Kirk Ferentz - 163 Wins

[okeefe4prez]

Yes...I remember that...I also remember the team winning the next 8 games, losing to NW because we lost Stanzi and an overtime loss to OSU in Columbus with a inexperienced QB. That team then went down the Miami and beat the crap out of a Georgia Tech team that was scoring at will on other teams. Kirk ball at it's finest...touche'.

Thank God we played them and they ran that option attack. Two men were primarily responsible for that win and neither of them is named Kurt. One was General Norman James Parker and the other was Adrian Clayborn. I think the football gods saved us the minute that Corey Wootton viciously twisted Stanzi to the ground on that play. Otherwise we would have had a shot at 12-0 and been left out of the title game in favor of Bama and Tejas and then we would have gotten shit trucked by that Oregon offense in the Rose Bowl. "Oh no, O'Keefe, we would have totally beaten Oregon." Yeah right, look at Iowa's track record in that ball game.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

Thank God we played them and they ran that option attack. Two men were primarily responsible for that win and neither of them is named Kurt. One was General Norman James Parker and the other was Adrian Clayborn. I think the football gods saved us the minute that Corey Wootton viciously twisted Stanzi to the ground on that play. Otherwise we would have had a shot at 12-0 and been left out of the title game in favor of Bama and Tejas and then we would have gotten shit trucked by that Oregon offense in the Rose Bowl. "Oh no, O'Keefe, we would have totally beaten Oregon." Yeah right, look at Iowa's track record in that ball game.

Seriously...that defense wasn't going to get trucked by anyone...and that team was alot more than Clayborn. Sure...he had a great game...but here were 7-8 guys on that defense that got a look at the NFL. Angerer, Sash, Greenwood, Ballard, Klug, Speivey, Prater, Daniels, Edds, hell...Tarpinian couldn't even get into the lineup and he played 4 years in the league. Oregon got beat by OSU...and we were a better team than OSU...Pryor just made huge plays in that game, otherwise we beat them with a back up QB.

I love the way everyone points to Norm...KF hired Norm. Norm loved KF and wouldn't work for him if he didn't respect him. Norm was a genius...and deserves all the recognition you can get, but you can't cut out the head coach. Blame him for losses or bad seasons...fine...but you have to praise him on the BCS bowl seasons.

 

[carneyhawk]

I get what you are saying...but I'm also going to call bullshit. Schembechler and Hayes started every damn year knowing they were going to go 9-1 or 10-0 just based on the talent advantage they had over every school in the B10. It was Ohio State and Michigan every damn year because the other programs were terrible. From 1968 to 1982 Ohio State or Michigan were the only schools to win a B10 championship. Bo and Woody beat up on schools who didn't have the coaching, facilities, or the national recruiting ability.

In KF's tenure...the money in the B10 conference has allowed schools to level the playing field. Look at the facility upgrades across the B10. The coaching talent across the B10 is light years ahead of where it was during the Ohio State - Michigan era for Schembechler and Woody Hayes. The addition of Penn State was a big deal too. Right now, in the Big 10...you better come to play every damn week...and that's even more so as Maryland and Rutgers start to put it together...because they have money now too. All Ohio State and Michigan had to do in their golden era was show up...not turn it over...and they win by 3-4 touchdowns. It's a different ballgame now.

Sure...Ohio State is still the class of the league...that's not changed...but teams challenge them now. Wisconsin is on a good run, Michigan State was dominant a few years there...Penn State has had some success. KF has won a few...and been close a few other times.

Hey WinOne, remember when Hayden took the Iowa job, he quipped something to the effect, "It's not the Big Ten, it is the Big Two and Little Eight". I can't remember exact stats, but I'm not certain anybody other than Michigan or OSU won the BIG title during the 70's. Those two teams were on a different level than everybody else in the BIG. I never cared for Schembechler but fact is the Wolves have declined a lot since his departure. We need Michingan, OSU, and Penn State to be good in order to retain national stature.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Hey WinOne, remember when Hayden took the Iowa job, he quipped something to the effect, "It's not the Big Ten, it is the Big Two and Little Eight". I can't remember exact stats, but I'm not certain anybody other than Michigan or OSU won the BIG title during the 70's. Those two teams were on a different level than everybody else in the BIG. I never cared for Schembechler but fact is the Wolves have declined a lot since his departure. We need Michingan, OSU, and Penn State to be good in order to retain national stature.

