After completing his second stint as the Iowa quarterbacks coach, Ken O’Keefe stepped down at the end of last season. Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said in his opening spring media availability that offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz was the natural fit to take over those quarterback coaching duties.
Brian Ferentz has served as the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator since the 2017 season and also coached running backs in the 2017 season before coaching tight ends the past four seasons. Now, he will directly oversee a position group that fans are pining to see growth from.
“To me, it just made perfect sense. I thought he was in the best position to handle that role at this point. And I think the bigger hope is that he’ll help us add to our efficiency and proficiency offensively. And that’s the thinking behind that, but he’s embraced that and done a good job as well. Feel really good about where our staff is at now and eager to get started here in the football aspect,” Kirk Ferentz said.
It seems like shifting Brian Ferentz over into the quarterback coaching role was the initial plan, too.
“When Ken made that decision, then my thoughts were to shift Brian over. I think it makes sense. And really all that, outside of 1999 and then the last couple years, that’s been the way we’ve been operated. The guy calling the plays is coaching the quarterback directly. I just think that personally is if he can get that situation, it’s better. And Brian is more than capable of doing that job. And he knows our offense better than anybody, quite frankly. I think it’s going to be a good, positive move for us,” Kirk Ferentz said.
There’s continuity with the transition in this sense. Brian Ferentz has benefitted from working with and learning from O’Keefe the past five seasons.
“Immensely. That was a big part of—after the ’16 season I was hoping when Greg (Davis) talked about getting out and then retiring, I was hoping Ken would be interested. A, available, and then B, interested, because he’s got so much history with the program. And certainly knows our program and certainly has expertise in that area.
“So for a brand new coordinator to have a guy who not only is a coordinator by trade but also a guy who coordinated in this system, I thought that was a real plus, certainly. And I never put numbers on things or targets. But I guess in my mind, I felt like if we could get three good years out of Ken, we’d be doing really well and that would get us up and running. And fortunately we got more than three,” Kirk Ferentz said.
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