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Brian Ferentz’s struggles as Iowa’s offensive coordinator continue as national spotlight shines on scoring objective
Beth Goetz understands ‘frustration’ from fans with offense again among worst in country
IOWA CITY — Some people are having fun with Brian Ferentz’s well-documented contractual scoring objective.
The Sickos Committee — fans of “unconventionally appealing” college football with more than 100,000 social media followers — has tracked Iowa’s scoring with videos closely resembling the “Cliff Hangers” game in “The Price is Right” TV show.
The animated video has a replica of the purple mountains, blue skies and puffy clouds from the game show. It even has the famous yodeling music. A slightly-discolored photo of Iowa’s offensive coordinator looms behind the mountains.
Instead of the cardboard mountain climber moving as contestants guess the price of a spatula, a smaller picture of Brian Ferentz inches up the mountain for every point Iowa scores.
If he is behind 25 points per game, cue the sad horn music that typically may play when someone misses out on a dream vacation to the Bahamas or a new car.
Unfortunately for Brian Ferentz, the Iowa offense and Hawkeye fans as a whole, the miniature Ferentz is not as high up on the mountain as he should be ahead of the final month of the 2023 season.
The Hawkeyes rank 116th out of 130 FBS teams with 19.5 points per game — a far cry from the 25 points per game requirement in Ferentz’s contract, which former athletics director Gary Barta added before his retirement.
If Iowa does not go to the Big Ten championship game, the Hawkeyes would need to average 33.8 points per game in the five remaining regular-season or postseason games to jolt the season average to 25.
If Iowa does earn a trip to Indianapolis, the Hawkeyes would then need to average 32.3 points per game in the six remaining regular season or postseason games.
Either way, Iowa would need to suddenly increase its weekly scoring output by more than 60 percent to meet the contract objective.
Kirk Ferentz did not indicate his level of concern about the designated performance objective when asked after Saturday’s 12-10 loss.
“We are just trying to win games,” Kirk Ferentz said. “That's all we're trying to do. We have been doing a pretty good job up until today. That's what we are trying to do.”
Barring either an unprecedented scoring improvement or Kirk Ferentz’s retirement, the offensive malaise will prompt what would likely be Beth Goetz’s biggest decision as interim athletics director. (Goetz, like her predecessor Barta, is Brian Ferentz’s official supervisor because of the university’s nepotism policy.)
If Goetz lets the contract termination stand, she risks alienating her relationship with the winningest coach in Iowa football history. If she hires Brian Ferentz back, she risks alienating an already-frustrated fan base and extending Iowa’s unsustainable offensive futility.
“We would like to have more offensive production and understand the frustration when we don't,” Goetz said earlier this month. “But we’re excited about what we’ve done to this point.”
Goetz — speaking to The Gazette and The Athletic when the team was 4-1 — also was “excited about where we can still continue to go.”
“We still have a lot of our big goals in front of us,” Goetz said.
That remains the case despite the Hawkeyes’ unsightly, 12-10, loss to Minnesota. Iowa, while technically not controlling its own destiny, has a favorable path to a Big Ten West title.
But that outlook is in spite of, rather than because of, the Brian Ferentz-led offense.
Iowa’s defense ranks fifth in the country with only 4.18 yards allowed per play. Iowa’s offense, on the other hand, ranks 128th in the country with 4.12 yards gained per play.
“Clearly we want more points and more yards,” Kirk Ferentz said after the Minnesota loss. “I'm not sitting here saying whatever we had was enough. It's not enough. We need to do better.”
Any questions for Brian Ferentz will have to wait. Iowa announced after the loss that it will not make the beleaguered offensive coordinator — or its other two coordinators, for that matter — available to media during the bye week, breaking from what has been standard practice in past seasons.
Meanwhile, how far mini-Ferentz climbs up the Sickos Committee’s animated mountain will be the $925,000 question in Iowa City.
Brian Ferentz contract FAQs
Do points scored by the defense or special teams count toward the scoring objective? Yes.
What happens if Iowa averages 25 points per game and wins at least seven games? Brian Ferentz’s contract would continue, and he would receive a $112,500 bonus that would negate this year’s pay cut. His salary next year would be $925,000.
What happens if Iowa does not average 25 points per game? His contract would terminate. However, it does not preclude Iowa from signing him to another contract with different terms.
Do results from the Big Ten championship game and/or bowl game count? Yes.
Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com
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