Where Does Iowa Hawkeyes' Kirk Ferentz Rank Among Active Head Coaches?

Kirk Ferentz is entering his 27th season with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Ferentz has finished under .500 just four times in Iowa City with the last season coming in 2012. He has withstood the test of time and has been able to build a successful program in the Big Ten.

As we prepare for the 2025 season, where does Ferentz rank among active coaches in college football?

ESPN put together a ranking based on metrics and Ferentz came in at No. 17.

Bill Connelly of ESPN has used his own SP+ metric to rank teams for years now. He has incorporated it when looking at the best coaches around the nation as well.

"For each year someone is a head coach, we could compare his team’s SP+ rating for that season to the school’s average from the 20 previous years," Connelly wrote.

Ferentz came in third in the Big Ten — behind only Ryan Day (No. 1) and James Franklin (No. 4). He was ranked one spot ahead of Illinois' Bret Bielema.

Barry Odom, who is the new head coach at Purdue, came in at No. 11. He spent the last two years at UNLV.

Ferentz took over for Iowa legend Hayden Fry in 1999. The Hawkeyes won just four games in his first two years but since then, Iowa has remained consistent in finding success. Ferentz has led Iowa to a 10-11 record in bowl season.

Iowa will begin the season on Aug. 30 against Albany at Kinnick Stadium.