Hawkeyes still in search mode with football assistants

IOWA CITY — It sounds as if one of the three Iowa football assistant positions has been filled.

Along with a recruiting schedule that helped Iowa sign seven players this week, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz has been running scenarios on who will coach what position in 2017.

Ferentz announced earlier this month that wide receivers coach Bobby Kennedy and running backs coach Chris White wouldn't be retained. Also, Brian Ferentz was promoted from offensive line coach to offensive coordinator after the retirement of Greg Davis.

So, Iowa has three open positions. On Wednesday, Kirk Ferentz made it sound as if one of the positions had been filled.

'I think we're starting to get focused on what we want to do right now and have a pretty good idea about how one is going to go and now we're focused on candidates for the second position and then the third thing we will get to,' Ferentz said. 'So, there still is a little bit of wiggle room in there, but I think the plan is starting to come into focus.'

Iowa likely is in the market for a quarterbacks coach. No one on staff has that positional expertise. Kirk Ferentz was asked if Brian Ferentz would perform coordinator and O-line coach duties. That doesn't sound likely.

'I think that would present a challenge, but I've got an open mind,' Kirk Ferentz said. 'It will get down to the three best candidates the guys that we have all come to agree on and feel good about and keep all possibilities open, but that would certainly present some challenges.'

Quarterbacks and offensive line coaches seem to be the direction for two of the positions. That would leave running backs and wide receivers open. Also, the NCAA is likely to approve the hiring of a 10th assistant coach in April. Iowa has four assistants on defense, with coordinator/secondary coach Phil Parker, linebackers coach Seth Wallace and Reese Morgan and Kelvin Bell splitting defensive line.

Kirk Ferentz said Brian will have input on the hires. He added that if the openings were on the defensive side, Parker also would have input.

'I feel really good about the potential candidates,' Brian Ferentz said on Iowa's signing day internet broadcast. 'I feel like we've got a really good plan in place right now. It's like all of the recruits we've just talked about, what's critical for us is getting the right people in this building, figuring out the chairs for everybody to sit in at some point. But more than that, let's get people in here who understand the culture, who value the culture and are looking to perpetuate that culture with our players. If we can get that established, which I think we, again, have a really good plan in place, I think the future is bright if we can do that.'

Kirk Ferentz said the timetable is the next two or three weeks.

'It's important that the coaches get here and start learning and most importantly getting to know the players they're going to work with,' Kirk Ferentz said.

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