Kirk Ferentz Speak Openly About His Future at Iowa

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz turns 70 years old on August 1, though that doesn’t seem to indicate how much longer he’ll continue to command the Hawkeyes program.

In a recent interview with The Athletic, Ferentz said he doesn’t see himself hanging up the headset any time soon.

“Nobody can predict the future that way, but I guess I would say the odds are better (for) me being here in five years now than they were in ’99 or 2000. I’m not trying to put a timeframe on this because nobody can answer that question,” Ferentz said. “I don’t know what it feels like to be 73 or 72 or 74. I know what I feel right now, and I feel pretty good. I feel like this is what I still enjoy doing. I enjoy the people I’m with every day.”

Another five years would put him in rather unprecedented territory. He’d run away with the Big Ten’s all-time wins record after breaking it this season. He’d also start to close in on Joe Paterno’s mark of 43 seasons with one team at the Division 1 level. 

He isn’t the only coach at 70 years of age or older still going today. Bill Belichick is joining the college football coaching ranks for the first time in his career at 73. Pete Carroll came out of retirement this offseason to lead the Las Vegas Raiders at 73. Still, those are the only two head coaches at the highest levels of the sport, and both are at the beginning of something new. 

Ferentz is too, but in a different way. The college football landscape is ever-changing, but Ferentz isn’t running away from those evolutions. He’s embracing them, as he told The Athletic.

“In some crazy way, I enjoy all the crazy stuff that’s going on the last couple of years here with our game and the landscape and all that,” Ferentz said. “It’s almost like a challenge in some ways. And then the single best part is just the people you work with, and that hasn’t changed.”

But then, he did have a wake-up call in 2020 that life after football is something he might not be prepared for. Beyond football, there’s not much else going on in Ferentz’s day-to-day.

“I don’t want to speak for Mary (his wife), but she actually said that ‘I’m not sure we’re ready for, you know?’”  Ferentz said. “That’s kind of her one requisite. Whenever I do quit, I need to have something to go to because she doesn’t want me sitting home looking at her all day or asking her stupid questions.”

Nick Saban might provide some inspiration there, though. Saban retired at 72, somewhat out of nowhere. He expressed similar concerns about life after coaching, but landed in a media landscape that he’s thrived in with the cast of ESPN’s college football analysts. He’s also stayed close to the Alabama football program, serving as an advisor. Ferentz might not carry the same national recognition without the national success that Saban possesses, but there could certainly be similar opportunities for him if he were interested.

Either way, Ferentz suggesting another five years at least and welcoming the challenges of college football’s evolution might provide a bit of hope that Iowa is heading in the right direction as a program, at least in his eyes. His contract runs through 2030, but fans want to see the Hawkeyes competing for Big Ten championships and College Football Playoff berths soon to feel totally comfortable about seeing his tenure continue on that long.