Kirk Ferentz speaks highly of Jay Norvell's role Iowa football staff
Kirk Ferentz spoke highly of Jay Norvell and his transition to the Iowa Hawkeyes' newest running backs coach.
The Iowa Hawkeyes have been a dominant rushing team the last few years. Kaleb Johnson took over the Big Ten during his All-American campaign, and last season saw Iowa bludgeon teams with an elite offensive line and a stable of talented running backs. Entering 2026, the stable of running backs will once again be incredibly talented, with an experienced coach leading the way.
Jay Norvell, an Iowa alum, recently moved from an offenisve analyst role to the running backs coach , and head coach Kirk Ferentz has high praise for Norvell. " Jay Norvell was back here for a home game in November, Michigan State, and served as our honorary captain. Little did I know at that point, he was out just kind of going watching practices and what have you.
After the bowl game, he reached out and said if anything would open up here, he'd have an interest. "We had an empty chair, if you will, due to some transitions. So he decided to join us in January as an analyst.
He was going to be one of the guys helping us out with the game plan, that type of thing. Then with Omar leaving, it made it a natural transition. "Back in November, I never would have guessed this was going to happen.