Report: Iowa expected to hire former Western Michigan coach Tim Lester as new offensive coordinator

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

He was also in consideration for the same job at Troy, but Iowa ultimately swayed his decision, according to ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. He spent the 2023 season as a senior analyst for the Green Bay Packers.

Rittenberg’s sources also tell him that Iowa ‘strongly considered’ former Duke OC Kevin Johns for their job, but went with Lester instead.

Lester was let go by Western Michigan after the 2022 season, finishing his tenure 37-32 in six seasons as the Broncos’ head coach. His team finished 5-7 that season, which doubled as Lester’s first losing record since being hired as Western Michigan’s coach in 2017. 

The Broncos were .500 or better in MAC conference play in each of Lester’s six seasons as coach, including a 4-4 record in conference action in 2022. WMU started this year 3-7 before winning its final two games, but still fell one game short of bowl eligibility.

He moved on the the NFL for this past season, where he was utilized in an off-field role as an analyst. He had a prior relationship with Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, who were both quarterbacks at Western Michigan in the late 90s.

Lester’s hiring ends a three-month-long search to replace former OC Brian Ferentz, whose offense at Iowa struggled mightily over the past two seasons. In 2022, Iowa only averaged 17.7 points and 156.7 yards passing per game. Even worse, Iowa finished 130th out of 131 FBS teams in total offense at 256.1 yards per game.  Consequently, Iowa revised Ferentz’s contract ahead of the 2023 season.

The program docked his salary from $900,000 to $850,000. Further, Iowa added a clause that stated Iowa must score 325 total points in the regular-season games for Ferentz to retain his job in 2024. For reference, 85 programs reached this mark in 2022.

By October, it was clear that Iowa would not reach this milestone, and by the time it was announced that the two parties would be parting ways, Iowa’s offense ranked 116th in the country in total offense.

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 and together will the hopes of becoming a force on a national scale once again.