Aaron Koiker shares his fascinating journey from playing high school sports in Sioux Center to becoming a key player at Iowa under Coach Hayden Fry. Listeners will hear firsthand about the recruitment process, the challenges Aaron faced as a college athlete, and memorable moments playing at legendary stadiums. This episode offers a blend of personal anecdotes and insights into what it takes to thrive in both sports and leadership roles.
John Ryan :
Welcome to another edition of Must Know People. It's John Ryan with you. We are recording this podcast here at 1730 Taphouse. We want to thank Hugo and the crew here for providing our spot for all of this. And looking forward to today's interview because I first met this guy just a couple months ago. He was brand new in town, and the reason I wanted to have you on the podcast is because you're not afraid to give your opinion. That's what I thought. Aaron Koiker is the city manager here for Carroll, and it was one moment specific. You were on the air, first time I'd ever met you, And I just thought, well, let's throw this question out there and see if he answers it. Throw me a curveball. Yeah, kind of in essence of that. It was about the lights downtown. And you just, I mean, flat out said, okay, you want to know what I think? Here's what I think. And that was like, okay, right there. That's why I want this guy on the podcast.
Aaron Kooiker :
Well, it doesn't do a lot of good, and I've always kind of lived by this philosophy. I'm not very smart, so I just assume you tell me what you're thinking, and I will tell you exactly what I think. That way we don't have to beat around the bush, and I have to try and figure out what you're thinking. It doesn't, it wastes a lot of time that way.
John Ryan :
I think that's very wise advice for a lot of people out there. Unfortunately, they will not take that advice.
Aaron Kooiker :
Well, some people won't, no.
John Ryan :
Yeah. So tell me, Quaker, is that Dutch? That is Dutch, yes. You grew up in what, Sioux Center?
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah, I grew up in Sioux Center. My dad actually grew up in Rock Rapids. He was one of seven kids. And then my mom grew up in Fulton, Illinois. They met at Central College fighting Dutchmen, I think. I think that's what it is. And then my dad was a superintendent of schools, so we kind of bounced around a little bit, was in – I-35 school district and then Lake City before it became South Central Calhoun. Oh, so you got a little history here in this area. I do. How old were you when you lived there? I went to... Preschool, kindergarten, and first grade in Lake City.
John Ryan :
Okay.
Aaron Kooiker :
And then we went to Sioux Center and second grade all the way through graduation in Sioux Center.
John Ryan :
Okay. Northwest Iowa has a great reputation for football. We all know that here because they pretty much kick our butts in football and playoffs just about every year. So you were up in Sioux Central. Sioux Center. Sioux Center. Okay. Let's get that straight.
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah, Central is over by, my dad, when he was a superintendent in Sioux Center, he was always upset that Sioux Central became a conglomerate or a combined school district. And they called themselves Sioux Central, which he was like, that's going to confuse so many people. You've got Sioux Center and then Sioux Central.
John Ryan :
And it still does to this day. And it does to this day. So tell me about growing up there. What was it like in Sioux Center?
Aaron Kooiker :
Not a lot different. I mean, Sioux Center and Carroll are probably two very similar towns. Actually, Sioux Center has grown more over the years, but all in all, very good communities, very people-oriented, concerned about each other. We moved to Sioux Center, I think, mostly because my aunt and uncle, who most people might recognize because Verndon Herter is my uncle, and his aunt and his wife, which is my mom's sister, lived there. So we ended up getting, my dad got the job as the superintendent of schools there at Sioux Center. So that's what we ended up living there and grew up there no you and you had a twin brother right yep i have a twin brother um he lives actually up in spencer now but yeah we were uh yeah we kind of in basketball we we made sure we used nine and a half fouls per game or i should say that's what the average was it's it's it's wise use of the fouls that counts in basketball sometimes not very many teams had a center that had 10 fouls
John Ryan :
Exactly. I bet that's true.
Aaron Kooiker :
And we usually made them hurt.
John Ryan :
Did you play all the sports up there? I mean, in a small town, everybody plays the sports, don't they?
Aaron Kooiker :
In fact, kind of a fun story, we played football, obviously, and we were in the state quarterfinals, got to the state quarterfinals. The year before they put the quarterfinals in the Dome, we had to go down to Logan Magnolia and play a home game at Logan Magnolia.
John Ryan :
In November.
Aaron Kooiker :
For the semifinals.
John Ryan :
Yep.
Aaron Kooiker :
That was my junior year, so we got to play there. State track, Evan and I, my twin brother and I both qualified and placed in the discus and the shot put. Then my junior year, we went to the state baseball tournament. I think at that point in time, it was in Marshalltown, and there was only four teams that got to go to the state baseball tournament. So we were one of four there. And I missed the state basketball tournament. Three years in a row in the district championship game, sub-state final, sub-state final. And I think the two sub-state final games, I think we missed it by three points combined. Combined. Now, what years are we talking about? That would have been 1990. Well, it would have been 1990 and 1991.
John Ryan :
Okay, but football was your standout, right? Yeah. So you and your brother both, did you both get football scholarships to Iowa? Yes, we both went to Iowa. Tell me about the recruiting, because back then it was way different than it is now. I mean, now there's video, there's everything else. How did they hear about you guys? I mean, obviously the size.
Aaron Kooiker :
The only way you got noticed at that point in time is if, or I should say, if you got scholarships, you had to show up at their campus, at their camps in the summer. Right. And Iowa still does that to an extent, but obviously not nearly like what they did back in the day. But no, we went to Nebraska. I met Tom Osborne when he was coaching at Nebraska for that. We went to their camp. We went to Iowa's camp. They still had tape that our high school coach was a good promoter of us. So he was sending out VHS tapes. We were actually recruited by Colorado State. Could have gone out to the earth.
