Harty column: Brian Ferentz seems the obvious choice to replace Greg Davis
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa fans got their wish, or make that two wishes: star running back Akrum Wadley is staying, while offensive coordinator Greg Davis is leaving.
Davis announced his retirement on Friday afternoon, barely 24 hours after Wadley announced that he would stay at Iowa instead of entering the 2017 NFL Draft.
Davis is now gone, but he certainly won’t be forgotten.
To say that his five-year reign as the Iowa football team’s offensive coordinator was controversial would be putting it mildly, at least in the opinion of many Iowa fans, who were frustrated with the results under Davis.
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz never voiced any frustration with Davis, and if anything, went out of his way to support Davis.
The timing of Davis’ decision is interesting because it comes just four days after Florida crushed the Hawkeyes 30-3 in the Outback Bowl. The much-maligned Iowa passing attack was virtually non-existent against a Florida defense that was missing five of its top six tacklers.
Iowa fans immediately flooded social media with complaints about Davis and with hope that he either would step down or that Ferentz would force him out.
It appears that Davis is leaving on his own accord, but even if were being forced out, Ferentz wouldn’t present it that way to the public.
There is no disputing that Davis’ time at Iowa was unspectacular. It often seemed like square pegs being forced into round holes with what Davis tried to do with Iowa’s personnel, especially with regard to the passing game.
But we also don’t know everything that happened behind the scenes, and how much of what we saw on Saturdays in the fall was more the result of Davis’ influence or his head coach.
Football is expected to be played a certain way under Kirk Ferentz, but Davis’ approach never seemed like a good fit.
You could make a strong case that Iowa’s three starting quarterbacks under Davis – James Vandenberg, Jake Rudock and C.J. Beathard – all regressed under his watch. That could be a coincidence, but having three quarterbacks decline seems more like a disturbing pattern.
Whether Davis stayed or not, Ferentz has to do something about Iowa’s sputtering passing attack because the performance in the Outback Bowl was unacceptable and embarrassing at times. Maybe it's time to create a new position for a quarterbacks coach, separate from the offensive coordinator job.
The phrase horizontal pass became part of the Iowa vernacular after Davis was hired in 2012 because poor James Vandenberg spent most of his time throwing sideways during a disastrous 4-8 season.
Davis was blamed for turning Vandenberg, who had passed for over 3,000 yards in 2011, into a below average quarterback who seemed befuddled at times with the new offense.
Some Iowa fans had been clamoring for previous offensive coordinator Ken O’Keefe to hit the road. So there was some excitement when Davis was hired because he was new and different and because he had an impressive track record, including being the offensive coordinator for Texas’ 2005 national champion team.
Davis had coached at the collegiate level for decades when he joined Ferentz’s staff, so he obviously knew the game inside and out.
And yet, Davis’ stay at Iowa was marred by inconsistency.
Iowa combined to finish 39-26 with Davis on the staff, the high point being the 2015 season when the Hawkeyes finished the regular season 12-0 and played in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1991.
Beathard also became a star during the 2015 season, which silenced some of the Davis bashers.
But they resurfaced in full force this season after the team failed to meet high expectations. The Iowa passing attack was woeful for much of the season as Beatahrd only passed for at least 200 yards in three games, while throwing for fewer than 175 yards in nine games.
As for who will be Iowa’s next offensive coordinator, Brian Ferentz seems the likeliest of all the potential candidates. Kirk’s oldest son currently coaches the Iowa offensive line and is the running game coordinator.
Iowa’s rushing attack helped to turn the season around, producing two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season for the first time in program history.
Brian Ferentz also will turn 34 in March and has been in the Iowa program as a full-time assistant for five seasons. He’s not a kid anymore.
His presence might make other candidates leery to pursue the Iowa offensive coordinator job, thinking the job would be Brian’s sooner or later.
Iowa also is coming off a 2016 season in which the offensive line won the Joe Moore Award as the nation’s top collegiate offensive line.
Brian Ferentz has momentum on his side.
One scenario that makes sense would be to promote Brian Ferentz to offensive coordinator, while A.J. Blazek returns to his alma mater to coach the offensive line. Blazek currently is the Rutgers offensive line coach. Then make former Iowa quarterback David Raih the quarterbacks coach at his alma mater and see what happens. Raih is currently an assistant offensive line coach for the Green Bay Packers.
Iowa fans are excited right now because they don't have to watch the offense sputter anymore under Davis.
Some fans are convinced that Davis was holding back the offense more than anything else.
We'll see.
At least by retiring, Davis can't be blamed for Iowa's offensive woes anymore.