If anyone walks away grinning from all the changes to Iowa’s offense since last December, it’s got to be junior tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz.
He went to bed after the Insight Bowl and woke up with 1) former NFL assistant Brian Ferentz in town and 2) first-year offensive coordinator Greg Davis, who places a high value on creatively using the tight end position.
Brian Ferentz is Iowa’s offensive line coach, but he came to Iowa fresh off his gig as New England Patriots tight ends coach. Last season, Rob Gronkowski caught 17 touchdown passes for the Patriots. Ferentz has helped some with Iowa’s tight ends since his arrival.
Suddenly, coaches and players are mentioning the 6-7, 265-pound Fiedorowicz as a potential centerpiece in the passing game.
“I still need a lot of work,” he said. “I need to work on blocking. I’m always looking to improve.”
That improvement started to show up in the second half of last season. Over Iowa’s last six games, Fiedorowicz had 14 of his 16 receptions and all three of his touchdowns, finishing with 167 yards.
He’s proven himself enough in the offseason to be on the field in Iowa’s five-wideout set. When Iowa emptied the backfield this spring, Fiedorowicz was split out. Fiedorowicz didn’t see time in that formation until late in the season.
“During his true freshman year, this was really new to him,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “We were asking him to do a lot of things he hadn’t done in high school. Last year, he made progress, but there was still an inconsistency there.
“This spring, he’s clearly at a different level, which is good. That’s what you hope to see in players. I think he’s really ready to play football for us. He’s got a lot of good gifts and skills.”
The new wrinkles in the passing game mean Fiedorowicz can run some deeper corner and post routes, but he knows the offense will try to make a living off shorter routes.
“Deep balls are great, but the short ones count, too,” Fiedorowicz said.
After two seasons of building, Fiedorowicz understands the concept of patience. He didn’t catch a pass as a freshman and heard a lot about what he needed to do on the blocking side as a tight end.
“It’s going to be a fun offense, absolutely,” Fiedorowicz said. “It’s learning a whole new offense; it takes time.”