Kirk Ferentz focused on now, not the future, after news about Brian Ferentz

The firing of his son at offensive coordinator has to sting for Kirk Ferentz, but he remains focused on the task at hand here in November: finishing the 2023 football season strong.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are currently 6-2 on the year and 3-2 in conference play, setting them up in a four-way tie at the helm of their division at the moment. Despite another strong start to the season and a possible Big Ten divisional title coming their way, the school decided to go ahead and announce that offensive coordinator and Ferentz’ son, Brian Ferentz, will be let go at the end of the season but is allowed to coach the remainder of the games anyway.

Well, that’s a real wrench to throw into the season, but the Hawkeye head coach is doing his best to remain focused on the team’s overarching goals. When asked about his son’s firing this week, Coach Ferentz tried to side-step the issue as best he could.

“I had access to the announcement that you read, we all read, over the weekend. So yeah, it was the timeline. My plans are like they always are: to to worry about this game and bigger scale, bigger picture, the these four games — that’s where my focus has been this entire season,” explained Ferentz.

The decision to fire Brian Ferentz ultimately did not belong to Kirk, and he’s simply focused on finishing strong here in November.

“Obviously, it’s more than four games a week ago or two weeks ago. That’s what I think about, that’s… each and every year, it’s been pretty consistent, just like the other things I referenced.”

Continuing on the topic of staying focused, Ferentz noted that it would be unfair to his team for the coaching staff to get so caught up in the offensive coordinator switch that they neglect the remaining games. As he was getting asked another question about his son, Kirk Ferentz, interrupted to shift the conversation back towards his team and the game they have in front of them.

“Okay, so let’s kind of go back here. Really, what I’m really worried about right now: the next four weeks. And I think anything beyond that’s getting way ahead. That would be an injustice for our football team to be thinking about any of those things that you mentioned.”

Per Ferentz, he and the team simply need to focus on what they can control.

“And that’s my first loyalty… is to the football team. So, you know, things are in your control, which I think that is — you know, it’s just, you do what you can do that’s going to give us our best chance to be successful, knowing that all four of these games are going to be really challenging. You know, it’s not going to change, so it’d really be foolish to be giving too much thought to things that are outside of the realm of that.”

Despite some high drama off the football field, Kirk Ferentz, Brian Ferentz and the rest of the team and staff remain focused on winning some more football games.