Is Ken O'Keefe The Best Offensive Coordinator For Iowa?

Ken O’Keefe has been Ferentz’s man at the offensive helm since both started in 1998. For the first two years, in addition to offensive coordinator duties O’Keefe was the WR coach. In 2000 O’Keefe switched from WR to the QB coach. During his time at Iowa O’Keefe has been the lighting rod of criticism for the Iowa coaching staff. The offense has been a constant source of frustration for fans so it is not surprising that the man responsible for that side of the ball is also one of the most criticized. From the whole offensive philosophy to the individual play calling O’Keefe’s ability is questioned constantly by fans. Some folks are starting to go so far as to question if O’Keefe should be fired. This then begs the question; Is Ken O’Keefe the best offensive coordinator for Iowa?

First, let me give some perspective and insight about my views. I have been and continue to be critical of O’Keefe. I would not call myself a “hater”, and I am not advocating he should be fired. O’Keefe has many strengths as Iowa’s offensive coordinator & in many ways should be considered successful. Iowa’s offensive “style” or philosophy is an extension of Kirk Ferentz and not the sole responsibility of O’Keefe. However, I think Ferentz and O’Keefe are pretty equal when it comes to the input for how the offense should operate. I’ll elaborate more later.

Iowa’s Success

There are few who would dispute the last 10 years have been Iowa’s most successful. O’Keefe has been a critical part of the coaching staff that has created that success. Iowa’s record is 79-53 and many players have excelled under his leadership such as Shonn Greene, Brad Banks , Robert Gallery, and Dallas Clark.

Iowa has also had some successful offensive years. They lead the Big 10 in scoring both for 2001 & 2002. In 2002 Iowa averaged 424 yards a game (This ranked 13th nationally).

O’Keefe is a knowledgeable & competent offensive coordinator. He deserves credit for being part of Iowa’s success. Additionally, he has brought stability to our offense. A lot can be said about not changing schemes every 4 years. This is a huge strength for Iowa particularly when it comes to recruiting. A new recruit knows what they are going to get when they come to Iowa.

The not so pretty side of Iowa Football

I am an adamant believer that a win is a win. That’s what teams are judged by. I don’t count moral victories as success. Yes they help to show progress, but it’s still not a objective measuring stick like wins and losses. With that being said, how Iowa wins is a source of heated debate. Is Iowa’s success based more on the stout defenses of Norm Parker, or the offensive production of O’Keefe’s squad?

I am in the camp that feels Iowa’s defense should get a bigger share of credit for the teams overall success. Like the 2006 Chicago Bears, it seems like the role of the offense is hold on to the ball for a few minutes (score if you can) while the defense takes a quick breather.

With all that being said, here are my “beefs” with Ken O’Keefe;

1. Maintaining lengthy drives.

One of my biggest criticisms of Iowa’s offense is its inability to maintain drives (Particularly the opening drive). In '02 & '03 it seems as though the team would take the opening drive and score better than 80% of the time. Since then it has felt like we’ve seen more opening drives result in a 3 & out than a TD or FG. Overall this offense (other than a few instances like the Minnesota game in 2008) has not been dominant. It is up to the OC to have that opening drive planned out and set-up. For me this is the offense's best chance to score. After that first drive defenses have the chance to go back to the sidelines and make adjustments. Execution plays a part in this but the OC should know what 10-15 plays his offensive unit can best execute and/or at least make it a point in that week’s practice to practice & perfect those plays he is planning to use in the opening drive.


2. Time Management

Not getting a play called in a timely fashion is absolutely inexcusable. To O’Keefe’s credit, this has not been an issue in 2009. However, in previous years this killed us. Drew Tate would get extremely animated towards O’Keefe when he was dragging his feet. You could even argue this is why Christensen was sacked so many times, because there was such a race to snap the ball, neither Jake nor the O-line had time to read the defense.


3. QB Development

I’m likely going take some heat for this one but in my opinion Ken O’Keefe does not develop quarterbacks very well. The best QB during O’Keefe’s time (based on QB Rating) was Brad Banks (Rating of 157.1). Banks transferred in as a Junior and was very mobile. A lot of his success was being able to salvage broken plays. O’Keefe in my opinion inherited a sound QB and simply did some polishing to fit Iowa’s schemes. The next best QB was Kyle McCann in 2001 (Rating of 148.5). The thing to remember with McCann is he also started in 1999. The QB coach then was renowned Iowa QB Chuck Long. So the top 2 QB’s are both QB’s that were developed by someone else for at least 2 years.

