past,” Lester said. “I wanted to give everybody a clean slate.”
Iowa has gone from having an offensive coordinator whose primary area of expertise was on the offensive line — with the help of others around him who were more familiar with the quarterback position — to one who has a history of playing quarterback and coaching the position as well.
Lester, who played at Western Michigan in the late 1990s, “definitely knows what he’s talking about” at the quarterback position, Hill said last week.
Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester talks with Iowa quarterback Marco Lainez during spring practice at the Iowa football practice field in Iowa City, Iowa on Thursday, April 11, 2024. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
“He’s been in all the situations that we’re going to be in or have been in,” Hill said. “So having that advice or how he handled all of it has been great.”
Both Tim Lester and his predecessor Brian Ferentz are “intense,” Hill said, but Lester brings “definitely a different sort of energy.”
“Lester is a little more hands on with everybody in total, not just like the quarterbacks or just the receivers and tight ends,” Hill said.
Iowa has another four-plus months before seeing how the changes fare in a game situation, but in the meantime, Lester’s hands-on approach has led to “a lot of fun” — to the extent of him mentioning “fun” 14 times in a 28-minute news conference.
“Long way to go, but it's been a good start,” Lester said.
www.thegazette.com
The story from the Gazette:
Tim Lester enjoys ‘marathon and a sprint’ of implementing Iowa’s new offense
Iowa 'got about 85 percent of the playbook in’ as spring practices near conclusion
Apr. 18, 2024 6:45 pm
Incoming Iowa offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tim Lester speaks during a press conference at the Hansen Football Performance Center in Iowa City, Iowa on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
IOWA CITY — As Tim Lester sees it, installing the new Iowa offense this spring has been a “marathon and a sprint.”
“We can't get enough reps every single day,” said Lester, Iowa’s new offensive coordinator. “The answer is always yes when Coach (Kirk Ferentz) says, ‘Do you want more team or --.’ Yes, let's just keep going. Let's just keep running plays.”
After 14 of the 15 practices in Iowa’s offensive marathon/sprint, the Hawkeyes seem to have made substantial progress in implementing the new scheme. Lester estimated the team has “about 85 percent of the playbook in.”
“We installed the plays we knew we needed, and then we've started to add a couple of the wrinkles,” Lester said. “You can write a novel, but you have to learn the alphabet first, and they’re getting there.”
The 85 percent of the playbook installed still has some looming variables, including “who runs that route the best” for the five routes in each passing play.
“We've rotated through with different formations and letting everybody have a shot at running a scar route or a skinner route or all the different routes that there are,” Lester said. “We're still learning about them and giving them chances because their first time they're not going to be great at it.”
In the running game, Iowa has “a different pace of a run game that we've been trying to install.”
“They're running off the ball,” Lester said. “It's looking like I want it to look. I think Coach Ferentz is enjoying coaching it and seeing our guys just get better at it as we come rolling off the ball and the pace of the way the ball hits the line of scrimmage and where it's supposed to.”
Lester’s implementation of presnap motions and run-pass options has been among the most notable schematic changes so far. The Hawkeyes “don’t motion every play, but we've been using it as a way to hopefully lighten the load a little bit to the guys up front.”
Defensive players have talked about the “confusion“ that the motions and RPOs create. Lester prefers the word “consternation” — “really hard to spell, but there's spell check, thank God.”
Regardless of preferred verbiage for the changes, Iowa’s coaching staff has reported some encouraging results.
Lester has seen “linebackers run into each other because one thinks they're supposed to go that way and the other one.” Defensive coordinator Phil Parker said it forces the defense "to concentrate and focus on where your eyes are.”
“It's like driving in Chicago during rush hour,” Parker said.
As for the personnel running Lester’s offense, Deacon Hill has taken the bulk of the QB1 opportunities rather than Marco Lainez while Cade McNamara is very limited because of his knee recovery.
