Scott Dochterman likes the Tim Lester hire & the Kyle Shanahan/49'ers Offense that is to come
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Link to interview with Lester: https://omny.fm/shows/hawk-central-hour/hawk-central-one-on-one-with-iowa-offensive-coordi
Lester was one of 15 All American QBs going into college. Dude definitely has the credentials to coach QBs, thank God. He mentioned a number of plays have the same name as plays from Michigan when Cade played there, hopefully that means Cade will acclimate quickly to the new system.
Overall, I really like hearing what he has to say. He has a big emphasis on Third Downs and Red Zone offense.
Lester was one of 15 All American QBs going into college. Dude definitely has the credentials to coach QBs, thank God. He mentioned a number of plays have the same name as plays from Michigan when Cade played there, hopefully that means Cade will acclimate quickly to the new system.
Overall, I really like hearing what he has to say. He has a big emphasis on Third Downs and Red Zone offense.
Thanks for posting. Really a great interview with so much information for the Hawk fan. I love the positive enthusiasm of Coach Lester and look forward to seeing a more surprising, explosive offense this fall and in the future.
Leistikow: How Kirk Ferentz found Tim Lester, who brings his NFL offense to Iowa football
Chad LeistikowDes Moines Register
IOWA CITY − If the Tim Lester hire as Iowa football’s offensive coordinator works out well, this will someday turn into one of those classic Kirk Ferentz stories.
Lester clearly remembers that Tuesday morning, Jan. 23 to be exact. To that moment he had been fully immersed in the Green Bay Packers’ season, which ended three nights earlier in a gut-wrenching 24-21 playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers. But while arriving at the parking garage beneath Lambeau Field, he got a call from his agent about something completely off his radar.
“Have you heard from Iowa?”
This was regarding the OC job that had been essentially open since late October, when Brian Ferentz was told by Iowa’s administration that he wouldn't return in 2024. The agent was hearing rumblings about Iowa's possible interest in Lester.
Understandably, Lester was confused.
Fully understanding the football calendar, that most college OC openings had been filled by early January or even December, he asked, "They haven’t hired anybody yet? Really?”
“At that point," Lester said, "I hadn’t gotten a call from anybody (about Iowa)."
Upon walking upstairs to his office, Lester was greeted by Packers running backs coach Ben Sirmons.
Sirmons, Lester later found out, played at Maine when Ferentz was the head coach there from 1990 to 1992. Sirmons relayed that he had just talked with Ferentz that morning about Lester.
Maybe 30 minutes later, then-Packers defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery – a former Hawkeye player whose son, Jayden, is on the current Iowa roster – approached Lester and said, “I heard from Coach Ferentz. Have you talked to him?”
By this point, Lester almost had to laugh. What was going on?
“That went on the whole day,” Lester said. “I think he called everyone I’ve ever met. People I haven’t talked to in 20 years.”
Later that day, Lester drove from Green Bay to his family's lake house in southwest Michigan. The only person he told about the Hawkeyes buzz was his older sister, Cori, who attended Iowa's nursing school in the mid-1990s.
Finally, that night, the now-inevitable call came in.
It was Kirk Ferentz.
According to Lester, the two immediately hit it off. They touched base over the next five days about the OC opening. Mutual excitement built. Ferentz became sold on Lester. And Lester, who had been an analyst for good friend Matt LaFleur for one year in Green Bay, was growing more interested in Iowa. He mulled staying in the NFL – where opportunities were opening for a coaching role in Green Bay or to join the staff of Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay – or making the jump back to college, where he had spent most of his coaching career.
“We spoke the same language as far as what we believe in and what we believe works,” Lester said. “I was getting more and more excited (about Iowa) over some of the opportunities I had to stay in the NFL.”
So, on Jan. 28, he accepted the Iowa job. Iowa announced the move on Jan. 31, and Lester was introduced on Feb. 2. For a $1.1 million salary, he is tasked to fix the Hawkeyes’ broken offense.
Tim Lester is here, and he's genuinely excited to be here.