They stayed relevant for a while in the Gary Moeller/Lloyd Carr eras. In fact they dominated Ohio State about 25-30 years ago and that cost John Cooper HIS job.

The downhill slide began with the Rich Rodriguez era. And continued with Brady Hoke. Harbaugh hasn't done terrible, but he can't win big games. And he can't beat Ohio State.

 

[blubberhawk]

I call bullshit right back. If Ferentz's teams would have just "shown up" against all of the directional schools, ISU, Northwestern, etc. over the years, his winning percentage would go up by at least five points.

For every loss to overmatched/outclassed opponents as Bo and Woody had, Ferentz has two or three. You can't be placed in the upper echelon of coaches just because of your win total. You also have to dominate the teams you are supposed to.

and I call even more bullshit. Anyone who thinks it is as easy to win at Iowa as it is at Michigan and OSU is a moron. Apples and Oranges. As far as weak non-conference schedules, Iowa plays a couple power five teams, usually a MAC team and one other. Really no different than almost every other Power 5 school. Hayden was a great coach. He almost always won the games they should have won. He also almost always lost to Michigan, OSU and other top teams in Bowl games. The BIG is far better now than in the 70's, 80's and 90's, as is ISU.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

They stayed relevant for a while in the Gary Moeller/Lloyd Carr eras. In fact they dominated Ohio State about 25-30 years ago and that cost John Cooper HIS job.

The downhill slide began with the Rich Rodriguez era. And continued with Brady Hoke. Harbaugh hasn't done terrible, but he can't win big games. And he can't beat Ohio State.

They were talking last night that Michigan hasn't beaten a top 15 ranked team as an unranked team since 2008. The only Power 5 team to not have done that in the 12 years. That's crazy. In that span, Iowa has beaten 6 top 15 teams as an unranked team since 2008. It's weird, Texas had 9 wins as an unranked team.

I know Michigan was down two or three DL last night due to injuries...but Wisconsin owned them the way we owned Minnesota at the line of scrimmage. Can you imagine what Wisconsin is going to do to Minnesota. i'm thinking Fleck allows Covid into the lockerroom to avoid having to play Wisconsin. Wisconsin is pretty unrelenting in this series....the teams don't like eachother...Chryst may score 70 on them.

 

[ChosenChildren]

The last 42 years under Fry and Ferentz have been very, very good:

1. 31 bowl games and 15 bowl championships, many against ranked teams
2. 5 Big Ten Titles and 1 Big Ten West Title
3. 4 Rose Bowls and 2 Orange Bowls
4. 7 Top 10 finishes and 18 Top 25 finishes
5. Overall winning percentage above 60%
6. 8 seasons of 10 wins or more
7. 14 seasons of at least 9 wins
8. Only 8 seasons with a win-loss regular season winning percentage below .500

I won't live to see it, but will the next 42 years be as good?

 

[InGoodCo]

I love when KF get's all the credit for his losses, but his big wins, those were all because of someone else. Iowa is a football factory and relevant every single season. They win much more than they lose. I would like more championships too, but what we have, it aint so bad either.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

I love when KF get's all the credit for his losses, but his big wins, those were all because of someone else. Iowa is a football factory and relevant every single season. They win much more than they lose. I would like more championships too, but what we have, it aint so bad either.

Huh?

 

[InGoodCo]

Huh?

"Thank God we played them and they ran that option attack. Two men were primarily responsible for that win and neither of them is named Kurt. One was General Norman James Parker and the other was Adrian Clayborn."

No they weren't, Kirk Ferentz was. He was the Head coach. He's responsible. He gets all the credit for the big wins and he gets all the credit for the shitty loses. All of it. Ya don't take out 1 year or 2 years, or you don't just grab from this time frame and that time frame. It's all on him. From Rhabdo to 12-0 to "that's football" to The Orange Bowl- it's all on Kirk Ferentz

 

[hawkeyesgonewild]

Congrats to Kirk will this be his last yea

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

Congrats to Kirk will this be his last yea

Are you sure it's not just the last game on this road tri