Maryland is expected to hire former Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz as an analyst for the Terps, a program source told The Athletic on Friday. The 41-year-old, a former New England Patriots assistant, spent a decade working at Iowa, initially as the Hawkeyes offensive line coach and later served as the Hawkeyes offensive coordinator from 2017-2023. He also coached tight ends, running backs and quarterbacks there.
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Ferentz has had an up-and-down coaching career. He was tight ends coach with the New England Patriots in 2011 and Rob Gronkowski credited Ferentz with teaching him how to block. Ferentz then joined Iowa’s staff in 2012 as offensive line coach. He helped Brandon Scherff win the Outland Trophy in 2014 and guided the Hawkeyes to the 2016 Joe Moore Award as college football’s best offensive line.
In 2017, Ferentz took over as offensive coordinator and twice helped the Hawkeyes score more than 31 points in a season. But from 2021 to 2023, Iowa’s offense ranked among some of the worst in college football. In 2023, former Iowa athletics director Gary Barta required Ferentz to average 25 points per game or his contract would expire. After it seemed obvious the Hawkeyes would not hit that marker, new athletics director Beth Goetz announced last fall that Ferentz’s tenure would conclude at season’s end.
Despite winning the Big Ten West Division title, Iowa finished with the lowest yards per game in Big Ten play since 1984 Northwestern.
Terps coach Mike Locksley had previously worked at Alabama under Nick Saban where the Tide had a lot of success hiring seasoned staffers who had been former head coaches and coordinators to analyst roles. Ferentz should be able to give Locksley and Terps offensive coordinator Josh Gattis additional insight into their run game and offensive line play as well as preparing for opposing defenses.
Ferentz has ties to Maryland beyond the Big Ten. His father, Kirk, was the assistant coach of the Baltimore Ravens from 1996-98, and Brian Ferentz attended renowned football powerhouse Gilman for two years before moving to Iowa City.
The oldest of five siblings, Brian Ferentz joins younger brothers James and Steve on football staffs this fall. James Ferentz, 34, retired as a player this spring and is the assistant offensive line coach with the New York Giants. Steve Ferentz, 30, is the outside linebackers coach at South Dakota.
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