News: Iowa’s LeVar Woods has been one of the most successful special teams coordinators in the country in recent years, helping the Hawkeyes have one of the most consistent units in the nation.
On Tuesday, the official Tampa Bay Buccaneers website reported that Woods had interviewed for the position of special teams coordinator with the Bucs.
“On Tuesday, the Buccaneers announced that they had conducted a virtual interview with LeVar Woods, who is currently the special teams coordinator at the University of Iowa,” according to Buccaneers.com. Earlier that day, the team confirmed interviews with Saints Assistant Special Teams Coordinator Phil Galiano and former Seahawks Special Teams Coordinator Larry Izzo.
According to Buccaneers.com, Woods is one of five applicants who have interviewed for Tampa Bay’s special teams coordinator position, which will replace Keith Armstrong, who just resigned.
What it means: Woods is one of college football’s most successful special teams coordinators, and he deserves every opportunity he gets. Coaches frequently interview for other roles out of both leverage and interest. We don’t know enough about Woods’ interest in the Tampa Bay position if it becomes available, but we do know that Tampa Bay is interested in him, which is noteworthy. Woods has previously stated that he is content at Iowa, but he also appears to be open to new opportunities if they arise. That’s based on reading the tea leaves, and this could be something to keep an eye on in the coming months with Woods and other potential job opportunities.
Alabama football transfer portal: Where the Crimson Tide’s biggest departures from the 2024 cycle are heading
Alabama was one of the programs hardest hit by the college football winter transfer portal window, with 30 total admissions. The majority of these changes came after famous coach Nick Saban announced his retirement in January, following a 17-year stint with the Crimson Tide that includes six national championships and seven trips in the College Football Playoff. Alabama lost a number of starters and critical reserves as a result of the portal exodus, with four of them ranking among the top six individual transfers for the 2024 cycle.
The Crimson Tide’s transfer departures include five-star recruits Isaiah Bond, Caleb Downs, Kadyn Proctor, and Julian Sayin. Ohio State and Texas benefited from signing a few former Alabama standouts, while Florida State garnered the biggest benefits with five additions.
Alabama might be a significant buyer during the spring transfer portal window, as new head coach Kalen DeBoer and his staff look to plug weaknesses before the 2024 season.
Below is a look at where the top transfer portal leavers from Alabama will go in 2024.
Caleb Downs, Safety
247Sports Transfer Portal ranking: 5-star | 99 rating | No. 1 overall | No. 1 S
Transfer School: Ohio State
Caleb Downs surprised much in college football when he decided to move to Ohio State rather than the expected favorite Georgia. The 6-foot, 203-pound five-star safety started all 14 games and received the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year award. Downs recorded 107 tackles, making him the first rookie in Crimson Tide history to lead the team in stops. He also recorded two interceptions, three pass breakups, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
KADYN PROCTOR’S OFFENSIVE TACKLE
247Sports Transfer Portal rank: 5-star | 99 rating | No. 2 overall | No. 1 in overtime.
Transfer school: Iowa.
Kadyn Proctor returns to his native state of Iowa after only one season at Alabama. The 6-foot-7, 360-pound monster offensive tackle struggled at times against the Crimson Tide, allowing a team-high 12 sacks. However, the five-star lineman still exudes potential. Perhaps a move closer to home and a fresh start with the Hawkeyes in 2024 will enable Proctor to realize his greatest potential. He earned the starting left tackle position at Alabama as a true freshman in 2023.
Isaiah Bond, Wide Receiver.
247Sports Transfer Portal rank: 5-star | 98 rating | No. 4 overall | No. 1 wide receiver
Transfer School: Texas
Isaiah Bond is among the fastest players in college football. That speed is welcomed in the Steve Sarkisian offense at Texas, which lost the great bulk of its top receivers from the previous season. Bond was Alabama’s second-leading receiver in 2023, with 48 receptions for 668 yards and four touchdowns. The 5-foot-11, 182-pound sophomore had one reception for 34 yards against Texas in Week 2.
JULIAN SAYIN, QUARTERBACK
247Sports Transfer Portal ranking: 5-star | 98 rating | No. 6 overall | No. 1 quarterback.
