Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz says he was interested in the head coaching job with the N-F-L’s Jacksonville Jaguars. Ferentz addressed the situation publicly for the first time on Wednesday. He says after an initial meeting with Jags owner Wayne Weaver he decided against pursuing the job and cancelled a formal interview. He says he’s had no regrets since “pulling the plug” on the situation. Ferentz says there’s a lot left to accomplish at Iowa and he’s happy there.Ferentz was named the A-P national coach of the year after leading Iowa to a share of the Big Ten title and a trip to the Orange Bowl. In the wake of his decision Iowa officials boosted his salary. He says money never was a factor, and he says if it was, he would have gone through with the formal interview with the Jaguars. Iowa signed 21 players in what Ferentz calls an impressive recruiting class. He predicts that the rankings of the class will put them higher than they were last year. Ferentz likes the character of the class and says it’s significant that there are 15 players who were captains on their high school teams.
