Thoughts on Brian Ferentz ?
- Thread starter InHeavenThereIsNoBeer16
- Start date
You are right, I was wrong. How in the heck were there 2-1,000 yard rushers and the Joe Moore award?
I think he did a good job considering its his first year as OC, breaking in a new QB and unproven Wrs
Like to see him coach at Nebby. Iowa was absolutely pathetic on offense this year. No excuses. Finished 107 out of 130 teams thanks to special padding stats against hapless Nebby (Iowa was at 117).
I like Brian and all of the Ferentz'. Next year the O will put up some major points.
He has a lot to prove. Some good things this year but don't forget about half our games had some of the worst offensive production I can remember. We had better improve a lot on offense next season
If his last name wasn’t Ferentz, he wouldn’t be a coordinator at any major D1 school.
Yeah, you're right. I can never forgive him for dropping all those passes this year.
Looks to me that overall the offense was better this year. Not great, but better. I agree with what Jedn said earlier, the jury is still out.
So what do you think would have happened around here if Kirk had hired someone else & they did as good as Brian has done, and Brian had gone somewhere else and done as good or better of a job there?
What do dropped passes have to do with someone not being qualified for the job?
I'll go back to what I said when he got the job and that is I don't give two rips if he's the coaches son or not. They can hire Mary for OC for all I care. What I care about is winning as many games as we can while playing good football.
Brian showed me some innovative approaches this year. Not everything worked and it's possible he over-thought it at times but all-in-all I was satisfied. The passing game was much improved along with the TE utilization. There were many more deep routes, crossing routes and routes across the middle of the field.
The disappointment by far was the running game did not yield as much as it had in past seasons. The number one problem was not the play calls or the scheme but the OL itself. It was too soft and the interior was very marginal. Yes, the tackles were pups but I thought they showed very well considering. The guards and center way under-performed. You can't have great offense with a suspect line.
In addition our bend but don't break defensive style leads to very few 3 and outs meaning we have a smaller number of game possessions. We do not give up tons of points typically but fewer possessions impacts offensive scoring and stats. This year we also had major field position issues due to our punters. That affects offensive output when constantly starting from inside the 20.
Fix the OL, punting game and force more three and outs and our offense will look even better.
Brian showed me some innovative approaches this year. Not everything worked and it's possible he over-thought it at times but all-in-all I was satisfied. The passing game was much improved along with the TE utilization. There were many more deep routes, crossing routes and routes across the middle of the field.
The disappointment by far was the running game did not yield as much as it had in past seasons. The number one problem was not the play calls or the scheme but the OL itself. It was too soft and the interior was very marginal. Yes, the tackles were pups but I thought they showed very well considering. The guards and center way under-performed. You can't have great offense with a suspect line.
In addition our bend but don't break defensive style leads to very few 3 and outs meaning we have a smaller number of game possessions. We do not give up tons of points typically but fewer possessions impacts offensive scoring and stats. This year we also had major field position issues due to our punters. That affects offensive output when constantly starting from inside the 20.
Fix the OL, punting game and force more three and outs and our offense will look even better.
Def not all that impressed. There were some factors that kept us sputtering. Alot of drops, fumbles, and inconsistent line play. Youth was also in play, as well as the difference in schedule rank. If I'm understanding correctly 4 is a harder schedule than 33 per the previous graphic.
Who would be a better fit at Iowa? You? Hillary?
It should please you that if Daddy doesn't rip off a magic season or two, Brain isn't going to be head coach.
Whoopsie daisy. Don't let facts confuse people with their opinions.
The biggest problem is that it is so difficult to evaluate BF. He was given a position that he was questionably qualified for at best, and that said position is one that many see as a puppet for the head coach's offensive scheme. I expect Iowa's offense to perform better next year, but it could be hard to determine if any of it can be attributed to BF's ability as OC.