Transfer School: Ohio State
Julian Sayin, a five-star quarterback, had been enrolled at Alabama for less than two weeks before deciding to leave after Saban announced his retirement. The new freshman enters an already crowded quarterback room at Ohio State, where he will battle for the future starting job shortly. Sayin is the third-best passer in the 2024 high school recruiting class and the top-ranked transfer quarterback. He was voted Gatorade California Player of the Year and MVP of the Elite 11 Finals prior to his senior season.
DEZZ RICKS, CORNER BACK
247Sports Transfer Portal rank: 4-star, 94 rating, No. 19 overall, No. 3 CB.
Transfer school: Texas A&M.
Dezz Ricks appeared in just two games during his one season at Alabama, but the highly regarded cornerback prospect should see instant action at Texas A&M under new head coach Mike Elko. Ricks still has four years of eligibility with the Aggies despite his limited playing time in Tuscaloosa. The former Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy standout is listed as the No. 39 overall prospect regardless of position in the 2023 recruiting class.
Amari Niblack, Tight End
247Sports Transfer Portal ranking: 4-star | 93 rating | No. 28 overall | No. 1 TE
Transfer School: Texas
The Texas offense’s on-field success under former Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian made the Longhorns an appealing destination for departed Crimson Tide players. Amari Niblack, a top-ranked transfer tight end, is among those moving to Texas after a successful season with Alabama in 2023. Over 14 games, the 6-foot-4, 233-pound receiver caught 20 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns. Niblack still has two years of eligibility left.
JA’COREY BROOKS, WIDE RECEIVER
247Sports Transfer Portal rank: 4-star | 91 rating | No. 67 overall | No. 13 wide receiver.
Transfer school: Louisville
After making great contributions as a receiver at Alabama in 2022, Ja’Corey Brooks saw a substantial drop in performance as a sophomore in 2023, missing nearly half of the season due to injury. The 6-foot-2, 196-pound wide receiver appeared in eight games and grabbed only three catches for 30 yards. Brooks had a blocked punt against Ole Miss this season. With two years of eligibility remaining, Brooks may see his output increase at Louisville and the offense led by Jeff Brohm.
SHAWN MURPHY, LINE BACKER
247Sports Transfer Portal rank: 4-star, 91 rating, No. 78 overall, No. 5 LB.
Transfer School: Florida State
Florida State swept up many of Alabama’s top transfer portal departures. Shawn Murphy, the Seminoles’ backup linebacker, leads the list with three years of eligibility remaining. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound redshirt freshman appeared in 13 games and recorded three tackles, largely on special teams. Murphy participated in five games, including the bowl game, as a true freshman in 2022.
Trey Amos, Cornerback
247Sports Transfer Portal ranking: 4-star | 91 rating | No. 80 overall | No. 9 CB.
Transfer school: Ole Miss.
Ole Miss still has the top-ranked transfer portal haul for the 2024 cycle, with Trey Amos ranking among the finest acquisitions. The 6-foot-1, 197-pound cornerback appeared in all 14 games for Alabama this season. He made one start. Amos has 12 total tackles and five pass breakups in the secondary. The seasoned defensive back came to Alabama after spending the first three years of his undergraduate career at Louisiana-Lafayette. He has one year of eligibility left with the Rebels.
ROYDELL WILLIAMS, RUNNING BACK
247Sports Transfer Portal rank: 5-star | 91 rating | No. 87 overall | No. 7 running back.
Transfer School: Florida State
Despite splitting carries in the Alabama backfield, Roydell Williams put up impressive numbers in 2023. During Alabama’s march to the College Football Playoff, the 5-foot-11, 214-pound running back set career highs in rushing attempts (111), yards (560), and touchdowns (5). His best single-game effort came in Week 3 against South Florida, when he carried for 129 yards and a touchdown on 17 attempts. Williams has one year of eligibility remaining at Florida State.
Malik Benson, Wide Receiver.
