All Betts Are Off
Iowa enters the assistant coach carousel in its typical fashion: Late, and with intrigue
The first time I watched a game at Kinnick, Ladell Betts was unquestionably the best Hawkeye on the field. I was a wide-eyed freshman, Betts was a sophomore halfback, and Iowa was facing mighty Nebraska. It didn’t go well that day — it didn’t go well that year, really — but Betts finished the year with more than 1,000 yards from scrimmage for a one-win team. He was the best player the following year, and arguably the year after that. Most importantly, he stuck with Iowa while Kirk Ferentz rebuilt the program from the bottom up, one of the few holdover players from the Fry regime to play in 30+ games under the new coach. He is the second-leading rusher in program history despite winning 14 games in four years. At a time where it was desperately needed, he was a program giant.
He’s now an actual Giant. After a second four-year term at Iowa, this time as running backs coach, Betts has joined Brian Daboll’s staff with the New York Giants. Kirk Ferentz released the following statement:
"Ladell Betts was an exceptional player for the University of lowa and for nine years in the NFL. He developed into a highly respected coach by building strong relationships with players first as a high school coach and when he joined the Hawkeye Football coaching staff. Since he returned to lowa, he has been a consummate professional, sharing knowledge and experience freely to the benefit of everyone in our program. It is no surprise that an opportunity like this came along. The New York Giants are getting a tremendous coach and an outstanding person. We wish him well."
The hire makes all the Ferentzian sense in the world. Daboll came up through Nick Saban’s coaching program at Michigan State, then jumped to Bill Belichick’s staff in New England for seven years. He made the jump with Eric Mangini to the Jets and Browns, spent a season with the Chiefs as a coordinator while Ferentz buddy (and fellow Belichick disciple) Scott Pioli was general manager, and came back to New England as tight ends coach when Brian Ferentz left for Iowa. Eventually, Daboll had a brief second stint with Saban, a run with Buffalo as a coordinator, and now three-plus seasons running the Giants. There are already two Ferentzes — James is assistant offensive line coach, and Steve is a defensive assistant — on Daboll’s staff. This move is preordained from upon high.
What happens next for Betts is pretty clear. He joins a staff run by Daboll and coordinator Mike Kafka; while Daboll is perpetually under fire, Kafka is a rising star in NFL circles who nearly got the Saints head coaching job this cycle. There are obvious growth opportunities for him in NFL coaching, just by getting over this first hurdle. If he clears enough of them in quick succession, he could potentially be a candidate to follow Ferentz at Iowa.
Things are murkier for the Hawkeyes. Betts came to Iowa after an eight-year stint coaching high school football in Florida, which opened the Sunshine State back up for Ferentz’s staff. There’s little argument that, during his four years in Iowa City, he built the deepest position group on the offense. Kaleb Johnson became a program legend under his watch. His recruiting record was solid, especially with running backs. Iowa has always settled for under-the-radar guys out of Florida, and while Betts got some high-profile wins (he beat out Alabama, Miami, Michigan and Oregon for Jazz Patterson), that didn’t change much during his tenure.
Who fills Betts’ former position might be the most interesting aspect of this story. Because of the extraordinary length of his tenure, Ferentz has a Rolodex of former players now coaching throughout the country. He has frequently used that as of late to fill staff vacancies; Betts, special teams coordinator LeVar Woods, tight ends coach Abdul Hodge, and defensive line coach Kelvin Bell are all former players under Ferentz. If that is the route that Kirk wants to take, there’s an obvious name: Albert Young, who played halfback at Iowa from 2005-08, spent a few years coaching at the college level (including running backs at Colorado in 2012), and now runs a football training academy in his native New Jersey. Young’s rarely-updated Instagram pretty clearly hints that he’d like to get back into coaching — he served as an intern with the Chiefs in 2022 and spent some time in the 2023 preseason working with the Commanders. His credentials are arguably better than Betts had at the time of his hiring. It’s a natural fit.
On the other hand, the offense is allegedly turned over completely to Tim Lester. As Eliot Clough notes at the Beacon, Lester’s former running backs coach at Western Michigan is possibly available. Mike Bath is currently the offensive coordinator at Indiana State, which would certainly put him in the running for a mid-tier position coach position at a program like Iowa. Bath also played and coached at Miami (Ohio)1 and coached running backs for Craig Bohl at Wyoming, so he certainly knows his way around a zone-based running offense. On paper, a guy like Bath makes a lot of sense. But if it’s Bath, or someone else from outside the Ferentz extended circle of trust, it’s potentially a further sign of Lester’s influence over all aspects of the offense.
He left as the Chuck Martin/George Barnett era began, which means he can’t play into one of my favorite conspiracy theories about Iowa’s decision to retain Brian Ferentz in 2023.
Will be interesting to see what path is taken when this hire is finally made in August!!
Not for nothing, but even in the absence of Lester, I don't wonder if Albert Young is a non-starter. Since he graduated after the 2007 season--and that guy deserved so much more than what he was given with for a team in 2006 and 2007--there has seemingly been a strained relationship between Young and the program. Not quite "bad blood", but he's been rather a conspicuous non-entity around the team ever since.
Young's coaching experience seems to be through his connection to Eric Bienemy (his position coach in Minnesota). AY was briefly at Colorado (when Bienemy was there) and back again with Bienemy with the Chiefs and then Commanders. It wouldn't be the worst mentor, but not necessarily a zone-rushing mentor.
My first thought was looking at former players or assistants under Ben Sirmans, who played for KF at Maine and coached with Lester in GB, which led me to some promising names for other offensive positions but not RB (ahem, WR).
One thing I've forgotten is it seems like Derrick Foster (now with the Cowboys) was hired off the recommendation of Seth Wallace, with whom he coached at Valdosta.
It seems like Lester really flexes his connections with D-3 football based on his hires at WMU.