Iowa reportedly zeroing in on offensive coordinator hire
Iowa has identified its next offensive coordinator, according to a report.
Per 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz, the Hawkeyes are set to hire former Western Michigan head coach Tim Lester for the role. Lester most recently worked as a senior analyst for the Green Bay Packers during the 2024 season.
Lester was Western Michigan’s head coach from 2017-22. He went 37-32 in 6 seasons as the Broncos’ head coach and took the program to a trio of postseason appearances.
Iowa is expected to hire former Western Michigan head coach and current Green Bay Packers senior analyst Tim Lester as its new offensive coordinator, sources tell @DavidEickholt and me for @247Sports.
Lester was Western Michigan’s head coach from 2017-22.… pic.twitter.com/gbwmW2cBLz
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) January 28, 2024
Lester also has some previous Big Ten experience. He was the quarterbacks coach at Purdue for the 2016 season before being hired at Western Michigan. Lester’s previous stops also include Syracuse and North Carolina.
Lester’s offenses at Western Michigan were often amongst the best in the MAC. In terms of yards per play, Western Michigan finished in the top 3 in the MAC in 4 of his 6 seasons at the helm.
Lester will replace Brian Ferentz, who departed the program this offseason after spending 7 seasons as the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator. While Iowa enjoyed a lot of team success during those seasons, its offense has sputtered in recent years. Iowa finished dead last nationally amongst FBS teams with just 3.94 yards per play in 2023.
Iowa has not yet officially announced this hire.