5 burning offensive questions for the Iowa Hawkeyes heading into spring football

It’s almost time for spring football in Iowa City. What are five burning questions about the Hawkeyes’ offense heading into spring football?

Slowly but surely we are escaping the pit that is the college football offseason. Full of transfers and coaching changes, the offseason can feel like a real slog to get through. This isn’t aided by the weather being bad either, just heightening our offseasonal depression.

It’s been a turbulent one for the Iowa Hawkeyes to say the least. Iowa brought in two big transfers from Michigan, but also saw multiple talented players depart as well. It is going to hurt to see Jestin Jacobs in an Oregon uniform next year, and I’m fully prepared for Keagan Johnson to be a star in the Big 12.

While Iowa managed to put together a good recruiting class, it all felt overshadowed by the guy they weren’t able to bring in. While many will try to criticize Proctor’s decision calling it short sighted, mind you Alabama also routinely sends linemen to the NFL, it’s really hard for me to envision anything but success for the young man. I truly do wish him the best, unless it’s in a national championship against Iowa to which I hope he gives up four sacks.

What else was there? Oh yeah, there was the entire “will they fire him” situation with offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz. If it were up to most of the fanbase, the coach’s son would’ve been out the door a long time ago. Even before Iowa’s offense put up horrendous numbers this past season. Iowa did issue him an “ultimatum” though: bring the offense to passable levels and you sir get a raise and a pat on the back.

It still does feel like a bad dream.

It’s felt like all offseason the fanbase has received just kick in the pants after kick in the pants. I’m not sure if the same feeling of optimism is there that I noticed last year. So, how do you fix that? Well, it’s easy folks.

Win.

Winning is the remedy to literally any problem in sports. All of the down moments of the offseason will seem like little blips on the radar if Iowa football gets back to doing what they do in winning.

Of course, the biggest factor in that is the offense. Anyone who is familiar with last year’s team can tell you just how bad it is, and looking back on some of the box scores it truly is the stuff of nightmares. It cannot go on that way. No more wasting Phil Parker’s fantastic defensive efforts and no more wasting the fans’ time!

With the offense in mind, here are five questions about Brian Ferentz’s unit that should be on the minds of every single Iowa football fan.

3-star 2023 WR Jarriett Buie Jr. picks up Iowa Hawkeyes offer

Jarriett Buie, a three-star 2023 wide receiver from Tampa, Fla., picked up an offer from the Iowa Hawkeyes.

As Iowa works to put some of the finishing touches on its 2023 recruiting class, Hawkeye wide receivers coach Kelton Copeland and the rest of Iowa’s staff have identified one more playmaker they’d love to add to it.

The Hawkeyes offered class of 2023 wide receiver Jarriett Buie Jr. out of Jesuit High School in Tampa, Fla. The 6-foot-3, 185 pound wide receiver also holds Power Five offers from Duke, Iowa State and West Virginia.

In addition, Buie has offers from Arkansas State, Bowling Green, James Madison, Mercer, Middle Tennessee State, and Toledo.

According to ESPN and On3, Buie is a three-star recruit. ESPN rates Buie as the nation’s No. 140 wide receiver and as the No. 154 player from Florida. Meanwhile, On3 ranks Buie as the No. 144 wide receiver in the 2023 class and as the No. 152 player from Florida.

According to MaxPreps, Buie registered 32 receptions for 402 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 14 games with Jesuit High School in 2021. He averaged 12.6 yards per catch as Jesuit finished a perfect 15-0 and as 6A state champions.

Buie would bring a track and field background to Iowa City if he winds up picking the Hawkeyes. In this past track season with Jesuit, Buie recorded a 100-meter dash of 11.49 seconds.

He would also bring a football background to Iowa City. His father played defensive end at South Florida and spent some time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2009.

The Hawkeyes’ 2023 class consists of 17 commits and is currently rated as the nation’s No. 16 class by Rivals, the No. 19 class by 247Sports, the No. 21 class by On3 and the No. 24 class by ESPN.

Another wide receiver name to keep an eye on in the 2023 class as the summer begins to come to a close is Bryson Vowell out of Anderson County High School in Clinton, Tenn. He has a crystal ball prediction in to land with Iowa from HawkeyeInsider‘s Sean Bock.

Here’s a look at Buie’s junior season Hudl highlights with Jesuit High School, his full recruiting profile and a glance at the Hawkeyes’ full list of 2023 commits.