“Deacon has more experience, and so he can go through a progression a little bit more comfortably right now than Marco can. Marco needs more reps. He's a young kid, and he's got talent,” Lester said.
Iowa is especially young at wide receiver — all but two of the scholarship players will be either true freshmen or redshirt freshmen in 2024 — but Lester is “happy with our guys.”
“Kaleb (Brown) has been impressive,” Lester said. “(Kaden) Wetjen has been extremely explosive. Jarriett Buie has been doing a great job. I do think we have some talent there, albeit young talent. … I’m not afraid of that, as long as they work, and they have been.”
When Lester arrived at Iowa, he watched film of some practices “to see what the drills looked like, what they felt like.” However, he “really didn’t watch a ton of the games.”
“Our system is nothing like what's been done here in the past,” Lester said. “I wanted to give everybody a clean slate.”
Iowa has gone from having an offensive coordinator whose primary area of expertise was on the offensive line — with the help of others around him who were more familiar with the quarterback position — to one who has a history of playing quarterback and coaching the position as well.
Lester, who played at Western Michigan in the late 1990s, “definitely knows what he’s talking about” at the quarterback position, Hill said last week.
Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester talks with Iowa quarterback Marco Lainez during spring practice at the Iowa football practice field in Iowa City, Iowa on Thursday, April 11, 2024. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
“He’s been in all the situations that we’re going to be in or have been in,” Hill said. “So having that advice or how he handled all of it has been great.”
Both Tim Lester and his predecessor Brian Ferentz are “intense,” Hill said, but Lester brings “definitely a different sort of energy.”
“Lester is a little more hands on with everybody in total, not just like the quarterbacks or just the receivers and tight ends,” Hill said.
Iowa has another four-plus months before seeing how the changes fare in a game situation, but in the meantime, Lester’s hands-on approach has led to “a lot of fun” — to the extent of him mentioning “fun” 14 times in a 28-minute news conference.
“Long way to go, but it's been a good start,” Lester said.
Tim Lester enjoys ‘marathon and a sprint’ of implementing Iowa’s new offense
As Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester implements a new offensive scheme, he estimated that the Hawkeyes “got about 85 percent of the playbook in” so far.
www.thegazette.com
Correct, but Lester seemed to emphasize that nothing is set in stone right now. I think Marco getting more reps than Deacon is promising though. I have a feeling Lester is hoping that Cade is good to go by August, however.
Wow. He sure provides pretty informative interviews. Not a whole lot of “coach speak”
Tim Lester: "Our system is nothing like what's been done here in the past.”
The story from the Gazette:
Tim Lester enjoys ‘marathon and a sprint’ of implementing Iowa’s new offense
Iowa 'got about 85 percent of the playbook in’ as spring practices near conclusion
John Steppe
Apr. 18, 2024 6:45 pm
Incoming Iowa offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tim Lester speaks during a press conference at the Hansen Football Performance Center in Iowa City, Iowa on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)
IOWA CITY — As Tim Lester sees it, installing the new Iowa offense this spring has been a “marathon and a sprint.”
“We can't get enough reps every single day,” said Lester, Iowa’s new offensive coordinator. “The answer is always yes when Coach (Kirk Ferentz) says, ‘Do you want more team or --.’ Yes, let's just keep going. Let's just keep running plays.”
After 14 of the 15 practices in Iowa’s offensive marathon/sprint, the Hawkeyes seem to have made substantial progress in implementing the new scheme. Lester estimated the team has “about 85 percent of the playbook in.”
“We installed the plays we knew we needed, and then we've started to add a couple of the wrinkles,” Lester said. “You can write a novel, but you have to learn the alphabet first, and they’re getting there.”
The 85 percent of the playbook installed still has some looming variables, including “who runs that route the best” for the five routes in each passing play.
“We've rotated through with different formations and letting everybody have a shot at running a scar route or a skinner route or all the different routes that there are,” Lester said. “We're still learning about them and giving them chances because their first time they're not going to be great at it.”