247Sports Transfer Portal ranking: 4-star | 91 rating | No. 88 overall | No. 19 wide receiver
Transfer School: Florida State
Malik Benson caught 13 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown in his only season at Alabama. The former Hutchinson Community College standout was listed as the top JUCO talent in the 2023 recruiting class before joining the Crimson Tide in 2023. Before that, he caught 97 passes for 2,152 yards and 21 touchdowns over two seasons. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound wideout has one year of eligibility remaining at Florida State, where he hopes to play a larger role
JAMEER GRIMSLEY, CORNER BACK
247Sports Transfer Portal rank: 4-star, 91 rating, No. 90 overall, No. 10 CB.
Transfer School: Florida
Jameer Grimsley was likewise enrolled for a short time before leaving Alabama through the transfer portal. The four-star incoming freshman was part of the Crimson Tide’s 2024 recruiting class, but he will play his first season at Florida. Grimsley, a Florida native, was a two-way contributor for Tampa Catholic this season. He appeared in only three games, recording 19 total tackles on defense and three receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown on offense.
SETH MCLAUGHLIN, INTERIOR OFFENSIVE LINE.
247Sports Transfer Portal rankings: 4-star | 90 rating | No. 91 overall | No. 2 IOL
Transfer School: Ohio State
During the past three seasons at Alabama, Seth McLaughlin has started 25 games at center. The 6-foot-4, 301-pound lineman had 1,834 snaps, including 975 pass-blocking opportunities. He allowed only one sack. McLaughlin is rated as one of the greatest interior offensive linemen in the 2024 transfer portal cycle and intends to play a key role up front for Ohio State in 2024, where the attack could be run-heavy.
Earl Little II, Cornerback
247Sports Transfer Portal ranking: 4-star | 90 rating | No. 144 overall | No. 15 CB.
Transfer School: Florida State
Earl Little II played eight games before sustaining a season-ending injury at Alabama in 2023. The 6-foot-1, 186-pound transfer cornerback has three years of eligibility left at Florida State. Little also missed half of the 2022 season due to injury, returning for three games. He had two tackles during his stint with the Crimson Tide. The Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage recruit returns to his home state hoping to assist the Seminoles win back-to-back ACC championships in 2024.
Terrence Ferguson, Interior Offensive Line
247Sports Transfer Portal rank: 4-star, 90 rating | No. 147 overall | No. 4 IOL
Transfer School: Florida State
Terrence Ferguson, who transferred from Alabama, added depth to Florida State’s offensive line. The 6-foot-4, 322-pound interior lineman appeared in five games this season, taking 116 snaps for the Crimson Tide. He did not allow a sack in 50 pass-blocking attempts. Ferguson was considered as one of the top interior offensive linemen in the 2021 recruiting class, but he never played a meaningful role for Alabama. He appeared in 11 games across three seasons.
Everything is new. Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester remarked during his debut press conference.
Iowa City, Iowa— The highly anticipated offensive coordinator position has been filled. Tim Lester, the new Iowa offensive coordinator, held his first press conference on Tuesday. The former Western Michigan head coach will be in charge of rewriting the perception about the Hawkeye offense.
“As I stated in December, my primary concern and the majority of my time was focused only on our football team. It’s my primary obligation. “That was that little bit of research on the coordinator deal,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said of the time it took to hire Lester. “The bottom line is that the entire point of this was to find the best and proper individual for this role, and that was the purpose from beginning to end. The bottom line is that I want to do what is best for our squad and our program, and I am convinced that we hit the mark.”
“In basic terms, I probably had a list of 10-12 people, spoke with six of them, and had extended chats with four. When it came down to it, I believed we had at least four people who were qualified to perform the greatest job, and it was simply a matter of determining who the best person for the job would have been.”
Lester delivered an opening remark and fielded several questions from reporters. He talked about how to get the wide receivers engaged, the run/pass possibilities, how aggressive he will be, where he will call plays, and much more. Here’s what Lester had to say during his first public appearance.
I’d want to start by thanking Coach Ferentz and Beth Goetz for the opportunity. My family and I am very happy to be coming to Iowa City and joining this football program.
