Saturday marks the final time that Maryland football will be back in SECU Stadium in 2024 when they host Iowa for a noon kickoff on BTN, but the final home game has another intriguing angle considering who will be on both sidelines.
For the first time in their college careers, Kirk and Brian Ferentz will stand along the opposite sideline after the father-son duo spent 12 seasons together at Iowa. After kicking off his coaching career with the New England Patriots back in 2008, Brian joined the Iowa back to reunite with his dad where he served as the offensive line coach and run-game coordinator for five seasons. Brian then became offensive coordinator in 2017 before being relieved of his duties in 2023 after averaging just 19.5 points per game.
"It's a weird dynamic, but the bottom line is this: the reality is when you get to game day, that's what's silly about coaches exchanges greetings and all that," Ferentz told reporters this week. "I fully know what the other coach wants to do, just like he knows what I want to do, and how we hope the day goes. It's probably not a great time for a family reunion or just even seeing old friends. Everybody is cordial, but the bottom line is we've all got business to take care of on Saturday. We'll see where it all goes.”
Ferentz joined the program during spring ball and was spotted in Maryland gear for the first time publicly during the spring practice in Washington DC.
“He brings something that I like. Anywhere he's been, he's been a part of running the football,” Maryland head coach Mike Locksley said in April. “What we do is what we do. He's coming in as an analyst. He'll make suggestions, he'll have the ability to, but he has a skill that I liked. I mean, the emphasis for me is how do we develop the run game on offense? To have a Brian Ferentz who has been a part of some of the best offensive lines and some of the best run games, giving ideas how they did it to add some of the stuff we already do. It's a win for me and it came cheap.”
Meanwhile, Iowa is now expected to turn to walk-on quarterback Jackson Stratton under center with Brendan Sullivan sidelined with a season-ending injury and Cade McNamara still working toward getting back to full strength.
“We're not playing yet, but Jackson [Stratton] looks like the guy that will be going," Ferentz said on Wednesday. "He'll get the start. Confident that he'll do a great job. He stepped in and did a really nice job in our last ballgame and he's got a good ability to throw the football and he's learning everyday.”
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