Nagel was hired as the 21st head coach of Iowa football in December 1965. At age 38, he had just completed a 3–7 season in his eighth year at Utah, which led some to question his hiring. Some speculated at the time that finding a new coach had been difficult due to the problems which previous head coach Jerry Burns had reportedly experienced with athletic director Forest Evashevski. The "Cedar Rapids Gazette" reported, "At least four coaches either turned down the Hawkeye job or expressed no desire to talk about it." In five seasons as head coach, Burns' teams won just sixteen games, ending with a 1–9 record and a last place finish in the Big Ten in 1965.