rather than the head coach Kirk Ferentz, skirting the nepotism laws. In 2017, Brian was promoted to offensive coordinator. Prior to the 2022 season, Brian Ferentz was asked about the concerns of nepotism, answering “when you have my last name, when you are the head coach’s son, I understand what comes with that. I get it. I’ve never run from that. I don’t know that I embrace it… When things are good, it’s nepotism. When things are bad, it’s nepotism. I understand that my identity will forever be tied to being his son. I get all that.” He continued, stating “I don’t want to be the person that’s causing a distraction for him. ‘If it wasn’t your son, you’d fire him.’ … I don’t want to be the one that he’s being asked about.” During the 2022 season, during which the Iowa offense again ranked among the worst in FBS in points, offensive efficiency, and offensive yardage, the issue of nepotism became a local and national concern. Local reporters called for an "overhaul" of Iowa's "broken" offense and questioned Ferentz if staff changes would be made after a 6–9 loss to Illinois. National outlets such as The Athletic, CBS Sports, and Slate covered the issue of offensive futility, with Slate publishing an article titled "The Iowa Football Team Is the Best Case Against Nepotism That Humankind Has Ever Seen." After a 54–10 loss at Ohio State, which saw Iowa turn the ball over six times, Cleveland.com reporter Doug Lesmerises asked Ferentz if he put the Iowa program in a bad spot given the offense's historic poor performances and the familial relations of its coordinator. Lesmerises would write a column that night calling for Brian Ferentz to be fired, stating "head coach is not a king, and he doesn’t get to hand out jobs by blood. The Ferentz family can leave Iowa whenever they want, but Iowa fans are locked in for life. A football program at a state university is a public trust. Loyal Hawkeyes aren’t going to abandon their program, so at the moment, they’re held hostage by a head coach treating the program like a family business." Kirk Ferentz would later call the line of questioning an "interrogation" and later stated about the press conference "it could have been worse, because I could have been that guy. I could have been that guy, had his job and had