John Ryan :
Both of you?
Aaron Kooiker :
Yes.
John Ryan :
Wow.
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah, for the most part, we were recruited as a package.
John Ryan :
Did you flat out tell colleges, hey, we're going together?
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah, I think we did. It didn't turn out that way in the end because he ended up transferring from Iowa up to North Dakota State. But we were recruited by North Dakota State, really thought hard about going to North Dakota State over Iowa and Nebraska and Iowa State and K-State too. They had just won the national championship that year, so that was kind of a neat thing. Their history and program is pretty neat.
John Ryan :
Honestly, you're probably as close to Fargo as you are Iowa City, right? Yeah.
Aaron Kooiker :
It's a five-hour trip up to Fargo, I think, and it's almost a six-hour trip over to Iowa City.
John Ryan :
Was that the start of their real dynasty up there, the Bison and all that? Were they already in that national power?
Aaron Kooiker :
They were already in that national power, but then they were at Division II at that point in time, and through Evan's career up there, he was a conference champ a couple of years, and they were never a national champ when he was there. But then they switched to FCS, and then they really got going in the 1AA or the FCS level.
John Ryan :
Yeah. I was at the stop, too. The FBS is the bowl system. FCS is the championship thing, whatever it is. So how many years was he at Iowa before he decided to transfer? A year and a half. So what made you want to stay at Iowa while he wanted to transfer? Well, two things.
Aaron Kooiker :
The spring of our first year there, John O'Hara was the offensive line coach. He recruited us. great man he passed away in February of that year so then a new offensive line coach he was actually the assistant and recruiting coordinator he took over and what ended up happening is he ended up running Evan out of the program And I happened to be second team. I was on special teams. I was playing, doing a lot of stuff. So after the season got over that next second year, Evan bolted. I was also dating a girl by the name of Michelle.
John Ryan :
And I believe she'll come up later.
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah. And so leaving at that point in time, I was kind of tied down.
John Ryan :
Yeah, I can see that easily. But, I mean, he didn't have to sit out the year. He just probably wouldn't transfer. That's probably why he went to Division II at that point.
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah, but like I said, North Dakota State was one of our top three choices between Iowa, Nebraska, and North Dakota State. And the offensive line coach there, Bruce Salm, rocky hagar was the head coach was as far as offensive line coaches he could carry his weight with john o'hara and uh i forget who the offensive line coach at nebraska was at the time but if only blankman were here he would know he would but you know what he was fantastic and yeah and he recruited us really well and when evan said i'm done i'm i'm going somewhere else he was the first call he made was up there and that's where he was going
John Ryan :
Yeah, that's interesting. Like I said, you decided to stay. You had more ties at Iowa. You were getting more playing time. But you played for Hayden Fry. How much did he have to do with the recruiting of you? After I committed, he called. Is that it? That was it. He gave you, well, wow, he cared enough to call.
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah. Well, actually what happened was is Dave Triplett was the main recruiter and John O'Hara was the offensive line coach. So between Dave Triplett and John O'Hara were the two guys we talked to the most. And They got together and then they said, Coach Fry, we want to offer them scholarships. And then that's who actually offered us the scholarship was Coach Fry.
John Ryan :
Ah, so he made the most important call. Yeah. The one to give you the scholarships. Yeah. So what was it like? You get to Iowa. You're from small town, Sioux Center, Iowa. You get there. I can't imagine their facilities were anything like they are now.
Aaron Kooiker :
No. But at the time, you know, they still had very nice facilities. Now, I... Not quite as nice as Nebraska's at the time. Nebraska was right in the middle of that last run.
John Ryan :
That championship run in the 90s.
Aaron Kooiker :
That last run. Notice I said last run.
John Ryan :
Not most recent. Last, you said.
Aaron Kooiker :
But, yeah, their facilities were good. I mean, they had a great weightlifting coach, powerlifting coach by the name of Ray Moran, who we got a lot out of. Was very similar to the weightlifting coach over at Nebraska. And so facilities weren't that much different. What ended up being the big kicker was We wanted to pass block a little bit more than what Nebraska did. We were very good pass blockers coming out of high school because our coach liked to do – he had a West Coast offense-esque type playbook in high school. So we did a little bit of pass blocking. So we were good pass blockers at the time. We were like, well, we do this pretty well. Why would we just throw that tool out the window and just run block? So that's why I kind of ended up being, because Iowa and Nebraska, my senior year in high school, ended up being in the Orange Bowl and the Rose Bowl the same year.
John Ryan :
Oh, yeah.
Aaron Kooiker :
So it was like, well, we're really not choosing between a 1A and 1B. They're about the same, or in our eyes as high school kids, they're about the same. So that's what we decided, how we kind of.
John Ryan :
You're still making big-time major New Year's Day bowls and all that back when that was the thing to make. So run blocking, really? I mean, I thought offensive lineman dream was to run block. They want to go out and beat somebody instead of standing back and letting them take the abuse.
Aaron Kooiker :
So what do you think I enjoyed my junior and senior years more, pass blocking or run blocking?
John Ryan :
I wouldn't say run blocking. Yes. Easily.
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah. Well, and we had, by the time I was a senior at Iowa, we had a tailback by the name of Cedric Shaw. He was pretty decent. And so, yeah, pancake blocks and clipping off linebackers and stuff like that. Yeah, that was a lot of fun.
John Ryan :
Yeah. I love that when they describe offensive line, well, he's just nasty. He's mean. And it's like, they mean that in a great way when they're talking about that. But give me your aha moment when, like, welcome to college. What really opened your eyes after you first got there? Was there anything that was like, oh, man, I need to step up my game?