I know everyone wants to know what we’re going to be about, and I can tell you right away that we’re going to be a physical football team. We will be disciplined and aggressive in everything we do, from the run game to the passing game, keepers, RPOs, and tempos.
One thing I’ve learned as a former quarterback, quarterback coach, offensive coordinator, and head coach at nearly every level is the importance of putting your guys in the greatest possible position to succeed.
Unfortunately, I’ve only been here a few days and haven’t had the opportunity to meet all of the players other than a couple who were in the hallway recently, but I’m excited to get to work with those guys and figure out their strengths and weaknesses, as well as where we can put them to help our football team win.
It is going to be a process. We are eager to get started as soon as possible. We began the moment we hit the ground running.
But I am delighted to work with all of you to answer all of your questions, and most importantly, I have a saying, RBO, which means’relationship before opportunity.’ I’ll have a fantastic opportunity to coach these young men once I’ve established a relationship with them. So, that process will begin shortly, and we’re excited to have the ability to have some fun out there while remaining aggressive at all times.
Q. I believe there are a lot of questions concerning wide receiver use. Since 2016, Iowa has had just one wide receiver with 600 or more yards. It’s a job that involves a lot of ego and a desire for contact. Coming into Iowa City, how are you going to reinvent the wide receiver positions? I believe you stated in your opening remarks that you want to create a product that people want to be a part of, so how do you plan to achieve that from a wide receiving standpoint?
TIM LESTER: Obviously, wide receivers play an important role in any scheme. The most important thing is to get them in the right location.
Throughout my coaching career, I believe we’ve been around a lot of good ones, and we’ve been able to find methods to get the ball in their hands. There are numerous options for doing so, including screens, straight drop-backs, and putting them in the backfield. The versatility of an offensive is critical.
I haven’t gotten a chance to meet all of the wide receivers yet, but I want to ensure that the quarterback understands that we will spread the ball and that he will read his keys correctly. It is my responsibility to ensure that one of the initial few possibilities is the right individual for us.
That worked out well, and I intend to keep it going.
Q. Were you calling plays for Western Michigan in 2021?
TIM LESTER: Yes, Jake Moreland and myself. Jake is my best friend, and we think exactly the same way. We played together, coached together for 80 percent of our adult lives, and trained him until he was ready. We kind of jumped in and did it as a team that year, although I had phoned him three years prior.
Q. I’ve been analyzing the 2021 season because Western Michigan had a fantastic offensive year. I’m curious what you recall about that season’s production and how it relates to what you want to do now. I notice a lot of problems here, including rushed efforts and duration of possession. The wins were due to good ball security and other factors.
TIM LESTER: Yeah, I believe we were in the top ten in the country for time of possession. The fact that they never gathered was exceptional.
I felt like we did a nice job running the ball, finding our run lanes, and then passing. We never talk about throwing the ball until we know how to move it on the ground.
That was one explosive team. People don’t understand one thing, perhaps because I’ve always been a quarterback and now coach them. We’ll do what that individual does best, and Kaleb was good at it.
Before that, Jon Wassink was our quarterback for the first couple of years, and he was outstanding at drop-back and progression. It was his thing.
I just spotted the Campbell trophy in there. Jon was a finalist for the award that Jack won. Jon was a finalist when Justin Herbert won.
It fluctuates every year, based on who you have and what he excels at. That guy behind the center is important.
Figuring out what he does well, because if you have a versatile offensive, we can label it whatever he wants. That year, Kaleb excelled at RPOs. D’Wayne Eskridge and Skyy Moore were among of our most exciting wide receivers. We had two second-round draft picks running about. So the combination that year was excellent. Jake and I worked well together upstairs and on the field.
Yes, any experience can help us move forward, but we have to figure out what we have and what is the greatest method for us to be efficient, aggressive, run the ball, and help the team win, and we will do those things regardless.
Q. How do you integrate or what is the process of stylistically blending what you’ve done previously with the RPO with other things with what Iowa has done historically and had success with?
TIM LESTER: It’s a process that began some days ago. However, it is an exciting process. To gather everyone’s perspective, and I have a variety of playbooks, we’ll see what fits with what they know and where we think we can improve.
