Iowa's new deal for Brian Ferentz includes some pitiful incentives
Iowa had one of the worst offenses in college football this past season but the program isn't pulling the plug on coordinator Brian Ferentz just yet.
That said, the school has made a notable change to his contract that shows even the higher-ups at Iowa have taken notice.
The school announced modifications to Ferentz's contract that include a $50,000 cut in salary, but more notably, some sad performance incentives.
Iowa is giving Ferentz a goal of scoring all of 25 points per game in the 2023 season and a mandate to win at least seven games.
A total of 85 FBS teams scored at least 25 points per game last season. Iowa was not among them: it averaged 18.2 points per game, 122nd nationally.
By averaging 25 points per game, the Hawkeyes would have placed just 85th in total offense when taking the national 2022 averages into account.
And that would have been an improvement.
Iowa has not fared well in total offensive production under Ferentz, not finishing above the top 80 nationally since he took the position in 2017.
The Hawkeyes ranked 108th, 91st, 86th, 86th, 120th, and 129th in total offense with Ferentz in charge of the team's game planning.
Iowa also scored six defensive touchdowns and two safeties, and by taking only the team's offensive scores into account, it averaged just 17.7 points per game this past season, ranking 123rd in college football.
Iowa has hit the over on 25 points per game in Ferentz's first four seasons, but went over 30 just twice, and the team's output has nearly halved since the 2020 season, when the Hawkeyes scored 31.2 points per game.
"This is the at-home equivalent of your wife telling you that all you have to do is take out the trash and put the toilet seat back down to meet your weekly goals," joked Athletic football reporter Ari Wasserman.
We'll see if that's enough in 2023.
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