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Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz will resign after the 2023 season due to his unit’s continued ineffectiveness on the field. The Hawkeyes rank dead last in the nation in total yardage and have consistently been one of the lowest scoring teams over the last few years.
Research shows, however, that Ferentz wasn’t far off from the production of his fellow division members. In fact, no Big Ten West offense is matching the relatively low stipulations placed in Ferentz’s contract.
Let’s backtrack a bit.
Iowa has struggled to put points on the board over the last few seasons, averaging less than 25 points per game in each of the last three campaigns.
Last year was the low point as the Hawkeyes scored just 17.7 points a night, the 123rd-worst mark in college football.
Given the abysmal offensive output, Iowa brass amended Brian Ferentz’s contract to include certain stipulations. Most notably, the Hawkeyes needed to reach 325 points for the season, an average of around 25 points per contest.
His team has fallen well short of that to this point, scoring at clip of just 19.5 points.
As it turns out, the entire Big Ten West has been collectively miserable. Midway through the year, no division member is matching those amendments made in the fired OC’s contract.
Did you know: Every OC in the Big Ten West would be fired this year if they had the Brian Ferentz contract stipulations.
0 of the 7 Big Ten West teams are averaging the needed 25 points.
— Bud Elliott (@BudElliott3) November 1, 2023
Scoring outputs are listed below.
- Wisconsin 24.8 PPG
- Purdue 21.9 PPG
- Northwestern 21.8 PPG
- Minnesota 21.1 PPG
- Illinois 20.4 PPG
- Nebraska 20.3 PPG
- Iowa 19.5 PPG
Now, the Hawkeyes still rank last in the unproductive group, but many believe the firing might’ve been premature.
One social media user actually compiled the data for the division as a whole over past seasons, finding that the Big Ten West average has fallen below the 25-point mark in each of the last three years (including 2023).
Others were quick to comment on the interesting stat.
“Big 10 football is a hard watch.”
“But let’s prop up those OSU and Michigan defenses…”
“It might be the worst division in all of CFB when it comes to offensive production.”
“It’s going to get worse when the conference gets rid of divisions!”
There’s no excusing Brian Ferentz’s ineptitude over the last few years, but as it stands, every Big Ten West offensive coordinator would be fired if they had Brian Ferentz’s contract stipulations.
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