Iowa wide receivers coach Kelton Copeland will not return to Kirk Ferentz's staff for the 2024 season, as first reported by Pete Thamel of ESPN. Copeland had been on the Iowa staff since 2017.
The topic was part of the discussion on GIA's premium board and HawkCast this week.
Iowa wide receivers under Copeland weren't especially productive during his tenure at in Iowa City, particularly over the last several seasons.
In 2022, Iowa's receivers combined for just 76 catches for 796 yards and two touchdowns. For context, 23 players in Division I registered 76 or more catches last season. Each of them tallied over 900 yards and at least three scores.
In 2023, the wide receiving corps somehow finished with worse numbers by several metrics. They tallied 76 catches for 752 yards and three touchdowns. Nico Ragaini led the group in receiving with 31 catches for 255 yards.
Ragaini and Diante Vines highlighted the returning members of the receiver group going into last season, while transfers Seth Anderson and Kaleb Brown were expected to contribute.
"It's been a little bit since we've had this much talent," Copeland said prior to the season. "This is like the third time that we have felt really confident about the level of talent in the room."
The WR room has been hit hard by a recent trend of players transferring out of the program as well. As Scott Dochterman of The Athletic noted earlier this week: the Hawkeyes signed nine receivers from 2018-2021: Seven of them transferred and another -- Brody Brecht -- chose to play baseball full-time. The only member to stick with the team was Ragaini.
Vines also entered the transfer portal following the 2023 season.
Additionally, just one of Copeland's receivers has found a consistent role in the NFL since his time at Iowa -- Ihmir Smith-Marsette, though much of Smith-Marsette's success in the NFL has come as a return specialist rather than a reciever (14 career receptions for 182 yards and two touchdowns as a receiver; 37 career punt returns for 322 yards and a touchdown as a returner).
Kirk Ferentz will now be looking to add a wide receivers coach to his staff in addition to his search for an offensive coordinator for the 2024 season.
