The Hawkeye win Saturday over Iowa State was the 200th career coaching victory for Kirk Ferentz. Ferentz says he didn’t achieve the milestone alone.
“You know whether it’s football life, it really doesn’t matter to do something that’s you know, has some significance that nobody gets there alone, and certainly in football that’s the way it works,” Ferentz says.“ So I just think about it, you know, 40 some years ago I landed in Iowa not even know where I was, quite frankly or what I was about to walk into and commonality over all this time has just been around good people with a good leadership on campus, worked with great coaches and great support staff members and most importantly players.” Ferentz has been the head coach for 25 years since returning to Iowa and that includes 188 of the 200 wins.
He says counting wins isn’t the goal of a coach. “I never certainly got into it for that reason,” he says. “I wanted to win enough so I could keep my job. I figured that out, believe me, but it’s more about the experiences and the people you get to work with.” Hawkeye players say Ferentz was emotional in the locker room after the game.
Offensive lineman Conor Colby says it was special to be able to deliver the 200th win to Ferentz. “We all love that guy he’s a great coach but he’s a better person off the field it was always checking in on us and stuff you know there’s no one that deserves it more than him,” he says.
Quarterback Cade McNamara transferred to Iowa this season. “I just know how much everyone cares about coach Ferentz, that is something that I recognized from the day I walked in. How much everyone else respects him, but also how much he cares about us…. I’m not dissing anyone else. I’m just saying my relationship with coach Ferentz, I just have an unbelievable relationship with coach Ferentz, and he has a great relationship with everyone on this team.”
Ferentz started at Iowa as an assistant and left to become head coach at Maine for three seasons before returning to the Hawkeyes.