What I really wish would happen in the next few years is for BF to take over as head coach of a MAC program that is struggling. If he is able to turn around a school like Bowling Green, Ball St, Kent St (programs with a history of some success but are currently down), I'd be much more confident in his ability to lead the Hawkeyes as the head man someday.
What I really wish would happen in the next few years is for BF to take over as head coach of a MAC program that is struggling. If he is able to turn around a school like Bowling Green, Ball St, Kent St (programs with a history of some success but are currently down), I'd be much more confident in his ability to lead the Hawkeyes as the head man someday.
KIrk worked with Belichick. Why would we think that Brian working with him would have more of an influence than KF having done so.
Great things ahead. Get some playmakers on offense and watch out baby!!!!
I honestly can't think of any games we lost because of BF. Most all of our games were lost on the field...mostly do to drops, fumbles, interceptions, poor blocking, poor protection. When we kept all these mistakes to a minimum or eliminated them all together, we won. I like the improvement in our passing offense especially with our tight ends. I think I have been seeing some offensive line play that is not limited strictly to zone blocking techniques. I'm seeing pulls, traps, interior TE traps, etc.overall we are trying to be more dynamic in our O-line play (which I think is a good thing). I like the changes in play calls. I expect the more confident BF gets, the more we see change, and the more we will like it. I'm OK with BF as OC and think that with KOK and this year under his belt, he/they/we will have a much better year next year.
#107 out 130 in Total Offense
#90 in Rushing Offense
#86 in Passing Offense
#99 Third Down Conversions
#69 Scoring Offense
Those are Year 1 National Rankings on the Offensive Side
DEFENSE
#41 Total Defense
#58 Pass Defense
#44 Rush Defense
#52 Sacks
Tied #2 Interceptions
Scoring Defense #22
I honestly can't think of any games we lost because of BF.
All of our losses the offense was basically a "no show". Don't want to hear about "dropped passes" as all teams have them, the coaches put the athletes on the field, and the discipline mindset falls on the coaches. Audible ALWAYS into a run - no team ever saw that pattern.
All of our losses the offense was basically a "no show". Don't want to hear about "dropped passes" as all teams have them, the coaches put the athletes on the field, and the discipline mindset falls on the coaches. Audible ALWAYS into a run - no team ever saw that pattern.
Last edited:
The worst part of reading those stats was seeing an Iowa State team with better offensive output.........and with a QB who was moved to MLB this season. Ugh.
Ehh BF is over his head and the only REASON he got a P5 OC job is because old daddy gave it to him, nobody else at a p5 school would give a unproven oc a job like KF did, utter joke and it really to bad Barta didn't have a spine to stop it!
The offensive stats speak for them selves. He should never be the HC here if for no reason other than the nepotism issue.
We have to blame someone for our struggles in life - it's the American way! I was just hoping it wasn't the Iowa way!
Losing in the last 4 seconds against PSU was an offensive "no show"? Do you want to reconsider at least that one?I honestly can't think of any games we lost because of BF.
All of our losses the offense way basically a "no show". Don't want to hear about "dropped passes" as all teams have them, the coaches put the athletes on the field, and the discipline mindset fails on the coaches. Audible ALWAYS into a run - no team ever saw that pattern.
Field position, down and distance, the personnel package in the game, called formation and the actual play called in the huddle, dictate what audibles that are possible on a given play, if any. In a Pro Offense, the majority of QB audibles for a called run play are more "point of attach", side of the ball with better block up numbers plus the corresponding O-Line blocking calls. For a called pass, mostly a change of hot routes on pass called plays once its determined to be against man, 1, 2 or 3 deep safeties.
HC and OC "the buck stops here" argument is always an easy call to make. Its a business, and I believe Kirk and Brian accept that reality.
Still, with the same coaches and players and roughly the same game plan from week to week (like most teams across the country with an established identity) that stomped OSU and Nebraska and beat Wyoming, North Texas, Iowa State, Illinois and Minnesota. So, the players didn't win theses games, the coaches did?
