Photo by Iowa Central Athletics: Jesse Montalto coaches for Iowa Central inside Dodger Stadium this past fall.

For Jesse Montalto, this was an opportunity too good to ignore.

Montalto, who won his eighth consecutive bowl game as Iowa Central’s head football coach this past fall, has resigned from the position to accept the offensive coordinator role at Louisiana-Monroe.

The Tritons finished 8-4 this past year, earning another Top-10 finish under Montalto’s guidance. Combined with his four seasons spent as head coach at Ellsworth, Montalto went 12-0 in postseason games as a JUCO head coach.

“This place has been special to me and that is what makes this decision so difficult to make,” Montalto said. “But there are just 136 offensive coordinator jobs at the Div. I FBS level, and these kinds of opportunities do not come around too often.

“From a career standpoint and what it could lead to, this was just something that I had to dig deeper into.”

Montalto went 58-30 in eight seasons with Iowa Central after replacing Kevin Twait as head coach. He finished above .500 in seven of the eight years, going 6-6 in the other.

The Tritons won at least seven games six different times under Montalto.

“I feel like this is an opportunity that I can showcase what junior college coaches are capable of,” Montalto said. “There are a lot of great coaches in JUCO, and if I can go and have success, hopefully that will open the door for more to have the same chance.”

Montalto and his family recently moved to Humboldt from Iowa Falls, and the father of two admitted the move to Louisiana will be a challenging transition.

“This was not an overnight decision to be made,” Montalto said. “It was a tough decision made even tougher with our family situation. My daughter will be a senior next year. Under normal circumstances, you take this leap in a minute, but that’s just not the case for me here.

“It’s going to be a way more difficult than anything we’ve dealt with, but we’re going to work through it.”

Louisiana-Monroe is led by Bryant Vincent, who was hired there in 2023 and was serving as both head coach and offensive coordinator. He previously coached at UAB, South Alabama and a number of high schools.

“I’ve known Coach Vincent for 12 or 13 years,” Montalto said. “He recruited a number of my kids at Ellsworth and has done the same at Iowa Central. We’ve had a really good relationship, and he is someone I trust a lot.

“I’ve always said there are only a handful of guys that I would leave Iowa Central for, and he’s one of them.”

Montalto also offered his appreciation for Iowa Central and how they allowed him to “become the coach and person I am today.”

“This place has been special to me,” he said. “From Coach Twait being a mentor to (current athletic director) Guy (Horn), everybody has been really special and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity I had here.”

Montalto, who will also serve as the receivers coach at ULM, will not be making the long trip to Monroe, La. alone. Two of his former Iowa Central assistants are joining him on the staff for the Warhawks.

Gavin Blomberg — who played for Montalto at Ellsworth — and Shawn Simmons have both made the move as well. Blomberg joined Montalto’s staff in his first season with the Tritons, and will be an assistant tight ends coach at ULM. Simmons will lead the running backs, a position he held at ICCC for the past two years.

The three are part of six new hires to the ULM coaching staff for this coming season.