In the running game, Iowa has “a different pace of a run game that we've been trying to install.”
“They're running off the ball,” Lester said. “It's looking like I want it to look. I think Coach Ferentz is enjoying coaching it and seeing our guys just get better at it as we come rolling off the ball and the pace of the way the ball hits the line of scrimmage and where it's supposed to.”
Lester’s implementation of presnap motions and run-pass options has been among the most notable schematic changes so far. The Hawkeyes “don’t motion every play, but we've been using it as a way to hopefully lighten the load a little bit to the guys up front.”
Defensive players have talked about the “confusion“ that the motions and RPOs create. Lester prefers the word “consternation” — “really hard to spell, but there's spell check, thank God.”
Regardless of preferred verbiage for the changes, Iowa’s coaching staff has reported some encouraging results.
Lester has seen “linebackers run into each other because one thinks they're supposed to go that way and the other one.” Defensive coordinator Phil Parker said it forces the defense "to concentrate and focus on where your eyes are.”
“It's like driving in Chicago during rush hour,” Parker said.
As for the personnel running Lester’s offense, Deacon Hill has taken the bulk of the QB1 opportunities rather than Marco Lainez while Cade McNamara is very limited because of his knee recovery.
“Deacon has more experience, and so he can go through a progression a little bit more comfortably right now than Marco can. Marco needs more reps. He's a young kid, and he's got talent,” Lester said.
Iowa is especially young at wide receiver — all but two of the scholarship players will be either true freshmen or redshirt freshmen in 2024 — but Lester is “happy with our guys.”
“Kaleb (Brown) has been impressive,” Lester said. “(Kaden) Wetjen has been extremely explosive. Jarriett Buie has been doing a great job. I do think we have some talent there, albeit young talent. … I’m not afraid of that, as long as they work, and they have been.”
When Lester arrived at Iowa, he watched film of some practices “to see what the drills looked like, what they felt like.” However, he “really didn’t watch a ton of the games.”
“Our system is nothing like what's been done here in the past,” Lester said. “I wanted to give everybody a clean slate.”
Iowa has gone from having an offensive coordinator whose primary area of expertise was on the offensive line — with the help of others around him who were more familiar with the quarterback position — to one who has a history of playing quarterback and coaching the position as well.
Lester, who played at Western Michigan in the late 1990s, “definitely knows what he’s talking about” at the quarterback position, Hill said last week.
Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester talks with Iowa quarterback Marco Lainez during spring practice at the Iowa football practice field in Iowa City, Iowa on Thursday, April 11, 2024. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)
“He’s been in all the situations that we’re going to be in or have been in,” Hill said. “So having that advice or how he handled all of it has been great.”
Both Tim Lester and his predecessor Brian Ferentz are “intense,” Hill said, but Lester brings “definitely a different sort of energy.”
“Lester is a little more hands on with everybody in total, not just like the quarterbacks or just the receivers and tight ends,” Hill said.
Iowa has another four-plus months before seeing how the changes fare in a game situation, but in the meantime, Lester’s hands-on approach has led to “a lot of fun” — to the extent of him mentioning “fun” 14 times in a 28-minute news conference.
“Long way to go, but it's been a good start,” Lester said.
Tim Lester enjoys ‘marathon and a sprint’ of implementing Iowa’s new offense
As Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester implements a new offensive scheme, he estimated that the Hawkeyes “got about 85 percent of the playbook in” so far.
Man oh man Tim Lester is a breath of fresh air, he’s so darn likable I can totally see why KF hired him! I’m starting to get excited after reading these tweets and articles
Is Kirk ok with scoring because thats not punting.
if lester delivers, fans might expire during games due to experiencing joy in unexpectedly large proportions instead of the usual aggravations from stress
That would be disappointing. I think he’s supposed to be good to go in June?
Very worrisome that Deacon Hill still seems to be further ahead than Marco.
