116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Home / Sports / UNI Panthers / UNI Panther Football
Luke Falk jumped at chance to lead UNI offense
Former Washington State and Jets QB has ‘really good stuff’ in first season as offensive coordinator
Cole Bair - correspondent
Apr. 14, 2024 7:47 pm
CEDAR FALLS — The opportunity to become an offensive coordinator and play-caller for the first time, and at Northern Iowa, was impossible for Luke Falk to turn down.
The former Washington State standout quarterback, just 29 years old, headlined six coaching hires made by UNI football coach Mark Farley this offseason.
“When I got presented with the opportunity it was a no-brainer,” Falk said. “I think we’ve got a really good staff. I think we got a lot of coaches that are up and coming that are going to be big names in the industry.”
The marriage between Farley — a defensive minded coach who prioritizes complimentary football — and Falk — a disciple of the late Mike Leach’s “air raid” scheme that unapologetically pushes the ball down the field — is an uncommon one. Despite the differences they may have on paper, Farley has had high praise for Falk and wide receivers coach Trey Tinsley’s install of the new offense this spring, and has even had a sense of humor about their pairing.
“We joke. He showed me a tweet that said ‘Kliff Kingsbury and Phil Longo, air raid adjacent.’ So we joke that we’re air raid adjacent,” Falk said. “I think it’s just a constant communication about how he sees the game and how he wants the flow of the game. At the end of the day he wants to score points, so however we need to do that (we’ll do it).”
“Air raid adjacent” has become its own widespread, adjusted label of the offense made famous by Leach, whom Falk played for at Washington State and where he was a three-time all-Pac 12 selection while quarterbacking the scheme.
Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, USC head coach Lincoln Riley and Wisconsin offensive coordinator Phil Longo all run “air raid adjacent” offenses that include enhanced roles for tight ends and running backs.
Falk said Farley has made one particular point regarding the offense this spring — use their personnel in the best ways possible.
That emphasis from Farley couples well with an “air raid adjacent” scheme. The Panthers return their top three rushers from last season and feature depth at tight end.
“Who’s our personnel? How can we best use our personnel? That’s constantly on my mind,” Falk said. “At the end of the day it doesn’t really come down to scheme, it comes down to execution. And the big part of execution is the players that are out there doing it.”
Along with installing his offense, Falk is orchestrating a quarterback competition that began with five candidates, and looks to be down to two in redshirt junior Aidan Dunne and Arkansas State transfer Jaxon Dailey.
“They’ve done a great job of separating from the group right now from a standpoint of they’ve got a great presence,” Falk said. “We have a quarterback creed, it’s ‘reads are sacred, put the ball in play and be the same guy.’ I think both of those guys do a good job at the three things. They just got to get more consistent and get more reps.”
UNI will wrap up its spring with a spring game April 19 at 7 p.m. The game will broadcast on the Panther Sports Network and be available on CFU Channel 15 and via UNIPanthers.com.