It sounds Tim Lester is the guy.

[HuckFinn]

McNamara is the key for 2024. The critics of his early performance last Fall are premature. He was injured. New program. Mediocre at best receivers except TE’s.
O line was a disaster. BF was O coordinator, for god’s sake. What did we expect?

Injury history is a major worry. If KF goes back to Hill instead of anyone else in the QB room, I will wear a blindfold when we have the ball.

 

[Dadman]

McNamara is the key for 2024…….

Injury history is a major worry. If KF goes back to Hill instead of anyone else in the QB room, I will wear a blindfold when we have the ball.

^ this actually made me laugh. Last year, i strategically used our offensive series to empty my bladder!

 

[NorthKCHawk]

While I do not think that the portal is a magic elixir at QB, I agree with the posts that we need an upgrade at back-up QB. Any scenario where Hill is on the depth chart next Fall is unacceptable. That said, I get Fry's point that the portal is shit right now. Of course it is. But, a lot of guys are going to lose Spring Ball battles and be looking for a new home before Fall. We should pick up a guy to compete with Lainez for the back-up roll and politely tell Hill to check out professional wrestling as a career.

 

[hawkrr]

One of the tests for Coach Lester is his recruiting prowess. The test is......can he bring Nick Brooks OT back into the fold for 2025.

All of the negative comments on the Fan Sites probably is not helping the recruiting scenario in convincing a player like Brooks to change his mind. In all fairness to Coach Lester, we should give him a chance to achieve above our expectations.

 

[HuckFinn]

While I do not think that the portal is a magic elixir at QB, I agree with the posts that we need an upgrade at back-up QB. Any scenario where Hill is on the depth chart next Fall is unacceptable. That said, I get Fry's point that the portal is shit right now. Of course it is. But, a lot of guys are going to lose Spring Ball battles and be looking for a new home before Fall. We should pick up a guy to compete with Lainez for the back-up roll and politely tell Hill to check out professional wrestling as a career.

Yup. Be patient, wait until the last gasp, and grab somebody who dropped on the depth chart who might be willing to play the long game. After all, there are a lot of unknowns in our QB room for 2024. Could draw some interest. This time, don’t listen to Budmayer, for sure.

 

[eyekwah]

An underwhelming choice for OC and the fan response to it is justified. Some fans want to give the guy a chance, but almost everyone has doubts whether this will work. I'm sure Tim Lester is aware of the criticism of him as OC. I'm sure he wants to prove the fans wrong, but can he handle that pressure? Doubts will prevail until proven otherwise.

 

[CP87]

I'm not as down on this hire as most seem to be. I was ready to be pissed but decided to see what I was going to be pissed about before I got pissed about it.

I watched a long series of instructional videos about his offenses and some videos of his teams' offenses. I got pretty excited with what I saw as far as the scheme is concerned. If he can stay healthy, it seems like an offense that Cade, or a QB like him, could flourish in.

His offenses averaged 31.8 PPG at WMU. From what I could find, he called plays every year there except the first year, when Johns was his OC.
(Johns' teams averaged have 31.6 PPG). Doesn't necessarily mean that much, but it's all about scoring points, especially with our defense and his offenses have produced points.

I see so many judging him on his head coaching record. His defenses gave up an average of 30 PPG and were never in the top 50. Based on his offenses alone, they produced. I realize it was the MAC, but PJ Fleck's teams averaged nearly the same amount of points there as Lester's and he was considered an offensive douchebag genius and it got him promoted to a B1G school and a HEAD coach.

I have only seen a few snippets posted here and there; is he a heavy RPO guy?

RPO was very trendy about 5 years ago (though has been around for 25+ years), and the shine has worn off a bit as teams have developed better responses. But almost all teams (except Iowa) incorporate some RPO concepts. The college rules and how they are enforced, in particular lots of leeway in OL downfield on passing plays, practically beg teams to utilize it. It is also a way to level the talent playing field through quick reactions and high-level execution (sort of the modern day triple-option).

I started a thread last week asking what offense people think Iowa SHOULD run. My vote was something like the Gophers...power run with some variety, complemented by RPO to keep defenses honest. Is this kind of what Lester has utilized previously?

 

[Hawkboys]

My two cents on all this is KF thought he had Chryst in the bag. He waited till Texas was done playing to really pursue him at all though and when Chryst said no for whatever reasons he left KF standing there with his you know what in his hands. Since then he's been scrambling and now he's settled... Doesn't mean Lester won't maybe do ok. But nobody is predicting wild success from the guy. The previous guy set the bar pretty damn low and all that all he's gotta do is get a 1st down once in awhile and not turn it over 3 times a game.

His chewing gum?

 

[NorthKCHawk]

An underwhelming choice for OC and the fan response to it is justified. Some fans want to give the guy a chance, but almost everyone has doubts whether this will work. I'm sure Tim Lester is aware of the criticism of him as OC. I'm sure he wants to prove the fans wrong, but can he handle that pressure? Doubts will prevail until proven otherwise.

