Own the group chat with The Weekender, highlighting the biggest stories in college sports, standout writing from Eleven Warriors, and a glance at what's next.
Brian Ferentz given pay cut, “designated performance objectives”
The Hawkeyes had the worst offense in college football last season. Luckily for Brian Ferentz, his dad is the head coach, which means that the offensive coordinator remained in Iowa City not only last season but next fall as well, a role he has been in since 2017. The only thing offensive about the Hawkeyes last season was, well, the offense.
Although he remains the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator for the 2023 season, Ferentz will have to reach certain parameters in order to keep his job beyond next season. the school announced Monday:
- $50,000 pay cut (dropping pay to $850,000)
- Iowa must average 25 points per game
- Seven wins (including regular season and bowl game)
If all three of those objectives are met, the contract “will return to the prior two-year rolling agreement.” If they aren't, Ferentz’s contract will terminate June 30, 2024.
The good news for Ferentz is that the points-per-game clause doesn't distinguish which side of the ball must score those 25 points per game. Given that Iowa's defense had six touchdowns and two safeties while the team averaged a dismal 17.7 points per game and 251.6 yards per game last season, the Hawkeyes' defense could play a key role in whether the younger Ferentz keeps his job beyond next season.
Considering 80 FBS programs averaged at least 25 points per game in 2022, Ferentz's offense literally just has to be average next fall in order for him to keep his job.
Texas and Oklahoma will join SEC in 2024
It was only a matter of when – not if – Texas and Oklahoma would join the SEC. Ever since July 2021, the two schools have been set to move conferences in a move that began conference realignment across the country.
After reports began to surface that the Longhorns and Sooners wouldn't join the SEC until 2025 due to exit talks that had stalled, the two came to terms with the Big 12 on Thursday to leave the conference a year early and clear the runway for Texas and Oklahoma to join the SEC in 2024-25, which means the two longtime Big 12 members have just one football season left in their current league.
According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Michigan and Texas flipping their home-and-home matchup was a key part of the early exit. The Longhorns will now visit Ann Arbor in 2024 – putting the matchup on FOX rather than ESPN – and the Wolverines will travel to Austin in 2027.
Sources: A key part of the deal to let OU and Texas out of Big 12 early was a game flip of a non-conference match-up between Michigan and Texas. Texas will now visit Michigan in 2024 in Ann Arbor and Michigan will return the game in Austin in 2027. Theyd been scheduled opposite.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 10, 2023
That game flip was a key driver for Fox agreeing to this deal to let Oklahoma and Texas out of the Big 12 a year early.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 10, 2023
Along with their early exit in 2024 instead of 2025, Texas and Oklahoma will owe the Big 12 a combined $100 million to the conference, with the eight remaining programs in the Big 12 receiving much of that payout, according to Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger.
With the new-look SEC, USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten and the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams in 2024, college football will look quite different a year from now.
Charlie Strong leaving Miami Hurricanes
Mario Cristobal's first season in South Beach was certainly a difficult one. The Hurricanes went just 5-7 and as a result, the former Oregon head coach has decided to re-tool his staff a bit.
Miami co-defensive coordinator Kevin Steele took the same role at Alabama, offensive coordinator Josh Gattis – who won the Broyles Award, which is given to college football's top assistant coach, with Michigan in 2021 – was fired, quarterbacks coach Frank Ponce left to become Applachian State’s offensive coordinator, and Charlie Strong, the team's co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, decided to move on as well.
The latter left the Hurricanes after being passed over for the program's vacant defensive coordinator position.
"Coach [Mario] Cristobal and the program made a decision to go in a different direction. It's time for me to go in a different direction," Strong told ESPN about his departure. Not only did Strong not get the job, but he was, in fact, never interviewed for it either.
The former head coach at Texas, Louisville, and South Florida has bounced around a bit in recent years. He was Urban Meyer's assistant head coach and linebackers coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021, which means that his new job in 2023 will be his third in as many years.
Cristobal decided to hire Lance Guidry as his new defensive coordinator. Guidry was Marshall's defensive coordinator in 2022 and accepted a job with Tulane before deciding to head to Miami just three weeks later.
ICYMI
Kyle McCord and Devin Brown Will Have “Blank Slate” From Ohio State Coaching Staff in Equal-Opportunity Quarterback Competition
In what will be an exciting and vital competition this spring to determine Ohio State's next starting quarterback, Kyle McCord and Devin Brown will both have an equal opportunity to prove that they deserve to win the job.
Leaker Traitor Gambler Spy
Espionage and sign-stealing. Does Dabo Swinney's coaching staff ring a bell?
The Abstraction of Statistics Makes Sports Memories That Much More Difficult to Grasp
Sports statistics and numbers don't have the same importance and impact as they once did.
What's Next
- Men's Basketball: vs. Michigan State, 1 p.m. Sunday (CBS); at Iowa, 9 p.m. Thursday (ESPN2)
- Women's Lacrosse: vs. Temple, 12 p.m. Sunday (BTN+)
- Women's Basketball: vs. Indiana, 7 p.m. Monday (BTN); at Penn State, 7 p.m. Thursday (BTN+)
- Men's Hockey: vs. Michigan, 7 p.m. Thursday (BTN+); vs. Michigan (in Cleveland), 4 p.m. Saturday (BTN)
- Women's Hockey: at Wisconsin, 4 p.m. Saturday (BTN+)
