Iowa football announces new staff additions

IOWA CITY — Iowa football made four staff additions official Friday afternoon, including the formal announcement of Jay Norvell rejoining the program.

Norvell will hold the title of senior offensive analyst, joining offensive coordinator Tim Lester. Norvell has spent three decades as an assistant coach at the college and NFL level, before earning head coaching roles at Nevada and Colorado State.

Norvell made the announcement of his return on social media Wednesday night.

“Jay was an outstanding player at the University of Iowa when I was here in the 1980s” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said in a statement. “He has a long and varied coaching career that will be a real benefit to our offensive coaching staff and players.”

Along with Norvell, Kyle Hazell will join as an offensive analyst. Hazell was previously a graduate assistant and assistant quarterbacks coach at the University of Toledo last season, and held the same role at Youngstown State in 2024.

Hazell was a wide receiver at Dayton as a two-year starter, playing in 20 games from 2021-22.

After announcing the hiring of special teams coordinator Chris Polizzi in January, Ferentz has announced the inclusion of Kevin Spencer as the special teams quality control coach. Spencer rejoins Iowa with five decades of coaching experience, including seven stops in the NFL.

Spencer was previously a special teams quality control assistant for Iowa in 2017-18, helping Iowa to Pinstripe Bowl and Outback Bowl wins. After coaching with the New England Patriots in 2019, Spencer came back to Iowa in 2020, helping lead the Hawkeyes to their 2021 Big Ten West championship.

Spencer also work with Ferentz while the two were with the Cleveland Browns in the early ‘90s. Most recently, Spencer was working as a part-time film analyst for Summer Sports.

“Kevin spent nearly three decades coaching in the National Football League and many years in college football,” Ferentz said. “He knows firsthand the importance of special teams to our program and will be an asset to that unit going forward.”

Finally, North Liberty native Mac McLeran will join Iowa as a defensive analyst after four years as a defensive run game coordinator and linebackers coach for Southern Illinois University (2022-25). McLeran was an all-state offensive lineman and played three years at University of South Dakota.

While at SIU, McLeran helped lead the program to the 2023 FCS Sweet 16 and helped coach All-American linebacker Ben Bogle — the first All-American from the program since 2009.

Iowa’s football season officially begins Sept. 5 against Northern Illinois at Kinnick Stadium.

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