Aaron Kooiker :
So, well, so the first padded practice I was playing, we were on the scout team. We're red shirts. And... The defensive line had Ron Gator, Jeff Johnson was the other three technique, Leroy Smith was the defensive end, and I think, I don't know what play it was, but I... After the first practice, both my twin brother and I had the nickname the Hanson Brothers. Do you remember Slapshot? No. The hockey movie?
John Ryan :
I have not seen that movie, no.
Aaron Kooiker :
They were renowned for fighting.
John Ryan :
Oh.
Aaron Kooiker :
So guess what Evan and I were doing?
John Ryan :
Yeah.
Aaron Kooiker :
Well, and basically it was the hold on, defend yourself, because if you back down, then you're in trouble.
John Ryan :
Yeah, I was going to say, if you don't take it and give it some back, they're going to walk all over you. Those guys are like, they're just freshmen. They can't take it.
Aaron Kooiker :
So actually the first practice there, the first padded practice, I ended up getting a pancake block on one of the defensive linemen. He was a second teamer.
John Ryan :
Oh, that did not go over well.
Aaron Kooiker :
I'm a redshirt freshman, and I just got your second team defensive tackle.
John Ryan :
But yeah. How much did you play? Well, first of all, what position? Guard? Yes. OK. And tackle. Oh, you played both guard and tackle. Both.
Aaron Kooiker :
I played reps at every position except for center. And I lobbied real hard the end of my senior year just to get one rep there so I could say I played all five. Wanted to do all of them out there.
John Ryan :
Wanted to do all of them. So true or false, offensive linemen are the smartest players on the field?
Aaron Kooiker :
True. Close to it.
John Ryan :
I would say. I mean, there's so much. The only time they get noticed is when they make a mistake. That's right. They don't make a mistake. You don't want to hear your name. You want that non-recognition. And you sat in my office the other day. Was it compared to being a mushroom, I think you said?
Aaron Kooiker :
Offensive linemen are... Well, this is a podcast. Can I swear a little bit? A little bit. Okay. Offensive linemen are like mushrooms. You're kept in the dark and fed... But you go out, you do your job, and you hope nobody ever hears that Aaron Quaker did something because it usually means Aaron held or he jumped off sides or something dumb. And otherwise, Cedric Shaw ran for 1,500 yards or he ran for 150 yards in that game or whatever or 200. There was a couple games I think he ran for 300 against Michigan State once, I think. But, yeah. You just didn't want your name.
John Ryan :
mentioned yeah exactly so uh what was your favorite place to go play other than kinnick i mean was there a great place in the big 10 or a place you guys went to bowl games i mean you know you played all over the country yeah the only place i never did did get to go play was in the southeast in florida um we got to go play over in uh giant stadium in for the
Aaron Kooiker :
It was a kickoff classic. I can't remember what it was called. But it was a kickoff classic. We played in Oregon Stadium one year, got to play in Colorado Stadium, got to go down, played in Texas and San Antonio and in El Paso for bowl games, played in San Diego for the Holiday Bowl one year. I enjoyed, and you'll probably find this a little bit odd, but my favorite stadium to go play in was Minnesota.
John Ryan :
Really?
Aaron Kooiker :
In the Dome.
John Ryan :
Wow. They talk about the most depressing place to walk into is a fan.
Aaron Kooiker :
Yes. But for some reason, I had a couple of my best football games. at Minnesota. Just got to utterly destroy a couple defensive linemen in my junior year and my senior year.
John Ryan :
It was just a great time. Most overrated place to go play. Where was that? Like Michigan, they always talk about the big house. The big house, yes. Was it?
Aaron Kooiker :
Oh, yeah. That was actually an interesting story. That was my first career start as a left tackle as a sophomore. Wasn't even remotely physically ready to play. I was going to say, were you like puking before the game? I did that every game. Did you? Just about every game. I knew I was going to play halfway decent if I threw up before the game started. all right but uh no i my first career start was up there played against all big 10 defensive tackle and an all big 10 defensive end and i'm playing as a sophomore and and i'm a young kid i graduated at 17 so i was still young and not really physically ready and yeah i struggled yeah i had three i started three games that year as a sophomore at left tackle and Those were struggles.
John Ryan :
In other words, your name got mentioned.
Aaron Kooiker :
A couple of times, yep.
John Ryan :
So was that why it was overrated?
Aaron Kooiker :
No, when you go into Ann Arbor and you think all the noise with 100 and some thousand people, I think they're up over 110 now, but it was still over 100,000 when we went. up there, you would think that was just deafening. I mean, we're used to playing in front of 75 and about the time they get rocking and rolling, you can't hear anything. Well, we go up there and we're having conversations and we're losing and they're probably cheering as loud as they can, but it's... It's still not bugging you?
John Ryan :
It's quiet. Wow. That surprises me, because I would think it would be the opposite. Yeah, like, it's 104, it's the big house, you know, and those crazy Michigan fans and all that. But, yeah, that's... I always kind of wondered about those stadiums and things like that, these legendary stadiums. How many of them really deserve the reputation of being a famous place to play?
Aaron Kooiker :
Now, the Horseshoe is a really loud stadium, too. Is it? Oh, the Horseshoe, Penn State, Wisconsin, those are... Those were fun stadiums because they were loud.
John Ryan :
Did you feel Wisconsin move when they do the jump around?
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah, yeah. That whole stadium moves.
John Ryan :
That would be a little concerning for me.
Aaron Kooiker :
For us that year when we were there, that was my senior year. That was one of the games where Cedric Shaw rushed for like 200 and some plus yards, and we handled them. But yeah, they were a little quieter. But the story before the game, Coach Fry says, listen, If you're on the sidelines or we're walking on and off the field at halftime, whatever, you have to have your helmet on because those guys will be throwing beer cans at you. Yep. And he was right. You're walking off the sidelines and, tink, what the heck was that?
