Is Kirk Ferentz a Hall of Fame Coach?

JonDMiller

Publisher/Founder
Will Kirk Ferentz make it into the College Football Hall of Fame?

With what Iowa is doing in 2015, I believe that is a legitimate question and one worth writing about.

First, I understand some of you will be thinking ‘Wait, aren’t you the guy who wrote that the game had passed him by and that you wanted to see him resign to protect his legacy?’

Yes, one in the same. I addressed the ‘game passed him by’ aspect in this piece I wrote back on September 27th.

And as for me wanting to see him step down after last year, I did say and write that. My rationale was that since I didn’t expect him to make some changes that needed to be made, I would rather see him negotiate a retirement settlement so that he could protect the Iowa legacy that he built. I’ve never hidden my respect for the man, for what he and his wife have done on the philanthropic front or the great job he has done rebuilding the Iowa program and taking it to some never before reached heights.

I didn’t want for that to be buried with an average or mediocre ending to his career, which is where I thought things were headed.

So yeah, that was a SWING AND A MISS…exponentially!

Trust me, there will be crow eating from me in the coming weeks, so don’t touch that dial.

Now that we’ve gotten past that point for this ten seconds, back to the premise for this piece and one that can be analyzed objectively and with facts.

Will Kirk Ferentz make it into the College Football Hall of Fame?

Here were some Big Ten numbers before the season began, from the Big Ten’s media guide:

Feentz now has 126 wins, moving him ahead of Barry Alvarez and Lloyd Carr. I think it’s fairly safe to assume that Ferentz will be Iowa’s head coach for at least the next two seasons (and probably at least four or five if he wants to coach that long).

If Iowa averages eight wins per year over the next two on top of his 126 right now, that’s 142 wins, or on the doorstep of Hayden Fry. That doesn’t factor in any more wins this year.

In ‘Most Big Ten Wins’, Ferentz now has 75, moving him into 8th place all time in the Big Ten. If he wins at Nebraska on Friday, he is tied for 8th with Robert Zuppke of Illinois and would likely surpass Carr’s total of 81 within the next two years. If Ferentz is at Iowa for another four or five years, Joe Paterno and Hayden Fry would be in range.

Feentz is also in elite company as it relates to bowl wins.

As you can see, Ferentz has a chance to launch himself into some incredibly heady company these next few years. It’s amazing to consider these things given where attitudes were just one year ago.
But to the point…is this a Hall of Fame resume? Consider the following Kirk Ferentz at Iowa accomplishments:

Final Top Ten Rankings: Four (and counting)
Big Ten Titles: 2
Big Ten Divisional Titles: 1
Bowl Wins: 6
Bowl Appearances: 12 in 16 years (soon to be 13 in 17)
Big Ten Coach of the Year: 3
National Coach of the Year: 1
10 or More Win Seasons: 5
11 or More Win Seasons: 3
Outland Trophy Winners: 2
Doak Walker Winners: 1
Davey O’Brien Winners: 1
Ap Player of the Year Winners: 1

Also factor in the developmental aspects of the Iowa program and the generally middling ‘star rankings’ of Iowa’s recruiting classes compared to the number of players Iowa has put into the NFL.
Then consider how few coaches in the history of the sport rebuilt a program to a national high, saw it fall pull back, built it back up to another national high, saw it fall back and then built it to one of its highest perches, ever. That list is short…as in one or two others short. We’re talking Paterno and Bill Snyder, here.

Refer back to the image inset above. Look at the Most Overall Wins list one more time. There is just one coach on that list who is not currently a member of the College Football Coaches Hall of Fame, and his name is Kirk Ferentz.

I believe it’s a pretty safe bet that Kirk Ferentz will be added to that illustrious list at some point in the not too distant future. I believe he could retire today and not coach another game, and he’s in. This year’s third mountaintop season for Ferentz pretty much seals it.

From Fry to Ferentz, two Hall of Fame coaches and 35 years packed full of amazing memories and stories, with the 2015 Iowa football season of of the most amazing of them all.
 
