I'd be very surprised if Iowa replaces Kirk with a person with no HC experience at any level, unless it was a promotion of Phil who doesn't seem to want the job. I don't know that Kirk would have been offered the job back in 1999 if he didn't have at least those three years as HC at Maine. Of course Stoops was likely to be offered if Kirk wasn't a candidate and he only had three years as an Assistant HC under Spurrier, so maybe I'm wrong.
But unless he starts showing major progress in his current role, Brian is not the guy for the job. Brian had some success as the OL coach but has been mostly a disaster as OC. Compared to LeVar Woods who has shown he can put together elite units underneath him, had a decent tenure in the NFL, has coached on offense, defense, and special teams for us, and would be much better suited for the job.
Think about Woods's tenure.
LB coach 2012-2014 = Recruited Josey Jewell and Ben Niemann, both in the NFL and damn good players under us.
TE coach 2015-2017 = Recruited Noah Fant and TJ Hockenson, both in the NFL and damn good players under us.
ST Coordinator 2018-Present = Runs one of the best special teams units in the country in kicking, punting, and returns.