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Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz appears to silence retirement rumors with firm stance

Originally posted on NCAA Football on ClutchPoints
By Preston Byers | Last updated Dec 4, 2024 3:25 PM ET

Longtime Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz said he wants to continue coaching and is not planning to retire this year.

Ferentz, 69, was asked if he would return next year, which would be his 27th as Iowa football’s head coach.

“I hope so. You know something I don’t know?,” Ferentz said, via The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman.

“That’s the plan.”

Ferentz has been the head coach at Iowa since December 1998, when he left his position as assistant head coach and offensive line coach with the Baltimore Ravens. The Hawkeyes won four games in his first two seasons combined but have since finished with six wins in all but one year.

In 26 seasons, Ferentz is 204-123, has won two Big Ten Conference titles, and reached the Big Ten Championship Game three times over the past decade. Additionally, he was awarded national Coach of the Year honors in 2002 and 2015, as well as Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2002, 2004, 2009, and 2015.

Kirk Ferentz on whether he is returning to Iowa next season: "I hope so. You know something I don't know?… That's my plan, yeah." pic.twitter.com/5cpmC9FWXD

— Tyler Tachman (@Tyler_T15) December 4, 2024

Despite the success, Ferentz, who will turn 70 before the 2025 season begins, has been unable to reach the same heights he did early on in Iowa City.

From 2002 to 2004, the Hawkeyes won 10 or more games each year and won a pair of Big Ten championships. Since then, Iowa has not recorded back-to-back double-digit-win seasons and has yet to win the Big Ten since 2004.

Iowa’s path to a potential conference title also got much tougher starting this year with the addition of Washington, USC, UCLA, and Oregon. In past years, the Hawkeyes benefited from a relatively weak Big Ten West Division, which went 0-10 in the Big Ten Championship Game while it existed. Iowa represented the division three times in Indianapolis, where it lost to Michigan State in 2015 and Michigan in 2021 and 2023. In their last two appearances, the Hawkeyes were outscored by the Wolverines 68-3.

Ferentz is the longest-tenured active head coach in college football, with Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham, both of whom are under fire for underperforming, tied for second at 21 years each. With two more wins, Ferentz would pass Woody Hayes and become the all-time coaching wins leader at a Big Ten school.

Next season, Iowa will host Albany, UMass, Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, Oregon, and Penn State. The Hawkeyes will visit Nebraska, Rutgers, USC, Wisconsin, and in-state rival Iowa State.

This article first appeared on NCAA Football on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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