Former Duke OC Kevin Johns reportedly interviewing for Iowa Hawkeyes' position

Iowa Hawkeyes’ head football coach Kirk Ferentz reacts during the fourth quarter against Iowa State in the Cy-Hawk football game at the Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023, in Ames, Iowa.

The Iowa Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator search may finally be reaching its conclusion.

Serving as Iowa’s interim athletics director at the time, Beth Goetz announced that Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz would not return in 2024 on Oct. 30.

It’s been nearly three full months since that announcement from Goetz and almost a month since the Hawkeyes’ 2023 season officially ended with their Cheez-It Citrus Bowl loss versus Tennessee and Iowa still hasn’t found its next offensive coordinator.

However, it looks like the top target is former Duke offensive coordinator Kevin Johns. Per Hawkeye Insider’s David Eickholt, Johns is in Iowa City and meeting with Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz about the Hawkeyes’ vacancy.

Reported to our VIPs on Wednesday that former Duke OC Kevin Johns was planning on coming into Iowa City for a meeting with Kirk Ferentz. Can confirm Johns is in town.

Iowa’s OC saga could be coming to a close here soon.

— David Eickholt (@DavidEickholt) January 26, 2024

Johns joined Duke in January of 2022 and was instrumental in the development of star quarterback Riley Leonard as he served as the Blue Devils’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Leonard completed 63.9% of his passes for 2,967 yards and 20 touchdowns against just six interceptions during the 2022 season. He also rushed for an additional 699 yards and 13 scores.

Leonard set single-season school records for touchdowns responsible for (33), most games with one-plus touchdown pass (12) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (3.33-1).

Then, in seven games during the 2023 season, Leonard passed for 1,102 yards and three scores. He also ran for another four touchdowns and 352 yards.

In its initial season under Johns’ direction, Duke improved from last in the ACC in 2021 to fifth, fifth and seventh in scoring offense, total touchdowns and passing touchdowns, respectively. Duke also improved from 11th to fifth in the ACC in passing efficiency and from seventh to fourth in 2022 in total offense.

Duke’s offense ranked 43rd nationally in total offense in 2022, averaging 415.7 yards per game.

Johns also served as the offensive coordinator at Indiana from 2011-16, at Western Michigan in 2017, at Texas Tech in 2018 and at Memphis from 2019-21.

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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire : Former Duke OC Kevin Johns reportedly interviewing for Iowa Hawkeyes’ position