Reports: Brian Ferentz won’t return in 2024. Who should be the next Iowa OC?

Really, just A+ picture work from 24/7 Sports on this tweet:

Interim Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz later confirmed in a statement that she was acting in her official capacity as Brian’s supervisor, given that nepotism laws prevent Kirk from employing him directly.

Writers!

1. Give us your thoughts on the Brian Ferentz era.

BRT: News of this “conscious uncoupling” or whatever they’re calling it is one of the most significant bummers of my life as a sports fan. Brian brought so much joy to the sport. None of it for fans of his team, of course, but he ultimately had a greater impact spreading cheer than he would have done if he’d simply been good at his job.

Bri-bri was an inspiration for so many, claiming poster boy status for both Nepo Babies AND Mediocre White Men. He gave living breath to the maxim “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” And he did it all with nary a hair out of place. We’ll never see the likes of Brian Ferentz at Iowa again, and I for one am verklempt by this turn of events.

Kind of...: Really @BRT? Never? I wouldn’t bet against a Connor and/or Pat McCaffery “defensive specialist” gig on the Iowa sideline in a few years. As for Brian, I’m sure he can head to New England and join the long list of coaches who sip from the Belichick pool of genius and get recycled into new jobs. What? The Patriots are 2-6? Sorry Brian, gonna have to accomplish something on your own this time.

LPW: Last year didn’t the Sickos Committee have the Northwestern / Iowa game, with Brian Ferentz’s shitty offense against O’Neil’s horrendous defense as their Superbowl? I think that says it all.

Creighton: It’s easy to get your dunks in (and you should, lord knows I have) but if there’s a sad part to this saga it’s that Brian was actually a pretty good positional coach, not only for Iowa but also for a Super Bowl-winning team in the NFL. There’s another world where he stays as Iowa’s OL coach and all parties involved are much, MUCH happier than they are today.

While I don’t think all of Iowa’s failures fall solely on his lap, it’s clear this was never going to work out. Frankly, it was shameful how long he was allowed to stay in that job, and everyone who said Kirk shouldn’t be allowed to promote his own son was ultimately proven right. Glad the circus and the stupid Drive for 325 is over, let’s move on to the next coordinator who can disappoint everyone.

BoilerUp89: Brian was an offensive mastermind misunderstood by so many of us. His innovative play calling included daring concepts such as stretch runs to the short side of the field and passing to the tight end two yards short of the sticks. Above all, Brian sought to ensure that the punter was put in positions to make plays and his teams executed this mission to perfection.

His creative genius will be missed by all who have gotten to experience the joys of watching the Iowa Hawkeyes offense under him and his contributions to the game of football are incalculable. An artist far, far ahead of his time, we can only hope that we live to one day see Brian return to Iowa City as the head coach of the Hawkeyes and return their program to the highs they reached under his offensive coordinator tutelage.

AlmaOtter: He was a terrible OC. But he was terrible in the sea of bad offenses that is the B1G West in its death throes. At this point, no team in the West has cleared the Ferentz Line; it’s not likely that any will by the end of the season. At least he gave us some good content in his final year.

WSR: I am personally very disappointed to see the end of the Brian junta. Not only was he a poster child for everything that BRT pointed out, he was also responsible for wasting some absolutely incredible years of defense from Phil Parker. That kind of incompetence is usually only rewarded at the law firm of Ferentz & Associates or Ferentz Construction.

He will be greatly missed.

2. Do you think this is the last of the changes at the top in Iowa City? Will Kirk Ferentz stick around?

BRT: I really don’t. I think Kirk will announce a retirement sooner rather than later. However, if he doesn’t, and he really did feed Brian to the wolves in order to keep his job, that’s way more Tywin Lannister than I thought he had in him.

LPW: I don’t know much about the new AD in Iowa City. I wouldn’t put it past Beth Goetz to start nudging Kirk to retire.

Creighton: I told some friends today that I think this will be the last year Kirk Ferentz is a head coach. Maybe I’m wrong but those 100% seem like the vibes right now.

Kind of...: Not gonna argue with the distinguished gentleman from Iowa City. If Iowa wins the West, he can go out on top (of a very small hill). If they don’t, in this, the weakest year for the West yet, then what chance would he have had next year, anyway?

BoilerUp89: I suspect he will retire. Kirk reached 200 career wins and it requires too many more years to catch Stagg for the all-time leader of Big Ten coaching wins (at least three, probably more). There just isn’t anything left that he can reasonably accomplish that he hasn’t already.

MNW: And, really, why would he want to be there? This new AD fired his kid, there are four new teams entering the conference with new-fangled ideas like “throwing the ball”...easier to just bow out now.

I don’t think he will, but it sure seems like this is a golden “out” for a guy who otherwise looked like he would die in office.

AlmaOtter: I’ll place my bet on Team Inertia and assume that Ferentz will keep coaching in Iowa City until the bitter end.

WSR: I don’t think we’re done with changes in Iowa City, unless Kirk can find a way to bring in James or Steven or Joann.

3. Two-part answer: Who’s the next OC in Iowa City? You may give one funny answer and one realistic answer, but you must give both.

BRT: I’m putting my name in. I’d love the opportunity to do terrible things to Iowa football for six figures a year. My other answer is Ryan Walters. You can decide for yourselves which of those is serious and which is funny.

LPW: Why not bring back Ken O’Keefe or Greg Davis? Seriously, I think Kirk will probably keep it within the family and hire his other son (checks Google) James Ferentz.

Kind of...:

• Funny: Kirk Ciarocca notches a fourth B1G OC job in the last five years, and Iowa’s rivalries with Minnesota and PSU both reach new levels of hilarity.
• Serious: well, it really depends on who the Head Coach is. My moderately shocking, but feasible, possibility is Zach Lujan, the OC at South Dakota State. He’s not yet 30, but he’s overseen the Jacks’ displacement of NDSU from the top of the FCS hierarchy. And his offense, while firmly entrenched in the 21st century, isn’t so daring that it would give Hawkeye fans heart attacks. It would be compatible with the type of players Iowa recruits. Too young to be an FBS HC, but could learn under Kirk for a couple of years if he’s sticking around.

If not, Iowa should just ask Phil Parker for some suggestions and keep that guy happy.

AlmaOtter: Ricky Stanzi for both of my answers.

Creighton: My realistic answer is Chuck Long. My funny answer is Matt Campbell. My dream answer is...well, there’s also this very cryptic tweet from right when the news was leaking:

Bob Stoops confirmed.

BoilerUp89: No idea on realistic hires so let’s copy Creighton and say Chuck Long. My other answer is Michigan assistant Jesse Minter. As Michigan’s defensive coordinator, Minter has spent more time studying the play calling of opposing offenses than anyone else. Surely, with this much spying on offenses from across the country, Minter has learned a thing or two about offensive football.

MNW: I don’t have a funny answer—maybe Pat Fitzgerald? Mick McCall? Too many hilarities to grapple with right now.

But the serious answer is right under your nose. Someone who wants to run the ball first—and succeeded. Someone who has no time for the media OR recruiting. Someone who has proven he can win in the Big Ten West, gone though it might be:

Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images

Let it be so.

WSR:

Funny: Replace OC/QB Coach Brian Ferentz with OC/OL Coach James Ferentz. Make them fire him again.

Realistic: Well if Iowa wants to continue to hire the people with the same upstanding moral fiber and character favored by Kirk in his time in Iowa City such as Brian and Chris Doyle, he’ll probably need to look for someone with connections to Mike Gundy or Nick Rolovich. Maybe he’ll look to Tommy Tuberville for guidance?