Reports: Iowa Hiring Tim Lester

Veteran Coach Expected to Be Hawkeyes' New Offensive Coordinator

Multiple reports Sunday afternoon indicated former Western Michigan head coach Tim Lester would be Iowa's new offensive coordinator. Football Scoop broke the news. The university has not confirmed the hiring.

Lester would be replacing the fired Brian Ferentz, son of Hawkeye head coach Kirk Ferentz. Iowa finished last among all FBS programs in total offense this past season. 

Football Scoop also reported that Lester was offered Troy's offensive coordinator position earlier this month. He spent this season serving as an offensive analyst with the Green Bay Packers. 

Lester was named the Western Michigan head coach ahead of the 2017 season. He compiled a 37-32 record there before being fired following the '22 campaign. He called offensive plays for the Broncos. 

Before landing in Kalamazoo, Lester coached Purdue quarterbacks in '16. Prior to that, he spent the previous two seasons as Syracuse's offensive coordinator. Both of those jobs ended with head coaching changes. 

Lester was the head coach at Division III Elmhurst (Ill.) College from '08-'12. He also worked at North Central College and Saint Joseph’s College. He played quarterback at Western Michigan in the mid-'90s and one season with the XFL's Chicago Enforcers. 

Little, if any, concrete information has been available during the Hawkeyes' search for a new offensive coordinator. Speculation has included names like Joe Philbin, Paul Chryst and Kevin Johns as candidates. The latter was spotted with Kirk Ferentz at a local hotel Friday.  

Iowa's offense has struggled mightily the last three seasons, bottoming out in '23. It's 15.4 points per game ranked last in Power 5 and second to last in all of FBS. 

Syracuse ranked 118th and then 77th in scoring offense during Lester's two seasons coordinating the Orange offense. With him calling plays at Western Michigan, the Broncos rated 25th, 38th, 30th, 9th, 34th and 122nd nationally.