Dec. 27, 2004
- Ferentz to ESPN: Sounds corny, but Iowa is home
- Iowa and LSU: Side-by-side in final BCS list
- UI, Ferentz ink contract extension
- Big Ten Championship merchandise
- Bowl game ticket information
- Listen to the bowl game online!
- Watch Kirk next Tuesday live!
- Purchase your Hawkeye tickets online
- Listen to the Hawkeyes on XM Radio
Editor’s Note: The following first appeared in the Dec. 27 editions of the Orlando Sentinel in a section titled “Capital One/The Beat” that was compiled by Sentinel staff writers Emily Badger and Alan Schmadtke.
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“He told me after the Michigan ballgame that it was the first time I had treated him like a dad instead of a coach. He had been cleared, and our plan was to play him, and then I basically choked on that one [and didn’t play him]. I had already told the staff, `You may have to give me a little push on this one.’ But he [Brian] was there to remind me, like he always does.”
UI Coach Kirk Ferentz
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This could be just a coincidence, but Iowa went undefeated in its final seven games to finish the season 9-2 as soon as offensive lineman Brian Ferentz returned to the field.
The junior, and Coach Kirk Ferentz’s son, missed the first four games of the year while recovering from complications with knee surgery.
“I’m lucky, I’ve got good timing. I really think it had nothing to do with me,” Brian said. “If you ask guys who watch tape, I’m a very average player, and I do very average things. I think I just stepped into the lineup at the right time.”
Asked to assess his son’s assessment of himself, Kirk Ferentz laughed. Average?
“Is his mom going to read this stuff? He asked rhetorically.
Although Brian still wasn’t playing at full speed – has missed sizeable chunks of the past three seasons because of injury – he injected some much-needed experience into Iowa’s struggling offensive line.
His return this fall also taught the elder Ferentz that a little blurring between his roles as dad and coach is inevitable. Brian said he rarely has trouble distinguishing between the two, but Kirk could think of one time in particular.
“He told me after the Michigan ballgame that it was the first time I had treated him like a dad instead of a coach,” Kirk Ferentz said, referring to Brian’s last game before returning to the lineup. “He had been cleared, and our plan was to play him, and then I basically choked on that one [and didn’t play him].
“I had already told the staff, `You may have to give me a little push on this one.’ But he [Brian] was there to remind me, like he always does.”