Tim Lester, Iowa’s New OC, Has Connections to Illinois and Wisconsin
After a search that took over a month, and spawned intrigue both on the state and national level, the Iowa Hawkeye football team have their new offensive coordinator. Impressive not only is the fact that this exhausting search is finally over but also the new coordinator's resume, which now has connections in Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
The Iowa Hawkeyes are set to hire Tim Lester as their offensive coordinator. Lester, who is 46-years-old, spent time as the head coach of Western Michigan from 2017 - 2022 and amassed a 37-32 record during that span. Most recently, Lester served as a senior analyst for the Green Bay Packers as part of Matt LaFleur's staff. Both LaFleur and Lester were teammates during their time at Western Michigan.
Iowa Offense Can't Get Much Worse Than Last Season:
Per ESPN, Lester had reportedly been ready to take a coordinator role at Troy, but instead he'll replace Brian Ferentz, son of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, for the Hawkeyes.
Fans couldn't be happier that Brian Ferentz is gone, as the Hawkeyes finished with over 1,000 more punting yards than offensive yards in the 2023 season. That's almost unfathomable. Iowa Athletic Director Beth Goetz, who oversaw Brian Ferentz and his performance due to nepotism policies, made the announcement in October that he wouldn't return for the 2024 season. Iowa's offense ranked last nationally in total offense and next-to-last in scoring offense, per ESPN.
Tim Lester's Connections to Illinois and Wisconsin:
Upon taking the Iowa offensive coordinator job, Tim Lester now has connections to all three of our Tri-States. He is a Wheaton, IL native, for one, and has coached at some very prominent Division-III schools in Illinois during his career, including Elmhurst University and North Central College (my alma mater!). He also served as Elmhurst's head coach from 2008 - 2012, amassing a 23-19 record during his time.
An intriguing thing to note is while he was the offensive coordinator Elmhurst, he served as the defensive coordinator for North Central, being one of the rarer coaches with experience coaching both sides of the ball.
Furthermore, being that he comes hot off a job with the Packers, and now has accepted the offensive coordinator position with Iowa, you can say he's completed the "Tri-State Trifecta," as I've billed it in the past, as somebody with connections to all three of our proud Midwestern states.
Read more about Tim Lester's coaching career on his Wikipedia page, and his new role as offensive coordinator for the Iowa Hawkeyes on ESPN's website.