John Ryan :
Wow, nice fans out there. So give me a Hayden Fry story, one that maybe people don't know. Because, I mean, he was always just the larger-than-life guy. And then you got Kirk Ferentz coming in afterwards, who was just Mr. Button-down. Both went about it in different ways, but Hayden is just so revered.
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah, and most people, if you know Hayden, everybody understands, for the most part, Hayden didn't do a lot of coaching, or maybe they didn't know this, because Hayden didn't do a lot of coaching on the sidelines to individual players. He did his coaching in the coaches' meetings during the week, and then he still ran the offense when we were there. But he didn't talk to us much. The only time he talked to you was when you screwed up, and he'd be, Dadgummit, Aaron, you've got to do better than that.
John Ryan :
And you'd be like, yep, all right, I'm sorry, sir. Oh, if you've got the dadgummit. Yeah. That was serious. Yeah. He was just such a, for lack of a reference term, a good old boy, you know. And he just, that personality fit perfect with his team, with the university, everything about it.
Aaron Kooiker :
And that was probably, you know, you talk about dadgummit, that was serious. That was the worst thing he ever said. I mean. Really? He didn't cuss.
John Ryan :
Hmm. I would think, you know, behind the scenes, you always hear about these coaches that are like, oh, they're just, you know, nice as can be, you know, on the recruiting trail or this. And then you get them a practice, and it's 180 degrees the other way. Not Hayden.
Aaron Kooiker :
Now, I would say my offensive line coach was very – he was a very good recruiter. And about the time he lit into you, you got cussed up one side, down the other. And you'd still be going, what just happened?
John Ryan :
Would you have rather – you played for Hayden Fry. You played for the coaches you did. What about Kirk Ferentz? Would you have wanted to play for Kirk Ferentz? Do you kind of know him at all? Yeah. Actually, know him?
Aaron Kooiker :
Probably not. But, I mean, can we have a conversation like – talking to him when he comes over for the iClub stuff, or if I go over to Iowa City for a legacy event, or last year I went down for a professional development type thing for the graduating seniors, talking to them about public government work, whether it be law enforcement or city government work in general. Yeah, I usually have really good conversations with him when we're there doing stuff like that. To me, he's extremely genuine. He's a very forthright person. I've enjoyed every time I've had a chance to talk to him.
John Ryan :
Tell me if I'm wrong here, but the public loved Hayden Frye more than they liked Kirk Ferentz, but I think maybe the players loved Kirk Ferentz more than the players that Hayden Frye had. Is that fair to say? You probably are right.
Aaron Kooiker :
Like I said, we didn't have a lot of contact with Coach Frye. Now, there's a lot of guys out there that just love Coach Fry, and I would agree with that. I love Coach Fry. He gave me a great opportunity, stuff like that. But the personal relationship that you had with Coach Fry as compared to what I think Kirk has with his players are probably two different things.
John Ryan :
Yeah, I would think that. They're just so vastly different. You don't normally see a coach of Hayden Fry's stature move out without maybe even a bigger personality coming in. But Kirk was never like that. And, boy, he knew what he was the whole time and has never changed. So you've got to tip the cap to him for that. Yeah, he's that steady ship. I mean, he's just steady.
Aaron Kooiker :
And that's okay. I mean, some of the fan base, they want to see somebody flamboyant. I would tell you I would have been on the Bobby Stoops doorstep the minute Coach Fry announced, but that was their choice, whatever.
John Ryan :
Yeah, and he had a great coaching career too.
Aaron Kooiker :
But Coach Ferentz has been extremely successful over years, and you can't argue with that.
John Ryan :
Exactly. So one question I always had about Iowa football. Growing up, I grew up in South Dakota, didn't see a lot of Iowa football. I wasn't an Iowa football fan. I moved here in 94. What the heck was the standing tight end? What was the strategy behind that? It made no sense to me.
Aaron Kooiker :
Coach Fry would tell the story. Well, he wants that tight end to be able to see if there's blitzes coming and help the quarterback be able to point those things out. I don't know if that worked or helped. I mean, it certainly didn't help me much when I was trying to double team with the tight end on somebody because I'm like, hey, get your pads down a little bit.
John Ryan :
Help me out here. Because the one thing you want to do is get lower position than the guy coming at you. But it's tough to do when you're standing up. It's easier when you're in a three-point stance. So I never understood that, but that was the signature. That was his deal. That was crazy. I just wanted to know the strategy behind all that. Yeah.
Aaron Kooiker :
It was just a thought process that he could help out with blitz pickup and stuff like that easier that way.
John Ryan :
Whether it happened or not, we don't know. I don't know. Nobody has done it since, so maybe that tells you something about it. Might be. So, otherwise, off the football field, how was Iowa? I mean, what else did you do there? Was it all football, all consuming? Oh, well.
Aaron Kooiker :
We did a lot of fishing. We got Sailorville Reservoir there. Me and a couple of guys, we'd go hit the spillway and catch some saw guys. They were a cross between.
John Ryan :
Tell me you weren't living in the dorm at the time. You didn't take them back to the dorm.
Aaron Kooiker :
You know, we might have gotten in a little bit of trouble cleaning the fish in the dorms. In fact, my twin brother and one of our other buddies, they went out duck hunting. And you know how the Iowa River goes through Iowa City, and of course there's always live ducks and stuff down there. Well, they went out duck hunting, legally, came back, cleaned the ducks, and we had a big investigation that they had gone down and grabbed ducks off of the river.
John Ryan :
Explained that one to security when you were doing that one. So you met your wife in Iowa? Yep. How did you guys meet?
