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After hearing the news last night that NDSU Offensive Coordinator Tim Polasek is all but official to join the Hawkeyes as an assistant coach, speculation has run rampant through Hawkeye Football Twitter, and now all signs point to another vacancy on the staff being filled very soon.
#qctimes Northern Illinois receivers and special teams coach Kelton Copeland is positioned to fill Iowa's other coaching staff vacancy
— Steve Batterson (@sbatt79) February 14, 2017
Can confirm that Tim Polasek will be introduced as Iowa's next OL coach probably this week with Kelton Copeland also joining the staff.
— Pat Harty (@PatHarty) February 14, 2017
Well, look at this! Iowa needs a special teams and receivers coach, and this guy just so happens to coach both of those positions? A perfect match! Oh, and what is this? He’s following a bunch of Iowa football accounts now??
"Kelton Copeland WR coach?" (from @TaytonWeller ) Well...he has some interesting accounts he's recently followed on twitter: pic.twitter.com/CtRor6V29V
— Jon Miller (@hawkeyenation) February 14, 2017
A former college quarterback, Copeland has spent time at a few different universities as a coach. After graduating from Emporia State, was a graduate assistant there from 2003-2005 before moving on. He had a brief stint as safeties coach at Northwood University, followed by a stint at Coffeyville Community College where he started off as a safeties coach before shifting to the offensive side of the football to wide receivers.
From there, his resume starts to become a little more impressive. Copeland spent two years at South Dakota (2011-2012), where he coached wide receivers, and that’s where he was before landing at Northern Illinois. The Huskies brought him on as a running backs coach, but he spent the most recent season coaching wide receivers again. He was never at NIU while they were a powerhouse MAC team, but he’s coached some players who had some success while there.
It’s not clear what role he’ll coach at Iowa, but seeing as how he’s spent most of his time as a wide receivers coach, it seems fair to assume that’s where he’ll stick with the Hawkeyes. Since Iowa is also in need of a special teams coach after Chris White was not brought back, he will probably take over those duties as well. There’s an outside chance he ends up coaching running backs, but it seems as though Brian Ferentz will take over those duties after a successful stint as running game coordinator.
If the reports are true, then welcome aboard, Mr. Copeland. Let’s get the ball rolling on making Iowa City a place that wide receivers want to come.