John Bohnenkamp, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa –
CHICAGO – The new dean of Big Ten football coaches didn’t have a crowded table in the first hour of the second day of the conference’s media days, and he’s always OK with that.
Heck, Kirk Ferentz didn’t even have a TV reporter asking for his autograph like he did last year.
Ferentz, getting ready for his 14th season as Iowa’s coach, was relaxed and in a good mood in the two days at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.
It’s a new season for Ferentz, a new season for the Hawkeyes, and maybe, just maybe, a little bit of a new look.
The one thing about Iowa under Ferentz during his career has been the predictability. There was never much upheaval among the coaching staff, and that’s how Ferentz liked it.
Some coaches are flashy, Ferentz is not.
Some coaches are bombastic, Ferentz is not.
While some programs embrace chaos, Ferentz likes a steady course.
It’s worked quite well for him.
But there were plenty of changes in the football offices over the winter. Defensive coordinator Norm Parker retired, and offensive coordinator Ken O’Keefe moved on to a coaching job in the NFL.
Still, that doesn’t mean there had to be turmoil. Ferentz took his time, did his homework, connected all of the dots, just like he does everything else.
He promoted assistant coach Phil Parker to the defensive coordinator spot, and went out and hired Greg Davis for the offensive coordinator job. He added his son, Brian, to the staff as an assistant coach, as well as another former player, LeVar Woods.
Just like that, all was well again. A program that was unpredictable – dare we say, maybe a little stale – suddenly had a new look.
And even Ferentz admitted on Friday that a little change can do some good.
“The whole idea is for us to grow and move forward, get some new ideas,” Ferentz said. “We look at things differently than maybe we have in the last 13 years.”
There’s a new energy, Ferentz said, although there was an adjustment process.
Ferentz likened it to the beginning of a new season, when players move on and new players come in. There’s a new dynamic, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
“We have three new staff members,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve had that, certainly not two new coordinators. It is different. There’s more talking that has to be done, things we have to cover to make sure we’re all on the same page.
“But that’s a healthy thing. After 13 years, that probably doesn’t hurt anything. It was fun. It was really kind of energizing, and invigorating in some ways.”
Asked if the new staff had brought a new spark, Ferentz said, “Absolutely. We were probably at a point where we needed to look at some things again. We’ve had some success, but there’s always things you need to consider to look at.”
Now, before some of the Hawkeye fans who have been clamoring for changes the last few years get all excited, Ferentz isn’t going to change that much.
“A lot of things will look like what we’ve done,” he said. “But there will be some new things, too. Looking to have some different ideas.”
Ferentz said he has enjoyed watching the process of the new staff, and the team, coming together.
“When we hit the field that first day (of spring practice), we only had two guys coaching the same positions as they were back in December,” Ferentz said. “Three changes, personnel-wise, but we had guys in different spots. That was fun. That was fun to watch that – new guys teaching at a new position, new guys teaching guys they hadn’t worked with before.”
Ferentz said he took his cue on building a new staff from Hayden Fry and Bill Belichick, two head coaches who took a chance on Ferentz when he was constructing his coaching career.
“It’s not about getting the smartest guy or the best guy, however you define best,” Ferentz said. “But it’s about getting the right guy.”
The new dean of Big Ten coaches changed a lot of things, but in reality, nothing has changed.
The Ferentz way has always had a predictable calmness to it, and that’s OK. Because, really, why change what has worked?
