Paul Finebaum. © Shanna Lockwood-Imagn Images

Paul Finebaum Names 'One of the Most Overrated' College Football Coaches

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jaron Spor | Last updated May 31, 2025 6:00 PM ET

Every season, several college football coaches find themselves on the hot seat. However, some coaches, many of whom are believed to be under pressure, don’t seem to face any from their universities. This lack of pressure can often be attributed to their long tenure and past successes at their institutions.

A notable example is Kirk Ferentz, the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes, who is entering his 27th season in this role. During his tenure, he has achieved eight seasons with at least 10 wins and has secured two Big Ten championships.

These titles came during an impressive stretch from 2002-04, when the Hawkeyes recorded three consecutive 10-win seasons. At that time, the conference championship game did not exist, so they shared the conference title with the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2002 and the Michigan Wolverines in 2004.

However, it has been more than 20 years since Iowa last won a conference championship, and Ferentz has not managed to lead the team to back-to-back 10-win seasons since that early success.

This led ESPN's Paul Finebaum to proclaim on his show, "The Paul Finebaum Show," that Ferentz is living off past success.

"I think sometimes coaches live off of their resume and not really anything they've done (lately)," Finebaum said. "I think Kirk Ferentz is one of the most overrated coaches in the country."

There doesn’t seem to be any pressure to remove Ferentz from his position, despite a caller who spoke with Finebaum expressing the belief that the game may have passed the head coach by.

Iowa continues to employ a traditional offensive style, where the quarterback is primarily under center, with a running back and occasionally a fullback behind him. The Hawkeyes struggle in the passing game; they haven't finished in the top 100 for passing yards since 2020, when they ranked No. 98, and they haven’t averaged over 200 passing yards per season since 2019.

Nevertheless, Ferentz has had a solid tenure at Iowa. He has experienced only four losing seasons, two of which were his first two years. Since 2012, he hasn’t had a losing season, and the school has averaged eight wins per season since 2010.

However, Finebaum is looking for more immediate results rather than relying on past achievements in Iowa City.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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