I don't know if this is a good, old-fashioned spite hire, but it sure feels like Kirk Ferentz is trying to sneak one past us. After having to be forced to fire his incompetent offensive coordinator son, Ferentz could have brought Iowa's offense into the modern world with someone like Kevin Johns out of Duke. He even brought him to Iowa City for a visit! Instead, he hired a former MAC head coach...
If all I's get dotted and the T's get crossed, it will be former Western Michigan head coach Tim Lester as the Hawkeyes' new offensive coordinator. He spent last season as an offensive analyst on Matt LaFleur's Green Bay Packers staff. Lester was going to be the first offensive coordinator on Gerad Parker's staff at Troy, but he is going to Iowa City now. He cannot be any worse than Brian Ferentz.
While this hiring could be exactly what Iowa needs to be more than a 10-2 team ever three years or so, Lester was best known as being P.J. Fleck's successor in Kalamazoo. Fleck led the Broncos to a Group of Five championship before departing to Minnesota. Lester was let go after the 2022 season, replaced by a former Louisville assistant in Lance Taylor. Right now, this hire feels very uninspiring.
Regardless, I think Iowa has a chance to average 25 points per game now that Brian Ferentz is gone.
Sources: Iowa is expected to hire Tim Lester, the former Western Michigan coach, as offensive coordinator. Lester spent the 2023 season as a Green Bay Packers analyst, and was set to take the OC job at Troy. Iowa also strongly considered former Duke OC Kevin Johns, per sources.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) January 28, 2024
The good news for everyone is you can still be a Sicko when watching Iowa probably going forward.
Just because Iowa hired an OC doesn't mean we will stop being a Sickos
As long as Phil Parker's defense is disgustingly good and LeVar Woods' special teams unit remains top-notch, the health of the Iowa offense will remain a top of great intrigue across college football. This is why this is the best sport on the planet. Fans of professional leagues would not give a flip about a team like Iowa, yet the Hawkeyes regularly do the impossible and win with an archaic offense.
It doesn't matter what team you cheer for, whether it be a blue-blooded powerhouse, a basketball school or a team making the leap up from the FCS. We can all be Sickos at heart. There is so much to love about college football besides the upper crust of the sport. I may love my Georgia Bulldogs, but I still find teams out there on the periphery like Iowa to be totally fascinating, an odd case study, if you will.
Overall, Lester probably benefits a ton from this new job he just got. If Iowa is markedly improved on offense, he will get so much credit. It might merit him getting another opportunity to lead his own college program, possibly one in the Power Four now, if you can believe that. Because the bar could not be any lower than it is right now, Lester can merely step over it to clear all of Brian Ferentz's mess.
The sun came up this morning, as it is a dawn of a new day in the history of Iowa Hawkeyes football.