Iowa near giving fans the first reason to be excited about offense in years

Adapt or die. That is what is at stake in Iowa City for Kirk Ferentz's Hawkeyes. After enabling his son Brian for years to do seemlessly whatever he wanted from a play-calling perspective as the worst offensive coordinator college football has ever seen, Ferentz is left with no choice in the matter. Brian is out of a job, and Kirk must find his replacement.

I hate to say it, but he may have found a good one.

Word on the street is that former Duke Blue Devils offensive coordinator Kevin Johns is in town for a meeting with Ferentz.

David Eickholt of 247Sports suggested that the Hawkeyes' long overdue offensive coordinator upgrade is about to manifest. If Iowa had anything close to a competent offense, this team could have contended for Big Ten Championships because of its great defense.

In what was Brian Ferentz's last year as the Hawkeyes' offensive coordinator, he needed to average 25 points per game, which could have included defense and special teams scores, to keep his job. Instead, the Hawkeyes averaged closer to 15 a game and he was let go. It did not help that starting quarterback Cade McNamara succumbed to a season-ending injury. Only Kent State had it worse...

Although Iowa benefited greatly from playing in the Big Ten West, this should still be a top-25 team.

If Iowa goes 10-2 again, the Hawkeyes would have an outside shot of making the expanded playoff.

The pain and suffering could be over for Iowa football fans offensively

Look. It does not matter if I think Johns is a massive upgrade over Brian Ferentz or not. Really anything on God's green earth would be an upgrade over one of the most shameless examples of nepotism we have seen in the 21st century. Because Iowa is a public university, hard-working Iowans' tax dollars went to funding something more outdated than a Havanan car cruising the Cuban streets.

What the Hawkeyes were doing offensively under Brian Ferentz may have been cutting edge during the Eisenhower Administration, but so was the United States' interstate system. If not for Ike, Route 66 would be the only way to get across the country from Chicago to Los Angeles. Even during the heyday of the late great Hayden Fry were the Hawkeyes inclined to chuck it long with ... Chuck Long.

Overall, I do think what Johns was doing on Mike Elko's staff in Durham could be easily replicated by what Iowa already has in terms of offensive personnel. Although the Blue Devils' offense took a huge step back once their star quarterback Riley Leonard got hurt, their style of play between the hash marks could be a sign of a quick and seamless transition offensively at Iowa into the modern world.

This can be the best thing to happen in Iowa since deciding to play one game annually in Dyersville.