Iowa Hawkeyes Go Outside the Family

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz is a loyal guy. When he has a rare opening on his staff, Ferentz usually promotes from within.

So it was somewhat surprising to learn Ferentz named former Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis to the same position at Iowa. It was also somewhat surprising that Davis landed the job after being away from football for a year.

Davis was a highly successful offensive coordinator under Texas coach Mack Brown. However, he resigned under pressure following the 2010 season. Texas stumbled to a 5-7 record that year.

Iowa fans had a love-hate relationship with former offensive coordinator Ken O’Keefe. Many were happy when the long time Iowa assistant took a job with the Miami Dolphins. Many hope Davis will bring new life to the Hawkeye offense.

But if fans are expecting a radical change, forget it. Remember who your head coach is? Ferentz is loyal to the system and doesn’t favor throwing the ball 60 times per game or trying all kinds of gadget plays.

Ferentz hopes Davis is a vanilla type of coach who does his job and gets some victories. He wants no flash or different flavored ice cream. So in that vein, Ferentz’s hire was pretty typical.