In a 90-minute conversation this week with the Des Moines Register, the majority of it posted as a podcast, Lester outlined more about his offensive philosophy and installation process. The Hawkeyes’ first fall camp practice was Wednesday, and their first game is Aug. 31 against Illinois State.
Over 17 practices before Iowa turns its preparations over to its first game week, Lester must get a better grasp on his personnel while fast-tracking the Hawkeyes' adoption of the Mike Shanahan-inspired offensive system. That system, in many versions, populates more than half the NFL. But in college, it is mostly a novelty.
Lester thought maybe only Kentucky, which hired Liam Coen away from McVay’s Rams twice (in 2021 and in 2023) as OC, has brought the Shanahan system to power-conference college football.
“That’s the exciting part for us,” Lester said. “We are running something that a lot of defensive coordinators will have not seen. Just the presentation, and the way we go about it.”
Tim Lester's reasons for comfort in Shanahan scheme
Lester’s path to Iowa is fascinating, and it starts as an All-American high school quarterback at Wheaton Warrenville South (near Chicago) in the mid-1990s. Lester was headed to play for Steve Spurrier at Florida, but injured his knee in his final playoff game as a senior. At that time, prospects didn’t commit until their official visits and the (paper) plane ticket Lester held for Dec. 4 never got used. Spurrier, who had his pick of QBs while leading a perennial SEC power, politely informed Lester that they would be taking a healthy quarterback instead.Lester instead landed in a wide-open, spread offense at Western Michigan and threw for more than 11,000 yards and 87 touchdowns. He learned then that offensive football was "like stealing" when Western Michigan could effectively run the football. When it couldn't, Lester took a lot more hits and threw a lot more interceptions.
One of Lester's most satisfying moments was as a fifth-year senior going to Florida, against Spurrier in "The Swamp," for Western Michigan’s 1999 season opener. His team lost a high-scoring affair, but Lester threw for 405 yards with no interceptions.
A telling slice of Lester's early coaching career was opting to leave a plum quarterbacks-coach job at Western Michigan under Bill Cubit in 2007 to go back to Chicago to coach Division III ball. Lester wanted to focus on being a dad to his oldest son, Quinn, and spending time with his ailing father. His father died in 2010, in the middle of his five-year coaching tenure at D-III Elmhurst College. He had no regrets about choosing family over a higher-profile football job.
“Three years of being around, it was awesome,” Lester said. “We went on a lot of father-son (trips), Cubs spring training. We did it all. It was so great. I would never change a thing about it.”
At Elmhurst, he turned a losing program into a winner. Part of that process was installing the Shanahan offense, inspired by LaFleur – who was one of his go-to wide receivers while playing at Western Michigan. LaFleur worked in the NFL for Gary Kubiak and Mike Shanahan, and he and Lester traded notes. By the time Lester left Elmhurst after a 10-2 season, he was encouraged that the complex Shanahan system could be effective in college.
That’s what LaFleur runs in Green Bay, too. After 10 years in Division I – three at Syracuse, one at Purdue and six as Western Michigan’s head coach – Lester got a chance to re-learn the Shanahan system. He found some of it hadn't changed a bit in 20 years; some of it had evolved. His role in Green Bay was to study opposing offenses, so he got to know all the variations of the Shanahan system.
Lester said he has all the playbooks from NFL teams that run the system. The Kyle Shanahan San Francisco 49ers do it differently than McVay's Rams, who do it differently from Mike McDaniel's Miami Dolphins, who do it differently than LaFleur's Packers. The reason it works is that it's flexible to personnel, which Lester thinks is ideal for college − where rosters turn over quickly and injuries are a big part of the game.
“It’s the new pro-style. It’s more spread,” Lester explained. “It’s definitely been driven by college offenses a little bit. The key to the whole thing, there’s a couple run plays that are very unique that you’ve got to get going. If you can get those going, they’ve done a great job (in the NFL) of allowing it to become explosive.
“They all focus on running the ball. If you can run the ball, everything (follows).”
.............. continued next post
............... continued
Iowa, of course, is coming off back-to-back years as the worst college offense in the Power Five. So, once again, Lester is trying to fix a broken offense in one year.
