Colby Kratch - Football Coach - Iowa State University Athletics

Colby Kratch

Title:
Linebackers
Email:
ckratch@iastate.edu
Phone:
515-294-6721

Long-time Iowa State staffer Colby Kratch returned to Iowa State as linebackers coach in 2024 and is in his second season leading the group. Kratch was at ISU from 2017-22 as a graduate assistant and in the player personnel department, playing a vital role in the building of the program under head coach Matt Campbell.

The 2024 Cyclones recorded the best season in program history, finishing 11-3 overall to post the first double-digit win campaign in 133 seasons. The Cyclones went 7-2 in Big 12 play and reached the Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship game, while also winning the Pop-Tarts Bowl in a 42-41 thriller against No. 15 Miami.

Kratch's linebacker group was hampered by injuries in 2024 with six players missing a combined 56 games during the record-setting season. Despite the setbacks, the group helped the defense to allow just 22.9 points per contest. ISU gave up fewer than 20 points in six games, tied for the second-most games among Big 12 teams. Iowa State shut out Houston in a Big 12 road game, the first conference road shutout since 1971.

Kratch spent the 2023 season leading the North Texas linebackers, including All-American Athletic Conference selection Jordan Brown. Brown ranked among the Top 15 in the AAC in tackles.

Prior to his time at UNT, Kratch was a valued staff member of the Cyclone coaching staff from 2017-2022. He spent the 2017 season as a graduate assistant and then moved into his role as assistant director of player personnel, which he worked in for five seasons before leaving for the on-field coaching position with the Mean Green.

Iowa State’s last five recruiting classes during Kratch’s initial Cyclone tenure ranked among the nation’s Top 50 according to 247Sports, including the 2022 group which is considered the best recruiting class in school history, as both 247Sports and Rivals listed it in the Top 25 nationally.

Kratch has helped the Cyclones reach bowl games in six of his seven seasons while annually appearing in the national rankings and garnering six of ISU’s eight above-.500 conference seasons in the history of the Big 12 Conference since 2017.

Kratch worked with the Cyclone defense in 2017, helping the team rank second in the Big 12 and 26^th nationally in scoring defense (20.9), and third in the league in total defense (366.2).

Prior to his arrival in Ames, Kratch spent two years (2015-16) as a graduate assistant at Michigan State, working primarily with the offensive line. The Spartans won the Big Ten Championship, compiled a 12-2 record and qualified for the College Football Playoff in his first season in East Lansing (2015).

Kratch was a two-year letterwinner at tight end for Toledo (2011-12) after competing two years of junior college football at North Dakota State College of Science from 2009-10.

Kratch earned his bachelor’s degree in broadcasting from UT in 2013.

Following graduation, he was an offensive graduate assistant in 2013 for Campbell’s coaching staff and an offensive intern for the Rockets in 2014.

A native of Watertown, Minnesota, Kratch was a three-year letterwinner in football and hockey at Watertown-Mayer High School. He made all-conference in football as a senior.

Kratch’s father, Bob Kratch, played eight years in the NFL for the New York Giants and New England Patriots. He was a two-time All-Big Ten selection at Iowa (1986 and 1988).

Kratch and his wife, Taylor, have a daughter, Colbie, and a son, Dash.

Coaching Experience
2024-present Iowa State - Linebackers
2023 North Texas - Linebackers
2018-22 Iowa State – Assistant Director of Player Personnel
2017 Iowa State – Graduate Assistant
2015-16 Michigan State - Graduate Assistant
2013-14 Toledo - Graduate Assistant