Brian Ferentz lets out string of expletives in Iowa press box

IOWA CITY — Just before the end of the first half, the Iowa football team had driven into Minnesota territory with less than a minute to go. Running back James Butler caught a Nate Stanley pass and went 19 yards before he fumbled, the ball recovered by Minnesota.

Butler initially was ruled down, but it was overturned upon review, giving possession to the Gophers.

Hawkeyes offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz was not happy with the call. As coaches left their coaches box when time expired, Ferentz let out a string of expletives heard by most in the press box — words too blue to reprint here.

Ferentz expressed his unhappiness with the play being reviewed.

When the halftime break was over, security officials were seen outside one of the boxes in the press box. As Ferentz walked by on his way back to his coaches box, he was seen and heard saying, 'it's (expletive) bull----.'

Iowa led Minnesota at halftime, 7-0, and had 166 total yards on offense — 80 of which came in five plays of the first drive of the game, which ended in an Akrum Wadley 12-yard touchdown.

Head coach Kirk Ferentz address the incident in the opening statement of his post-game news conference. He called the behavior 'not acceptable.'

'I just learned a little while ago about some inappropriate behavior up in the press box by one of our coaches, and I don't know all the details at this given point but of what I heard, it's just not acceptable,' Kirk Ferentz said. 'There's a certain level of professionalism that you have to operate with, and we plan on doing that in the future. In the mean time, we'll sit down and address this, find out the details are – I'm a little sketchy in terms of what all took place – but the bottom line is there's no room for that. That will be addressed, and we'll move on.'

Brian Ferentz was requested for post game interviews, but Iowa officials said assistant coaches are not available for comments after games. The Gazette reached out to the Big Ten about the incident, but Big Ten officials did not have a comment at press time, pending review of what happened.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com