Iowa Faces Nepotism Questions Following Ferentz Hire

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The naming of Brian Ferentz as offensive line coach for the University of Iowa football program has called into question who actually made the hiring decision and whether the school's nepotism policy was violated. Ferentz, who played football at Iowa as recently as 2005, is the 28-year-old son of Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz. He served as an assistant coach for the New England Patriots for the past four years before being announced as one of two additions to the Iowa staff Feb. 18.

At a press conference Wednesday, the younger Ferentz indicated that his father had "reached out" to him - an apparent contraction of athletic director Gary Barta's assertion that it was he, not the senior Ferentz, who had made the hiring decision. "Once he had an idea of what he wanted to do, he reached out to me," said Ferentz of his father, who also attended the press conference. "It was a no-brainer. You can't say no to your father. And for me personally it was hard to say no to Iowa."

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