In 1999, Iowa was fresh on the heels of a 20-year tenure from Hayden Fry, who was one of the best coaches Iowa has ever had. Fry retired after his worst season as Hawkeyes head coach, going 3-8. It should be noted, however, that he was going through radiation treatments for prostate cancer secretly the entire year.
The Hawkeyes, now without their legendary coach, went looking for someone to fill the big shoes left behind. After going for Iowa alum Bob Stoops, who ultimately took the Oklahoma job, Iowa ultimately landed on Kirk Ferentz, who coached under Fry from 1981-1989 as the Hawkeyes’s offensive line coach. 24 years later, Ferentz is still around, but it may be time for Iowa to push Kirk towards his own retirement.
You may be saying “What is this guy talking about? They JUST made the B1G Title Game last year and won 10 games! Why let Ferentz go?!” There’s no doubt Kirk Ferentz is a good, maybe even great, coach. He’s done very well for the school during his tenure as a whole. Since 2014, he’s made the Big Ten Title Game twice – as many as Pat Fitzgerald at Northwestern and only one less time than the recently fired Paul Chryst from Wisconsin. He’s 3-4 in bowl games in that time frame as well. He’s been the kind of coach who has sustained a mid-tier program, and, once every few years, when he gets enough veteran players stacked up, makes a run at the bigger prizes.
However, Iowa has hit a major crossroads, mainly offensively, and it is effecting the bigger potential success the Hawkeyes could have. From sticking with a continuously regressing QB in Spencer Petras, who can barely pass for 100 a game, to Ferentz continuing to keep his son Brian employed as his OC, the Hawkeyes are a train wreck on the offensive side of the ball. Just listen to what he has to say about a potential switch to back dual-threat QB Alex Padilla.
"What would be the downside of putting backup Quarterback Alex Padilla in?"
Brian Ferentz: "What would be the upside?" pic.twitter.com/Huget698iQ
— HuskGuys (@HuskGuys) October 13, 2022
Really Brian? What’s the upside in trying to jump start your offense with another QB who has shown some promise when he’s played? Brian does know the offense he coordinates currently ranks dead last in college football in total offense and 126th out of 131 teams in scoring offense right? He also has to know Petras has thrown two touchdowns in six games and doesn’t even appear on NCAA’s Passing TD’s list through this point of the season right?
Basically, if Brian’s last name wasn’t Ferentz, he’d probably be selling used cars instead of coaching at a FBS program right now.
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Inevitably, this all falls on Kirk. Obviously, Kirk is never going to demote or fire his own son and even Kirk himself is sugar coating and acting with an “ignorance is bliss” mentality about the offensive woes. With a blatant unwillingness to make any change that will spark this offense, it’s clear that the Ferentz era at Iowa needs to come to an end if Iowa is ever going to be a consistent competitor in the West.
So if I understand right, Iowa just…
-Punted from their own 16
-Recovered a muff at the Illinois 35
-Went 3 plays for -6 yards and punted
-Forced a fumble and recovered at the 5
-Went 4 plays for -4 yards
-Kicked a field goalA 15-play, -10-yard, 76 punt yard field goal drive.
— Shehan Jeyarajah (@ShehanJeyarajah) October 9, 2022
So who can Iowa even get to replace Kirk if they did move on? Easy. There’s one guy who for years now since he left the B1G that I felt was patiently waiting for the Iowa job. That man is Bret Bielema. Bielema is an Iowa Alum, who played nose guard from 89′-92′. He even has an Iowa tattoo.
Yes, I know he’s currently coaching a B1G West leading surprise Illinois team right now. An Illinois team that is now 6-1 and in control of the division. But if the Iowa job became open, they’re giving him a call – a call he’d most certainly take.
Bielema’s style works well in the B1G now just as it did with Wisconsin, where he won three straight Big Ten Championships from 2010-2012. He would almost certainly be able to revitalize the program offensively and make them a consistent contender for the West.
But for now, Iowa fans get to cringe every Saturday wonder if they can break double digit points. With Ohio State looming in a week, it’s safe to say that there won’t be a repeat of 2017, where the Hawkeyes drubbed the Buckeyes 55-24 in Iowa City. There is zero chance their offense can score even half of that mark.
It’s up to the powers that be at Iowa to decide who they want to be as a program going forward. Do they want to be a once-every-four-years team that’s above-average the rest of the time? Or do they want to be a consistent threat year-in and year-on out? If they wait too long, any suitable replacement won’t be available when Ferentz does inevitable leave, and they’ll be stuck in the same cycle.
In the end, if the last two years have taught us anything, Iowa has as hard time moving forward on the field as they do off the field.