Aaron Kooiker :
Well, quite honestly, her brother was a walk-on in the same class as me. So he actually lived across the hall in the dorms, and she would come down and go out with a lot of the team and stuff. And then we just started getting to know each other, and that's kind of how we ended up meeting.
John Ryan :
And what year were you at this point?
Aaron Kooiker :
Actually, that was the end of my first year there, 1992. Okay. And what year did you guys get married in? We got married in July of 1995, so it was the summer before my senior year. Oh, you were married before you even got out of college. Yep. So our honeymoon actually was the bowl trip that year.
John Ryan :
Which went on to being where? El Paso, Texas. Oh, the Sun Bowl. Yeah. So you talk a lot about hunting and fishing. I know on your social media, you're a turkey hunter, you love to fish, things like that. Yep. Are you one of those guys that could live off the grid? No. If I had to, yeah.
Aaron Kooiker :
Do I want to? No, not really.
John Ryan :
Oh, okay. You're not, like, vehemently a hunting and fishing person.
Aaron Kooiker :
In fact, hunting-wise, I probably haven't hunted in three or four years. But fishing-wise, I enjoy ice fishing. I enjoy going up to Chamberlain, doing some walleye fishing there, going up into Minnesota. We do at least one summer trip up to the Brainerd, Minnesota area and coming up here on the 4th of July week, and we'll do some walleye fishing then, too.
John Ryan :
Yeah, I tell you, I keep telling my wife, when I retire, I'm going to have to learn how to fish. I grew up in Pierre, South Dakota with Lake Oahe and the Missouri River right there. I was not a fisherman. Wow. Not at all. So I'm like, okay, I'm going to start at 60-whatever years of age, and I'm going to be out there an idiot trying to figure out how to tie a hook onto a line. Well, I can teach you how to do that. that okay if you need to need to know i can teach i may need in a crash course on doing some of that but you got into law enforcement after college right i mean was that right after college you went to yeah law enforcement i yeah my my playing career was pretty much done at that point i had a no ambition to go to the pros or no opportunity to
Aaron Kooiker :
Yes and yes, maybe. I mean, I might have had a free agent contract if I'd have really pursued it. I was ready to be done, too, though.
John Ryan :
Just the physical toll it took on you?
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah, mentally, too. Did you stay healthy during your football career? Overall, yes. I've had one knee was scoped, but my shoulders are pretty banged up at this point in time in my life. So I'd taken some beatings, but I'm doing pretty good health-wise. So yeah, going through college, I'd studied sociology with the intent I was going to go into law enforcement. My older brother was a Polk County deputy when I got out of college. So I ended up getting hired as a officer in Polk City, Iowa. So that was where my law enforcement career started. And so that was the spring after I graduated is when I started there. And then I ended up going to West Des Moines and spent the bulk of my law enforcement career there. as a West Des Moines police officer. And then I ended up going to the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy and was an instructor there for a number of years, too.
John Ryan :
So tell me about West Des Moines. I mean, to me, that's a bigger city to be able to be a police officer. And had you had to run into some scrapes down there that, you know, I don't know how much you can tell me about things like that. But I mean, what kind of things did you run into as a police officer there?
Aaron Kooiker :
The answer is yes, again.
John Ryan :
Did you get, like, the graveyard shifts? Oh, absolutely.
Aaron Kooiker :
That was the best shift to work.
John Ryan :
Really? Yeah.
Aaron Kooiker :
You wanted that. I use the analogy. It was a little bit like playing football with guns.
John Ryan :
Okay. So let's just add a little element of danger to football. Yeah.
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah. It was a good—it was an enjoyable career. I enjoyed law enforcement. West Des Moines, at that point in time, wasn't—it was— I don't remember what their population is now, but I mean, it wasn't quite as big as it is now, but I mean, it was a growing community. It was an opportunity to really be in a bigger suburb city. We had the same things going on in West Des Moines as Des Moines did, we just not quite as often. So I think there was one year, I think, of the night shift handling gun calls, whether they were in apartments or in cars or something like that i think i ended up getting stuck on just about every single one of them for like a month or two i was like i'm kind of drawing the short straw here i don't know if i like this part but i bet you got good at it though it was one of those things you handled it and moved on yeah
John Ryan :
What was your nature like? Because, I mean, you're a good natured guy sitting here talking to, you know, is that how you approach law enforcement? Because sometimes those guys, when they're on duty, and I get it completely, you have to watch out for yourself. So you're very protective about who's around you and what's going on. You're not openly joking with people and things.
Aaron Kooiker :
Actually, I treated people with respect, and quite frankly, very similar to how I treat people now. I basically allow them to dictate how I'm going to treat them. So if they want to be treated with respect, they'll treat me with respect, and then everything will go off. without a hitch if i got called every blue colored name in the book then well then that changed how i responded to them and you know i i think i was very fair and but yeah you were always careful my wife when i actually told her she couldn't come right along with me anymore because she's always like why do you let them tell you say that to you or why do you let them do this i'm like well you know I'm just letting them dig their own grave, per se. So just go right ahead. Call me every name in the book. That's fine. No skin off my teeth.
John Ryan :
Yeah. Like I said, I've talked to Brad many times, and he was like, oh, the key thing is just de-escalate. Maybe they're blowing off a little steam, having a bad day. Yep. Okay, I'm going to let that go. I'm going to let that slide until you can't.
Aaron Kooiker :
In the end, I'm going home tonight, and you might not be.
John Ryan :
That is very true. If I get called to your house, there's someone that something's going to happen down there. So you went to the Law Enforcement Academy after that to be an instructor. Yes. What were you an instructor of?
Aaron Kooiker :
I got to do the fun stuff. I got hired there to do the driving and basic general law enforcement education. But then the longtime defensive tactics instructor retired. So then I got to do all the hands-on stuff. So all the ground fighting, grappling, punching, kicks.