Unfortunately for Lester, his starting quarterback at Syracuse blew his Achilles’ tendon on the seventh play of the 2015 season. His backup, Eric Dungey, also got hurt. For most of the 2015 season, Lester had to use a walk-on quarterback. Still, Syracuse’s scoring average rose from 121st nationally in scoring in 2014 (17.1 points per game; akin to Iowa’s woeful 5.4 a year ago) to 77th in 2015 (27.3 ppg).
“It wasn’t the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen. We found ways to score points against Clemson (27), Florida State (21) and LSU (24). It was a great learning experience because we had injuries and we still averaged (27.3) with a lot of adversity,” Lester said. “It gave me a lot of confidence in what we do. We were only on Step 1 of probably a two- or three-year process. But we definitely had a good step, and it was fun to watch those kids have success … a couple years later (with a 10-win season in 2018)."
One of the things Lester turned around was Syracuse's red-zone offense. That went from 85th in 2014 to eighth in 2015. Play-callers have a lot to do with red-zone success and failure.
So, what can be realistically expected for Lester in Year 1 as Iowa's OC?
First, it’s clear that he is in lockstep with Kirk Ferentz on the importance of ball security and running the ball. But it’s also clear that this is his offensive system, not Ferentz's, and Lester relishes this opportunity.
Second, Lester isn’t shying away from bold jumps in production. He wants to cut Iowa’s national rankings in half in his first year. Iowa was 133rd out of 133 in total offense last year, at 234.6 yards per game and 132nd in scoring. Top 65 is Lester's rough goal in both categories; No. 65 last year (Maryland) averaged 387.3 yards per game. The last time Iowa was in the top 70 in total offense was 2014, when it was 66th under Greg Davis.
Camp is the time to figure out what Iowa can do well the fastest in Year 1. Lester sounds most confident about his offensive-line play and run game. He is most worried about the lack of time, especially considering Wednesday was the first time he's ever gotten to coach quarterbacks Cade McNamara and Brendan Sullivan in a practice.
“We need to put together an offense that can run the ball and be physical. Can take care of the ball,” he said. “And can find ways to get explosive.
"You can’t emphasize everything. So, we’re going to pick and choose the things that we think will put us in position to win."
Lester isn’t worried about any stigma associated with Iowa’s annually below-average offense. He embraces the challenge.
And much like his move to Division III in the mid-2000s, coming to Iowa is a family choice. He and his wife Dawn's three sons are ages 15, 13 and 11. They would love to see their kids put down roots, too, and attend only one high school.
If things go well at Iowa, Lester could stay for a long time. And Kirk Ferentz will have looked like a genius for the way he craftily found Lester and brought him to Iowa City.
"You have a chance to come to a place and hopefully stay and be a part of an unbelievable tradition," Lester said. "That’s not something you get in the NFL."
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 29 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad's text-message group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on Twitter.
Ambitious yet realistic expectations in Year 1
Lester’s stop at Syracuse, where he was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator in the middle of the 2014 season, was good preparation for what he’s facing at Iowa. He muddled through the 2014 finish, then went into 2015 installing what he wanted to run with a very young roster as Syracuse acclimated to the ACC. His goal was to cut Syracuse’s woeful national rankings on offense in half in Year 1.Iowa, of course, is coming off back-to-back years as the worst college offense in the Power Five. So, once again, Lester is trying to fix a broken offense in one year.
Unfortunately for Lester, his starting quarterback at Syracuse blew his Achilles’ tendon on the seventh play of the 2015 season. His backup, Eric Dungey, also got hurt. For most of the 2015 season, Lester had to use a walk-on quarterback. Still, Syracuse’s scoring average rose from 121st nationally in scoring in 2014 (17.1 points per game; akin to Iowa’s woeful 5.4 a year ago) to 77th in 2015 (27.3 ppg).
