Packers Coach Leaving Green Bay for College Job
By Cem Yolbulan
The Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is losing another key member of his staff ahead of the 2024 season.
Tim Lester, who has been a senior analyst with the Packers since March 2023, is expected to become the offensive coordinator for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Sources: Iowa is expected to hire Tim Lester, the former Western Michigan coach, as offensive coordinator. Lester spent the 2023 season as a Green Bay Packers analyst, and was set to take the OC job at Troy. Iowa also strongly considered former Duke OC Kevin Johns, per sources.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) January 28, 2024
Packers News: Analyst Tim Lester is Leaving Green Bay for Iowa Gig
After being the head coach of Western Michigan for five years, Lester was hired by Green Bay last year to assist on the defensive side of the ball. LaFleur and Lester have known each other for a long time, as the two were teammates at Western Michigan in 1998 and 1999.
Even though Lester was responsible more for the defense in Green Bay, he has more extensive experience on the offensive side, working as an offensive coordinator in multiple other stops before coming to Titletown.
Lester will replace Brian Ferentz, who has had a disappointing tenure in Iowa as the Hawkeyes finished second-to-last in FBS in scoring each of the past two seasons, only putting up a horrendous 15.4 points per game in 2023. Brian Ferentz is the son of the country's longest-tenured coach Kirk Ferentz, who has been the head coach in Iowa since 1999.
LaFleur is likely to continue to bring more experienced coaches to work as analysts with the team. John Donovan and Aubrey Pleasant had previously worked as senior analysts under LaFleur before moving onto other positions elsewhere.
However, the Packers' current priority is finding a new defensive coordinator after unsurprisingly firing Joe Barry.
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