I’ve been coaching long enough to have experience with a variety of systems. When I was a Division III coach in 2008, Seth mentioned the Shanahan system, which we ran. He was the quarterbacks coach for the Houston Texans. Matt, my college basketball teammate, got him coffee. I believe that was his formal function. So I got the playbook, and we ran it at Elmhurst. When I took over at Syracuse, we had a wide offense that didn’t even have a tight end, and we did our best to combine them.
Then we went to Purdue and got to run the Saints offense, which was awesome. I learned a lot. Then I moved on to Western, where I had an offensive coordinator my first year and attempted to incorporate some of that when I took over.
Then going back to work with Matt this year was a complete system. Everyone runs that system a little differently, but it’s wonderful to come back after 10 years of being part of it; it was fun to simply be in it and see all of the teams in the league run a version of it, if not all of it, but a significant chunk of it.
There’s a lot to select from, and I don’t want to keep coming back to this, but I’m excited to see what we have.
But I know how to connect things together, and a lot of the formation and how we’re going to create it will be determined by what we see in the spring and what we see as the men move around here over the next few months.
Q. Iowa’s offensive struggles are well known from last year. Looking at the roster and personnel, what gives you confidence that you can come in and assist steer this program in the correct direction?
TIM LESTER: I adore tight ends. I am a tremendous fan. Everywhere I’ve been, our tight end has been all-conference. As a quarterback, I think that’s who you start with. Some use them, while others do not. I enjoy seeing what they can accomplish to a defense in the run game, pass game, play pass game, and keeper game. It can also open up things at the edges.
I know there’s an incredible tradition here, and I’ve heard we have some great ones. Everything is, “I’ve heard this and that.” But I can’t wait to see for myself.
But the element of this offense where we use 12 personnel, which is what we did at Elmhurst and a little bit at Syracuse, is something I’m quite familiar with. Let us put it that way.
But none of that works until you can run the ball. So, if you want to run a tough offensive that can also run the ball, you have to go somewhere that can do both. I looked at the figures to make sure that was possible, and we’ve had success, and we need to keep it going to get the rest of it done.
So the combination of those factors has me really enthused about what’s coming.
Q. Will you be on the sidelines or in the press box during a game? Cade McNamara is likely to miss the majority of the spring. What is the issue of implementing your offense when your starting quarterback is not available on the field for spring ball?
TIM LESTER: I would respond to the first question, A. Question A, I would reply yes. I prefer being awake. I like watching the game from up there. I believe that being an offensive coordinator entails making adjustments. I’ve been calling games for a long time. I was a head coach when I was about 24 or 25, so I believe I called a game with 70 passes and 70 runs in it. You must make adjustments as they occur, since they, too, have a strategy.
When you have to analyze and make adjustments, I believe that being in the booth is a far superior learning environment than being on the sidelines, where things can become extremely emotional.
I knew as the head coach, I had to make calls from the sidelines, so that guy up in the booth was the most important person in the world to me, and we both thought the same way.
However, it became my preference. I’m quite sure I’ll be up.
The second half of your question is the only thing I would say: we need to bring the horses to the race. I look forward to working with Cade whenever he’s ready. But there is no way you can disregard his experience. When you have experience playing in games, I am convinced that he will take it up when the time comes, when he is healthy, and when he is ready. If he didn’t have a lot of experience, I’d be more terrified and concerned.
But he needs to get healthy and ready to go when he gets his time, and he’ll be out there every day we’re there, whether he can throw or not. He’ll learn a lot, but he’s played games, which is crucial in terms of quarterback play, so I’m looking forward to that aspect of it.
Q. I have a question concerning Cade McNamara; you mentioned that he has experience. What are some methods, presuming he’ll be fit before the start of the season, to highlight and elevate him as a quarterback?
TIM LESTER: First and foremost, make him comfortable. Everyone is comfortable undertaking a variety of activities. I believe quarterback coaches enjoy doing certain things. I am not married to anything. I’ve had a lot of experience running things. I have unique knowledge with levels and have worked as a D-coordinator.
