Iowa football notebook: Tim Lester, Cade McNamara ‘share a lot of offensive philosophy’

IOWA CITY — New Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester seems to have spent no shortage of time with his QB1.

“Sometimes I got to check the clock before I walk into his office because I might walk out three hours later,” said Cade McNamara, Iowa’s presumed starting quarterback for the 2024 football season.

Lester has been “nothing but open and honest with us” with the new offensive scheme, McNamara said, as he implements a scheme that resembles the Shanahan West Coast system and what the Green Bay Packers operate.

“We’ve been able to share a lot of offensive philosophy together,” McNamara said. “I can tell that he really cares about the players and our perspective on the offense and how we think we can make it better, whether it’s changing a route depth or changing a concept.”

Being in EA College Football 25 is ‘really cool experience’

Linebacker Nick Jackson was “just chilling on the couch” when he received a call from his father.

“My dad’s like, ‘Yo, I’m at the store,” Jackson said. “I was like, ‘What’s up?’”

“I’m about to buy a (video game) console,” his father said.

“What?” Jackson said, remembering the conversation.

“Yeah, I got to play as my boy in the game,” his father said.

The eagerness of Jackson’s father to play EA Sports College Football 25 has been part of what’s been a “really cool experience” for Jackson and his teammates as they are virtually depicted in the new college football video game.

“You can tell how energized and enthusiastic he was about it,” Jackson said of his father. “My mom was like, ‘This is super cool.’”

Jackson is the third-highest-rated Hawkeye in the video game. His overall rating of 90 trails only fellow linebacker Jay Higgins (94 overall) and defensive back Sebastian Castro (92 overall). Defensive back Xavier Nwankpa also has a 90 overall rating.

Gennings Dunker’s summer reading list

Iowa offensive lineman Gennings Dunker finally got around to watching the 1994 blockbuster movie “The Shawshank Redemption” this week. He didn’t watch it earlier because he “wanted to read the book first.”

The book that led to the movie — Stephen King’s “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” — is just one of the 311-pound offensive lineman’s summer reads.

Dunker has “read like six” of Ernest Hemingway’s books, including “Old Man and the Sea.” As for any part of the book that especially related to him, “I like to fish, so I guess there’s that.”

Offensive line’s competitiveness on football field... and pickleball court

Iowa’s offensive line has “competition day in and day out,” center Logan Jones said Tuesday, and that’s not exclusive to the football field or offseason workouts.

“We were playing pickleball the other day,” Jones said. “We’re yelling at each other. … You’re not going to talk to them right after.”

Jones’ first pickleball game was in Cedar Rapids - he and Nick DeJong against Mason Richman and Connor Colby. More games could be in store soon as Jones recently bought his own paddles.

“I’m a lot better at that than I am at golf,” Jones said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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