Iowa football officially hires Omar Young as next running backs coach

IOWA CITY — Iowa football has officially added Omar Young to its staff as running backs coach, the team announced Monday afternoon in a press release.

The hire, which was widely expected since late last week, gives the Hawkeyes a full coaching staff again with more than a week before the start of spring practices.

“I am grateful to Coach (Kirk) Ferentz and the Hawkeye coaching staff for this opportunity,” Young said in the press release. “The Iowa program has a tremendous amount of respect across the country. I am looking forward to continuing the tradition that has been built here over many, many years.”

Young, 41, joins the Hawkeyes after a variety of roles on NFL and college football staffs. He most recently was an offensive coaching assistant with the New England Patriots in 2024. (The Patriots then fired head coach Jerod Mayo after going 4-13 in his first and only season.)

He spent the previous two seasons on the Chicago Bears’ staff, first as an offensive quality control coach in 2022 and then as the assistant quarterbacks and wide receivers coach in 2023. He also has spent time on the Green Bay Packers and Cleveland Browns’ staffs.

His most recent experience at the college level was at Eastern Illinois from 2019-21. He was the running backs coach in 2019 and then added co-special teams coordinator to his title for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He also had smaller roles with Colorado in 2013-14 and South Carolina in 2016.

"He has a track record of building deep relationships with his players at every level and guiding them to success on and off the field,“ Ferentz said of Young in the press release. ”His wealth of experience in both college and the NFL will benefit our players and our entire program."

He will receive a base salary of $300,000, according to his offer letter obtained by The Gazette via a public records request. That’s in addition to his $20,000 “transition/relocation incentive.”

Young replaces Ladell Betts, who left his alma mater after four seasons on Ferentz’s staff to take the same role with the New York Giants. It was not the first time in recent history that the Hawkeyes lost a running backs coach to the NFL, as Derrick Foster left in 2021 to take the same job with the Los Angeles Chargers.

This was the biggest hire on the offensive side of the ball since offensive coordinator Tim Lester’s arrival in January 2024. The Hawkeyes also added former Wake Forest offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero to the staff as an analyst earlier this winter.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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