“It wasn’t the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen. We found ways to score points against Clemson (27), Florida State (21) and LSU (24). It was a great learning experience because we had injuries and we still averaged (27.3) with a lot of adversity,” Lester said. “It gave me a lot of confidence in what we do. We were only on Step 1 of probably a two- or three-year process. But we definitely had a good step, and it was fun to watch those kids have success … a couple years later (with a 10-win season in 2018)."
One of the things Lester turned around was Syracuse's red-zone offense. That went from 85th in 2014 to eighth in 2015. Play-callers have a lot to do with red-zone success and failure.
So, what can be realistically expected for Lester in Year 1 as Iowa's OC?
First, it’s clear that he is in lockstep with Kirk Ferentz on the importance of ball security and running the ball. But it’s also clear that this is his offensive system, not Ferentz's, and Lester relishes this opportunity.
Second, Lester isn’t shying away from bold jumps in production. He wants to cut Iowa’s national rankings in half in his first year. Iowa was 133rd out of 133 in total offense last year, at 234.6 yards per game and 132nd in scoring. Top 65 is Lester's rough goal in both categories; No. 65 last year (Maryland) averaged 387.3 yards per game. The last time Iowa was in the top 70 in total offense was 2014, when it was 66th under Greg Davis.
Camp is the time to figure out what Iowa can do well the fastest in Year 1. Lester sounds most confident about his offensive-line play and run game. He is most worried about the lack of time, especially considering Wednesday was the first time he's ever gotten to coach quarterbacks Cade McNamara and Brendan Sullivan in a practice.
“We need to put together an offense that can run the ball and be physical. Can take care of the ball,” he said. “And can find ways to get explosive.
"You can’t emphasize everything. So, we’re going to pick and choose the things that we think will put us in position to win."
Lester isn’t worried about any stigma associated with Iowa’s annually below-average offense. He embraces the challenge.
And much like his move to Division III in the mid-2000s, coming to Iowa is a family choice. He and his wife Dawn's three sons are ages 15, 13 and 11. They would love to see their kids put down roots, too, and attend only one high school.
If things go well at Iowa, Lester could stay for a long time. And Kirk Ferentz will have looked like a genius for the way he craftily found Lester and brought him to Iowa City.
"You have a chance to come to a place and hopefully stay and be a part of an unbelievable tradition," Lester said. "That’s not something you get in the NFL."
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 29 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad's text-message group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on Twitter.
If he performs a miracle with the Iowa offense, it immediately would make me wonder how long we could keep him
Hey after we win the natty that would be a good problem to have.
Leistikow: How Kirk Ferentz found Tim Lester, who brings his NFL offense to Iowa football
Des Moines Register
IOWA CITY − If the Tim Lester hire as Iowa football’s offensive coordinator works out well, this will someday turn into one of those classic Kirk Ferentz stories.
Lester clearly remembers that Tuesday morning, Jan. 23 to be exact. To that moment he had been fully immersed in the Green Bay Packers’ season, which ended three nights earlier in a gut-wrenching 24-21 playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers. But while arriving at the parking garage beneath Lambeau Field, he got a call from his agent about something completely off his radar.
“Have you heard from Iowa?”
This was regarding the OC job that had been essentially open since late October, when Brian Ferentz was told by Iowa’s administration that he wouldn't return in 2024. The agent was hearing rumblings about Iowa's possible interest in Lester.
Understandably, Lester was confused.
Fully understanding the football calendar, that most college OC openings had been filled by early January or even December, he asked, "They haven’t hired anybody yet? Really?”
“At that point," Lester said, "I hadn’t gotten a call from anybody (about Iowa)."
Upon walking upstairs to his office, Lester was greeted by Packers running backs coach Ben Sirmons.
Sirmons, Lester later found out, played at Maine when Ferentz was the head coach there from 1990 to 1992. Sirmons relayed that he had just talked with Ferentz that morning about Lester.
Maybe 30 minutes later, then-Packers defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery – a former Hawkeye player whose son, Jayden, is on the current Iowa roster – approached Lester and said, “I heard from Coach Ferentz. Have you talked to him?”
By this point, Lester almost had to laugh. What was going on?
“That went on the whole day,” Lester said. “I think he called everyone I’ve ever met. People I haven’t talked to in 20 years.”
