After another amazing season for the University of Iowa football team, Head Coach Kirk Ferentz and the university agreed to a contract extension on Friday January 14th, 2022. The deal will keep him under contract through the end of the 2029 season. The announcement isn’t much of a surprise considering that Ferentz led the Hawkeyes to 10 wins, a trip to the 2021 Big Ten Championship Game, and an invite to the 2022 Citrus Bowl. The Hawkeyes have also finished inside the AP Top 25 in each of Ferentz’s last four seasons with the team. Ferentz’s current contract wasn’t set to expire until the end of the 2025 season, but the university wanted to show their commitment to the type of excellent leadership that Ferentz has provided since he was hired in 1999. Ferentz, who just finished his 23rd season at Iowa is currently the longest tenured head coach in college football.
The University of Iowa hired Kirk Ferentz as their head coach in 1999, and has turned it into a winning program, but the first two seasons were dismal for Ferentz. The 1999 season saw the Hawkeyes go 1-10 and finish 11th in the Big Ten. The 2000 season wasn’t much better for Ferentz’s Hawkeyes as they went 3-9 and finished 8th in the Big Ten. Things began to change in 2001 as Ferentz led the Hawkeyes to a 7-5 season that included a victory in the Alamo Bowl. From 2002-2004 Ferentz’s Hawkeyes finished inside the AP Top 10 all three seasons including a trip to the 2002 Orange Bowl. The Hawkeyes made it to the 2005 Outback Bowl, and the 2006 Alamo Bowl, but lost both. They missed out on a bowl game in 2007. Ferentz led the Hawkeyes back to the Orange Bowl after a 10-win season in 2009 and defeated Georgia Tech in the game 24-14 on January 5th, 2010. They finished 7th in the AP Top 10 that year. Ferentz led his team to the 2016 Rose Bowl after a 12-win season and a Big Ten West title in 2015. The Hawkeyes lost in the Rose Bowl to Stanford 45-16. They once again finished inside the AP Top Ten. In the 23 seasons that Ferentz has been head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes, Iowa has been to a bowl game 18 times (the Hawkeyes received an invite to the 2020 Music City Bowl, but the game was canceled due to Covid-19 issues), and has finished the season ranked inside the AP Top 25 ten times including each of the last four seasons.
The 2021 season was another successful one for Kirk Ferentz. The Hawkeyes surged to a 6-0 start and a number 2 ranking in the AP Top Ten. Despite dropping two consecutive games after that, Ferentz’s Hawkeyes rebounded by winning their final four games of the season, and claiming a Big Ten West Division title. They played Michigan in the Big Ten Championship Game with a chance to get to the Rose Bowl, but lost 42-3. They got an invitation to the 2022 Citrus Bowl, but lost that game 20-17 against Kentucky. While they didn’t finish their season in the fashion they had hoped, the Hawkeyes still finished the 2021 season ranked inside the AP Top 25.
Kirk Ferentz has won a total of 178 games as head coach of the Hawkeyes, which puts him fourth in the Big Ten all-time. His 110 victories against Big Ten teams is also fourth all-time among Big Ten coaches. Ferentz has won Big Ten Coach of the Year four times.
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