The long search for the new offensive coordinator for the Iowa Hawkeyes has reached its end.
A report from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg indicated Tim Lester was expected to be the new offensive coordinator for the Hawkeyes. Soon after, that report was confirmed by The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman.
I can confirm Tim Lester will be the next OC for Iowa football. @FootballScoop first reported.
— Scott Dochterman (@ScottDochterman) January 28, 2024
Lester has spent a great deal of time at different levels of football. He began his career at Wheaton Warrenville South High School in Illinois in 2000. He spent a season at Auburndale High School in Tennessee in 2001.
After that, Lester spent 2002 and 2003 as the offensive coordinator at Elmhurst College in Division III. Lester served as Saint Joseph’s head coach in Division II in 2004.
Lester first returned to his alma mater in 2005-06 as Western Michigan’s quarterbacks coach. The 2007 season took Lester to Division III’s North Central College as its head coach.
Lester returned to Elmhurst College as its head coach from 2008-12 before breaking back into Division I football with Syracuse in 2013.
He joined Syracuse as the quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator in 2013 and became the Orange’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2014-15.
Following Syracuse, Lester was the quarterbacks coach at Purdue in 2016, when his quarterback, David Blough, passed for 3,352 yards and 25 touchdowns and averaged 279.3 passing yards per game.
Lester returned to his alma mater again, accepting the head coaching role at Western Michigan from 2017-2022.
Lester’s record at Western Michigan was 37-32 overall and his overall career record is 67-55. While at Western Michigan, Lester’s offense averaged 32.02 points per game with a low of 19 points per game in 2022 and a high of 41.67 points per game in 2020.
This past season, Lester spent 2023 as a defensive analyst with the Green Bay Packers. He joined Packers head coach Matt LaFleur’s staff; the two were teammates at Western Michigan during their playing careers.
Lester was Western Michigan’s quarterback from 1996-99 when he passed for 11,299 yards and 87 touchdowns and guided the Broncos to a 24-21 record. He was the MAC Freshman of the Year in 1996 and earned second-team All-MAC honors his junior and senior seasons.
Lester went undrafted in the 2000 NFL draft, but he played for the Chicago Enforcers in the XFL and the Nashville Kats and Carolina Cobras in the Arena Football League in 2001. In 2002, Lester played in the Arena Football League 2 with the Memphis Xplorers.
Lester was slated to take the offensive coordinator job at Troy, but he will instead join the Hawkeyes. The final decision appeared to come down to Lester and former Duke Blue Devils offensive coordinator Kevin Johns.
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