IOWA CITY — The question came with an easy answer. Undoubtedly, Tim Lester finds it more fun to be an offensive coordinator than a head coach. “It is way more fun being an offensive coordinator,” Lester said.
Lester, who enters his first season as the offensive coordinator at Iowa this fall, spent six years as the successor to P.J. Fleck at Western Michigan from 2017 to 2022.
During his time in Kalamazoo, Lester failed to maintain Fleck’s momentum, but managed a 37-32 record before being relieved of his duties following a 5-7 finish to the 2022 season for the Broncos. Following his departure from his alma mater, Lester got a unique opportunity in the NFL by way of an old Western Michigan teammate. After spending the first 20 of his first 22 years in coaching at the collegiate level and all but one year coaching offense, Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur extended an opportunity to Lester to serve as a senior analyst on the defensive side of the ball.
Lester relished his lone year in professional football. In what Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz described as a “coaching sabbatical,” Lester took a fresh look at the game and refreshed his knowledge of the offensive system made popular by San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. “It was a blast to study offenses,” Lester said.
“I had the unique ability to start running a system very similar to this (16) years ago. Matt (LaFleur) was at Houston with (Gary) Kubiak. (Kyle) Shanahan was the QB coach — I think Matt was the coffee guy/quality control guy.
That is when we started running it. Then I was away from it for years. “To come back and relearn it and then see other people do it — to watch what Andy Reid has done with it, watch how the Rams run it, the 49ers run it, the Vikings run it, the Bengals run it, the Dolphins run it — has been fun.
” During Big Ten Media Days in July, Ferentz said his year with Green Bay helped Lester standout during the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator search. “(He) got great exposure to a lot of people offensively,” Ferentz said. “.
..He comes with a wealth of knowledge.
” Lester started his tenure in Iowa City gauging the skillset of the Hawkeyes’ roster. “That was the biggest thing about the spring was trying to figure out what we got,” Lester said. “What are our strengths? Our o-line, our tight ends, our running backs.
Our wide outs are very talented they are just young, but they are getting better every single time we are out there. “It is my job to make sure I put them in the best position. The personnel for running what we want to do it fits really well.
” Seven months since being hired at Iowa, Lester now wants to try and take advantage of Iowa’s roster, his year studying the top offensive minds in football and the differences between college and pro football. College Football: Iowa players, Ferentz praise new OC, ‘so far, so good’ for Hawkeyes new offense “There are certain things we can do that (others) cannot do,” Lester said. “I have talked with those guys a lot.
They are jealous of some of the ...
things we are allowed to do that they cannot do at their level. “It has been fun to mix and match and take some of the stuff that we have done in the past and put it in the offense. I know a lot of those guys are excited to watch.
” Lester specifically mentioned run-pass option (RPO) plays as something that Iowa would have a greater range to work with compared to its NFL counterparts. Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara makes a play call on the field against Western Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.
During the install of its new offense, Iowa faces uncertainty at the quarterback position . Incumbent starting quarterback Cade McNamara, who debuted at No. 1 on the Hawkeyes’ preseason depth chart and started five games a year ago, continues to work back from a torn ACL which cut his 2023 season short.
During Iowa football media day on Friday, both Ferentz and Lester spoke positively about McNamara’s recovery and return to play. “(Cade) has missed a lot of time,” Ferentz said. “He has not played healthy here since he has been here last year other than the first 8-10 days.
He is doing things. He is there mentally. It is just a matter of timing and getting back used to playing again so he can be quick and decisive with his throws.
” According to Lester, overlap between his offensive schemes and the offense McNamara ran at Michigan under Josh Gattis gave the former Wolverine an edge in picking things up. “He is extremely smart,” Lester said. “He is experienced.
I do not know exactly what they ran at Michigan, but there is definitely some carry over ...
I know Coach (Josh) Gattis. I do not know where he picked some of it up. Hawkeyes: Iowa faces questions of quarterback uncertainty after uneven play in scrimmage “He has the luxury of having experience .
.. He is pretty smart at identifying what is coming his way.
” Lester also noted that McNamara, who he described as understandably “skittish” in the pocket, has started to gain confidence again. “I went through the same thing,” Lester said. “You get cleared .
.. and you are really not right for about a month until you stop thinking about it.
He is kind of going through that. He has had a couple times where he was rolling out of the pocket. I need him to get bumped one time and freak out like ‘Oh my god’ and then, realize, ‘Oh my god I am fine.
’ That happened the other day. “It is just time in the pocket ..
. Now, in the pocket, he is sliding, stepping up. He is doing some great things.
It is fun when a guy, who has played that much football, has the willingness and the toughness to have to battle through something ...
Now, you just have to get it out of your head.” Though McNamara seems to have an edge in the race to be Iowa’s QB1, Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan also drew praise from both Lester and Ferentz on Friday. “Sully has done an unbelievable job,” Lester said.
“He has played a lot of football ...
Sully is going through a little different process of learning everything and just getting here. It has been fun to watch him battle through and get better every single day.” “Brendan .
.. has done a really, really good job out there,” Ferentz said.
“For him, it is new. It started in June for him. He is trying to catch up a little bit.
” In July, Ferentz said the Hawkeyes may attempt to build a package of plays around Sullivan to get him on the field even if he does not win the starting job. On Friday, he expanded on his comments while remaining non-committal regarding Iowa’s current QB depth chart. “I think that is good football,” Ferentz said.
“You have a guy that can do something then you are going to try and maybe carve out a package or at least be ready. Right now, we will just let everybody keep competing, see what happens. Whoever is in the game, hopefully they are going to steer things to accentuate what they do best.
“(Brendan) is off to a great start. He is a good athlete and he is versatile and seems to really be poised under pressure.” Lester will not complain about being an offensive coordinator again despite Iowa's quarterback uncertainty.
“100% — I am having fun," Lester said. Nor have the questions stopped Ferentz from singing a “so far so good” tune about the Hawkeyes’ new offense. “Tim has done a great job,” Ferentz said.
“He is a great person, great coach, great enthusiasm. The players respond to him.” Iowa kicks off its 2024 season at home against Illinois State, which enters the season ranked in both FCS polls, on Aug.
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