IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa has rehired the son-in-law of football coach Kirk Ferentz to a staff position three years after he departed following questions of nepotism.

Iowa announced Friday that Tyler Barnes would be the team’s new director of recruiting. The 30-year-old Barnes had been working as an assistant at Vanderbilt since 2013.

Barnes was hired in 2012 to work as an entry-level assistant for the Hawkeyes when he was dating Ferentz’s daughter, Joanne.

Ferentz pushed to extend Barnes’ temporary position for a second year without disclosing to athletic director Gary Barta or others that Barnes was his future son-in-law. That avoided a public search for the position.

The university later moved the supervision of Barnes outside the football program, and he left Iowa for Vanderbilt months later.

Ferentz’s son, Brian, also is an assistant.