Kirk Ferentz addresses facing son Brian Ferentz on Maryland sideline

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and his son, Brian, are having a family reunion on Saturday. However, it might not include the expected warm hugs and kind gestures.

With Brian serving as Maryland‘s offensive analyst, the father and son will be pitted against each other on opposite sidelines. Worse, there wasn’t a happy ending the last time the pair were together on a football field.

Brian served under his father as Iowa’s offensive coordinator from 2017-23. After Iowa suffered through years of lackluster offenses, Kirk was forced to fire his son. While many Iowa fans rejoiced to see a staff change, it certainly wasn’t an easy decision for Kirk.

On Tuesday, the 69-year-old head coach pulled back the curtain on his emotions ahead of the reunion.

“It’s the first time for a lot of things. That’s life. I haven’t given it a lot of thought quite, frankly. Obviously I knew it was coming,” Kirk Ferentz said. “It’s a weird dynamic, but the bottom line is this: The reality is when you get to game day, that’s what’s silly about coaches exchanges, greetings and all that. I fully know what the other coach wants to do, just like he knows what I want to do, and how we hope the day goes.

“It’s probably not a great time for a family reunion or just even seeing old friends. Everybody is cordial, but the bottom line is we’ve all got business to take care of on Saturday. We’ll see where it all goes.”

Although this is Kirk’s first time facing off his son since firing him, it isn’t the first time that veteran coach has squared off against a former member of his staff. Kirk Ferentz compared the impending reunion with Brian to other awkward matchups of his past.

“It’s weird coming back here, whether it be Barry Alvarez the first year or Bill Snyder Year 2, Dan McCarney, Bob Stoops,” Kirk said. “Four guys that I worked with, and Bob played for us on top of it. Tremendous respect for all those guys.

“But I think his experience has been good, what I know about it, and as a parent I’m glad he’s with good people, and Mike is a guy I’ve got a lot of respect for.”

On Saturday, Iowa and Maryland will clash at noon ET. The game will air live on the Big Ten Network.