Later that day, Lester drove from Green Bay to his family's lake house in southwest Michigan. The only person he told about the Hawkeyes buzz was his older sister, Cori, who attended Iowa's nursing school in the mid-1990s.
Finally, that night, the now-inevitable call came in.
It was Kirk Ferentz.
According to Lester, the two immediately hit it off. They touched base over the next five days about the OC opening. Mutual excitement built. Ferentz became sold on Lester. And Lester, who had been an analyst for good friend Matt LaFleur for one year in Green Bay, was growing more interested in Iowa. He mulled staying in the NFL – where opportunities were opening for a coaching role in Green Bay or to join the staff of Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay – or making the jump back to college, where he had spent most of his coaching career.
“We spoke the same language as far as what we believe in and what we believe works,” Lester said. “I was getting more and more excited (about Iowa) over some of the opportunities I had to stay in the NFL.”
So, on Jan. 28, he accepted the Iowa job. Iowa announced the move on Jan. 31, and Lester was introduced on Feb. 2. For a $1.1 million salary, he is tasked to fix the Hawkeyes’ broken offense.
Tim Lester is here, and he's genuinely excited to be here.
In a 90-minute conversation this week with the Des Moines Register, the majority of it posted as a podcast, Lester outlined more about his offensive philosophy and installation process. The Hawkeyes’ first fall camp practice was Wednesday, and their first game is Aug. 31 against Illinois State.
Over 17 practices before Iowa turns its preparations over to its first game week, Lester must get a better grasp on his personnel while fast-tracking the Hawkeyes' adoption of the Mike Shanahan-inspired offensive system. That system, in many versions, populates more than half the NFL. But in college, it is mostly a novelty.
Lester thought maybe only Kentucky, which hired Liam Coen away from McVay’s Rams twice (in 2021 and in 2023) as OC, has brought the Shanahan system to power-conference college football.
“That’s the exciting part for us,” Lester said. “We are running something that a lot of defensive coordinators will have not seen. Just the presentation, and the way we go about it.”
Tim Lester's reasons for comfort in Shanahan scheme
Lester’s path to Iowa is fascinating, and it starts as an All-American high school quarterback at Wheaton Warrenville South (near Chicago) in the mid-1990s. Lester was headed to play for Steve Spurrier at Florida, but injured his knee in his final playoff game as a senior. At that time, prospects didn’t commit until their official visits and the (paper) plane ticket Lester held for Dec. 4 never got used. Spurrier, who had his pick of QBs while leading a perennial SEC power, politely informed Lester that they would be taking a healthy quarterback instead.
Lester instead landed in a wide-open, spread offense at Western Michigan and threw for more than 11,000 yards and 87 touchdowns. He learned then that offensive football was "like stealing" when Western Michigan could effectively run the football. When it couldn't, Lester took a lot more hits and threw a lot more interceptions.
One of Lester's most satisfying moments was as a fifth-year senior going to Florida, against Spurrier in "The Swamp," for Western Michigan’s 1999 season opener. His team lost a high-scoring affair, but Lester threw for 405 yards with no interceptions.
A telling slice of Lester's early coaching career was opting to leave a plum quarterbacks-coach job at Western Michigan under Bill Cubit in 2007 to go back to Chicago to coach Division III ball. Lester wanted to focus on being a dad to his oldest son, Quinn, and spending time with his ailing father. His father died in 2010, in the middle of his five-year coaching tenure at D-III Elmhurst College. He had no regrets about choosing family over a higher-profile football job.
“Three years of being around, it was awesome,” Lester said. “We went on a lot of father-son (trips), Cubs spring training. We did it all. It was so great. I would never change a thing about it.”
At Elmhurst, he turned a losing program into a winner. Part of that process was installing the Shanahan offense, inspired by LaFleur – who was one of his go-to wide receivers while playing at Western Michigan. LaFleur worked in the NFL for Gary Kubiak and Mike Shanahan, and he and Lester traded notes. By the time Lester left Elmhurst after a 10-2 season, he was encouraged that the complex Shanahan system could be effective in college.
