Kirk Ferentz details what he will look for in Iowa's new offensive coordinator

After Brian Ferentz was let go as the Iowa offensive coordinator, his father and Hawkeye head coach Kirk Ferentz is in the process of finding a new play-caller.

Iowa finished with a tremendous season in the win-loss column in 2023, earning 10 wins and a trip to the Citrus Bowl vs. Tennessee. In that bowl game, throughout this season and over the last several, though, the Iowa offense just hasn’t found much success, ultimately leading to the firing of its coordinator when the unit failed to reach the 25-point-per-game threshold established at the beginning of the season.

After the bowl loss, Kirk Ferentz had his eyes forward and explained exactly what he’s looking for in the new Iowa OC.

“First of all, I want a guy who is going to be a really good team player,” he said. “Obviously, they have to have expertise in their area, like all of our coaches, and they have to be good people. They have to be guys that are going to mentor the players they work. They have to be people that understand a team is a team.”

Ferentz then recalled some of his previous coaching experiences, when he once coached NFL legend Dan Marino at Pittsburgh. However, he says that despite superior talent at Pitt, he actually found better success during his early years at Iowa thanks to a better-connected coaching staff.

“I go back to my time in the ’80s. I came from a place where we had ultra talent. We coached a national championship team down to No. 2, and I will go on record saying that one, mainly, because we had phenomenal players. Marino, you go right down the list. Phenomenal players, but a dysfunctional coaching staff. A lot of guys worried about themselves, their professions, their careers, all that stuff.

“I came to Iowa in ’81, literally off the pickle boat, and it is just the opposite. We had talent, but not the kind of talent we had at Pitt. We had a staff that was just unbelievably cohesive. The bottom line is the guys all cared about one thing: the players they coached and the team being successful.”

All that to say, it’s the character which really matters to Ferentz, not just the ability to dial up great play calls.

“How they are in front of the players, critical. How they are with each other, critical,” he continued. “Obviously, they have to be great representatives of university. We coach in college, not an NFL team, so there is a responsibility there. What you do in the community, go right down the list.”

At the end of the day, Kirk Ferentz just hopes he nails this hire with a terrific person and representative of the community who can also coach some ball.

“That stuff is important. There are a lot of things that are important. I just want to get it right. That is my responsibility as head coach is to get it right, period. Get the best guy we can get.”