Maryland plans to hire former Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz as an offensive analyst, 247Sports reports. Ferentz will join the Terrapins as they enter their sixth season under coach Mike Locksley, who has led his team to three straight bowl games and has a 16-10 record over the past two seasons in College Park.
Brian began his playing career under his father, Kirk, at Iowa and in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. He then broke into coaching, spending a few seasons as a quality control assistant and tight ends coach with the New England Patriots before re-joining the Hawkeyes as offensive line coach in 2012. He added run-game coordinator to his list of responsibilities in 2015 and in 2017 was promoted to offensive coordinator while switching his positional focus to running backs.
Ferentz remained Iowa's offensive coordinator through the 2023 season while also coaching the Hawkeyes' tight ends and quarterbacks in that span. Though Iowa's offense struggled with consistency through the first few years of Ferentz's tenure, it took a nosedive in 2020 that it never quite recovered from. In 2022, Iowa managed just 222.6 yards per game, its lowest average since 1978.
Ferentz received an amended contract in Feb. 2023 that docked his pay by $50,000 and added a stipulation that Iowa must average at least 25 points per game while reaching seven wins or the contract would be terminated. Iowa announced in October that Ferentz would finish out the 2023 season but would not return in 2024.
At the time, the Hawkeyes were averaging 19.5 points per game. Ferentz remained on the sideline through Iowa's loss to Tennessee in January's Citrus Bowl.
"I made a commitment to this football team and this football program," Ferentz said ahead of the Citrus Bowl. "This place is important to me. The University of Iowa's important to me. The football program's important to me. So it's important that I finish the right way and did my job."
Iowa hired former Western Michigan head coach and Syracuse offensive coordinator Tim Lester as Ferentz's replacement.
