Jason Dumont steps up from defensive coordinator to interim head coach of Iowa City Regina football

IOWA CITY — This was talked about ahead of time.

If and when Marv Cook stepped down as Iowa City Regina’s head football coach, what would happen? It was decided that one of his top assistants would take over the best small school program in the state.

That’d be either defensive coordinator Jason Dumont or offensive coordinator Ed Hinkel. Dumont’s officially the guy.

Regina announced Wednesday he is Cook’s interim replacement at the school. Hinkel is associate head coach.

“Once Marv made the announcement, Ed and I sat down and talked and said ‘Hey, you know, I would work for Ed tomorrow, and Ed would work for me,’” Dumont said. “And I hate to even phrase it that way because it’s really not working for somebody. We’ve always been a team.”

Dumont and Hinkel spent 14 seasons with Cook, helping lead Regina to an incredible seven state championships and a 159-20 record. The trio all played football at the University of Iowa.

Dumont’s son, Gentry, is a sophomore at Regina, and that played a part in who officially is head coach. Hinkel’s kids are younger, and it’s very possible he could take over for Dumont someday.

That’s called coaching continuity.

“We were surprised and not surprised that Marv stepped down. We thought maybe we would have him around for one more year,” Dumont said. “To be honest with you, Ed and I would prefer that he sticks around for the next 10 years, and we can just go out and be assistant coaches. But I don’t blame him.”

Cook announced his decision two weeks ago. His children all have graduated, and his youngest son, Ashton, will be a walk-on freshman this fall at Iowa State.

“Once all my children are done, I’m not sure I’ll stick around and be coaching, either,” Dumont said. “At the end of the day, I’ve got a son coming through, and Ed has a couple of younger boys, and we wanted to keep the staff together. Keep things as consistent as they are. It just made sense that one of us step into that role. Ed’s kids are a couple years younger, so I’ll be doing this for awhile, and then at some point, I’ll probably step away. If Ed wants to come in and take over, he can do it, and I’ll step back into an assistant’s role or I’ll be done.”

Regina went 11-1 in 2020, winning the Class A state championship via a 52-28 victory over Grundy Center. The Regals’ lone loss was in an impromptu season-opening game to 4A semifinalist Pleasant Valley that was set up after both schools’ original opponents had to cancel because of COVID-19.

Dumont said that kind of attitude, never to be afraid to play the “big boys” is part of what has made Regina’s program what it has become. He also noted the emphasis on strength and conditioning.

Regina will be a 1A team this fall.

“As far as roles, Ed is going to continue as offensive coordinator, I’ll continue to be defensive coordinator,” Dumont said. “We’ll have to rely on some defensive assistants a little bit more than we have in the past. But we’ve got some good guys in place. I’m sure it’ll be a smooth transition.”

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