Cedar Rapids Jefferson announces hiring of Ed Miles as new varsity head football coach

CEDAR RAPIDS — Obviously it remains to be seen how it’ll all work out, but if you are looking for a head varsity football coach, Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s announcement Thursday afternoon that Ed Miles will lead the program checked a lot of boxes when it comes to a new hire.

Former Iowa Hawkeye. Former NFL player. Has been an assistant coach in the Metro. Works in the building.

Check, check, check, check.

“I feel excited and grateful for the opportunity,” Miles said. “I’m excited to create a strong, stable, successful program. Obviously we’ve got a lot of work to do in building that up. But I’m excited to get in there, get my feet wet and get to work.“

Miles, 37, is a Tallahassee, Fla., native who played linebacker at Iowa in the mid-2000s. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Miami Dolphins in 2007, played all 16 games that season and another two in 2008 with the New York Giants.

Miles moved back to Iowa with his wife, who is a Preston native, in 2010. The couple has three daughters.

He has worked at Tanager Place in Cedar Rapids, as well as with the Linn County Juvenile Detention & Diversion Services and as a student supervisor at Linn-Mar. He now is a college career transition coordinator at Kirkwood Community College, with an office at Jefferson High School.

Miles was an assistant coach at Linn-Mar from 2016 to 2020, including a two-year stint as defensive coordinator.

“You know, I love being a mentor to young kids,” he said. “I know where I came from and the support that I had when I was going through playing youth football in high school and being recognized for different things. It’s a different landscape when I was coming out, but football created opportunities for me that had I not played football, I don’t know if I would have had those.”

Jefferson has struggled mightily in football in recent years, is on a 17-game losing streak and went 0-9 in 2021, its closest loss by 42 points. The J-Hawks dressed just 21 varsity players for their season opener and had to forfeit a game to Cedar Rapids Kennedy because injuries and COVID-19 left too few available kids.

The school never announced it, but former head coach Chris Buesing, a Jeff grad, told The Gazette in late January that he had learned from school administrators that he would not be returning to lead the program.

“One of the challenges in anything is trying to change the mindset of the students to that winning mindset,” Miles said. “As in, you expect that you belong there. Whatever it is, I expect that I do belong on this field, I expect a great outcome. Does that always translate into winning? No. But you are going to be more successful with that thought training, rather than focusing on being negative.”

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com