Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz issued an apology Wednesday night after publicly criticizing a reporter who had asked him a line of questions concerning his decision to keep his son, Brian Ferentz, as the team's offensive coordinator following a 54-10 loss to Ohio State. The apology came a day after after a tense press conference in which Ferentz implied that he had been subject to an "interrogation" by Cleveland.com columnist Doug Lesmerises.
Lesmerises had asked Ferentz if he put Iowa's football program in a bad spot given that its offense has not only performed poorly, but has been run by a member of Ferentz's family. He would later pen a column that called for Brian Ferentz -- the Hawkeyes' offensive coordinator and long a target of nepotism accusations -- to be fired for his performance. According to the Associated Press, Kirk Ferentz responded by going on a thinly-veiled rant about Lesmerises without naming him directly.
"The one good thing about it that dawned on me coming home ... I said, man, as bad as today was, it could have been worse because I could have been that guy," Ferentz said. "I could have been that guy, had his job and had to act like he did. Yeah, it could be ... a lot worse. All things aren't that bad."
In a statement issued via email, Ferentz apologized to Iowa beat reporters as a whole, saying that he should not have been dismissive of "one of your colleagues" and that his questions were fair.
Just in from #Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz..in reference to his comment about a Cleveland reporter's questions about the offense and Brian Ferentz: pic.twitter.com/sHhkPa6hr2
— Scott Reister (@scottreister) October 26, 2022
"I have a high respect for the work that you do, and I am appreciative of how you cover our team," read the statement. "You ask tough and pointed questions but do so with a high degree of professionalism. I tell our players to take the high road and yesterday, I did not do the same thing."
Brian Ferentz's status as Iowa's offensive coordinator is tenuous at best, as the team's average of 227.3 yards per game ranks last in the FBS with just seven touchdowns scored in the last seven games. In their blowout loss to Ohio State, the Hawkeyes had only 158 total yards and turned the ball over six times.