John Ryan :
This is back in your lineman days, man.
Aaron Kooiker :
Oh, it was all kinds of fun. And so I got to do that. And then I even got to go get into the firearms instruction stuff a little bit. I was an assistant with that, but I didn't do a whole lot of it. But yeah, I got to do... At one time, I think I was teaching almost a third of the basic on my own. Wow.
John Ryan :
That's a lot.
Aaron Kooiker :
Because it was basic hours.
John Ryan :
So it was the hours that I was teaching were quite a bit. So what did you enjoy most about that? And why did you want to leave after about... How long did you stay there? I was there for about four years.
Aaron Kooiker :
Okay. I enjoyed the camaraderie with the kids. I mean, I wasn't that old. I was in my mid-30s, I suppose, at that time. I enjoyed the camaraderie, getting to know them, teaching kids how to handle themselves and, again, react with the public and... react with the bad guys and learn how to become a good cop. I enjoyed teaching that stuff. The frustration for me was it was... The same thing over and over and over again. And I just didn't see a light at the end of the tunnel on how that would improve. Because it was a machine. Two academies in the fall, two in the winter, two more in the spring, and it just went year-round. And you never had a chance to really improve yourself and your skills. So as I got to that fourth year, I was more looking forward to looking for how can I improve my skills career, improve my position administratively, I guess. And so that's how I ended up in city administration.
John Ryan :
Yeah. But before we get to your, your career as a city manager and things like that, your son is currently at the law enforcement Academy, correct? Yep. Oh, and by the way, we forgot to mention totally that you're a new grandfather.
Aaron Kooiker :
Yes, I am. Maya was born, it's been a little over a week now, I think. Yep, she was born on Thursday a week and a half ago now.
John Ryan :
That's when we intended to do this podcast the first time. That's when we were going to do that, yep, and I was out of town then.
Aaron Kooiker :
But yep, Ashton is in the academy right now. He was hired by Ankeny PD. I guess I should say, yeah, I've got my wife, Michelle. We've been married now for, it'll be 29 years in July. And then we have a younger son, Landon, who is at the University of Dubuque studying to be a pilot.
John Ryan :
Oh, nice. Yeah. So what is it about law enforcement for your family? Was there a history of that before you guys, before you and Evan got into it? Quite honestly, no.
Aaron Kooiker :
My older brother, Lance, he got into law enforcement first. A couple years before we went to college, or it was about the time we went to college, he started in the Des Moines area and was with the Polk County Sheriff's Office. And then Evan and I both got into law enforcement coming out of college. It was kind of fun. Lance was on the midnight shift for Polk County Sheriff's Office. I got hired by West Des Moines, and I was on the midnight shift in West Des Moines. And then Evan got hired in Ankeny, and he was on the midnight shift in Ankeny. So we actually got to work together a little bit here.
John Ryan :
Yeah, I bet. There was probably calls that involved all three of you at times.
Aaron Kooiker :
Yep, once in a while.
John Ryan :
Yeah.
Aaron Kooiker :
When does he graduate? When does he start? He will graduate, I think it's about mid-August is when he graduates from the academy. And then he'll go into the field training process there at Ankeny.
John Ryan :
How young was he and was he influenced because you were in law enforcement, clearly? Probably.
Aaron Kooiker :
He actually was... He was born, I think, the first week I started in West Des Moines. So he was born on November 14th of 1997, and I think my hire date was November 3rd of November that year. So it was just... Of his 26 years, I spent 15 of those in law enforcement.
John Ryan :
You said you got a little burned out at the academy. It was the same thing. You decided to go back to school at that point. Is that where you got that?
Aaron Kooiker :
Actually, while I was at West Des Moines, in order to move up the ranks at West Des Moines, they kind of expected you to have a master's degree. So I had gone back to school and got a master's degree while I was working at West Des Moines in master's in public administration. And so at that time, I'd kind of thought about what were my options. And they talked, in a public administration, they talk more about city manager work than they do police chief work. So I was like, oh, okay. And that's kind of when I'd gone to the academy, part of why I decided to go into city administration was because of that master's degree program.
John Ryan :
Was it your first choice or, you know, given your druthers, would it have been anything else or...?
Aaron Kooiker :
Uh, at that point in time, I didn't want to go back to street work and work in midnights and stuff like that. I had two young kids and didn't really want to do that. So yeah, that's when I ended up going into administration.
John Ryan :
So you go back to Hull, that's the first job you had for city, city manager, right? Yep. So I'm going to go back to the same question I asked before. What's your, uh, aha moment when, what first problem you faced as a city manager? I'm sure in Hull, it's not a big town, but it was kind of back in your, your neighborhood up there in Northwest Iowa. Yeah.
Aaron Kooiker :
Aha moment.
John Ryan :
Was there anything that was like, I didn't think this job would involve this?
Aaron Kooiker :
Well, usually it was a lot of the complaints that would come in. I'd end up treating them just like a law enforcement deal because you never think about city managers saying, this is the law, this is the code, this is the way it is. And I didn't even think about that. But then here I am. Somebody's complaining about somebody's fence and I'm sitting there going, well, the code says this. So that's the way it is. Deal with it. I mean, so those were the things that were... It ended up, to me, being not a lot different than being a police officer. It was just, yeah, all right, I'm the complaint department, and I'll look the code up, and then I'll tell you, by the way, this is the way it is.
John Ryan :
Sorry. You were just the guy holding the rule book saying, here it is. You can read it for yourself. So, I mean, really kind of law enforcement. I mean, because as city manager, you're in charge of the police department. You're their boss. Yep. To an extent, yep. Kind of a way to circumvent the cheap and then get right back on the top of the chain right there, right? Well...