I have to figure out what he is good at and place him in as many scenarios as possible.
I’ve seen a small film about him, but not enough to remark on any of it. But we must focus on the areas where I need him to improve. You receive what you emphasize.
We’re going to make sure he can do the things that I believe this offense should be able to do well, and if there are things he excels at, we’ll use them. Kaleb was fantastic with RPOs, as we discussed earlier, so we performed them frequently, and it worked. I need to get to know him and make sure — every quarterback. There are a couple. When I was the offensive coordinator at Syracuse, we lost our starting quarterback on the seventh play. It had an achilles injury, similar to Aaron Rodgers’, and when the backup went down, I was forced to play walk-on, and the offense completely changed. We needed to change.
I need to get to know each player and what they excel at so that we can call the offensive with the best chance of success when he’s there. But it’s up to me to figure it out and put them in a good position to succeed.
Q. Are you going to be coaching quarterbacks?
Tim Lester: Yes, sir.
Q. Route concepts: what structure do you prefer to run, especially because you ran so much RPO? How do you like to develop your ideas beyond the line of scrimmage? You’ve run a lot of 11 personnel, probably 90 percent of the ones I’ve seen —
TIM LESTER: Yes.
Q. How do you anticipate working within the framework of what Iowa prefers to accomplish, given that 12 is such a common number here?
TIM LESTER: Yes. I consider myself to be a 12 year old guy. I recall having 12 in my first couple years at Western, and they were excellent years for me because I felt more at ease with what we were doing.
At Elmhurst College, we were 100% 12. That was all we ran all season.
In any case, when it comes to route concepts, you must comprehend the timing of the quarterback’s footwork, which we can develop on week by week. You’re developing the concepts.
We’re going to call it, he’ll know his progression, and we’ll get to work. We’ll have four, five, or six of those that he feels comfortable with. However, I believe that the versatility in the passing game is what distinguishes the system I ran in college, which is more Spurrier in nature than what Shanahan does and how they develop their progressions each week. It may appear to be a different route combination each week, but we will adjust them based on coverages and what we see, but I want the quarterback to become accustomed to doing the same thing over and over.
The goal is to have him execute the same thing repeatedly while convincing the defense that it is a different play.
We like these two or three things against this coverage, and we like this on the backside against this coverage, and you can mix and match them to get five on the front, five on the back, and iterations of those two, and when you add shifts and motion to it, you can really put a guy in a comfortable situation where he knows what’s going on. The defense might not see it that way. That is the plan. But it all begins with what we get and what he is comfortable with.
So we need to get him — get everything installed, figure out what he’s comfortable with, and then develop from there.
It always starts with the coverage we’re getting and what our guy is good at, and I believe we can always grow from there.
I have 600 pages of pass plays in there; we need to figure out what he’s excellent at and get good at something; being a jack-of-all-trades, master of none is not what we should be about. We need to figure that out so we can become incredibly good at something.
Q. As you previously stated, RBO (relationships before opportunity), a lot of coaching is about trust and relationship development. There are a lot of guys you haven’t met, guys who were playing for another person under a somewhat different system four months ago. What is the secret to teaching after being around other locations and being an offensive coordinator and getting the trust of those men, especially in the first few weeks when you’re meeting them for the first time and showing them these new things?
TIM LESTER: You are precisely right. I believe the most important thing is to sit down and learn who they are, because it does matter. We have cut-ups, and they get to watch some NFL cut-ups, which I think they always like, as well as running some of the stuff that they’ve ran at that level that we’ve had success with. But the most crucial thing is for me to approach them and simply inquire where they’re from, as I don’t know for many of them. Some come from Iowa. Some come from Australia. I met him the other day. He did not need to tell me where he was from. I knew. It was great to meet him.
That’s the key because I know once we’ve established that bond, it’ll be time to start to work. I need to present them some of our ideas for what we want to do. I really want to watch them all move about. I’m excited to start putting together the playbook, which will take some time, and to watch all of last year’s footage to see how the boys played.
I haven’t had a chance to accomplish that yet this weekend, in these four days, but it will happen shortly.
