Report: Iowa wide receiver coach Kelton Copeland will not return for Hawkeyes in 2024

The Iowa football staff has been informed that wide receiver coach Kelton Copeland will not return to the Hawkeyes in 2024, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Friday night. It’s part of the offensive overhaul of the Iowa coaching staff this offseason. Copeland has previously worked for Northern Illinois, South Dakota, and Coffeyville Community College (Kansas).

Copeland had a salary of $495,000 per year, according to the On3 Coach Salaries Index. He coached the running backs at NIU from 2013-2015 and the wide receivers in 2016. Iowa cleaned house and got rid of much of their offensive staff this offseason, including offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz. And when you take a glance at the stats over the years it’s easy to see why. The Hawkeyes managed just 16.6 points per game on offense, the fourth worst number in all of college football. Their offense also ranked dead last in the country in total yards per game (234.6). That’s more than 28 yards worse per game than the second worst team in America.

The silver linings of the season for Iowa were without a doubt, their punter (Ray Guy Award winner) and dominant defense. Even with their offense struggling as much as it did, the Hawkeyes still managed to finish 10-4 overall, which is pretty remarkable considering the circumstances.

Iowa punter Tory Taylor shattered records this year, not only because of his own ability but because of how remarkably anemic the Hawkeye offense was. He broke the NCAA single-season record for punting yardage (4,479 yards).

Taylor averaged 47.9 yards per punt this year in the regular season, ranking him third in the nation in that stat category. His longest punt was a 67 yarder, and he also managed to pin the opponent inside the 20-yard line 30 times.

The Australian native punted 86 times this year–11 more times than any other player in the nation. Taylor racked up 4,119 total punting yards in the regular season, 752 more than anybody else. Not only that, he racked up 1,014 more yards punting than Iowa’s offense gained all year. Taylor somehow managed to punt for more yards than 33 offenses across college football.

Taylor has been a busy man for his entire career for the Hawkeyes. He’s kicked 80 or more punts in each of the last three seasons for Iowa. Each of those seasons, he averaged over 45 yards per punt. The longest punt he’s boomed in his entire career was a 70-yarder he launched in 2022. The lowest average he’s recorded in his entire college football career came in 2020, when he was a freshman, averaging 44.1 yards per punt.