Omar Young will be the next running backs coach for Iowa football, per a report from Chad Leistikow of The Des Moines Register on Friday morning. Young will replace Ladell Betts, a former Hawkeye back who departed the program on Feb. 24 to be the running backs coach for the NFL’s New York Giants.

Young arrives in Iowa City with plenty of NFL experience. He spent last season as an offensive assistant with the New England Patriots and coached running backs for the American Team in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Before those stints, he served as the assistant coach on the Chicago Bears. focusing on wide receivers and quarterbacks.

A former defensive back for two years at Willamette University in Oregon, Young coached running backs for Eastern Illinois from 2019-21, the Green Bay Packers from 2017-18, South Carolina in 2016, and the Cleveland Browns in 2015. He got his start as a quality control and special teams coach with Colorado in 2013 after serving as a graduate assistant with San Jose State.

Young hails from Oakland, California and graduated from Savannah State in 2005.

Iowa was the Big Ten’s best rushing team in the regular season last year under Betts. Former Hawkeye Kaleb Johnson had a career year, breaking Shonn Greene’s record for most rushing touchdowns in a season with 21. Johnson declared for the NFL draft at the end of the regular season and did not participate in the bowl game against Missouri.

Second-year backs Kamari Moulton and Jaziun Patterson took the reins from Johnson in the contest against the Tigers, posting 96 and 74 yards on the ground, respectively. The duo is joined by Terrell Washington Jr., Brevin Doll, and Xavier Williams.

Young is the second hire in offensive coordinator Tim Lester’s system, joining Warren Ruggiero from Wake Forest, who was hired as a senior analyst earlier in March.