Here come the Cyclone fans saying Paul Rhodes would be a Hall of Fame Coach if ISU were in the Big Ten:)
 
I'm just not sure that it's even in doubt. He's in some elite company. And to hold a program with only 4 losing seasons out of 17 in a major conference like the Big Ten with the likes of OSU, Michigan, MSU, PSU in it... yeah. Add to that the school's first BCS bowl win, first 10-0 start, first 11-0 start, first 11 win season, and a long and storied track record of placing players in the NFL despite recruiting primarily 2 and 3 star, overlooked talents.

Yeah, he should be in there.
 
Isn't he kind of on par with Hayden, if not going a bit ahead with BCS bids and now this year. If that is the case, then probably eventually. I know one thing, he's putting a dent in his winning % this year? Wonder how much it has gone up just this year?
 
Isn't he kind of on par with Hayden, if not going a bit ahead with BCS bids and now this year. If that is the case, then probably eventually. I know one thing, he's putting a dent in his winning % this year? Wonder how much it has gone up just this year?

.597 to .617
 
Isn't he kind of on par with Hayden, if not going a bit ahead with BCS bids and now this year. If that is the case, then probably eventually. I know one thing, he's putting a dent in his winning % this year? Wonder how much it has gone up just this year?

He bumped it up 2.2% from 57.5 at the end of last season to 59.7 at this very moment.
 
35 years at one institution with 2 coaches. Is there any other school even close. That's amazing this day and age and may never happen again. Beamer is retiring, so I wonder who is the next closest.
 
Isn't he kind of on par with Hayden, if not going a bit ahead with BCS bids and now this year. If that is the case, then probably eventually. I know one thing, he's putting a dent in his winning % this year? Wonder how much it has gone up just this year?

Right or wrong, I think Hayden's coaching tree makes it easier to say "yeah, he is a hof'er".
 
35 years at one institution with 2 coaches. Is there any other school even close. That's amazing this day and age and may never happen again. Beamer is retiring, so I wonder who is the next closest.

Not exactly an apple to apple comparison, but the Steelers have had 3 head coaches in the last 46 years.
 
Not right now, no. If he puts together 3 or 4 more really good years (9 wins or more) then maybe. There are some really fine seasons on his resume but a whole lot of mediocre thrown in there as well, not to mention a couple of underachieving years considering the talent (2008, 2010).
 
I for one said stick a fork in him he's done. Ferentz has made eat a lot of crow this year. I would say if he gets another COY and wins the BIG he should be in the HOF. We all know the difference in recruiting around the BIG and I think it's hard to win year in and year out with how we go about it. Remember we do it the wright way.
 
Will Kirk Ferentz make it into the College Football Hall of Fame?

With what Iowa is doing in 2015, I believe that is a legitimate question and one worth writing about.

First, I understand some of you will be thinking ‘Wait, aren’t you the guy who wrote that the game had passed him by and that you wanted to see him resign to protect his legacy?’

Yes, one in the same. I addressed the ‘game passed him by’ aspect in this piece I wrote back on September 27th.

And as for me wanting to see him step down after last year, I did say and write that. My rationale was that since I didn’t expect him to make some changes that needed to be made, I would rather see him negotiate a retirement settlement so that he could protect the Iowa legacy that he built. I’ve never hidden my respect for the man, for what he and his wife have done on the philanthropic front or the great job he has done rebuilding the Iowa program and taking it to some never before reached heights.

I didn’t want for that to be buried with an average or mediocre ending to his career, which is where I thought things were headed.

So yeah, that was a SWING AND A MISS…exponentially!

Trust me, there will be crow eating from me in the coming weeks, so don’t touch that dial.

Now that we’ve gotten past that point for this ten seconds, back to the premise for this piece and one that can be analyzed objectively and with facts.

Will Kirk Ferentz make it into the College Football Hall of Fame?

