Iowa has long been a destination program where offensive lineman were developed as well as anywhere in the country.
Imagine a day in the not-too-distant future where the nation's top high school quarterbacks are spurning places like USC, Georgia and Alabama, and instead taking their talents to Iowa City, Iowa.
That's what second-year Hawkeyes offensive coordinator Tim Lester envisions.
When veteran head coach Kirk Ferentz was on the hunt for a new offensive coordinator, following the high profile parting of ways with son Brian fueled by equal parts frustrated fan base and an over-involved athletic department, it was no secret that Kirk wanted to stick to the NFL-style offensive DNA the program had become known for but there was also a thirst to modernize a bit.
A recent piece in the Des Moines Register by Chad Leistikow talks about that quest, starting with the hire of former Western Michigan head coach Tim Lester, a college coaching veteran who Ferentz brought in after Lester spent a season with the Green Bay Packers learning the intricacies of the Mike Shanahan-inspired system under Matt LaFleur which has taken the NFL by storm.
Leistikow points out in his article that Lester believes the system can become a huge recruiting advantage for the Hawkeyes.
"Someday, it should be the biggest advantage ever," Lester shared a few days ago during an event in Des Moines.
“I mean, you should get any quarterback in the country you want. It should be a huge advantage, if you’ve got guys that want to play at the next level.”
The complexity of the system has kept it out of college football to a large degree, outside of a few seasons of Liam Coen at Kentucky, and while the Hawkeyes offense improved in a lot of ways, they were still one of the worst passing offenses in college football last season - ranking above only the service academies and Michigan at 130th nationally.
Lester adds that learning the system is like learning a foreign language, but once you get grasp it, it immediately translates to the NFL...and once in the NFL - with the Dolphins, Rams, Niners, and Packers running some variation of it - it becomes very easy to plug-and-play as a quarterback.
“It’s like learning Spanish or any language, and once you know it, you know it. That’s why you see Baker Mayfield leaving a team on Wednesday, getting to the Rams on Thursday and playing on Sunday. Because it's a language, and once you know it, you can go from team to team.”
Iowa will return some key pieces on offense as they look to take another step forward in the system this fall, but they're also handing the keys to a first-year quarterback in the system with a few notable transfers.
Ferentz was able to add former Wake Forest offensive coordinator Warren Ruggerio and coaching veteran Billy VandeMerkt to the staff, which should lighten the load on Lester when it comes to game planning and allow him some extra time with quarterbacks.
Iowa opens the season August 30th against Albany (FCS) before a September 6th match up against in-state rival Iowa State in Ames.