Kirk Ferentz shares where Iowa's offensive coordinator search stands

For the last seven seasons, Brian Ferentz was the offensive coordinator at Iowa. However, after having his contract amended to require the Hawkeyes’ offense to score 25 points per game in 2023 to keep his job, it was announced he would not retain the position at the end of the season.

Now, head coach Kirk Ferentz has shared where the search to replace Brian Ferentz at offensive coordinator currently stands.

“I think we opened the search officially last week,” Kirk Ferentz said. “So, it’s out there. It’s got to be posted for two weeks. I’m not sure, I should know this by now. Anyway, by the time we’re legally allowed to really do something, that’ll coincide with my schedule.”

Because Brian Ferentz is Kirk Ferentz’s son, he did not technically report to the head football coach as the offensive coordinator. Instead, he reported to the athletic director. That means it was Beth Goetz’s decision to move on from Brian, not Kirk’s.

This season, Iowa was 133rd in total offense and 130th in scoring offense out of 133 FBS teams. That was good for 239.3 yards and 16.6 points per game, respectively. One team did average exactly 25 points per game this season, Boston College, who was 83rd in the country in scoring offense.

“Really, my first and foremost thoughts have been on this team and they will remain that way through New Year’s. We have an opportunity right now. I think we’d be one of five teams to win more than 10 games here in the history of the program. That’s pretty significant. So, for me not to be focused on that first and foremost would really be negligent of my duties.”

Iowa is currently 10-3. As Kirk Ferentz pointed out, the majority of his focus is on getting an 11th win in the Citrus Bowl. That would be one of the best seasons in program history in terms of wins and losses. Still, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t started the hiring process at all.

“Then, we’ve had a couple of balls in the air recruiting our own guys. Actually recruiting and being out of the office and doing some stuff. Then, trying to map out a plan for this month to make sure we’re doing the right things. So, I’m still flying by the seat of my pants but I’ve made all of three phone calls. I’ll give you that little tidbit. Three phone calls so far,” Ferentz said.

“Hopefully, get one more in this week, and then we’ll really turn our attention to it when we get back here because you’ve got to have some face-to-face meetings and those kinds of things, but I feel really, based on what I know as I stand here right now, I feel total confidence that we’ll have a really good person here. I think there’s some strong interest from people that make a lot of sense that really fit and I think will fit what we need. So, it’s going to work out just fine unless the bottom falls out. It could always happen, but I’ll promise you too, there’s gonna be a new market of people out there in January or February.”

Kirk Ferentz addresses if Brian Ferentz news will impact their relationship

Shortly after it was announced that Brian Ferentz would not be returning to Iowa as the team’s offensive coordinator, Kirk Ferentz addressed if the move would impact their relationship.

“I’ve had a lot of strong relationships with a lot of people that have worked here, and that’s one of the beauties of what we do. So if this were anybody on our staff that fell into this category, I’d feel bad about it. But I’m guessing they would encourage us to keep moving forward, too. And that’s just what you have to do,” Ferentz said.

“We all have a lot of mutual respect for each other. We all share common goals; that’s one of the beauties of this sport. And one of the beauties of the sport is the far reach in numbers. We have 120-plus guys on our football team. So to get guys to become close, to develop a chemistry, all of those things, that’s the beauty of the game and in my 34 years here we’ve had tremendous stability. … So that’s one of the real perks of it all, and any time anybody goes through a setback, you always feel bad. Just like losing a game, you feel bad about that, too. But you move on.”