That’s what LaFleur runs in Green Bay, too. After 10 years in Division I – three at Syracuse, one at Purdue and six as Western Michigan’s head coach – Lester got a chance to re-learn the Shanahan system. He found some of it hadn't changed a bit in 20 years; some of it had evolved. His role in Green Bay was to study opposing offenses, so he got to know all the variations of the Shanahan system.
Lester said he has all the playbooks from NFL teams that run the system. The Kyle Shanahan San Francisco 49ers do it differently than McVay's Rams, who do it differently from Mike McDaniel's Miami Dolphins, who do it differently than LaFleur's Packers. The reason it works is that it's flexible to personnel, which Lester thinks is ideal for college − where rosters turn over quickly and injuries are a big part of the game.
“It’s the new pro-style. It’s more spread,” Lester explained. “It’s definitely been driven by college offenses a little bit. The key to the whole thing, there’s a couple run plays that are very unique that you’ve got to get going. If you can get those going, they’ve done a great job (in the NFL) of allowing it to become explosive.
“They all focus on running the ball. If you can run the ball, everything (follows).”
.............. continued next post
great read; thank you
I still think Iowa can (should?) make the 12 team CFP.
No Oregon, Penn State or Michigan on the schedule.
Our toughest 3 games might be Wisconsin, Nebraska & Iowa State, all of which are at home.
When looking at the 2024 schedule,
10-2:....at minimum?
11-1:.......realistic?
Iowa's 2024 schedule:
- vs. Illinois State, August 31, 2024
- vs. Iowa State, September 7, 2024
- vs. Troy, September 14, 2024
- at Minnesota, September 21, 2024
- at Ohio State, October 5, 2024
- vs. Washington, October 12, 2024
- at Michigan State, October 19, 2024
- vs. Northwestern, October 26, 2024
- vs. Wisconsin, November 2, 2024
- at UCLA, November 8, 2024
- at Maryland, November 23, 2024
- vs. Nebraska, November 29, 2024
It always goes back to someone Kirk knew way back. A running back from Maine when Kirk was there. That was interesting.
You think Kirk sits at the keyboard googling coaches or just starts dialing guys from his flip phone?
Ohio State & Iowa beat writers discuss for 12 minutes the Shanahan style offense that Lester has brought to Iowa City.
I always expect a game where we fall flat when not expected. For me I think the trap game is Maryland, but we will see as the season starts out what Maryland looks like. Mich State could be a lot tougher I think than people seem to expect, although everyone in their first year there. Northwestern at our house always gives fits, although Fitz is no longer.
We definitely need a 2002 / 2009 / 2015 type of roll with breaks going our way.
Normally I'd agree that this season Maryland would be the trap game. But no way the old man is going to want to have anything to do with losing to his boy.
from the article @pistachio1999 posted: "Lester clearly remembers that Tuesday morning, Jan. 23 to be exact."..." So, on Jan. 28, he accepted the Iowa job."
The infamous Kirk Ferentz - Kevin Johns breakfast meeting photo was published on Jan 26. I'm thinking KF had decided by then and Johns was backup while he waited to hear back from Lester. I wouldn't be surprised if KF had his secy leak info of his whereabouts that morning so that the photo got taken and tweeted forcing the quick commit from Lester. Ok the last part is top level bs.
The infamous Kirk Ferentz - Kevin Johns breakfast meeting photo was published on Jan 26. I'm thinking KF had decided by then and Johns was backup while he waited to hear back from Lester. I wouldn't be surprised if KF had his secy leak info of his whereabouts that morning so that the photo got taken and tweeted forcing the quick commit from Lester. Ok the last part is top level bs.
Not sure you would have any clue one way or the other. So it's pretty safe to assume that accountability does apply to Jon
I listened to the interview on the podcast and it gave me more confidence that Lester will make some nice improvements this year.
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In the interview he went on to specifically note his priority for a stable home for his children as they go through high school. This was after he spoke on taking significant sacrifices earlier in his career to be able to spend time with his ailing father before he passed away. So, I don't think he was doing the usual vapid coach-speak BS considering he said his family only moved to IC this last month.
