Iowa football coach thanks Santa for 2024 veterans team

Kirk Ferentz seems to be in the Christmas spirit early this year as he looks at all the players returning to his Iowa football roster ahead of the 2024 season, acknowledging a surprising source of returning talent for the Hawkeyes.

“I believe in Santa Claus and bringing these guys back was part of it,” Ferentz joked at Big Ten Media Days. “It was a merry Christmas for all of us. We tried to be really careful and conscientious about what we did.”

Iowa lost only 11 players through the transfer portal, a relatively low number in the modern era, and can retain names such as quarterback Cade McNamara, tight end Luke Lachey and linebackers Nick Jackson and Jay Higgins, among others.

“I'm excited to have all the guys back,” Ferentz said. “I don't want to compliment our team, but I think it speaks volumes that all the guys wanted to come back.”

He added: “These are the kind of guys you want back because they're the guys that should be at the front of the room and younger guys will benefit from paying attention.”

According to ESPN, the Hawkeyes, the defending Big Ten West champions, are expected to return 69 percent of their total football performance from last season.

That mark reportedly covers 80 percent of the offense, which could be good or bad depending on how you feel about that side of the ball's performance this fall under new coordinator Tim Lester.

Iowa ranked dead last in college football with 235.4 total yards per game and was second to last nationally with an average of 15.4 points per game.

The Hawkeyes finished 8th from bottom with a total of 216 points scored throughout the season.

The year before, Iowa had scored 230 points, compared to 328 in the 2021 season, and the Hawkeyes totaled 254 points in the 2020 season, ranking them in the bottom third nationally.

Hopefully Santa Claus brought Iowa the right offensive coordinator as well.

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