Hlas: Ferentz can’t pass up chance to shore up Hawkeyes’ offense

The first week of 2017 wasn't exactly dull for Iowa Hawkeyes football.

There was a dreadful 30-3 loss to Florida in last Monday's Outback Bowl. There was the question of whether junior running back Akrum Wadley was staying or going, answered Thursday with great news for Iowa.

Then came Friday's news that offensive coordinator Greg Davis is retiring, less than three weeks after head coach Kirk Ferentz said 'Right now, I have no reason to think he won't (return for another season).'

A quiet January, it won't be. Not when there's an offensive coordinator's job and a passing game coordinator's job to be filled.

The Hawkeyes' passing numbers in the Outback Bowl were 24/7, but were the opposite of being open all day, every day. It was 24 attempts, 7 completions. And three interceptions.

In that same interview of mid-December, Ferentz said quarterback C.J. Beathard had 'nobody to throw to.' Weeks later, part of the Tale of Tampa was Hawkeye wide receivers totaling one catch for 11 yards.

Over five years at Iowa, Davis' passing offense seemed like it was painful to watch more often than it was prolific, if not more. There were fewer gripes in 2015 when strong-armed Beathard had Tevaun Smith and Henry Krieger Coble and a healthy Matt VandeBerg and a healthy George Kittle.

Shots were taken downfield, including a memorable bomb from Beathard to Smith at the Big Ten championship.

But in Tampa, Florida had an NFL defensive secondary. Iowa had an FCS wide receiver corps.

Not all FCS wide receiver corps, mind you. Eastern Washington passed for 401 yards a game. Its play-caller/co-offensive coordinator, Troy Taylor, recently was hired to be the OC at Utah. That's a pretty good Pac-12 program.

Taylor's will never be the kind of offense Ferentz wants at Iowa. No matter who coordinates it, it will be built around a power running game, trying to win a 12-round decision with a steady barrage of blows rather than swift knockouts.

Which is fine. But to complete — pun intended — the attack, you need receivers and something to let them maximize their skills once you get them here. If you want to make the running game really scary, invigorate the pass game.

We don't know if Ferentz promoting offensive line coach/run game coordinator Brian Ferentz to OC this month is a fait accompli, but is there any doubt Brian is the heir apparent to his father's job?

You need a least a couple dynamos on your staff, and young Ferentz is certainly that. He definitely has the hearts and minds of his players, and seems to have as much influence on the head coach as any Iowa assistant.

The 'Ferentz Family Business' stuff would leave the program open to criticism, it being a state institution and all. But that's a topic for another day.

Even if Brian Ferentz gets that promotion, Iowa still needs a quarterbacks coach and someone with know-how when it comes to steering a passing game.

Davis wasn't a bum, folks. He's one of the nicest, most-genuine people you'll meet, and you never heard one of his players show anything but respect toward his him or his coaching wisdom.

Offensively, he brought exactly what he had brought to Texas and previous stops. It just never quite seemed like a fit here.

It would be brutally unfair to tell the story of Iowa's 2016 offense without noting the injuries to VandeBerg, who was off to a sensational start in the season's first month, and Kittle, an NFL tight end-to-be who was so good in multiple ways when he was healthy.

Then VandeBerg broke his foot, and the passing game grew equally fractured. Iowa had a pair of 1,000-yard rushers and still somehow was 121st nationally in total yardage per game.

That's something working and yet not working at the same time.

Read more: 3 possibilities for Iowa offensive coordinator

Iowa cannot be 121st or anything close to it again. That will get you beat five times every year, and more than that in most.

Hire a smart cookie and let him show he's smart, Iowa. You're in the Big Ten. You can have a major-college passing game. You must have one.