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah, and that's part of, I mean, my goal would have been eventually to be a police chief if I had stayed in law enforcement, and that's kind of what my thought process with city administration. Well, okay, I'm not a police chief, but now I'm running an entire town or an entire city, and that's... That's got its own unique challenges and things that are probably as much or more enjoyable to me now than what being a police chief would have been.
John Ryan :
I've talked to other city managers here in Carroll, and obviously the bigger the city you go, the more money you make as a city manager and things. So you go from Hull to maybe the most diverse community in the state of Iowa in Fairfield. I mean, you've got the Maharishi Institute, and I talked about from Matt Weitrick, who was from Fairfield on a previous podcast. And he loved the diversity, and there was all sorts of different restaurants and stuff there. And that had to be different, too. That had to be a unique experience as a city manager.
Aaron Kooiker :
Absolutely. They had different political beliefs. I mean, the beliefs came from California, came from New York. I mean, then you had your normal Northwestern or Midwestern beliefs. So they were all really kind of interesting to sit and listen to what people had to say and why they were going that direction and stuff like that. Michelle and I always made the analogy, being in Fairfield was very similar to being in Iowa City. It was just on a smaller scale. So we enjoyed it. It was time for us to get back closer to home.
John Ryan :
Get back closer to Sioux Center, and that brings you here to Carroll. So what was that whole process like? You find out there's a job, you apply. What were your first impressions of Carroll when you got a chance to really take a deep dive into what kind of a community it was?
Aaron Kooiker :
Well, looking at Carroll, Carroll is a... has a great base. When you start looking from a city manager's perspective, you start looking at, all right, what's their tax base? How's their levy rate? What's their debt ratios? How are they financially as far as cash on hand, all that stuff. And of course, you know, The city staff in Carroll has done a fantastic job over the years, obviously well-managed from Gerald Clausen and then Mike over the last six years prior to me here, now that I've actually been here for a year now. It's in a great position. It's in a great position and I think has a lot of opportunities here.
John Ryan :
to move forward. Did you talk to Gerald much? He was prior to Mike. Mike was probably gone by the time you had come to interview, wasn't he, Mike Pokey Weaver?
Aaron Kooiker :
Yeah, Mike was gone. But no, I know Mike, so I talked to him quite a bit. I've only met Gerald once. And that was just here recently. But, yeah, I spent more time learning from Mike. And then, actually, it was really fortunate that I knew Jeff Koehler before I came here. And that's who I spent some time talking to Jeff, too. have that law enforcement connection coming right back to you so that helps a lot talk about what the biggest advantages you saw for carol why why you wanted this position uh location okay it's literally location location location i have family up in spencer i have family over in boone and this opportunity to be close to all of them and then my my wife's mom lives in the des moines area So just being in that area, you know, my oldest is close to this area too. So, I mean, the opportunity to be in a location where we can settle down and just we can do whatever we want with whoever we want in a decent amount of time and in a strong community was just, quite honestly, it was too good to pass up.
John Ryan :
My theory of being close to family is you want to be close, but not so close they can just drop on by. They have to call first.
Aaron Kooiker :
Correct.
John Ryan :
Yeah.
Aaron Kooiker :
And we're an hour away. So that works out great. Spencer's an hour away. I'm an hour drive from Boone for where my older brother lives. Yeah, my mom lives up in Arnold's Park.
John Ryan :
But just in case you're not like, no, I'm going to pass today. So I'm busy today. You can't come over.
Aaron Kooiker :
No, I'm going somewhere. Where? I'm not sure yet, but we'll be gone. Yeah, exactly.
John Ryan :
So what's the biggest challenges you see for Carol going forward in things?
Aaron Kooiker :
Being aggressive, being progressive in economic development. I think we've been adequate in economic development, but I think there's a lot of meat on that bone yet. And I really think as we can get more aggressive in the economic development, because I think we can really do a lot of good work.
John Ryan :
Can you expand on that? Because I know a lot of people say, yeah, we've got a lot of things going here and What are those things? I mean, what meat is left on that bone?
Aaron Kooiker :
Well, we can recruit businesses. There's about three development agreements I'm working on right now with businesses to come to town or expand here in town. I think those are really great opportunities. And once those two couple things fall, those shoes drop, then I think we'll have some other opportunities. Our housing opportunities, we all know that we're short housing. So how we go about becoming more aggressive and working with our housing issues will be things that we're working on now moving forward. So I think those are those opportunities, and quite frankly, as a city manager, those are the fun things to work on.
John Ryan :
Yeah, the exciting new things that are coming to town. Is there ever going to be a big thing like Pella, you know, or a bigger industry coming to town? I mean, the population base and the unemployment and the housing, is there, you know, because we're probably talking, you know, very small businesses coming to town, correct?
Aaron Kooiker :
Uh... The ones coming to town right now, yeah, no, they're not going to be. They'll employ somewhere between 25 and 50 people.
John Ryan :
Which is pretty sizable. Those are nice.
Aaron Kooiker :
Will we ever get something like a Pella? I wouldn't say no. I mean, look at Boone just got Daisy Dairy. I'd love to have that conversation.
John Ryan :
I'm not familiar with daisy dairy.
Aaron Kooiker :
Oh, the daisy sour cream and stuff like that? Yeah, that's what's going to Boone. Now, it cost Boone quite a few dollars to get them to come, and the state helped doing that. But, yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say no to something like that. But, yeah, we might need to do, I would say we might need to find some more people or a workforce to help us with that.
John Ryan :
What are we not doing that we should be? Are we not out there advertising enough? Are we not out there making a name for ourselves? You know, what's going to spur that on?
