Iowa football quarterbacks coach Ken O’Keefe is stepping down from his on-field position, head coach Kirk Ferentz announced Wednesday.

O’Keefe has been on the Iowa football team’s coaching staff for 18 seasons. He was the Hawkeyes’ first offensive coordinator under Ferentz from 1999-2011. He also served as wide receivers coach in 1999 and quarterbacks coach from 2000-11. O’Keefe left Iowa for an NFL job in 2011, and returned to Iowa City as quarterbacks coach in 2017.

“Ken has been an important part of our football program for almost two decades,” Ferentz said in a release. “He was one of the key components of building our program’s foundation 23 years ago and has been a friend for far longer than that. Ken hired me to be on his staff at Worcester Academy in 1978, and it has been a professional and personal honor to work alongside him all of these years.

“Ken rejoining our program from the NFL was a big bonus,” Ferentz added. “While we will miss having him on the field on Saturdays, we are looking forward to him continuing to share his perspective and knowledge to benefit our entire program.”

Ferentz said O’Keefe will transition to an unspecified off-field role with the program. The University of Iowa will honor the terms of O’Keefe’s contract, the release stated.

O’Keefe is under contract until June 30, 2023, and makes an annual salary of $685,000. 

“My entire family and I are incredibly grateful to coach Ferentz, the players — especially the quarterbacks I have been privileged to work with — the staff, the University of Iowa, and the great Hawkeye football fans for all of their support these many years,” O’Keefe said in a release. “When you love what you do, and where you do it, when you love being around the staff and working with tremendous men like I do day-in and day-out, it is hard to walk away. But I am confident that the time is right for me to step off the field and embrace a new opportunity.”

Iowa football had a 10-4 record in the 2021-22 season. The Hawkeyes lost both postseason contests they played — the Big Ten Football Championship Game and the Citrus Bowl.

Iowa is planning to have an open quarterback contest in the spring with senior Spencer Petras, junior Alex Padilla, and redshirt freshman Joey Labas. 

Petras started 11 games in 2021-22, while Padilla started three. With the duo, Iowa was 10th of 14 teams in the Big Ten and 109th of 130 teams in the FBS in passing offense.

The Hawkeyes ranked 114th in the country in pass completion percentage and 117th in team pass efficiency in the 2021-22 season.

“This Hawkeye program is in great shape heading into the future,” O’Keefe said via the release. “I look forward to helping out behind the scenes while also getting to spend some long overdue time with my wife, Joanne, and our family.”

The Iowa football program has not yet announced a search process for a new quarterbacks coach. No other coaching changes from Iowa’s 2021 coaching staff have been announced.