We had a good, long talk with Hawkeyes Wire editor Josh Helmer. We are taking those conversations and turning them into an extended podcast series for you this summer, before Pac-12 media day and USC August camp get rolling. Spend some time learning about USC’s future Big Ten neighbors before we arrive at the Trojans’ last season in the Pac-12.
As we continue our Big Ten tour and our look at Iowa football with Hawkeyes Wire, the most central and essential thing to know about Kirk Ferentz’s tenure in Iowa City is that “it’s complicated.” That’s what Josh Helmer told us. As our conversation continued, the complexities seemed to grow larger, not smaller. Why is this?
One of the things Helmer outlined in our conversation is that while Iowa has attained numerous successes, the flaws of the Brian Ferentz offense (Kirk’s son is the offensive coordinator) have prevented the program from reaching even greater heights. The 2022 Iowa team had an all-world defense whose excellence was not maximized by an offense which withered on the vine in some games, most notably a 9-6 loss to Illinois which played a part in the Hawkeyes not winning the Big Ten West Division.
“It’s complicated.” You’ll get a lot more details when you listen to our Hawkeyes Wire summer series with Josh Helmer, starting with this Kirk Ferentz-focused episode below: