Owen Siebring and David Eickholt discuss Iowa football’s search for a new Offensive Coordinator.
Eickholt is the Hawkeye Insider for 247sports, and is often at the forefront of breaking news for Hawkeye athletics.
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Well the Iowa offense will face a depleted Tennessee secondary on New Year’s Day After That the Hawkeyes will look ahead to hiring a new offensive coordinator joining us now on I the Hawks friend of the program David ult we’re looking like uh the Manny cast here with the quarter zips on this show
David few have Insider access quite like yourself what is the latest on Iowa’s OC search who are some names that you’re hearing in the leadup to the Citrus Bowl now yeah it’s going to be a really interesting process I don’t anticipate Iowa actually making the higher until
Second week in January but right now if I had to put a betting odds favor or put my crystal ball on someone it’s going to be former Wisconsin head coach Paul Chris I think this makes a lot of sense because if you talk about what Kirk fence has tried to you know become
Throughout the course of his career he’s tried to be what Wisconsin was under Paul Chris an efficient running game good play action and at least reliable enough quarterback play while still having an elite defense and a good enough special team so Paul Christ I think is my favorite right now another
Name I’d still keep in mind is Joe filin I know that that name circulated a couple of weeks ago and he did previously work under Kirk fence back from 1999 to 2002 worked with the offensive line now the one big red flag I think with Joe filbin is he’s not an
Experienced play caller and what people might not know about Paul Christ is Paul Christ actually was Wisconsin’s play caller until 2020 then obviously we saw what happened when he was let go from the University of Wisconsin but Paul Chris and Kirk Fen have a great relationship have a lot of respect for
One another and I think it makes a lot of sense and quite frankly Owen I think it’s a home run higher if Iowa gets Paul Chris because Kirk fence is not going to change his style of play Maybe add some new wrinkles but not change uh the
Complete style of play they all been a couple of other names between NFL analysts and some guys that you know Kirk might want to bring down from those ranks uh but those are more speculative right now and through secondhand sources so I don’t want to give any direct names
But there have been more talks outside of guys like Joe filin and Paul Chris but I do think Paul Chris is probably the leading candidate right now yeah it sounds like those two are the names that we’ve heard the most let’s go into Paul Chris specifically what is it that you
Think about him that makes him the perfect hire for Iowa I mean I think you look at Iowa’s best teams they have a great running attack and what’s you know Paul Chris’s offense been known for dynamic running backs and great offensive lineman and that’s exactly what Kirk fence wants to
See his offense do and I think you look at that running back room right now and you get really excited I mean I reported a couple of weeks ago that it is expected that Iowa is going to be able to hold on to Caleb Johnson lesea Williams and jazzi and Patterson kind of
That three-headed monster and guys that bring a little bit of different elements and complement one another’s game so I think you do that you return a lot of the offensive line from this past season install maybe some more Gap running schemes instead of some Zone running
Schemes I think it makes a lot of sense from that standpoint and on top of that I think Paul Chris just from an experienced play call caller standpoint he doesn’t over complicate things he balances being aggressive taking smart shots but understanding the foundation of who they are and maximizing that
Potential now I do think it’ be it’s going to be a little bit difficult to flip it in one year but when you’re talking about the offense that ranked dead last in total yardage if he can get Iowa up to a top 90 offense top 85 offense next year Owen I think you’re
Potentially looking at another double digit win Iowa team if they can hold on to some other guys we as we heard Jay Higgins is returning we’ll see what happens with guys like Jamari Harris and some of the defensive linemen maybe Sebastian Castro ends up running it back
Maybe they get Luke Lee back but there’re are some foundational pieces that I think should excite Iowa fans going into next season but again I think Paul Chris just makes a lot of sense for what Kirk fence has always wanted to do and on top of that Paul Christ has just
Run a more efficient version of what Kirk fence has run and I think when you’re Iowa you know your identity you don’t want to go too far outside your comfort zone I think it’s a really really good fit for the two guys well whether it’s Paul Christ or Joe filin or
Somebody else will Brian successor be the quarterback’s coach again or do you think those duties will be given to somebody else I think it depends on who the hire is I mean I think you know it’ll be interesting to see if there’s any more coaches shuffling because as we kind of
Heard Kirk talk throughout the last couple of months he doesn’t like making coaching changes until he can take a step back and really fully evaluate the season that’s part of the reason why he was very upset that Brian was publicly let go even though Brian finished the season it was an unnecessary distraction
To him but I think if you get Paul Chris I think you do let him become the quarterback’s coach again he has experien doing that uh the statistics when he was at Wisconsin I think speak for itself I think they’d be a good fit but let’s say Joe Philbin gets there I
