Iowa football analyst Warren Ruggiero joining Virginia Tech staff

5 days ago 2

The offseason has been busy for Kirk Ferentz and staff with some key departures from the program just days after Iowa's big win over Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

While the players entering the transfer portal take a lot of the attention, this time of year can also breed big changes to the coaching staff. The Hawkeyes saw that first-hand with LeVar Woods leaving to become the special teams coordinator at Michigan State. And now another member of the staff is leaving Iowa City to take a different job.

After just one year as an offensive assistant and analyst under Tim Lester, reports came out late Friday that Warren Ruggiero is leaving Iowa to become a senior offensive analyst under former Penn State head coach James Franklin at Virginia Tech.

Ruggiero joined the Iowa coaching staff last year after ten seasons serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Wake Forest. Ruggiero's offense at Wake Forest broke numerous school records and was widely regarded as a highly innovative brand of football, with the slow mesh concept being a notable highlight.

Ruggiero brought some of that to Iowa City this past season, helping lead the Hawkeyes to their most points per game in a non-COVID season since 2018 (29.3). Some of his slow mesh concepts were incorporated into the offense early in the 2025 season but were phased out as the year progressed. Under Ruggiero's guidance, Mark Gronowski got better and better each game, as did the Iowa offense. He was an integral part of Lester's offensive coaching staff.

Now Ruggiero heads back to the ACC, where he's got a wealth of coaching experience. And it sounds like there's going to be a bigger role on Franklin's staff than there would have been had he stayed at Iowa. The Hawkeyes will now add an offensive analyst and assistant to their 2026 offseason needs list. With a new starting quarterback in 2026, this role will be crucial to the success of the offense going forward.

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football analyst Warren Ruggiero joining Virginia Tech staff

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