All-in-all I think it's very low risk he moves on regardless of hypothetical coaching opportunities in the near future. Seems like a genuinely good man to have in the program. One thing is for sure- the newish Western Michigan administration are clearly morons.
Our previous WR Coach, Copeland, was fired.
Jon Budmayr, who brought to us Deacon Hill, remains.
And until this past offseason, could not have any direct contact with the players.
Looking into Lester's coaching history, I think Western Michigan is best place to choose from since he was there for 6 years. The mean scoring offense in 6 years was 42nd in the country, with a high of 9th and a low of 118. Out of his 6 years there, no scoring offense went below 40th in the country outside of his final year in 2022. Stellar numbers, and it would be a dream come true for Iowa.
He only had two years of the OC position at Syracuse, but in 1 year they went from 118th in the FBS to 77th. That's a massive jump. All of these numbers are encouraging, and I think it's safe to say Iowa, on average, has better talent than both of those programs.
Source for numbers: https://www.thegazette.com/iowa-foo...-at-western-michigan-syracuse-have-performed/
According to reports, Jacob Gill has shined in Fall camp so far. He scored three total touchdowns on Saturday. Maybe he'll be the new X receiver in Lester's offense?
He only had two years of the OC position at Syracuse, but in 1 year they went from 118th in the FBS to 77th. That's a massive jump. All of these numbers are encouraging, and I think it's safe to say Iowa, on average, has better talent than both of those programs.
Source for numbers: https://www.thegazette.com/iowa-foo...-at-western-michigan-syracuse-have-performed/
According to reports, Jacob Gill has shined in Fall camp so far. He scored three total touchdowns on Saturday. Maybe he'll be the new X receiver in Lester's offense?
I see Copeland joined Kansas as an Offense Analyst in July.
In the interview with Chad, when Chad asked him about his own expectations, he stated that he wanted to halve the offensive ranking.....so going from 130th in the country to 65th. I would be giddy AF if we got to 65th in the country in offense this year!
Secretly he is probably targeting somewhere around 40ish.
I would demand that @DelusionalHawkeyes8.0 like this post but that profile has been deleted by the mods!
Therefore, I demand that @DelusionalHawkeyes9.0 like this post!
Thank you.
Therefore, I demand that @DelusionalHawkeyes9.0 like this post!
Thank you.
That would bring us back to the KOK average offensive numbers. Which would seem like Iowa has the top offense in the country compared to the last decade.
Considering what Iowa has for talent on offense, i think getting to the low 100s or 90s would be a successful coaching debut
Considering what Iowa has for talent on offense, i think getting to the low 100s or 90s would be a successful coaching debut
Great stuff thanks for sharing keep it coming out of Fort Kinnick.
"I think he (KF) has backed off significantly when it comes to the offense."
Good 2 1/2 minute discussion here.
Good 2 1/2 minute discussion here.
I’d love to have been in the room when Kirk realized he needed to back off about the offense, when he’d long done that for defense/special teams.
I'll be really interested to see, once the season starts, what Lester's preferred personnel package will be. Personally, I'm hoping we'll see alot of 12 personnel. There's so much you can do out of it and keep defenses guessing. You can go power running game since 2 TEs are on the field. You can line up in a balanced look and motion one of the TEs to one side or the other and run strong or weak side. You can line up under center and then move into shotgun and send 4-5 guys out into routes. You can flex both tight ends out wide.
I could never understand what BFs love affair was with the fullback and I could never understand why he was always so in love with a 5 wide look on 3rd and long. He was always zigging when he should have zagged and vice versa.
I could never understand what BFs love affair was with the fullback and I could never understand why he was always so in love with a 5 wide look on 3rd and long. He was always zigging when he should have zagged and vice versa.
To be fair, I think that love affair with the fullback was a directive from Kirk. Can’t imagine Greg Davis was thrilled about using that position a lot as well.
That'll be the telltale sign if KF really has given up control of the offense. If we see the FB as a regular rotational guy, it's still KF. If not, then he really has relinquished to Lester.
