Assessing Iowa's decision to hire Tim Lester as their next offensive coordinator

Iowa officially has their replacement for Brian Ferentz as offensive coordinator in the form of Tim Lester. It’s not the hire many who follow the program were necessarily hoping for, though, according to The Hawkeye Report’s Tom Kakert.

Kakert joined on during ‘Andy Staples On3’ on Sunday to discuss the Hawkeye’s hiring of Lester as offensive coordinator. While it may pan out, he admitted that the decision isn’t one that those around Iowa City were wanting in their new play caller.

“It hasn’t gone over, I would say, great,” said Kakert. “I think the Iowa fans are kind of underwhelmed by the hire.”

Lester most recently served as an offensive analyst for the Green Bay Packers this past season in the NFL. That came after collegiate stops at Syracuse and Purdue as a quarterbacks coach and as a head coach at his alma mater in Western Michigan.

Over six seasons with the Broncos in Kalamazoo, Lester posted a record of 37-32 (.536). His offenses with those teams averaged a finish in the Top-50 with 32 points and just over 420 yards per game. That included the No. 10 offense in 2020 that scored 41.7 points and posted just under 480 yards.

However, it also included his last season in 2022. The unit finished 119th in the nation by averaging 19 points and barely over 300 yards. That led to his eventual firing and the end of the opportunity with his former school.

Still, all in all, Kakert does see positives out of this hire by Iowa. That’s especially so considering Lester was a quarterback and can now lead the offense from that position’s point of view.

“He’s a quarterback too. I think Iowa needed a quarterback coach, a legit quarterback coach,” said Kakert. “That’s big.”

“To me? They’ve actually got an actual living, breathing quarterback coach coaching that along with being the offensive coordinator. I think that’s a positive development,” Kakert said. “I think Tim Lester has been a pretty good quarterback coach – not NFL guys but he has done well.”

Most Iowa fans were ready for anything better than the offenses from the past seven years under Ferentz, especially the last three. Even so, it appears the hire of Lester is going to cause a wait and see approach for how it goes in his first season wearing the headset.

More on Iowa’s hiring of Lester as offensive coordinator

Iowa is expected to hire Tim Lester, the former Western Michigan head coach, as their next offensive coordinator, per a report.

Lester was also in consideration for the same job at Troy. Iowa then ultimately swayed his decision according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. Rittenberg’s sources also tell him that Iowa “strongly considered” former Duke OC Kevin Johns for their job but went with Lester instead.

Lester moved on the the NFL this past season where he was utilized in an off-field role as an analyst. He had a prior relationship with Matt LaFleur, the Packers’ head coach, who was also a quarterback with him with the Broncos back in the late 90s.

Lester’s hiring ends a three-month long search to replace former OC Brian Ferentz. His offense at Iowa struggled mightily over the past two seasons.

Now, Iowa has moved on and Lester is tasked with rebuilding the Hawkeye offense. If Iowa can get things going on offense, the defense has proven its worth over the past two seasons. Together they’ll hope of becoming a force on a national scale again.