Brian Ferentz

Brian Ferentz (born March 28, 1983) is an American football coach and former player.

His father Kirk was the offensive line coach from 1993-95 under Bill Belichick when Belichick coached the Cleveland Browns.

and then as an offensive lineman for his father, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, from 2001 through 2005.

After battling injuries early in his career, Ferentz started his final 20 games at Iowa at center or guard, playing for offensive line coach Reece Morgan and offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe.

Ferentz earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors his senior season.

Following his collegiate career at the University of Iowa, as an offensive lineman, Ferentz was in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons in 2006 and New Orleans Saints in 2007.

Following his playing career, Ferentz began a coaching tenure.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Iowa in 2006.

After going undrafted in the 2006 NFL Draft, Ferentz signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons in May 2006.

He was released by the Falcons on September 2, 2006, and spent the season on the Falcons' practice squad.

He was waived by the Falcons on May 14, 2007 and signed by the New Orleans Saints on August 13, 2007, only to be released by the Saints on September 1, 2007.

Ferentz coached in the NFL for the New England Patriots from 2008 to 2011.

Ferentz joined the New England Patriots in 2008 as a scouting assistant.

In 2009, Ferentz became an offensive coaching assistant.

Before the 2010 season, Ferentz's became an offensive assistant coach, working primarily with the Patriots' tight ends.

Ferentz and O'Brien worked together on the Patriots staff during the early 2010s.

Serving as the tight ends coach for the Patriots in 2011, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski set NFL records for receptions, yards, and touchdowns by tight ends, and Gronkowski became the first tight end in NFL history to lead the league in touchdown receptions.

He was officially promoted to tight ends coach in 2011.

That season, the Patriots' tight end duo of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski set NFL records for receptions, yards, and touchdowns by tight ends, and Gronkowski became the first tight end in NFL history to lead the league in touchdown receptions.

Ferentz then began a coaching tenure at Iowa in 2012.

In February 2012, Ferentz took the position of offensive line coach for the Iowa Hawkeyes, coached by his father Kirk Ferentz.

The hire breached UI nepotism rules and guidelines.

In response, athletic director Gary Barta claimed that he had made the decision to hire Brian for the job.

This was contradicted by Brian Ferentz at his introductory news conference, where he stated that his father had "reached out" to him about the job: "Once he had an idea of what he wanted to do, he reached out to me... It was a no-brainer. You can't say no to your father."

Barta then instituted a management plan wherein he would act as the younger Ferentz's boss, rather than the head coach Kirk Ferentz, skirting the nepotism laws.

Ferentz joined a reconfigured offensive coaching staff under offensive coordinator Greg Davis.

From 2012 to 2016, Ferentz served as offensive line coach for the Hawkeyes.

Ferentz coached several all-Big Ten offensive linemen and future NFL players during this period, including his brother James Ferentz, centers Austin Blythe and James Daniels, guards Matt Tobin, Sean Welsh and Jordan Walsh, and tackles Brandon Scherff, Andrew Donnal, Ike Boettger, and Cole Croston.

On January 3, 2014, Bill O'Brien was announced as the new head coach of the Houston Texans and Ferentz was rumored to join the organization as the offensive line coach.

Instead, the Texans chose to hire Paul Dunn, the former Atlanta Falcons offensive line coach.

In 2015 and 2016, Ferentz was also the Iowa running game coordinator.

The Iowa offensive line earned the 2016 Joe Moore Award, which is presented to the best offensive line in college football.

That season, two Iowa rushers (Akrum Wadley and LeShun Daniels) ran for 1,000 yards for the first time in school history.

He was the offensive coordinator at the University of Iowa from 2017 to 2023.

He served under his father, the Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz.

In the years as offensive coordinator in his tenure at Iowa, Ferentz faced scrutiny due to alleged nepotism within the program, tied to the underperformance of Iowa's offense's under his instruction.

Ferentz played football at Iowa City High School.

On January 9, 2017, Ferentz was named the new offensive coordinator for Iowa.

Over the next six seasons, he would coach running backs, tight ends, and quarterbacks in addition to coordinating the offense.

In 2017, Ferentz's offense worked with new starting quarterback Nate Stanley, who replaced the graduated C.J. Beathard.