Ad Disclosure
Kirk Ferentz reflects on 25 PPG plan for Brian Ferentz as ‘best option available’ for 2023
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Kirk Ferentz addressed the media Tuesday for the first time since it was announced that OC Brian Ferentz, Kirk’s son, would not return with the program next season.
For Brian Ferentz, interim AD Beth Goetz confirmed in a Monday statement that the OC would finish out this season (including a bowl game) but would not be with the Hawkeyes for the 2024 season. That move is somewhat surprising at this juncture because Ferentz received an amended contract in the offseason.
Per that amended contract, Ferentz had a 25 points per game goal to hit in order to keep his job as OC. The Hawkeyes were trending well below that mark with 4 games plus the bowl remaining.
On Tuesday, Kirk Ferentz was specifically asked about that 25 points per game plan and whether or not there were any regrets. He admitted the call on that plan was Brian’s, but Kirk admitted it looked like “the best option available” at the time.
As for looking back, Kirk said he’s not accustomed to doing that and said it doesn’t serve much purpose to revisit the decision.
“I respect that, and I’m really not good at the looking back picture game, because it really doesn’t serve much purpose,” said Kirk. “I think when all that took place, Brian was the one who signed it and he thought it was the best option available, and I would have co-signed that. Not that it was my business, but still, it was.
“As I said earlier, there’s been a lot of really unusual things this year that I think have affected our play. If you want to look at recent history, look back at 2009. I think you can figure that one out. The course of our season changed dramatically… That happens in football, you’ve just got to deal with it. You can’t worry about the 8 million things that might happen in the next two weeks. You talk about a waste of time, that’s a waste of time too.”
While Brian Ferentz had a strong portfolio as an offensive line coach, he underwhelmed while serving as the OC and later in his tenure as the QB coach. Now, the Hawkeyes will finish out the season before looking for a new face to run the offense moving forward.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.