Months after University of Iowa leaders amended his contract to take away $50,000 and implement additional performance stipulations, Brian Ferentz finally met with local media who cover the Hawkeyes Thursday afternoon.
If someone was thinking Ferentz might be ready to divulge plans for an all-new, 21st-century (20th?) Iowa offense, think again.
Asked what Iowa’s offense would look like in 2023, Ferentz doubled-down on the past – which included last year’s offensive catastrophe in which the Hawkeyes ranked 130th in yards per game at 251.6; they beat out only New Mexico and finished some 30 yards behind their next-closest Power-5 competitor. That was, coincidentally, a Colorado team that razed its entire program and hired Deion 'Coach Prime' Sanders in December.
“We’re going to do the same things we do,” Ferentz said, “and we’re going to do them better.”
Ferentz, whose father Kirk is major-college football's longest-tenured coach entering Year 25 atop the Iowa program, was short on talk about how the Hawkeyes would do those things better, though he said the team had played several younger players a year ago who now had more experience and maturity.
Ferentz quickly shot down “outside talk” that Iowa needed major changes to its offensive approach.
“Have you ever heard that talk from me?,” Ferentz asked a questioner, who said, “No.” “Yeah. I’m going to approach my job the same way I’ve approached it the last 11 seasons. My job is to help us win football games.
“We have a tried and true method. We know how we win; we know who we are. My job is to make sure we play to those strengths and on Saturdays, we’re winning games not losing them.”
The method a year ago led Iowa to the nation’s No. 123 scoring offense at less than 18 ppg; multiple of the teams who finished below Iowa in scoring also fired their coaches.
Told that some players had shared with media their beliefs that Iowa is doing some new and different things on offense, Ferentz was dismissive.
“Our job as an offensive staff is to get together every year and tweak the things that we do and figure out how do we do it better,” he said. “I don’t know that there’s any notable changes.
“If that’s what the players think, that’s super, that’s great. We’re just trying to move the football and help the team win games.”
But part of those aforementioned performance benchmarks that Ferentz’s Hawkeyes offense must attain in 2023 include the stipulation the team average at least 25 ppg; the Hawkeyes scored more than 25 points against just one Power-5 foe last season – one-win Northwestern.
Could this change Ferentz’s approach, especially in perhaps a late-game situation with the contest’s outcome already decided? A reported asked about a specific scenario if Iowa was up two touchdowns but didn’t have 25 points against Big Ten rival Wisconsin.
“That’s probably a better question for the head coach,” Ferentz said. “I’m not interested in that, and I could care less, honestly. If this is my last year being the offensive coordinator of Iowa football, I’m at peace with that.
“And if we’re beating Wisconsin 24-10 with 30 seconds left, you can bet your ass I’ll be at peace with that.”