Brian Ferentz's last act as offensive coordinator at Iowa was a familiar stinker

It's not often that you see a big-time college football offensive coordinator be put on a contractual "points ultimatum", but that's how bad things had gotten for the Iowa Hawkeyes and Brian Ferentz.

Head coach Kirk Ferentz's son Brian oversaw an offense that was historically inept in 2022. It was a unit that was last in the Big Ten in yards per game (251.6) and third-worst in scoring offense (17.7 points per game). Heading into 2023, the younger Ferentz's contract was amended to include a pay cut and a performance objective of 25 points per game.

With Iowa's latest stinker of a performance, a 35-0 loss to Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl, Ferentz's ineptitude as an offensive coordinator is once again abundantly clear.

It was clear last season and then again when the contract was amended. Iowa made it crystal clear in late October with the news that Brian wouldn't be retained for 2024.

Ferentz leaving after the Citrus Bowl -- win or lose -- was already a given. The absolute embarrassment of the performance, though, simply highlighted why he won't be coming back, and why he should never be in charge of an offense ever again.

A change had to be made, because this type of performance was all too familiar for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa was outscored 61-0 in its last two games. Sure, a big loss to No. 1 ranked Michigan in the Big Ten Championship wasn't all that surprising, but not being able to put up any points against No. 21 Tennessee?

Pathetic.

Iowa put up just 173 total yards of offense against the Volunteers. The Hawkeyes were 2-of-15 on third down and turned the ball over three times. All three turnovers were credited to quarterback Deacon Hill, who threw two interceptions and lost a strip sack while playing for far too long despite it being clear from the get-go that he didn't have "it".

Not having "it" has been the consistent problem for Iowa's offense, though. It was just, once again, highlighted for all of college football to see.

For the record, including the losses to Michigan and Tennessee, Iowa ended up scoring just 15.4 points per game while being shut out three times.

He may wind up being a good offensive line coach somewhere or he could even go back to the NFL and be a strong assistant, but Brian Ferentz should never again be an offensive coordinator.