Ask the players after they lose the game who they blame. They know that they rarely lose a game in which they have executed the game plan perfectly. They blame their individual mistakes, their units mistakes, the teams mistakes or give credit and respect when its due, to the opponent.
Players play, coaches coach, and in the end, share the responsibility for the outcome. In these forums, loyal fans try to understand and make sense of the wins and losses we see, haters hate...I'm guessing you are a hater.
KF is the OC just so you know. Always has been always will be.
Over Thanksgiving break I talked to someone who what working security when Brian went ballistic and was reprimanded. Apparently, what he said would have gotten a lot of coaches fired and there would be considerable fall out if the details were leaked.
He will be just fine. He took over as offensive coordinator after the first of the year. Having had zero play-calling experience and based on the words coming from his mouth in the spring he really hadn't previously desired pursuing an offensive coordinator position.
That means unlike most offensive coordinators he didn't spend most of his formative years drawing up plays on napkins and figuring out ways to defeat specific defenses his entire adult life.
While that is a bit alarming to me as a guy plugged in as a coordinator, I think he will be fine once he's given a full offseason to really develop his own system and strategy. He really hasn't had much time to do much more than create a Playbook and a basic offensive system. That's not adequate enough and we saw the results of this.
I really think he will be fine going forward now that he'll have time 2 really dig in to the finer intricacies of being a coordinator
Uncle Gary and Daddy handed Brian the OC job without due diligence. No other candidates were even considered. None. Nepotism is ugly.
It's a slap in the face to the fans and the players to not have the most qualified person running the offense. Let alone hiring an OC with zero experience calling plays on ANY level. Brian should have learned from his mistakes at much lower level not in the Big Ten.
Brian spent 4 years with the Patriots organization.
Year 1. Scouting assistant (Coffee and donut jockey)
Year 2: Coaching assistant (Coffee and donut jockey)
Year 3. Finally named an offensive assistant coach.
Year 4. Named TE coach.
So out of 4 years with the pats he only coached 2 years. And none of those were at a coordinator level.
Brian never saw the field in his brief stint in the NFL. Spent 14 weeks on a practice squad. That's it. After 4 years with the Patriots he returned to Uncle Gary and Dad as the o line coach.
It was an experiment...and it failed. It failed to the tune of a 107th ranked offense. It also failed due to an ugly incident with a replay official. With a first year performance like this he would have been fired in the SEC conference. But Brian has uncle Gary and daddy in his corner. He will get another shot as OC next year and it will cost us.....
It's a slap in the face to the fans and the players to not have the most qualified person running the offense. Let alone hiring an OC with zero experience calling plays on ANY level. Brian should have learned from his mistakes at much lower level not in the Big Ten.
Brian spent 4 years with the Patriots organization.
Year 1. Scouting assistant (Coffee and donut jockey)
Year 2: Coaching assistant (Coffee and donut jockey)
Year 3. Finally named an offensive assistant coach.
Year 4. Named TE coach.
So out of 4 years with the pats he only coached 2 years. And none of those were at a coordinator level.
Brian never saw the field in his brief stint in the NFL. Spent 14 weeks on a practice squad. That's it. After 4 years with the Patriots he returned to Uncle Gary and Dad as the o line coach.
It was an experiment...and it failed. It failed to the tune of a 107th ranked offense. It also failed due to an ugly incident with a replay official. With a first year performance like this he would have been fired in the SEC conference. But Brian has uncle Gary and daddy in his corner. He will get another shot as OC next year and it will cost us.....
Considering the huge increase in Strength of Schedule, it would seam that our improvements are even more impressive. Given this chart, I am much more impressed with our young teams progress and our new Coaching Staff. Go Hawks!
Looks to me that overall the offense was better this year. Not great, but better. I agree with what Jedn said earlier, the jury is still out.
