When Kirk Ferentz was hired as the head coach at the University of Iowa he said that one of the most important staffing hires he would make was his strength and conditioning coach.

That coach turned out to be Chris Doyle, who has been his right hand man for the past 21 seasons.

Whether there will be a 22nd season together in Iowa City is now in doubt. Doyle has been placed on administrative leave, according to Ferentz, via a video message and press release on Saturday afternoon, due to social media posts suggesting he made racially insensitive remarks to former players.

“Many of the discussions have centered around our strength and conditioning program and coach Chris Doyle. I have spoken with him about the allegations posted on social media. They are troubling and have created a lasting impact on those players,” Ferentz said. “Doyle has been placed on administrative leave immediately while there is an independent review. He and I agree that all parties will have their voices heard and then a decision about how to move forward will be made.”

Doyle has been one of the key cogs in the Iowa program and it’s development under Ferentz. In the early years, the Hawkeyes were looking for a way to distinguish themselves from other programs and centered those efforts on the work of Doyle and his staff in building players in the weight room.

After the early success in developing players like Bruce Nelson, Robert Gallery, and Bob Sanders, the Hawkeyes strength and conditioning program raised its profile and became the recognized as one of the best in the country.

Doyle has been compensated for his importance in the Iowa program and is currently the highest paid strength and conditioning coach in the country at $800,000.

Ferentz also announced on Saturday that he will be forming an advisory committee, chaired by a former player and including current and former players and department staff. No members of the committee have been announced, but the expectations is they will be named in the next few days.

In another bit of news from Ferentz, he has also lifted the ban on Twitter. For many years, Iowa players were told to no longer tweet once they arrived on campus in the summer of their first year on campus. Ferentz said that ban is no longer in place, so look for the Hawkeyes to once again have their voice on the popular social media platform.

“The players asked permission to post on social media so they could participate in the national discussion around injustice, racism and inequality,” he said. “As a team we agreed last Thursday to lift the longstanding ban of players on social media and so you will be seeing them enter the now broader conversation.”

Ferentz will be holding a Zoom conference with the media starting at 4 p.m. on Sunday to address this developing story.