Drew Tate would be the highest rated QB (Rating of 146.4 in 2005) O’Keefe coached for all 4 years. However, Tate regressed in his 2006 season, primarily due to doubling the number of INTs that year. Tate did play hurt in 2006 but many critics agree that Tate never reached the level of success he was projected to see during his career at Iowa.

Folks will then argue projections and potential don’t mean anything. While true on individual level when two or three QB’s suffer the same fate there is a concerning trend. After Tate was Jake Christensen. Again another highly touted recruit with a ton of potential. Christensen was dismal in 2007, and didn’t show much improvement in early 2008. Finally Stanzi was given the starting job and now Christensen is finishing his career at Eastern Illinois.

In an August 2009 article by ESPN, Christensen made a comment I find interesting. He said;

“The coaches [at Iowa] focused more on the X's and O's than mechanics. I don't think [offensive coordinator Ken] O'Keefe had much to do with mechanics. If you watch me now compared to last year, it'd be completely different throwing the ball, in a good way."

Normally I wouldn’t take much stock into what a transferring (& somewhat disgruntled) player would say. However when you also add to it my observation about Banks and McCann being developed by someone else leaving O’Keefe only to do the final polishing do we establish a reason to question O’Keefe’s ability to develop a QB from scratch.

The jury is still out on Stanzi. This could be a clincher for my argument. If Stanzi doesn’t find some consistency quickly, I think it is time for O’Keefe to consider delegating his QB coaching responsibilities. I think the pressure for him to do so increases tremendously with the availability of Chuck Long in 2010.


4. Offensive Philosophy

Iowa gets knocked for running a “vanilla” offense. First, let me laugh at the ridiculousness of anyone thinking any offense is simple. Iowa runs a lot of the same formations but a well executed offensive play beats a well executed defense almost every time. The overall offensive philosophy is set by Ferentz but the execution is left up to O’Keefe. However, if O’Keefe thought that running a few plays out of a spread formation would benefit the overall offensive strategy you can bet that he could sell KF on it. This offensive philosophy is as much O’Keefe’s as it is KF. Ultimately, I think, O’Keefe gets to make the call. Last year it was believed O’Keefe was the one who wanted to go with Stanzi over Christensen (who KF preferred).

As far as individual play calling I think it is like telling someone what the correct color of their car should be. Everyone has a preference and an opinion. My criticism would be in two general areas. Red Zone play calling is suspect for me. Last year at Northwestern and again in 2009 at MSU Iowa is 1st down and inside the 10 and three pass plays are called. In both cases Iowa fails to score at critical a moment. I’m curious how our red zone efficiency compares to other prominent programs.

My other issue with play calling is not getting the ball into the hands of our talented players. I think it was 2007 where we had two of the best RB’s (Young and Simms), yet we were determined to throw the ball all year. Additionally in 2009, Moeaki was eerily quiet in both the MSU and Indiana games. This is a playmaker that you want to make sure gets the ball 5-10 times a game. It is the job of the OC to create plays that get him open.

Final Thoughts

Overall it’s hard to argue with a successful formula. This program has been bowl eligible every year since 2001. It may not be pretty and it is certainly frustrating to watch at times, but O’Keefe does more things right than wrong. I think he and Ferentz are comfortable with each other and are on the same page.

I do think O’Keefe is respected in college football (kind of), but I’m not sure how sought after his is. I’ve never heard his name mentioned for vacant head coaching jobs in the 10 years he’s been at Iowa. I think that is a bit telling.

Do I think there are other OCs out there that could do a better job at Iowa? Possibly. David Shaw at Stanford would be one I’d put at the top of that list. Chuck Long is another. I can’t say for certain they would do better than O’Keefe. Since Ferentz’s philosophy has always been slow and steady, I don’t see O’Keefe leaving Iowa anytime soon.

Is O'Keefe the best man for Iowa? If Kirk Ferentz thinks so, then I’m hardly in a position to disagree. However, I will continue to be critical and when the situation warrants, down-right skeptical.