(Photo/hawkeyesports.com)
Well, I thought it’d be a while before I had to speak on the Iowa offensive situation again…well, here I am.
Iowa announced on Monday afternoon that offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz wouldn’t return after the 2023 season, in a statement provided by interim athletic director Beth Goetz.
Now, none of this is news that should shock anyone with the events of this season, despite injuries that see the Hawkeyes down to tight end #3, a backup quarterback who hadn’t had a start since high school, and down to running back #3 for the first half of the conference slate.
Yesterday, the elder Ferentz held his weekly press conference to a much-interested media scrum. The energy, even from over 100 miles away, was tense and palpable. Ferentz’s body language looked of a man who was annoyed and felt run-over, and his verbal language was Belichickian in tone (We’re focused on Northwestern i.e. We’re on to Cincinnati).
Anyone who thought we were going to hear anything somewhat resembling a bombshell, was sorely mistaken. Ferentz has never been one to tip his hand, especially when the odds (or the world) has appeared to be stacked against him.
But my annoyance, ire, however you want to describe it, does not fall with Ferentz from yesterday’s press conference. It falls with his new, and for now, still tentative superior.
Before I give my thoughts, I do want to preface that I firmly believe Iowa should hire Beth Goetz as the full-time athletic director. She has the charisma and the wherewithal to lead a Power 5 Athletics Department.
However, Goetz did not get off on the right foot here. The timing of this announcement does no one any good. Iowa is not even going to think about searching for Brian’s replacement until after Black Friday, and even then I put the odds of that lower than 20%.
As well, there is not a chance the players on the team aren’t mad, heck, even furious at this decision. The Ferentz’s (yes, with an apostrophe) are beloved in the program, as well as former players. It also has provided yet another distraction in a season that has been full of them from the start.
My biggest issue lies when Goetz spoke to the media. When asked (what I thought) was a pertinent and important question about the timing of the conversations that preceded Monday’s announcement, she declined to divulge details and said to let her statement speak to itself.
I’m sorry…how is that better than her predecessor?
Gary Barta was the KING of vague, overarching statements. The response Goetz gave was a…vague, overarching statement.
It was vague and overarching like the invalid fair catch rule that cost Iowa a win over Minnesota nearly 2 weeks ago.
The fanbase and donors deserve more than that. The “decision, no comment” model that her predecessor championed again and again drew the ire of thousands. Sure, she made the decision Gary Barta was unwilling to make, but the lack of detail surrounding what went into it does not make me feel good about how these events went down.
To make it simple, there “who” and “why” do not bother me in this (The decision for Brian Ferentz to depart), it’s the “where” and “when” that bother me.
Now, all this is to say that Beth Goetz can’t and won’t be a stellar, Power 5 athletic director, but this announcement was botched to a certain degree, in this writers opinion.
There will be room for growth, and certainly this can be a growing moment. But for now, this one gives me a sour taste…let’s get rid of that sooner rather than later.