Ladell Betts, one of Iowa’s rising stars in the coaching ranks, is off to the NFL to coach alongside Brian Daboll in New York, per a report from The Athletic. Kirk Ferentz hired his former running back in 2021. Betts had never had a college coaching job before coming back to Iowa.
Prior to 2021, he had been the head coach at Pine Crest for two seasons and was previously the offensive coordinator (2016-18). He was also the offensive coordinator at Boca Raton High School for two years (2014-15) after coaching running backs at Coral Spring Christian Academy in 2013. Pine Crest posted an undefeated season in 2020 and Boca Raton posted a 10-3 mark in 2015. Betts was offensive coordinator with the NFL Prep 100 Series from 2011-14.
One of the things that Betts helped establish was a sustainable culture in the running back room. Betts had an eye for talent and his position group was drawn to him for his NFL experience and for his ability to connect with each of his guys.
“He’s like a father figure to us in the program. He leads by example. He’s already been through everything that we’re trying to accomplish and he always puts us in the best positions to do what we need to do,” Iowa running back Jaziun Patterson said. “He’s a very understanding guy. We’re very tight with his family. We basically say we are family.”
“I’m not gonna lie to you,” Johnson said, “Coach Betts. Just him being on me consistently about the little things and what I can be if I do the little things right. So me just taking that to heart.”
Johnson was one of the best running backs in the nation this past season. His ability to break tackles, finish runs and ‘do all the little things’ were a direct result of coaching from Betts. This past offseason, Johnson was pursued by several other schools that wanted him to consider transferring there. Betts was a primary reason he didn’t even think twice about returning to Iowa.
“Ladell is not a big talker, but he’s been a big doer throughout his whole career,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz previously said of Betts. “I don’t think he was a big talker when he was here in school, but he was one of the toughest guys I’ve ever seen. I still tease him about to survive the ’99 season, I think he had over four a carry. I don’t know how he did it. We couldn’t block anybody. So I was teasing him about that. He was like a crash dummy running up in there.”
”He had such a good career, and he’s the same guy as a coach and as a professional. He’s got a great family on top of it. He’s just a model guy. He’s doing a really nice job with those guys.”
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