Predicting what changes Tim Lester, Kirk Ferentz will make to offensive philosophy
Changes are coming for the Iowa offense after Kirk Ferentz hired Tim Lester as his new offensive coordinator. The Hawkeyes have been one of the worst offensive teams in the country over the past two seasons despite ranking as one of the top defenses.
The hope is that Lester, who spent as the Western Michigan coach from 2017-22, can give the offense some life with his experience. However, the question remains how willing Ferentz will be to change his offensive philosophy being reluctant to in the past.
Tom Kakert of Hawkeye Report joined On3’s Andy Staples on Sunday to break down the hire and what it means for Iowa heading into 2024.
“If you look back at his Western teams, they run a lot of RPO sets and they’re in the ‘gun a lot and do a lot of those different things,” Kakert said. “Is Kirk gonna be willing to do that? He’s been kind of resistant to do the RPO stuff on a regular basis and kind of sit there in the shotgun and deal that way. It’s kind of not been something he’s been interested in. Will he do that now? I don’t know.”
Lester’s Western Michigan teams ranked among the top 40 in scoring offense in five of his six seasons at the helm, including ranking No. 10 in 2020 with 41.7 points per game. He also spent this past season working as a senior analyst with the Green Bay Packers, helping them to a divisional round appearance in the playoffs.
Iowa’s move to hire Lester comes as the Big Ten is set to beef up next season with the additions of Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA. The conference will also drop divisions, meaning Iowa is now competing with the juggernauts of the Big Ten East to reach the title game.
That being the case, they knew they couldn’t continue to get by on defense alone, as they did this past season to reach the Big Ten Championship.
“You’ve got more competition for that because you’ve got Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon Washington, USC,” Kakert said. “You’ve got some heavyweights that are coming at you from all different corners. You’ve got teams that are gonna be on the rise. You get a new regime at Michigan State. Are they gonna come back and get in that race. Purdue, are they gonna rise? You got Illinois with Bret Bielema. You’ve got Wisconsin. You’ve got a lot of competition there. I don’t know if anyone’s gonna compete with Michigan and Ohio State right out of the gate, but you’re gonna have some competition there.”
Iowa ranked 132 of 133 FBS teams with 15.4 points per game this past season, so any form of improvement would be welcomed. If Lester is able to provide that, Kakert believes he could have a chance to move up the ladder at Iowa.
Ferentz is set to turn 69 later this year and has been the Hawkeyes coach for the past 25 years. It’s time to start thinking about a plan for when he ultimately decides to move on, and an offensive coordinator who brings results would likely garner plenty of interest.
“Does that guy become the frontrunner to take over for Kirk Ferentz, who’s gonna be 69 years old in August?” Kakert said. “If a guy comes in and lights up the scoreboard a little bit, who knows? Beth Goetz, the new AD, I don’t know what her agenda’s gonna be in terms of hiring people but it’s something that you have to think about as an offensive coordinator.
“That’s why I wonder if they might attract somebody out of the norm because they might say, ‘if I come here and I do really well because the bar is so low right now for a good offense, maybe I could become the next head coach at Iowa.’ The Big Ten jobs are like the golden ticket. It’s the Big Ten and the SEC.”
Iowa still managed to finish 10-4 this past season despite its ineptitude on defense. If it can even have an average offense, who knows what 2024 will have in store?