On Tuesday, first-year Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester spoke on what he has learned about himself and the game of football from his previous coaching experiences.
While Lester has 22 years of coaching experience, he was asked to reflect on his journey over the past two years, starting with his 2022 dismissal as head coach from his alma mater, Western Michigan.
“It’s been wild to be honest with you,” Lester said. “People don’t understand when you get to be the head coach of your alma mater, you think you never want to leave. You have opportunities to leave and you don’t plan on it, and then you don’t have a choice. You have to leave. So, those were dark days.”
Lester, a member of the WMU Athletic Hall of Fame, threw for 11,299 passing yards with 87 touchdowns during his four-year Broncos career.
Unfortunately for Lester, he took the head coaching reins in 2017, a year removed from Western Michigan’s 13-1 season and Rose Bowl appearance under then-head coach P.J. Fleck. Lester would be fired in 2022 with a 37-32 record in six seasons as head coach.
Following his dismissal from Western Michigan, Lester joined the Green Bay Packers as a senior analyst under head coach Matt LaFleur’s staff. LaFleur and Lester were teammates at Western Michigan during LaFleur’s two seasons in Kalamazoo from 1998-99.
Lester continued his reflection by stating that his lone season in Green Bay was refreshing as it reintroduced him to a familiar system of plays.
“Having a chance to go with Matt in Green Bay was refreshing. To coach in the NFL, to kind of reintroduce myself to this system, which has always been my favorite system. I ran it for years early on in my career, which is really unique to get back,” Lester said.
He added that his six seasons as a head coach in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) showed him that head coaches don’t just get to coach football.
“The one thing that I’ve learned about coaching, at least in the MAC—I don’t know how many places are like this—but you do a lot, you wear a lot of hats, so you get further and further away from football, which is what I love to do. Sitting in a room with the quarterbacks talking ball, trying to teach is why we do what we do,” Lester said.
In his time with Green Bay, Lester’s focus was able to return solely to football.
“As a head coach at least at that level—I know there’s coaches, like in the NFL, they only want head coaches that are play callers. In college they don’t. They want you to go raise money. So, it was refreshing to get back to all about the ball.
“That’s what you do in the NFL and to be in a place at Green Bay with Matt and all the coaches really, that was an enlightening year for me. Even though I was there until 1 in the morning. I was the grunt guy. I’d get somebody coffee if they needed it. They didn’t make me do it, but I would have. It was a lot of fun.”
At Iowa, it’s similar to Green Bay. Lester’s focus is on the teaching.
“And then coming here and getting to be a football coach and be around these guys and introduce something brand new that they’ve never heard of or seen and watch the way they’ve worked at it.
“I’m glad they’ve had a little bit of success and not even close to what we need to be, but it’s been a great journey. Learning a lot about what makes me happy and what makes me feel fulfilled and have better relationships and so it’s been a journey, but it’s been fun,” Lester said.
Lester and the Hawkeyes (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) are currently on their bye week but will resume play on Nov. 23 from SECU Stadium in College Park, Md., when they take on the Maryland Terrapins (4-5, 1-5 Big Ten).
Kickoff for next week’s game is slated for 11 a.m. CT and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network and on the Hawkeyes Radio Network.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions.
Follow Scout on X: @SpringgateNews