Here were some Big Ten numbers before the season began, from the Big Ten’s media guide:

Feentz now has 126 wins, moving him ahead of Barry Alvarez and Lloyd Carr. I think it’s fairly safe to assume that Ferentz will be Iowa’s head coach for at least the next two seasons (and probably at least four or five if he wants to coach that long).

If Iowa averages eight wins per year over the next two on top of his 126 right now, that’s 142 wins, or on the doorstep of Hayden Fry. That doesn’t factor in any more wins this year.

In ‘Most Big Ten Wins’, Ferentz now has 75, moving him into 8th place all time in the Big Ten. If he wins at Nebraska on Friday, he is tied for 8th with Robert Zuppke of Illinois and would likely surpass Carr’s total of 81 within the next two years. If Ferentz is at Iowa for another four or five years, Joe Paterno and Hayden Fry would be in range.

Feentz is also in elite company as it relates to bowl wins.

As you can see, Ferentz has a chance to launch himself into some incredibly heady company these next few years. It’s amazing to consider these things given where attitudes were just one year ago.
But to the point…is this a Hall of Fame resume? Consider the following Kirk Ferentz at Iowa accomplishments:

Final Top Ten Rankings: Four (and counting)
Big Ten Titles: 2
Big Ten Divisional Titles: 1
Bowl Wins: 6
Bowl Appearances: 12 in 16 years (soon to be 13 in 17)
Big Ten Coach of the Year: 3
National Coach of the Year: 1
10 or More Win Seasons: 5
11 or More Win Seasons: 3
Outland Trophy Winners: 2
Doak Walker Winners: 1
Davey O’Brien Winners: 1
Ap Player of the Year Winners: 1

Also factor in the developmental aspects of the Iowa program and the generally middling ‘star rankings’ of Iowa’s recruiting classes compared to the number of players Iowa has put into the NFL.
Then consider how few coaches in the history of the sport rebuilt a program to a national high, saw it fall pull back, built it back up to another national high, saw it fall back and then built it to one of its highest perches, ever. That list is short…as in one or two others short. We’re talking Paterno and Bill Snyder, here.

Refer back to the image inset above. Look at the Most Overall Wins list one more time. There is just one coach on that list who is not currently a member of the College Football Coaches Hall of Fame, and his name is Kirk Ferentz.

I believe it’s a pretty safe bet that Kirk Ferentz will be added to that illustrious list at some point in the not too distant future. I believe he could retire today and not coach another game, and he’s in. This year’s third mountaintop season for Ferentz pretty much seals it.

From Fry to Ferentz, two Hall of Fame coaches and 35 years packed full of amazing memories and stories, with the 2015 Iowa football season of of the most amazing of them all.

I think so.
 
If he wins the next two games he has my vote for sure. Looking at the numbers that you are posting Jon he likely deserves it anyways. Getting to the playoff would seem to seal the deal.

If he losses to the East champ (likely MSU) then that changes the complexion of things some what as far as THIS season goes. If he can't beat MSU could he beat Ohio State? Could he beat Michigan? Would Penn State give us all we want and then some? We all know that is gong to be talking points by the pundits if we lose.

I want these next two games so bad so we can tell the talking heads where the can shove their heads.

JUST WIN BABY!!!!!!
 
Longevity, the number of winning seasons and bowl games he has taken the Hawks to=Yes. If we win the Big Ten, he will be a lock.
 
I would say yes.

After this year he will have won Big Ten COTY 4 times IIRC. And he still will have a chance at winning a 5th sometime before he retires.

Will the Hayden vs Kirk debates rage on into eternity? Yes.

Will I always back in Hayden in those debates? Yes.
 
If we somehow get into the CFP... You have to put KF ahead of Hayden. If we have to settle for the Rose Bowl and win that... again Kirk goes to the front.

Let us just enjoy what is happening. Everyone has been waiting for this to end... And each week we revel. This has been the sweetest of dreams for three straight months. Give us two more weeks of this dream please. Then anything could happen.
 

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