By Mark Pszonak
There are certain patterns that develop over time in the college football world that are almost impossible to avoid. A few of these are that Ohio State will have great wide receivers, Penn State will have impressive linebackers and Iowa’s offense will struggle. However, the Hawkeyes believe that they are close to changing that.
In a recent article by Chad Leistikow in the Des Moines Register, his interview with Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester shows that the second-year coach is extremely optimistic about the direction of the unit. This is mostly due to the offensive schemes that Coach Lester learned during his one season with the Green Bay Packers. He believes it is more about the system than him.
“Someday, it should be the biggest advantage ever,” said Coach Lester. “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.”
However, he also acknowledges that the offense is difficult to learn, mostly due to the terminology.
“It’s like learning Spanish or any language,” said Coach Lester. “And once you know it, you know it.”
Optimism is generally a good quality, but it will be very difficult for anyone not to be skeptical about Coach Lester’s comments. Here are just a few reasons why:
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· In Coach Lester’s first season with the Hawkeyes, the team passed for 1,711 yards, 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions
· The Hawkeyes also finished 129th out of 133 FBS teams in passing offense. They were only better than Michigan, Navy, Air Force and Army.
· Iowa hasn’t had a 3,000+ yard quarterback since James Vandenberg in 2011 (3,022)
· Over the last five seasons, Iowa quarterbacks have combined to pass for 47 touchdowns and 42 interceptions
Iowa will be turning their offense over to transfer quarterback Mark Gronowski during the 2025 season. Considering Coach Lester’s comments regarding the difficulties surrounding the terminology of the offense, it will be a lot to ask for from Gronkowski to excel considering it will be his first season in Iowa City and he missed spring practice due to an injury.
Coach Lester’s comments were unnecessary. There is nothing wrong with being optimistic, but sometimes it is better to keep that internally. Now that it is public, additional pressure that wasn’t going to exist will be placed on Gronowski and the offense overall.
And plenty of eyes will be wondering if 2025 will be more of the same for the Hawkeyes or if Iowa will suddenly resemble Oregon and Ole Miss.
