Kirk Ferentz's revolving door continues with a former head coach walking through

After years of stability under Ladell Betts, the Iowa program has a vacancy at running backs coach for the second consecutive offseason.

Betts bolted for the NFL, joining the New York Giants organization, and has since moved on to the Miami Dolphins. His replacement, Omar Young, left the program after one year to join the Las Vegas Raiders.

Iowa losing two consecutive coaches to the NFL is a testament to how the program is run, but having three different coaches in three seasons is not what the players or fans want.

Luckily, the program recently hired an analyst with extensive coaching experience, and he is now set to occupy the vacancy.

Jay Norvell is reportedly taking over as Iowa's new running backs coach

In early February, Kirk Ferentz added former Colorado State and Nevada head coach Jay Norvell to the staff as an offensive analyst.

Now Norvell is reportedly taking a more integral role on the coaching staff, replacing Omar Young as head of the running back room.

According to the Des Moines Register's Chad Lestikow, Norvell is set to become the new running backs coach, a job he has never held before.

Even though Norvell has never served as a running backs coach, he has extensive college coaching experience as a head coach and offensive coordinator.

Norvell was most recently the head coach of Colorado State for the past four seasons (2022-2025) and Nevada for five seasons (2017-2021), and was back in Iowa City as an honorary captain in November.

Norvell is also an Iowa alum who was a member of the football program from 1982 to 1985 under legendary former head coach Hayden Fry.

There is no telling if Norvell will stick around for longer than one season, but hopefully, for the program and fans, Ferentz has found a long-term solution.