By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Though it took getting rid of his son, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz has heeded the call to fix his much-maligned offense.

He didn’t agree with the decision to fire Brian Ferentz as the Iowa offensive coordinator with four games left in the 2023 regular season.

But Kirk Ferentz accepted it, and moved on because that was really his only option from a coaching standpoint.

He could’ve stepped down in protest, or retired with his legacy still intact as Iowa’s all-time winningest head coach.

Moving on as the head Hawk, however, would force Kirk Ferentz to swallow his pride enough to deal with the awkwardness of working with the very same people who fired his son, namely Iowa Athletic Director Beth Goetz.

And to Kirk Ferentz’s credit, he’s made it work so far.

The decision to hire Tim Lester as the new offensive coordinator prior to the 2024 season has paid dividends, considering how much the Iowa running game improved last season, and with how aggressive Lester has been in the transfer portal in his never-ending search for quarterbacks.

Iowa has landed three quarterbacks from the transfer portal since the end of the 2024 season, including South Dakota State transfer Mark Gronowski, who led the Jackrabbits to two FCS national titles in four seasons as a starter.

Iowa also has added quarterbacks Hank Brown from Auburn and just recently Jeremy Hecklinski from Wake Forest to provide competition and depth.

Gronowski reportedly didn’t come cheap. But why should he if a team is willing to spend a significant amount of money for what hopefully becomes a one-year fix?

Kirk Ferentz also recently hired former Wake Forest offensive coordinator Warren Ruggeiro as a senior offensive analyst.

The point in mentioning all of these developments is that Kirk Ferentz has shown flexibility and a willingness to adapt to the changing times.

He hasn’t sacrificed his preference to build from the ground up with high school recruits.

But he has shown a willingness to play the transfer portal game to fill critical holes, and a willingness to give Lester more say and more influence on offense.

The buck stops with Kirk Ferentz, but part of being a leader is also knowing when to adjust to the times.

Some might say that if Kirk Ferentz had his way, Brian Ferentz still would be the offensive coordinator and the offense still would be a huge mess.

Okay. Fine.

But Kirk Ferentz didn’t have his way, and yet, he still has accepted this new reality and now his offense, which just two years ago was a national laughingstock and a punchline, is showing great promise.

Three starters return on the offensive line, including Gennings Dunker, who ranks among the best tackles in the country, while the running back position, even without Kaleb Johnson, appears strong again with the Florida one-two punch of Kamari Moulton and Jaziun Patterson ready to carry the work load.

There is even cause for optimism at receiver where a combination of experience and youth has helped to form an intriguing group, of course, that’s assuming everybody stays.

Jacob Gill transferred to Iowa from Northwestern last summer and he would go on to become Iowa’s best receiver last season. He made tough catches in traffic and he excelled as a blocker.

Iowa turned to the portal again this winter by landing Chattanooga receiver Sam Phillips, who started 34 games across the previous three seasons and led his conference last season with 823 receiving yards.

Phillips has relied on Gill to help make his transition easier.

“I just follow him everywhere pretty much,” Phillips said of Gill.

And while it’s easy to heap praise and to make bold predictions in the spring, the 2025 Iowa offense still hasn’t proven anything yet.

Gronowski isn’t even practicing this spring as he recovers from shoulder surgery.

But assuming he makes a full recovery, there is cause for guarded optimism, and it’s been a while since that could be said about the Iowa offense.

The offense might have to carry more of the load than usual this coming season since eight starters have to be replaced on defense.

Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker is arguably the best in his position. But it would be asking too much, even from him, to expect the Iowa defense to always be superior to the Iowa offense.

Kirk Ferentz is entering his 27th season as the Iowa head coach and he will turn 70 on Aug. 1.

He obviously made a mistake by hooking his coaching saddle to Brian Ferentz and he paid for it by watching his offense perform at a historically low level and by watching his son get fired.

But as Kirk Ferentz has shown so often as the Iowa head coach, he is resilient and can take a hit.

He overcame the Rhabdo controversy and the racial unrest from the summer of 2020.

He also overcame the mistake in promoting his son to offensive coordinator and the disappointment from quarterback Cade McNamara failing to live up to the hype and expectations.

And now with Iowa ready to conclude spring practice with an open practice on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium, Kirk Ferentz has an offense that is evolving in ways that would have been hard to envision just a few years ago.

Once thought to be too stubborn to change his ways, Kirk Ferentz is taking steps to crush that narrative.

But again, it’s only the spring.

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