But Lester is a much better communicator of the offense vs BF who would just say "We just need to block better"
But Lester is a much better communicator of the offense vs BF who would just say "We just need to block better"
Well gee, more points would make a difference when your defense typically only gives up 10-14 a game........ 🤔
Coach throws extra reps at a QB that they see more raw talent in but is learning a totally new system and hasn't had as much playing time to go thru reads which is totally on the moronic staff for not getting Him playing time last Year and benching Hill after no later than the Minnesota Game
Offensive line obviously needs improvement the last handful of years but I’m starting to get the feeling these changes are going to help them out a ton. No more trying to out execute the defense when they know what’s coming based on down and distance and personnel.
If the LB's were getting confused at times, it seems like this should help the defense improve as well.
Been wanting more of this for years with Iowa football.
when's the last time ANY defense admitted that the Iowa offense was confusing them?
maybe we won't waste this year's defense
it will be fascinating to see if we can finally get to at least an average offense
This type of offense has given the Iowa D fits in the past. Should be a good polishing tool.
I hope Lester is better at picking out a QB than he is at picking out a natural looking shade of Just For Men.
Just let the grays flow my man.
Just let the grays flow my man.
It isn't "they" that still has Deacon ahead of Marco.
It's reality that has Deacon ahead of Marco.
Lester is seeing the same thing that I assume the staff last year saw. Marco has to have the game slow down for him in terms of being able to process through his progressions. This was given, by Lester, as the reason Marco is behind.
But Lester also made very clear that the depth chart is not set and everything is much more in a developmental phase.
Also made clear that Marco is getting more than a fair opportunity and that his reps are not being compromised. In fact, Marco is getting double reps.
All of this has been very understandable all along. And certainly points to how fairly the position is being competed for much moreso than do fitted fan narratives born out of pre-existing opinions of Kirk
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Probably in theory.Well gee, more points would make a difference when your defense typically only gives up 10-14 a game........ 🤔
But last season more points may have only changed the result of the the Minnesota game.
A bit of a stretch to simplify the PSU, Michigan, and Tennessee games to such an extent
Lol. What's moronic is this post. You honestly think that team wins their last 4 regular season games had they made that switch?
Remember the context. (I don't necessarily agree), but the team felt they were robbed of the Minnesota game. During the week after the Minnesota game the announcement to let Brian go was also made. These factors combined to create a team that was hungry to prove that they were good enough. Not by switching QB's. But hungry to prove that what they already were was good enough. They had to do this by doubling down on who they were, fighting for each other, and pulling together as a unit. And the team did just that to the tune of 4 straight wins.
Backup QB's aren't going to be given any priority during a season. Now, during the spring, is when a staff will focus on Marco's development.
And the weak point you're trying to make is even less applicable with a new system being installed. More reps for Marco last season wouldn't have necessarily put his development in the new system much further along
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Certainly more points are going to help, in general.
At the same time, I've found fans' obsession with the lack of offense to be just not as important they've made it out to be.
Also, your point tends to get oversimplified by fans not examining whether their answers on offense happen to compromise the defense
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Meh, if we put up 21 points in those games, who knows. I know one thing even putting up 17 puts us closer to being able to win the game then putting up 0. We have the ball a little longer, they score a little less and ta da Bob's your uncle.
After reading what Lester said about the footwork of the QBs it obvious that they have received NO training since arriving at Iowa. I'm very encouraged that Lester recognizes what's wrong and is correcting it. He did also say that Hill has a good arm but is inaccurate. Reading between the lines I don't see him as a fan of Hill.
I'm thinking there's hope.
If Marco can't surge past Deacon Hill, who had one of the worst statistical seasons in college football history, then they need to move on from Both Deacon and Marco.
During the presser, when asked about looking for a QB in the portal, Lester said something like "we keep our eyes open for all positions". To me, that's just a politically correct way of saying "yeah, we are looking for a QB".
After all the denigrating of the offensive line the past couple years, I’m very curious to see how much of their struggles have been due to scheme issues/predictability vs talent/development.
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