Kirk Ferentz states he is good at hiring assistant coaches, lists qualities he looks for
Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz has had an interesting season as far as his coordinators are concerned. Now, he’s being tasked with finding a new offensive coordinator.
Recently, while speaking to the media, Ferentz argued that he has a track record of hiring good coordinators and listed the qualities he’s looking for in a coordinator.
“First answer is yes, I do think we’ve had pretty good success there,” Kirk Ferentz said. Not everyone’s worked out perfectly but, again, we wouldn’t be here after 25 years if that wasn’t the case.”
This year, Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker won the Broyles Award, as the nation’s top assistant coach. However, that was largely overshadowed by the saga around offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, who failed to reach the 25-point per game threshold to retain his job and it was announced he would not retain the position before the season ended.
“Phil is a great example. You look for guys that are team players, first and foremost. Good teachers, good mentors. It’s not pro football. It’s very different. In pro football, some of the criteria is very different, but our first job is to be mentors to show our guys how to act, how to do things, and handling bad situations is a big part of it. You’ve got to be a good teacher and you’ve got to be a football guy too,” Ferentz said.
“But what we do, it’s not nuclear science. This is not all that complex. We try to make it complex, but it really isn’t. The basics are still the basics. A lot of intricacies in there but you’ve got to get people that are going to convey those things well to the players. They’ve got to be able to teach them football but you also have to teach them a lot of other stuff too and be good team players. We can’t expect our team to be a team if our guys are selfish and we’ve got guys joking for position, all that stuff. I’ve seen that act before. It doesn’t work so good.”
Kirk Ferentz shares where Iowa’s offensive coordinator search stands
Iowa still does not have an offensive coordinator for the 2024 season. Amid bowl preparations, Kirk Ferentz shared where that search currently stands.
“I think we opened the search officially last week. 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. 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,” Ferentz said.
“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. 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.”