Kirk Ferentz addresses long tenure at Iowa, crazy fact

The world of college football keeps on turning, and Kirk Ferentz remains at the helm of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Entering Year 24 of being the leader of the program, Ferentz has seen it all. Speaking with the Big Ten Network ahead of what he hopes to be another successful season, the Hawkeyes coach addressed his long tenure, as well as some wild facts.

“First of all, thanks for pointing that out. I appreciate that,” began Ferentz, after Dave Revsine called him the “Dean of Big Ten coaches” and pointed out that all of his players were born after he began his tenure at Iowa. “I always start chuckling when I hear the word ‘Dean.’ Me and academics usually aren’t used in the same sentence. Any academic term. But a lot of things have changed, but it’s more so on the outside world, I think. Really how college football’s evolved, and continues to evolve. Certainly a lot of interesting things the last five years, the last two years.

“The game itself and the players, they’re still great to work with. That’s really the fun part, always has been.”

Kirk Ferentz may be the elder-statesmen of the Big Ten, but he’s ready to use that to his advantage in 2022. The Iowa Hawkeyes will be a team to keep an eye on next season and beyond, as long as “The Dean of Big Ten coaches” remains on the sidelines.

Kirk Ferentz expresses concern for the current path of college football

At 66-years old, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz has been around the game for a long time. During his opportunity to speak to a large crowd last month at Big Ten Media Days, the veteran laid out the good, bad and ugly that he has seen from college football over the years.

As NIL and the transfer portal dominate headlines, Kirk Ferentz expressed his concern for the current path of college football.

“I probably wouldn’t be the only person to say I’m really concerned about the path that college football is on right now and eager to see where it heads and what direction we end up taking,” said Ferentz. “But it’s a great game. It was a big thing in 1980 when I went to the University of Pittsburgh as a grad assistant. It was big when I went to Iowa in ’81. If anything, it’s just grown bigger certainly. It’s always been big, and it’s bigger now.

“With that, I think you just have to think about our players, think about the voices that they hear, the things that they have to deal with, the hands that are on them, the noise that they’re listening to, and most of all, I think the pressure. That’s certainly a concern I have as I think about our football team. I’ve long felt that way.”