Aaron Kooiker :
Well, a couple of things. I think the development agreements that we're working on right now, the city's never done before. They're very, very generic through a number of different areas that I've worked. I've done them 100 times up in Hull. I've done them down in Fairfield. They do those things across the state, but they just haven't been done per se to an extent here. Housing, same way. Development agreements with developers to help put infrastructure in and use their tax increment that they create to pay for the... the infrastructure that they're putting in or the city uses the increment to pay for the infrastructure that the city puts in for the developer. All of those things are things that we should look at and do, which in the end doesn't even affect the tax levy rate that the city has because it becomes an increment deal where you're not using your debt service levy to pay for it.
John Ryan :
What do you say to all these folks that come up to you and say, oh, I don't want my tax dollars going to this. You know, we don't need this in town and we should stay the same. They're very anti-progress almost. It's very short-sighted. Do you get people to come up and say that to you?
Aaron Kooiker :
I've heard it. you're only doing one or two things in life, right? You're either getting better or you're getting worse. Because even if you're staying the same, this goes back to my athletic career, if I don't do anything, somebody else is doing something to get better. So then I got worse, didn't I? So you're either getting better or you're getting worse. And you've got to continually look at how we can improve, how we can grow, how we can do things to become a better community And that means how do we, in today's age, how do we incentivize those things? If you're not providing an incentive of some sort, another town is, and you're going to get left behind. I talked to a housing developer who's done housing in the area, but hasn't done any housing here in Carroll. And he said, these other communities are giving me free lots. Why wouldn't I? I'm like, I get it. I understand. I understand. You get free ground to build on.
John Ryan :
My chances of making money in this town are exponentially better than it is if I'm not getting that money.
Aaron Kooiker :
Well, that's awful expensive if I can go over to Town X and get a free lot. Makes a lot of sense.
John Ryan :
So if I'm going to put it in a nutshell, it is the anti-mushroom argument. If you're not getting noticed, you're losing there. Yep, you're correct. But as an offensive lineman, if you don't get noticed, you're getting ahead.
Aaron Kooiker :
My career, my goal for when I retire in 15 years is... The city of Carroll is in a fantastic place. It's in a fiscally great place. And Aaron, oh, yeah, he was a pretty good guy, wasn't he?
Aaron Kooiker :
Really?
Aaron Kooiker :
That's my goal. Yeah, we did great. The city did great. The council was doing great things. Yeah, that guy, Aaron, yeah, he was a decent guy.
John Ryan :
Be part of that golden age of some things.
Aaron Kooiker :
That's all I want. I don't want to be remembered for doing anything, but... We did a good job, and Aaron was a good guy, I guess, in the end.
John Ryan :
One year in the books. That's right. And he's ready to roll here from now on. All right, we're going to get to our speed question round here. We're going to wrap things up here with, who's the most famous person you've met? Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Vernd and her.
Aaron Kooiker :
Quick story. Sorry, I'm going to ruin your speed round. When I was working West Des Moines PD, we got a call that Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore and their kid, couple of their kids were in a bar and they wanted escorted out of the bar to their car. So that's how I got to meet Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher.
John Ryan :
Yeah. Escorting them from the bar to the car. There you go. Dogs or cats? Dogs. No cats. I like, well, I like cats. They taste like chicken. All right. I'm going to leave that one there for all you pet lovers out there. What was your first job? Janitorial work for the school district when I was in junior high. While you were in junior high, you had that job? A summer job. Okay. Do you make your bed every morning? Straighten it. You straighten it. You don't do the hospital corners? No. Because at the Law Enforcement Academy, they teach the hospital corners. I know this. Yeah. Yeah. How well do you cook, and what's your favorite thing to make? Ooh. I'm a pretty good cook.
Aaron Kooiker :
Are you more of a grill guy or a cook? I like smoking food. My best would be a brisket, I think. I did grill some pork chops from my older brother the other night, and he was pretty impressed, so I do okay.
John Ryan :
The first time I tried to smoke a brisket, No kidding. The Lakeview Fire Department showed up at my house. Oh. I don't know why. You had the smoke rolling, didn't you? Apparently. I didn't think it was that bad. But somebody thought they saw some smoke coming out of our house. How'd the brisket turn out? Terrible. I didn't bring it up to a big enough temperature on the inside. I pulled it out too soon. My wife saved it, though. She put it back in the oven and softened it up and did all that stuff. So eventually we did have brisket there. What advice would you give to your younger self? Kid in Sioux Center, Iowa, going to play football in Iowa. Huh, that's a good question.
Aaron Kooiker :
Probably stay the course. Don't get hung up on the little things. Make a decision. Stick with it. I guess I'm looking at what I'm telling my kids at this point in time now because, you know, hey, you make the decision, that's fine. Do it. But you need to live with it. I mean, don't go back and forth all the time.
John Ryan :
So, yeah. I always tell my daughters, like, make a decision. If you don't like it, make another decision. Eventually, you get good at making decisions for yourself, and you learn from all those mistakes and things. All right, music choice. What's your go-to playlist? What's on it?
Aaron Kooiker :
Oh, mostly Christian contemporary stuff, you know, casting crowns, Mercy Me, King and Country, that stuff. I sang a little bit at our church for worship team, so I have to stay up on that a little bit.
John Ryan :
Man, city manager's got a vocal talent. They can smoke a brisket for you. Man, it's Aaron Koiker, the city manager. Aaron, appreciate your time, man. Thank you so much for doing this.
Aaron Kooiker :
Oh, this was great. Had a lot of fun.
John Ryan :
Thank you. It always is great. So Must Know People. And again, we want to say thank you to Hugo and everybody here at 1730 Taphouse for hosting us once again today. And again, keep on listening for more episodes of Must Know People coming up.