This fan base was complaining about the idea of Scott Frost as OC, ya know the guy who has near a decade of mixed results as a HC and was one of the hottest OC's in the sport at one time. It did not matter who KF picked, this bitchy fan base would be underwhelmed. There is nothing KF can do right now that relates to the offense that this bitchy fanbase won't bitch about. Stealing Bama's LT was yawned by certain sects of this bitchy fanbase. Its just impossible for a lot of people around here to be positive about anything.

I seriously doubt Lester knows about the bitchy fanbase's alleged negative feelings about him, or that he cares.

I am confident a guy who has been a very successful QB as a player, a coach for 20 years, and a HC, is going to buckle under the pressure of being Iowa's OC. He will be fine. He will do his job to his abilities.

 

[NCHawker]

Tom Fornelli's (cover3 podcast) take on this hire was more interesting, thoughtful and nuanced than any in the IOWA media or fan media or fan podcasters.

 

[hawkinstl]

This fan base was complaining about the idea of Scott Frost as OC, ya know the guy who has near a decade of mixed results as a HC and was one of the hottest OC's in the sport at one time. It did not matter who KF picked, this bitchy fan base would be underwhelmed. There is nothing KF can do right now that relates to the offense that this bitchy fanbase won't bitch about. Stealing Bama's LT was yawned by certain sects of this bitchy fanbase. Its just impossible for a lot of people around here to be positive about anything.

I seriously doubt Lester knows about the bitchy fanbase's alleged negative feelings about him, or that he cares.

I am confident a guy who has been a very successful QB as a player, a coach for 20 years, and a HC, is going to buckle under the pressure of being Iowa's OC. He will be fine. He will do his job to his abilities.

It's hard to be positive when your offense is the worst in D1 football the past 2 years. If you're ok with it, great. If others want to complain, great.

When you have a top ten defense and bottom ten offense, you don't see a problem?

I'm for one am willing to give Lester a chance, but on paper he's an underwhelming choice. And, there are more OC's not only more qualified , but much more qualified than him.

Lastly and most importantly, Lester is exactly the type of OC I expected all along from KF. He wasn't changing his philosophy after 25 years. Boring offensive football with him in control as the puppet master on that side of the ball.

 

[kicker22]

I'll be the wait and see guy. Right now i'm just thrilled that Brian's gone and KF found someone. If/when it doesn't pan out then I'll feel differently, but for now BF is gone and we have found someone willing to try to fix the dumpster fire. That alone is a win.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

It's hard to be positive when your offense is the worst in D1 football the past 2 years. If you're ok with it, great. If others want to complain, great.

When you have a top ten defense and bottom ten offense, you don't see a problem?

I'm for one am willing to give Lester a chance, but on paper he's an underwhelming choice. And, there are more OC's not only more qualified , but much more qualified than him.

Lastly and most importantly, Lester is exactly the type of OC I expected all along from KF. He wasn't changing his philosophy after 25 years. Boring offensive football with him in control as the puppet master on that side of the ball.

Of course I see that the offense has been a problem. But, its not like the program is standing pat. Yes, KF retained his son after 2022, but Iowa then went out and got one of the top portal classes in the country, including an all-conference QB. Then, the offense was decimated by injury. BF, who is snakebit and of below average ability as a playcaller, was unable to overcome the injuries and was forced out.

In the offseason, Iowa had the #1 LT portal candidate fall in their lap, and now has hired an OC that is an experienced playcaller and a seasoned QB coach. He also will mesh with KF's philosphy, which is important. We return 4 multi-year starters on the OL, an all-american candidate TE and some very good backs. So, would it kill anyone around here to have a smidge of optimism that maybe the new OC, with a lot of veteran pieces can, I don't know, get us to like 75th in the country in O? Try it. Optimism feels better than hating all the time.

 

[hawkinstl]

Of course I see that the offense has been a problem. But, its not like the program is standing pat. Yes, KF retained his son after 2022, but Iowa then went out and got one of the top portal classes in the country, including an all-conference QB. Then, the offense was decimated by injury. BF, who is snakebit and of below average ability as a playcaller, was unable to overcome the injuries and was forced out.

In the offseason, Iowa had the #1 LT portal candidate fall in their lap, and now has hired an OC that is an experienced playcaller and a seasoned QB coach. He also will mesh with KF's philosphy, which is important. We return 4 multi-year starters on the OL, an all-american candidate TE and some very good backs. So, would it kill anyone around here to have a smidge of optimism that maybe the new OC, with a lot of veteran pieces can, I don't know, get us to like 75th in the country in O? Try it. Optimism feels better than hating all the time.

Again, as I said in my post, I'm giving the guy a shot. I'd take 75th in offense all day long.

