Kirk Ferentz recalls ‘interrogation’ by media after question on son Brian’s job performance

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz has come under plenty criticism over recent weeks as the Hawkeyes hit a skid in the schedule with a three-game losing streak. As the offense fails to put up consistent numbers, the job security of offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz sparked come fireworks at Saturday’s press conference.

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,” said Ferentz. “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.”

More on Brian Ferentz questions

Through seven games this season, Iowa only has seven touchdowns and its passing offense ranks last in the Big Ten. That’s led to questions about offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz’s job status, and that was the subject of an interesting exchange on Saturday with Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz.

“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.”