Barta modifies contract of Brian Ferentz
This past Wednesday, all signed pointed towards Brian Ferentz returning as Iowa’s offensive coordinator. Those signs were confirmed on Monday when Iowa athletic director Gary Barta announced that Ferentz would be back under a new contract that has specific markers that the Iowa offense must meet in the 2023 season.
Barta announced on Monday that Brian Ferentz will see his salary reduced to $850K this season. He will also have specific performance objectives that he will have to meet. Those include averaging 25 points per game and Iowa will need to win seven games.
If he meets those performance objectives, then Ferentz will return to his prior two year rolling agreement with a salary of $925K a year, along with a one time lump sum payment.
Ferentz just wrapped up his sixth season leading the Iowa offense and it was by far his worst from a statistical standpoint. The Hawkeyes were next to last in all of D1 football in total offense at just 251 yards per game. Iowa only averaged 17.7 points per game, which was 123rd in the nation. That was the least amount of points on average by a Hawkeye team since the first two years of the Ferentz era in 1999 and 2000 when they only averaged 14.7 in the first year and 16.9 in the second.
Due to nepotism laws, Head Coach Kirk Ferentz cannot supervise his son, who joined the Iowa coaching staff in 2012 and became the offensive coordinator in 2017. Barta has been his direct report since coming to Iowa City and handles all of the evaluations of the oldest son of the Iowa head coach.
Since the conclusion of the 2022 season and the Hawkeyes Music City Bowl victory, rumors have swirled regarding Brian Ferentz and his future as Iowa’s offensive coordinator. Kirk Ferentz and Gary Barta addressed the issues on National Signing Day last week when they reaffirmed that they did not anticipate any staffing changes.
Barta went another step further, indicating that he and Brian Ferentz were working through a few things to move forward. Those plans are now complete and Iowa will now move forward without any changes to their coaching staff.
The Hawkeyes are expected to start spring practice the week of March 20th.