Lester is better than BF and but of course he has no where to go but up. That's obvious.

 

[kicker22]

People like you always think that's the answer..."Hit the portal!" like it's some secret stash of good players. Lol.

The highest QB left in the portal is rated 160th overall, is leaving his 3rd school, got let go by Arizona for character issues, and has been in the portal for almost 2 months.

So you're saying there's a chance!!!

 

[HawkPowerlifter]

My hope is that if we can even have an average offense, our defense will compliment that and we have potential to have a solid season again. If the O-line remains healthy, and the addition of Proctor, I think this offense will improve.

This is a forum and we debate and try to predict what will happen. So much can or could happen. IF CMc goes down again or if some key players get hurt, we could be in a much worse position than even last year.

I think our defense will be very good, and if we can improve offensively, this team could be pretty solid. Lester is not necessarily the splash that we wanted. But much like NorthKCHawk said, he aligns with KF's philosophy and I think we all knew that this would happen. I still trust KF. He has taken care of this program for 20 years and we have had some pretty darn good teams over that time. Hoping to see that again next season.

 

[justwinbaby]

Look, the only part of this that warrants a response is the OL. Unlike you, I have seen individual improvement and improvement as a whole on the OL. The four main guys that will start next to Proctor have gotten better the last two seasons. You can believe that or not, but its true. They were going to be a good unit next year without Proctor. With Proctor, you have an anchor at the most important position, and then you have a lot of size and experience up and down the line. They could be good.

What no one wants to talk about is that the OL can only do so much with poor QB play. BF and KF have put tragically bad QBs out there for 3 years straight. Petras was a statue that suffered from beaten puppy syndrom. The other kid was worse. This past year, we never saw McNamara as anything other than a one-legged QB. Hill was the worst QB in the history of the program. Are those things KF/BF's fault? Yes, they recruited poorly for the position and stuck with losers way too long.

The success of the new OC and Iowa's offense will, SHOCKINGLY, come down to QB play. If McNamara remains injured/ineffective, and Iowa runs Hill out there at QB, then the new OC will fail and there is little the OL can do about that. But, if the new OC can elevate the level of play in the room that he has sat in as a player, position coach, and head coach his entire adult life, then the OL will be a good unit and support that improved QB play. One cannot have an effect offense without good QB play. That is the ingredient that has killed Iowa of late.

I think that you have it backwards. You are not going to get good quarterback play if you don’t have a good line. It doesn’t matter how good your quarterback is if the oline is terrible. That’s been our biggest issue the past three years. If the oline is good then even a below average quarterback might be able to do okay because if you have all day to throw someone is going to get open. Furthermore if the oline is opening holes then all he needs to do is hand the ball off. I agree that the oline improved but they still were pretty bad. I do think that the second biggest issue was quarterback play in which case maybe Lester is the man for the job. That being said if the problem has been Kirk the whole time then it doesn’t matter who is OC. We will know in six months or so.

 

[CP87]

I think that you have it backwards. You are not going to get good quarterback play if you don’t have a good line. It doesn’t matter how good your quarterback is if the oline is terrible. That’s been our biggest issue the past three years. If the oline is good then even a below average quarterback might be able to do okay because if you have all day to throw someone is going to get open. Furthermore if the oline is opening holes then all he needs to do is hand the ball off. I agree that the oline improved but they still were pretty bad. I do think that the second biggest issue was quarterback play in which case maybe Lester is the man for the job. That being said if the problem has been Kirk the whole time then it doesn’t matter who is OC. We will know in six months or so.

It goes both ways. Really rough for an OL to look good against 9 man boxes and constant blitzes because the passing game is no threat, the QB has terrible pocket awareness, and he cannot beat you with his legs.

 

[rschneider]

Hey I'll give the guy a chance. The issue is this is Kirk's fourth chance to get it right, yet went a route no one with any logic would go.

People are right, Kirk has no desire to compete with the big dogs.

 

[Fryowa]

While I do not think that the portal is a magic elixir at QB, I agree with the posts that we need an upgrade at back-up QB. Any scenario where Hill is on the depth chart next Fall is unacceptable. That said, I get Fry's point that the portal is shit right now. Of course it is. But, a lot of guys are going to lose Spring Ball battles and be looking for a new home before Fall. We should pick up a guy to compete with Lainez for the back-up roll and politely tell Hill to check out professional wrestling as a career.

We need to give Lainez the ball until he does something that warrants taking it away from him. You go with the hot hand and even in a limited showing, he had the hot hand. The kid had TN confused, there’s no debating that. If he can avoid sacks from our rag tag OL and let Proctor swat flies on his blind side, let the kid try to be Brad Banks, he did a good job against a D line that was bigger and faster than anything else the Hawks saw last year sans Michigan.

Cade McNamara is ten year old BMW with tranny problems and 300,000 miles. Looks flashy from a distance till you get up close and actually drive it.