Fry's Forecast Fizzled: KF Confirms He Will Be Back in '26.

[HawkPowerlifter]

I guess Kirk just really, really, really enjoys coaching because I can't think of any reasonable milestone he has left to achieve.

Sure it would be nice to win an outright Big Ten championship, make it into the playoffs and win a national title, but let's be realistic. In the new Big Ten, Kirk's ceiling is probably a 4th place finish and then make it to the quarterfinals (final 8) of the CFP

As far as overall wins, Kirk is not going to catch Paterno, even if he averages 8 wins a year until he is 90.

As for that elusive overall .600 winning percentage that a coach needs for hall of fame induction, Kirk is barely above .600 right now. All it would take is a 4-8 final season and he would back below .600 again. Of course the hall of fame made an exception for Mike Leach, but Leach was much more entertaining and groundbreaking than Kirk is.

I think somebody had the idea that Kirk should just hang up his head coaching duties and become the assistant OL coach or something like that. Nobody is going to kick Kirk Ferentz out of the building. But in the end, I guess Ferentz has earned the right to go out on his own terms, whatever he decides.

He has joked before Mary has "to do lists" and apparently besides grilling, KF isn't too skillful around the house. He knows one thing-coaching football. He even joked he is terrible at golf.

I think it truly shows his passion for the game, coaching, and being around young athletes. I would say as long as he can give positive results to the program, he should lead this program until he chooses not to. He has earned that in my opinion.

 

[kameltoez102]

I was thinking about this earlier in the season....

If Kirk really coaches another 10 or so years now would be the perfect time for him to take the job. He could absolutely right the wrongs that have occurred at Penn State over the years. I'm not saying that him cleaning up their program would alleviate past crimes...just saying I wouldn't see anything of that nature happening on his watch.

Bottom line, KF would be a splash hire for PSU and would clean up their mess in a hurry. Not saying he's a NC hire...just saying that he could fix a lot of the core problems PSU has before they end up like Nebraska.

Just my opinion but PSU is beyond fixable and my opinion stems from their reaction to the Sandusky fiasco years ago. The way they idolized Paterno and worked to cover that situation up and try and put lipstick on it churned my stomach and it will never be fixed. Then take into account the issues that were reported by the wrestling team this past off-season shows me that things have remained the same.

 

[HawkPowerlifter]

I was thinking about this earlier in the season....

If Kirk really coaches another 10 or so years now would be the perfect time for him to take the job. He could absolutely right the wrongs that have occurred at Penn State over the years. I'm not saying that him cleaning up their program would alleviate past crimes...just saying I wouldn't see anything of that nature happening on his watch.

Bottom line, KF would be a splash hire for PSU and would clean up their mess in a hurry. Not saying he's a NC hire...just saying that he could fix a lot of the core problems PSU has before they end up like Nebraska.

I think if KF was younger, it might be a possibility. However, he was a Pitt guy. He might actually have a low key disdain for Penn State. LOL. I think he has made Iowa home and I know Mary and he share a love of the university and hospitals. I don't think even if he was 20 years younger he would go. But I do agree he would definitely clean the program up.

 

[ChosenChildren]

Appreciate that Fry passed along what he heard, but hard to believe something wasn't lost in translation (at the very least).

May as well float that mystery candidate name for us now.

I think the mystery candidate was Pat Fitzgerald. Obviously, he was good enough for Michigan State, a program over the years that has been similar to Iowa's.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

I think if KF was younger, it might be a possibility. However, he was a Pitt guy. He might actually have a low key disdain for Penn State. LOL. I think he has made Iowa home and I know Mary and he share a love of the university and hospitals. I don't think even if he was 20 years younger he would go. But I do agree he would definitely clean the program up.

Timing is everything... If this was 2010-2011 right after that stretch of 3 top 10 finishes I could certainly see him being on the short list. Wasn't that about the time KF flirted with the Jaguars?

Speaking of rumors on X this morning is PSU is going after Matt Campbell now. That may be Iowa fans stirring the pot I don't know.

 

[SwirlinLingerie]

I think the mystery candidate was Pat Fitzgerald. Obviously, he was good enough for Michigan State, a program over the years that has been similar to Iowa's.

If he was, I have a pretty hard time seeing Kirk being nudged into retirement for Pat Fitzgerald. That makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Looks at Kirk's Big Ten records - he's been ringing up 6 and 7 win seasons for several years now. The "down" years are 5 wins. In contrast, Fitz's last 4 years included 1-8, 1-8, and 1-8.

In no universe do you proactively make that swap, especially when Fitz had some recent baggage (fair or not).

I think the Fitz-MSU marriage makes sense, but it only worked because both parties are somewhat damaged goods at the moment. MSU is coming off a scandal and then a bad hire, with abysmal records in recent years. They couldn't pay market price for a coach.

Best I can tell, Fitz will be the lowest paid coach in the Big Ten. Neither he nor MSU had better options.