Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz updates timetable for retirement

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz informed his players that he intends to return in 2022 – and multiple years longer – during a Friday meeting, according to The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman. At 66-years old, Ferentz ranks among college football’s oldest head coaches and has a deal which runs through the 2025 season.

Kirk Ferentz accepted the Iowa head coaching job in 1999, making him the longest tenured coach in college football, but retirement is not on his mind. Before that, he spent six seasons as an NFL assistant with the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens.

Over the course of his career, Ferentz is 190-129 with a 9-8 record in bowl games. He won two Big Ten championships in 2002 and 2004, with a chance to win another Saturday against No. 2 Michigan. He also owns four Big Ten Coach of the Year awards from 2002, 2004, 2009 and 2015.

Iowa is 10-2 this season and won the Big Ten West with a rivalry week win. It is the seventh 10-win season of Ferentz’s Iowa tenure. The team is also riding a three-game bowl win streak which includes a bowl berth last season which was not played.

With his age, Kirk Ferentz has dealt with retirement rumors over the past several seasons but shows no intent to leave Iowa.

Kirk Ferentz gets big bonus

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz had more than just a win to celebrate when Iowa reached eight wins. The longtime Hawkeyes headman is swimming in cash after earning a $500,000 bonus for his eighth win of the season, which he achieved against Minnesota over the weekend.

Ferentz is in his 23rd season with Iowa. Impressively, he has suffered only four losing seasons.

Iowa trailed 13-10 at halftime on Saturday but strung together a comeback in the second half. Quarterback Alex Padilla threw for both of his touchdown passes in the second half, while running in another in the first. He finished 11-of-24 for 206 yards passing.

None of that was really on display Saturday, but Ferentz’s team still found a way to pull out the victory. We saw that the offense can indeed come through when needed, as evidenced by Padilla’s performance. Despite not forcing a single turnover and allowing more than 400 yards of offense, the Hawkeyes prevailed.

If the Hawkeyes can manage to win the Big Ten championship game and pull off an upset, they would be a candidate to play in a New Year’s Six appearance in the Rose Bowl at the end of the season.