It has been anything but a normal week for the Iowa football team in the lead up to taking on Northwestern at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on Saturday.
On Monday, Iowa interim athletic director Beth Goetz, who has held the position for just three months, announced that Hawkeye offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz will not be returning to the coaching staff in 2024. The coordinator will remain in the position for the rest of this season, including the bowl game. Ferentz, a former Iowa player and son of longtime head coach Kirk Ferentz, has been on staff since 2012.
“For the vast majority of my adult life, I have had the privilege to represent the University of Iowa as a football player and coach,” Brian Ferentz said in a statement to ESPN. “I have always considered and will always consider it an honor.”
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Goetz declined to get into specifics on what her conversations with Brian Ferentz and his father entailed. She did maintain, however, that the choice required “evaluating all the information we have.”
According to the Associated Press, since Brian Ferentz took over as coordinator in 2017, Iowa has averaged 320.2 yards and 25.3 points per game, ranking 131st and 100th, respectively, in the FBS over that span. This season, Iowa is averaging 19.5 points and 232.4 yards per game – that yardage ranking last in the Big Ten.
“I think any time people are involved in any decision, it’s difficult,” she said of the announcement. “And certainly those who mean a lot to our university, so that’s always a piece of the puzzle. But at the end of the day, you make the best decision you can in what you think is in the best interests of the institution or program.”
Early on Monday, rumors had been swirling on social media about Brian Ferentz resigning, effective immediately. That afternoon, Goetz’s statement not only provided clarity, but also put an end to the discussion of the coordinator’s much-maligned 25-points-per-game clause that was added to his contract before this season. That contract, negotiated under then-AD Gary Barta, said Brian Ferentz’s current contract would have been terminated on June 30, 2024 if the clause was not met.
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Even if the speculation of Brian Ferentz’s future was finally put to an end, one question remained: how would the head coach react to the dismissal of his son?
Kirk Ferentz was the only member of the team or staff who addressed the media on Tuesday. The head coach said he preferred to keep Hawkeye players, who always talk each Tuesday, away from the media in order to focus on the upcoming game.
When asked about the decision regarding his son, Kirk Ferentz said he found out about the news over the weekend, but he also made a point to say his policy had been to evaluate players and coaches in the offseason. Based on Iowa’s nepotism laws, Brian Ferentz reports directly to Goetz, and the head coach says he respects that “chain of command.”
What could make Hawkeye fans most weary was the longtime head coach’s hesitance to say if he would put on the headset again in 2024. When asked, Kirk Ferentz said he was strictly focusing on the next game and the rest of the season. The next day, the head coach released a statement amending his earlier comments.
“While my immediate focus is on finishing the season strong, I love coaching and my intent is to continue coaching at the University of Iowa,” the statement read. “We have built something very special here, and I plan to coach until I am no longer passionate about the game, players, or coaches.”
Even with the long-term future of both Ferentzes resolved for now, Iowa is left with a far more immediate challenge: earning a trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship. In a season where the Big Ten West title is still possible with four contests remaining, the Hawkeyes need to run the table in order to have a chance of finishing atop their division.
That road goes through The Friendly Confines, where the Hawkeyes will battle a Wildcat team that has also dealt with an injury at the quarterback position. With backup signal-callers under center, each team has found success with distinct styles.
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Choosing what to embrace
Prior to Week 5, when starting quarterback Cade McNamara went down with a season-ending ACL injury, the Hawkeyes were averaging 21.25 points per game to go along with 127 yards in the air. Now, with Wisconsin transfer Deacon Hill taking reps under center, Iowa has regressed. Over the sophomore’s three starts, Iowa has mustered 15 points per game, while Hill has tossed for just over 87 yards per contest.
In spite of these numbers, Iowa still put up two notches in the win column, including a 15-6 triumph over then-division-leader Wisconsin on the road.
In an era where top-ranked and soon-to-be Big Ten teams like Oregon, Washington, and USC air out the pigskin, Iowa has chosen to revert to a one-dimensional offensive scheme that revolves around running the ball, while trusting a defensive unit that has held its opponents to 14.5 points per game, ranking sixth in the FBS in that category.
In Hill’s first two starts against Purdue and Wisconsin, Iowa was outgained by at least 50 total yards on offense, but the team outrushed its opponents in those contests, highlighted by 100-plus yard performances from running backs Kaleb Johnson and Leshon Williams.
On the other side of the ball, linebacker Jay Higgins and cornerback Cooper DeJean have led a unit that forced 15 punts and four turnovers in those two victories.
This method of success sputtered out in Week 8 against Minnesota, when the Hawkeye “D” held up its end of the bargain by yielding just 12 points, but the offense failed to get anything going in the running game.
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While plenty of fans cried foul about DeJean’s called back go-ahead punt return touchdown, no referee could change the fact that Hill turned the ball over three times while the offense averaged just 0.4 yards per carry on the ground.
Now facing a Northwestern rushing defense that ranks second-to-last in the Big Ten in yards per game, Iowa has an ideal chance to get back on track with its offensive scheme. Still, according to Kirk Ferentz, any triumph on offense requires ball security.
“If you’re down 3-0 [in the turnover battle], it’s going to be tough,” he said Tuesday. “It’s tough to outscore people getting in those types of games if you’re going to be sloppy with the football.”
When asked if there would be any change under center due to Hill’s tendency to turn the ball over, the head coach insisted there is still a clear and definitive gap between him and backup Joe Labas, as evidenced from the pair’s “body of work” in practice.
As for Northwestern, after starting quarterback Ben Bryant went down with an upper-body injury on Sept. 30 against Penn State, the Wildcats have also gone 2-1 over their last three games, all started by junior second-stringer Brendan Sullivan.
In Northwestern’s wins over Howard and Maryland, Sullivan threw for 396 total yards and four scores while also rushing for 94 yards on 29 attempts. Kirk Ferentz credited Sullivan for being a “catalyst” against the Terrapins last week, while also complimenting the Wildcats’ defense for a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter of that contest.
“They’re gaining momentum and playing with confidence,” the head coach said.
Whereas Northwestern’s offensive scheme was in full-gear in its last game, Iowa’s unit nearly hit rock-bottom, and now the Hawkeyes have a lame-duck coordinator on the sidelines. Yet even with unexpected adversity, Kirk Ferentz has kept his mind on the present and chosen to dictate only what he can control.
“Those are parts of seasons, and how you respond to those things, that’s how you get defined,” he said of the struggles and change Iowa has experienced in 2023. “So this is just one more of those things that you have to try to compartmentalize and put it in the right position. Then the most important question is, ‘What do we have to do to move forward and be successful?’”
About the Author
Matt McGowan is a sophomore at the University of Iowa and has been on the staff of The Daily Iowan, the university’s student newspaper, since his freshman year. With The Daily Iowan, Matt has covered women’s tennis, men’s wrestling, and other sports. He has been on the football beat since the spring of 2022 and is the editor of The Daily Iowan’s Pregame edition, a weekly print solely devoted to football. Check out one of his favorite stories, a profile on Iowa center Logan Jones.
How to watch Iowa vs Northwestern
- When: Saturday, November 4
- Where: Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois
- Time: Live coverage begins at 3:30 PM ET
- Live Stream: Peacock
