Omar Young quickly builds relationships, injects humor in Iowa’s running backs room

IOWA CITY — Omar Young is “terrible with names,” but he’s working on it.

“I do have the coaches’ names,” Young said while also trying to take note of the reporters’ names in the interview. “I do have all my guys’ names. I got most of the offense, slowly getting there. And I’m way behind on the defensive guys.”

It is just one aspect of how Young — an Oakland, Calif., native without any past connections to Iowa — is quickly building relationships in his position room and beyond as the Hawkeyes’ new running backs coach.

The running backs room already had “freaking strong” relationships, Young said.

“When you see them most of the time, they’re always all together in some group, form or fashion,” Young said of the running backs. “So it’s just trying to build on that, and how can I come in there and add to it and be a part of it, more importantly? … Those guys have been open arms in that regard, and it’s been cool that they’ve kind of brought me in that way, too.”

The relationship-building starts to get into the 41-year-old football coach’s macro-level “why” for coaching in the first place.

“I don’t have kids, but I kind of see them as like nephews, little/big brothers,” Young said. “When they come here, their parents already established a foundation. My job is to put another level on that. … When we take that, we’ve got a person that’s ready to go out there and go kill everything and be successful in everything that they do — from sports, to football, to being a parent, to being a husband.”

Kamari Moulton, the top returning running back from last year, noted Young is a “funny guy.” Young might beg to differ.

“I don’t think of myself as being funny,” Young said. “Other people do. I don’t know what they’re talking about. … Honestly, when you can have a sense of humor about things, you’re having fun, you’re relaxed.”

Humor is especially important, as Young sees it, considering the various academic and athletic demands his athletes already have.

“It’s a lot of stuff that’s already tense,” Young said. “We don’t need to be tense all the time. Our guys know we’re going to go in there in the room, and we’re going to have fun when we need to have fun. But when we need to work and we need to get things done, we’re going to get it done.”

Young replaces Ladell Betts, who left on Feb. 24 to take the same position with the New York Giants. The timing of Young’s hire a few weeks later gave him little time to acclimate before spring practices. Iowa officially announced the hire on March 17, and his first day in Iowa City was a week later on the same day as the Hawkeyes’ pro day.

“The next day was skills and drills, so we’re out there in the practice,” Young said, followed by the first two spring practices and then a coaches clinic to round out the week.

“That first week — oh my God, flying by the seat of my pants,” Young said.

Young arrived after spending a season as an offensive assistant with the New England Patriots in 2024. That stint came to an end when the Patriots fired head coach Jerod Mayo after going 4-13 in his first season.

“I think things happen for a reason,” Young said. “You talk about New England, that situation not working out. But from a New England standpoint, me doing that and getting with those guys — and it was great people that I worked with there — but having that experience got me to the Senior Bowl. … When you get to the Senior Bowl, now I’m working with Brian Ferentz. And so now that’s an initial ‘in.’”

Young also had stints on the Chicago Bears’ staff in 2022 and 2023, the Green Bay Packers’ staff in 2017 and 2018 and the Cleveland Browns’ staff in 2015.

His most recent college experience was at Eastern Illinois from 2019-21. He was the running backs coach for all three seasons in Charleston, Ill., while adding co-special teams coordinator responsibilities in 2020 and 2021.

“All of those experiences of seeing so many different ways to do it and so many different styles of running backs to do it have been super beneficial,” Young said. “I go back to my time in Green Bay when we drafted Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams. Those two, again different kinds of styles, but we made it work.”

Now, he’ll be working with a running backs room that no longer has NFL-bound consensus All-American Kaleb Johnson, but there are others with plenty of potential in 2025.

Moulton had 473 rushing yards and averaged 5.6 yards per carry as a redshirt freshman in 2024. Jaziun Patterson accumulated 309 rushing yards while averaging 4.9 yards per carry.

“It’s crazy how eerily similar” Moulton and Jones — formerly of the Packers and now on the Vikings — are “when you just put the tape on,” Young said.

“And he’s still got some work to do before he thinks about getting truly in that breadth,” Young said of Moulton.

But before looking too far ahead, Young has a few more names to memorize.

“It’s been a process, guys, in terms of getting here and trying to meet as many people as you possibly can,” Young said. “So you can establish those relationships, and that’s what it’s really all about.”

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