Iowa Football: 5 reasons Iowa will be better than Iowa State in 2018

5. Coaching

Yes, I am very aware people will be quick to jump on the “But you thought Ohio State would make a run at Matt Campbell?” train. But that is because Matt Campbell is young, hot coaching prospect, and once upon a time, Kirk Ferentz was in the same boat with colleges AND pro teams interested in his services.

Kirk Ferentz now enters his 20th season at Iowa, the longest tenured head coach in all of FBS. His consistency and even keel are admired greatly throughout the sport. Iowa also boasts some talented assistants such as Kirk’s son, Brian, who is entering his second year as offensive coordinator and has a lot of help from quarterbacks coach and ex-offensive coordinator Ken O’Keefe. On defense, Phil Parker might be one of the best defensive back developers in the nation, he picked up right where Norm Parker left off and has consistently had Iowa’s defense as some of the best in the country.

Matt Campbell is entering his third season at Iowa State and has appeared to really change the culture. Campbell has mixed together a Big Ten style of football in controlling the clock and running the ball, and has masked it in the spread offense that is so popular in the Big 12. Defensive coordinator Jon Heacock definitely deserves high praise as he has built a defense that can almost stop anyone in the Big 12, which is very tough to do. However, there will be some question how the offense will look without Tom Manning running the show as he left for a job with the Indianapolis Colts.

These two teams have very good coaching staffs, but in the coaching profession, experience usually triumphs youth and that is the case here as Iowa has a coaching staff that is loaded with experience. But Iowa State’s staff is nothing to scoff at either.