No 'puppet' show in IC

Still taking requests here at "On Iowa."

E-mailer John wants to get me in trouble: "Ken O'Keefe: His own man or Kirk's puppet? (how much of Ken O'Keefe's creativity is bottled up by Kirk, if any?)"

On its face, that's an easy one.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, with input from his offensive coaches and experiences with Iowa and the NFL, installed the basic structure of the offense, the pro set, I formation, kind of West Coast thingie with a lot of play-action, which makes liberal use of the tight end and still uses, gasp, a fullback.

Offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe calls the plays. Ferentz carries veto power, but O'Keefe pushes the buttons.

But you know it's not that easy, right? 

Ferentz manages and gives his coaches task and latitude, but he's also made it clear, many times, that he's the boss. His coaches do what he tells them to do. They're running an offense and plays he signed off on. He has veto power over everything, from blitzes to punt blocks.

For evidence, Ferentz took the blame for Amari Spievey returning a punt, fumbling and allowing Indiana to set up a TD and a 21-7 halftime lead last fall.

"You're talking about the biggest bone head play of the year – or maybe the day,” he said. “But that was me. I got greedy. I was hoping we could get a return, get a spark there and take a couple shots down the field and get three points. You know, as soon as we did it I just, you know, that's my fault. That was just a stupid play, you know. I was hoping they'd bail me out. Thank goodness they did because that was stupid. That was really stupid.”

He might've been deflecting. Punt return is assistant coach Darrell Wilson's call, but maybe Ferentz vetoed in favor of hoping to spark something.

Remember 2007, when the turf was hitting the fan at Kinnick. Iowa lost to Western Michigan and was left out of a bowl game?

I asked Ferentz why he hadn't listened to fans' howls for O'Keefe's job. (I admit, it was a ham-handed entry point, but I didn't know where else to start.)

"First of all, I think he's a quality coach, an outstanding coach and I can't imagine us having someone better in that position," Ferentz said. "That's the major problem on that request."

In the five Big Ten games going into that interview, the Hawkeyes have scored just six touchdowns, averaging 11.2 points a game. The Hawkeyes also are last in the conference in red-zone offense. Iowa has scored just eight times in 12 (66.7 percent) trips inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

Here's an excerpt:

Ferentz referenced a Big Ten school that fired a few assistants in the early 1980s, during Ferentz's first run as offensive line coach at Iowa. That left a bad taste in his mouth and has colored his beliefs on staff continuity, even in times of struggle.

"That was the first time I really saw bodies coming out, coordinators or assistants coming out, trying to stay a step ahead of the posse, divert the attention," Ferentz said.

Instead of firing coaches, Ferentz said his focus will be on "working through problems."

"I'm not of the school that you fire four people and assume everything is going to be fine, just to take the heat off yourself," Ferentz said. "I think that's a cop-out. If there's a legitimate reason to do it, that's fine, but we certainly don't have any of those, in my mind. Other people are entitled to their opinions."

Ferentz and O'Keefe began working together in 1978 at Worcester (Mass.) Academy. But Ferentz was quick to point out that personal relationships have nothing to do with what's going on in the Iowa football offices.

"Business is business. Coaches get fired all of the time," Ferentz said. "(But) I think he does an excellent job."

Ferentz was asked what he'd do if Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta told him to restructure his staff.

"That's a hypothetical. It's a good question, though," he said.

When Ferentz and O'Keefe were at Worcester, O'Keefe was the head coach.

Here are some more archival tidbits:

"He's such a player's coach," Joe DiBari, Fordham's SID, on O'Keefe. "Ken was one of the guys. He'd come to practice with his arm around one of the players. A real caring, family-type of man.

"Nicest guy you'll ever meet," he said. "To say Fordham is devastated is an understatement. We felt he would be here 10 years."

The concept of changing Iowa's offense was discussed in the lead up to the 2006 Alamo Bowl.

"It's just who we are and it's not going to change," O'Keefe said. "Kirk has had a plan and has a plan and we're sticking to the plan."

Back to John's question, is KOK his own man or Ferentz's puppet?

I don't think Ferentz wants "puppets." He wants input and isn't afraid to be challenged, reasonably challenged, not New Mexico State battle royal challenged. Does he give an inch? I think he does, especially when -- and this is important -- Iowa's personnel doesn't match up with the physical nature of Ferentz's philosophy.

The 2004 season is the easy example. Last season, without Shonn Greene and with an injured O-line, Iowa was less balanced and leaned pass. This season, there could be more of that with skill position veteran and a relatively inexperienced O-line.

How much of KOK's creativity is bottled up?

That's hard to say. Iowa's offense was pass-first in the early days. Iowa had no O-line and was a mile away from Ferent'z zone blocking. Eric Steinbach was a freshman tight end. Bruce Nelson was a walk-on tight end. Robert Gallery was a senior at East Buchanan High School.

The early days were closer to a true west coast offense, which, in my mind, is a bomb going off with short routes and reads. Over the years -- and a few first-round O-line draft picks later -- Iowa's offense has realized Ferentz's vision, in my opinion.

If it can, it will run, a lot. It will strive for balance, but it will always try to play to its strengths. In 2010, that very well could be quarterback Ricky Stanzi and a cadre of experienced receivers.

You know how coaches from other conferences occasionally hit the road for lessons from non-conference schools. Iowa defensive coordinator Norm Parker had a few of those visits last summer and probably had a few more this summer after the Hawkeyes dominated Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl.

I've never heard that Ferentz and O'Keefe have visited anywhere.

As is the case with everything Iowa and Ferentz, it's about fit.

Read this story on Allegheny's Division III NCAA football championship in 1990, led by rookie coach Ken O'Keefe.

Tell me, if Hayden Fry wouldn't have hired a 25-year-old whose experience consisted of one year as a graduate assistant at Pitt and two years as an assistant at Worchester Academy, that wouldn't or couldn't have been words coming out of Ferentz's mouth.

No puppet show.