Don’t think you really want Joe filin running that quarterback room but I’d also say okay what if you get an offensive coordinator passing game coordinator what if you get a wide receivers coach SL offensive coordinator so I’m not saying anybody’s going to get fired but I’m also saying Kirk will take
A step back at the end of the season and could there be potential for more shakeup I don’t think that’s out of the question am I going to bet on that no but I do think if it’s Paul Christ I think it makes a lot of sense to keep
Him as the quarterback’s coach and the offensive coordinator and I think when you look around the you know trend of college football we’re seeing more and more of that whether it be passing game coordinator offensive coordinator whether it be quarterback coach offensive coordinator I mean if even if
You flip over to the Iowa defense right you have Phil Parker coaching the secondary and being the defensive coordinator so I think it would make a lot of sense from that standpoint but I do think it is solely going to depend on who Iowa hires now there was some
Discussion about whether Brian fence would even coach in the Citrus Bowl why do you think that he decided to join the Hawkeyes for this final game of the season you know look I said earlier a few weeks ago I don’t think it made a lot of sense for Brian to coach the ball
Game I think it made sense for him to kind of take a step back they aren’t playing for a championship anymore but you know and you’ve gotten to know Brian as well as I have over the past couple years this is just not in his DNA unless
He got another job with an NFL team that started next week Brian was going to finish out this season I think it’s important for him to be with this group and you know despite the public opinion of Brian fence despite all the you know rightful or wrong criticism however you
Want to see fit Brian has the loyalty and the love from his guys like Brian’s guys are Brian’s guys and I think there’s a lot of love that they have for him and you know him willing to finish this season for Iowa and I think Brian
Too his dad’s the head coach I think just having one more final game together makes a lot of sense go up you know go out on top but I do think again that Brian is going to be hired by somebody I think it’s more likely the NFL ranks
Than the college ranks I think it makes a lot of sense from that standpoint but let’s say Brian had gotten a job in the contract and the ink dried last week Brian would not be coaching in this bowl game but at this point it’s just sort of
You embrace it they have one final game together Iowa fans have one more game with this group and then we’re going to see what happens and I think a very storyline riddled uh offseason for the squad yeah win or lose you have to imagine that’s going to be an emotional
Sideline between him and him and his dad on Monday uh on New Year’s Day well have you heard anything about his potential job prospects where Brian ference might land after this season is finally over yeah I still think you need to see what happens in the NFL I mean there’s
Still a couple of weeks remaining all my Packers are going to obviously disappoint me sometime in the next two weeks but look Brian is just a guy he’s an offensive line gur and he knows how coach tight ends and if you have a bill bich endorsement and Rob gronowski
Endorsement saying you know Brian’s a big reason he learned how to block so well Brian’s going to get HED now I think the most likely situation is I want to see what happens with bill belich after this season there’s been a lot of talk that he is not going to
Return as New England Patriots head coach and you know what if he makes a run uh with the Chargers the Chargers are looking for a head coach I think that can make a lot of sense for belich to kind of get Justin Herbert kind of Rebrand himself might need a tight
Endend coach might need an offensive line coach they have a long-standing history with one another so I think if Bill bich does not return to New England and he wants to continue coaching the NFL I’m keeping a very very close eye on what Bill bich does with some of his
Staff wherever he takes over you touched on a little bit previously but do you think there are some more coaches that we see uh leave the program after this season whether they’re release whether they leave on their own do you think that there’s a few more staff members
That are not going to be with Hawkeyes next season I think it’s certainly in the cards I don’t think anything is a done deal by any means but I also think it makes a lot of sense for a couple coaches potentially move on I think there’s been
A lot of heat around this group and I think you look at you know Liddell bets has been great for the running back room Abdul Hajj has crushed the tide end room I think he’s going to continue to do a great job especially with some of the
Recruits that they have in there but there’s a couple other guys I think on Iowa staff where you look at the offense has been near the bottom for the past three years like at some point something has to give now will Kirk let them go Kirk’s not been a guy that traditionally
Lets go position coaches he’s loyal sometimes to a fault according to who you ask but I do think it’s in the cards I don’t think anything is a done deal but I am going to be paying attention I think for the first three or four weeks
Or January just to see kind of how the cards end up unfolding because I I I do think it would make a lot of sense for some potential movement but as we’ve kind of seen with Iowa Iowa is how Iowa is and for better for worse they know
Who they are and they’re going to stick to it David we very much appreciate all of your help on the show this year give the folks at home one last plug for the holidays right now uh just stay locked in hawkey insider.com 247 Sports and
David eel on X and as always Owen I appreciate the opportunity and uh I’ll see you soon the man with the knowledge David iold thanks for joining us man
