Kirk Ferentz issues apology to Iowa media after 'interrogation' comments

After Iowa’s loss to Ohio State last week, Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz faced some tough questions about the job security of his offensive coordinator — and son — Brian. Ferentz then called it an “interrogation” this week, but has now issued an apology.

Ferentz called the line of questioning by an Ohio State reporter an “interrogation” during his press conference Tuesday and said things “could be worse” because he “could’ve been that guy [and] had his job.”

Wednesday night, Ferentz sent out a statement to Iowa beat reporters apologizing for his remarks.

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“I had hoped to join the zoom call this morning, but practice lasted longer than anticipated,” Ferentz said. “I wanted to take a moment to apologize for my comments during the news conference yesterday. I should not have been dismissive of one of your colleagues — his questions were fair. I have a high respect for the work that you do, and I am appreciative of how you cover our team.

“You ask tough and pointed questions but do so with a high degree of professionalism. I tell our players to take the high road and yesterday, I did not do the same thing. I look forward to seeing you on Saturday.”

Kirk Ferentz recalls ‘interrogation’ by media

On Tuesday, Kirk Ferentz recalled the line of questioning while discussing the pride he has in the player-led leadership he has seen since the weekend.

“I complimented the guys on Sunday – just because, during the questioning, in some cases interrogation on Saturday that I experienced,” Ferentz said. “The only thing good thing about that, it dawned on me coming home. I said ‘Man, as bad as today was, it could’ve been worse, I could’ve been that guy.’ I could’ve been that guy, had his job and had to act like he did. So it could’ve been a hell of a lot worse, right? Things aren’t all bad.

“But one thing I did on Sunday was just compliment our players for the way they’ve handled it. It’s not fun to stand up in front of tough questions when you went through a loss like we did. Our guys handled it with a lot of class, and they stand up for each other. It’s worth complimenting our guys, I think it’s genuine, it’s who they are. And my experience of what we’ve been through – two-loss streaks or three-loss streaks – the last four years we’ve experienced either two or three in all four of the seasons. The only way I know to come out of it is everybody’s got to work hard and it does take leadership, it takes ownership. And that’s coaches and players.”

Ferentz got into a heated exchange with reporter after the Ohio State game

Ferentz took questions after his Hawkeyes fell to Ohio State 54-10 in Columbus — a game in which Iowa totaled 158 total yards of offense and scored its only touchdown from a scoop-and-score on defense. During the game, Iowa made a quarterback switch, removing Spencer Petras and putting backup Alex Padilla in.

But Ferentz made one thing clear after the game: He’s not considering any staff changes until after the season. That’s when the reporter asked him why he’d make a quarterback change but won’t think about the staff during the season.

“I think you’re talking about two separate job descriptions and two separate areas of responsibility,” Ferentz said. “I know people do it, I know it’s been done this year. Again, it’s just not my preference. My preference has been [to] play it out, and there’s evidence to show that it’s worked pretty well in the past.

“We’ll play it out and then we’ll do our assessments and our evaluations when everything’s over. The season’s not over. When the season’s over, we’ll make an evaluation on what’s best for our program.”

On3’s James Fletcher III contributed to this report.