Kohle Helle

Kohle Helle is in his 10th year with the Iowa football program, including his seventh as assistant strength and conditioning coach. He served as the manager of nutrition and performance analytics for Iowa football in 2019 after joining Iowa’s strength and conditioning refueling and analytics staff in August 2018. He previously served as a strength and conditioning intern with Iowa football from January to May in 2018.

Iowa has competed in bowl games each year Helle has been on staff: Music City Bowl (three times), Citrus (twice), Outback/ReliaQuest (twice), Holiday and Pinstripe.

Iowa won 27 combined contests the last three seasons, including capturing the Big Ten West Division in 2023 and winning the 2025 ReliaQuest Bowl with a 34-27 triumph over No. 14 Vanderbilt. Iowa has been ranked in the final AP Top 25 six of the last eight seasons, including ranking No. 17 in 2025.

Iowa won eight contests in 2022, concluding the season with a 21-0 win over Kentucky in the Music City Bowl and wins in five of its last six games.

The Hawkeyes have earned a total of 37 conference victories between 2020-25, matching its highest six-year conference win total in program history (2019-24). Furthermore, Iowa has had at least one consensus All-American five of the last six seasons, including multiple honorees the last three years, and six national individual positional award recipients (Rimington, twice; Jet, twice; Ray Guy and Butkus). Iowa’s offensive line also garnered recognition as the best in the country with the Joe Moore Award in 2025.

The Hawkeyes won 10 games in 2021, winning the Big Ten West Division title and advancing to the conference championship game. Iowa concluded the season with an appearance in the Citrus Bowl and was ranked 23rd in the final national poll.

Following back-to-back narrow losses to open the 2020 season, Iowa won its final six games, all in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes were ranked 15th in the final CFP ranking and Coaches Poll and 16th by the AP.

Iowa won 47 games from 2015-19, the highest total in school history over any five-year period, and a total that ranked ninth nationally. Iowa won its final four games in 2019 and ranked 15th in the final Associated Press and Coaches polls.

The Hawkeyes concluded 2019 with a 10-3 record following a 49-24 win over No. 22 Southern California in the Holiday Bowl. The three losses were all to ranked opponents by a combined 14 points. The Hawkeyes were 4-1 in trophy games for the third straight season.

Iowa completed 2018 with nine wins and a final AP ranking of No. 25. The Hawkeyes earned a 27-22 Outback Bowl win over No. 18 Mississippi State to close the season with three straight wins. The four losses came by a total of 23 points and all were decided in the final minutes of play. Iowa tied for second in the Big Ten West Division.

As the manager of nutrition and performance analytics, Helle prepared daily analytic reports for student-athlete recovery, managed GPS technology and Fatigue Science performance tracking data, coached athletes on proper exercise technique, and assisted with other areas of the strength and conditioning program.

Helle was a strength and conditioning intern at Central College (2015-17) and was an intern at North Carolina-Charlotte during the summer, 2016.

Helle is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), is Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified (SCCC), and is American Red Cross certified for First Aid, CPR, and AED.

Helle attended Central College as an undergraduate, earning his bachelor’s degree in exercise science – strength and conditioning, with a minor in communication studies. He earned his master’s degree in kinesiology from the University of South Dakota.

Helle was a four-year letterman in football at Central College, where he holds the single-game record for rushing yards by a quarterback. He was also elected to the team leadership council.

Helle is a native of Guttenberg, Iowa.