Even decades into a coaching career, there are still firsts. One of those happens for Iowa this week when it travels east to take on the Maryland Terrapins (4-6, 1-6 Big Ten).
For longtime Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz, this will be the first time he squares off against his son, Brian, on an opposing sideline.
On Tuesday during his weekly press conference, Ferentz discussed what those emotions will feel like.
“Exactly. It’s the first time for a lot of things. That’s life. I haven’t given it a lot of thought quite, frankly. Obviously I knew it was coming.
“But the bottom line is this, to your point, it’s the best I can come up with. It’s weird coming back here, whether it be Barry Alvarez the first year or Bill Snyder Year 2, Dan McCarney, Bob Stoops. Four guys that I worked with, and Bob played for us on top of it. Tremendous respect for all those guys.
“It’s a weird dynamic, but the bottom line is this: The reality is when you get to game day, that’s what’s silly about coaches exchanges, greetings and all that. I fully know what the other coach wants to do, just like he knows what I want to do, and how we hope the day goes.
“It’s probably not a great time for a family reunion or just even seeing old friends. Everybody is cordial, but the bottom line is we’ve all got business to take care of on Saturday. We’ll see where it all goes.
“But I think his experience has been good, what I know about it, and as a parent I’m glad he’s with good people, and Mike is a guy I’ve got a lot of respect for,” Ferentz said stoically of the situation.
Kirk Ferentz did not let on too much emotion impacting him or getting in the way of this matchup as he knows Iowa has a job to do and that job is to win the game.
Brian Ferentz joined Maryland this offseason after departing the Iowa staff last winter following a seven-year stint as the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator
Brian Ferentz is a senior offensive assistant for Maryland.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X, formerly Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions.
Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald7