Over two months after putting the finishing touches on a four-win season that was his worst since 2000, Kirk Ferentz has announced a couple of tweaks to his Iowa coaching staff.
Following up on speculation that’s a couple weeks in the making, Ferentz confirmed in a press release Tuesday that DJ Hernandez has been named as a graduate assistant and will handle the tight ends position. And before you ask, yes, Hernandez is the brother of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez.
Brian Ferentz, the son of the head coach, was the Patriots’ tight ends coach for one season in 2011 before joining his father’s staff as offensive line coach in 2012.
While the position of tight ends coach wasn’t technically filled last year by the Hawkeyes, David Raih served as a quasi-coach for that position as a grad assistant. Raih is no longer on the Hawkeyes’ staff, however, as Ferentz also confirmed that he had left for a position at Texas Tech.
Additionally, Eric Campbell is officially out as wide receivers coach. He had coach Iowa’s receivers for the past five seasons.
Ferentz has yet to announce a replacement for Campbell.