With spring practices starting in a few months, the Iowa football program is putting the finishing touches on its 2026 coaching staff.
The Hawkeyes sent out a press release on Friday officially announcing four new additions to the coaching staff for next season. Jay Norvell, Kevin Spencer, Kyle Hazell, and Mac McLeran are all joining Iowa‘s coaching staff in some capacity in 2026.
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Norvell had posted to his personal X account earlier this week that he would be joining the staff, a move that was made official on Friday. Norvell will be a senior offensive analyst for Kirk Ferentz next season. He played at Iowa in college from 1982-85, including a magical senior season where he had seven interceptions to help lead the Hawkeyes to a Big Ten Championship.
“Jay was an outstanding player at the University of Iowa when I was here in the 1980’s. He has a long and varied coaching career that will be a real benefit to our offensive coaching staff and players,” Ferentz said of Norvell.
Spencer will be the special teams quality control coach in 2026 under new special teams coordinator Chris Polizzi. This will be his third stint in Iowa City, after previously coaching at Iowa in 2017-2018 and 2020-2021. He was the special teams quality control assistant in his first stint and helped with film review and game planning in his second stint.
“Kevin spent nearly three decades coaching in the National Football League and many years in college football. He knows first-hand the importance of special teams to our program and will be an asset to that unit going forward,” Ferentz said of Spencer.
Hazell, the son of longtime coach Darrell Hazell, will join the staff as an offensive analyst. He’s spent a few seasons as a graduate assistant and positions coach at Toledo, Youngstown State, and Dayton. Hazell was a two-year starter at wide receiver for Dayton during his playing career.
McLeran will join the staff as a defensive analyst. He spent the last four seasons coaching linebackers at Southern Illinois. He’s from North Liberty, Iowa, so this will be a homecoming for the native Iowan. He played his college ball at South Dakota.
“Kyle and Mac both have experience in player development and have helped their programs improve at every level. We look forward to Kyle joining our offensive staff and Mac becoming involved with our defensive staff,” Ferentz said of Hazell and McLeran.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football announces four new coaching staff additions