Tim Lester carries schematic flexibility as he begins tenure as Iowa’s offensive coordinator

IOWA CITY — Tim Lester was quick to address what “everybody wants to know” in his introductory news conference — what Iowa is “going to be about” as an offense in 2024 and beyond.

“We're going to be a physical football team,” Iowa’s new offensive coordinator said Tuesday. “We're going to be disciplined, and we're going to be aggressive in everything we do, from run game to pass game to keepers to RPOs to tempos.”

Beyond that, what Iowa’s offense will look like schematically under Lester’s leadership remains flexible as he further acclimates himself to the Hawkeyes.

“Part of Tim's job is going to be to figure out what do we want to emphasize,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “You can only practice so many things and emphasize so many things and do them well. … I'm open to anything right now, any ideas.”

Lester has some schematic flexibility after working in various offensive schemes. He “ran the Shanahan system” at the Division III level, took over a spread offense at Syracuse that “didn’t even have a tight end” and worked in an offensive scheme at Purdue that was more comparable to the New Orleans Saints’ offense.

“There's a lot to choose from,” Lester said, “and I hate to keep going back to this, but I can't wait to see what we have. … What gets called will be dependent on kind of what we see in the spring and what we see as the guys move around here in the next couple months.“

RPO — that’s short for run-pass option — was certainly not a hallmark of the Iowa offense in recent years, but it’s something Lester has effectively incorporated before in his coaching career (and something Lester brought up unprompted about 30 seconds into his opening remarks).

“It's not something we haven't ever considered or we're blind to,” Ferentz said of RPOs.

Lester has “600 pages of pass plays” from his various coaching stops, which he will narrow to what he believes works best for the Hawkeyes.

“Jack-of-all-trades, master of none is not what we need to be about,” Lester said. “We need to figure that out, so we can get really good at something.”

Putting together the playbook will “take some time,” Lester said. He remains in the relationship-building stage with his players after being named offensive coordinator last week.

“I have a saying, RBO, 'relationship before opportunity,’” Lester said. “I'll have a great opportunity to coach these young men once I have a relationship with them.”

As much as Lester is in wait-and-see mode before making too many proclamations of what the Iowa offense will look like schematically, early signs point toward Lester operating with a similar philosophy regarding tight end usage and mobile quarterbacks’ value.

Lester considers himself to be a “12 guy,” referencing the personnel grouping with one running back and two tight ends. That is in alignment with what Iowa, the self-proclaimed “Tight End U,” has done in past years.

“I love tight ends,” Lester said. “I'm a huge fan. Everywhere I've been, our tight end has been all-conference normally. Some people use them, some people don't. I love the fact of what they can do to a defense in the run game, in the pass game, in the play pass game, in the keeper game. It also can open up things out on the edges, too.”

Lester described mobile quarterbacks as “icing on the cake if you have it,” but it is not a prerequisite for the QB1 role.

“I value efficiency at the quarterback position,” Lester said. “Mobility would be a bonus. If I can get both, 100 percent I'm all for it. Who doesn't want that, right? But there has to be efficiency first."

Not everything will be the same, though, as hinted by Lester’s early mention of RPOs. A smaller difference between Lester and his predecessor will be where they are on game days. Brian Ferentz coached from the sidelines during games, whereas Lester prefers being in the press box.

“When you're having to think and make adjustments, I just think being in the environment up in the booth is a way better learning environment than sometimes on the sideline where it gets very emotional,” Lester said.

As for other changes to the Iowa offense, time will tell as Lester focuses on “RBO” — relationship before opportunity — ahead of figuring out RPOs and other schematic tasks.

“We've got to figure out kind of what we've got and what's the best way for us to be efficient, aggressive, run the ball and help the team win,” Lester said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com