Kirk Ferentz: Living Legend

tksirius said:
Fry only played 3 FCS teams (Drake '85 , UNI '95 & '97)

UNI won their conference in 1995 and finished 2nd in their conference in 1997.

Ferentz has played 9 FCS teams (UNI '05, '09, '12, & '14) (Eastern Illinois '10, Tennessee Tech '11, Missouri St '13, Illinois St '15, ND St '16)
Note: it will be 10 FCS teams after next year.

UNI won their conference in 2005, finished 3rd in 2009, finished 6th in 2012, finished 3rd in 2014)

It's arguable that UNI was a better team overall when Fry played them versus when Ferentz played them.
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True but the B1G has been a lot deeper than it was in the 80s when Iowa was challenging tOSU and Michigan for supremacy as it was absent Nebraska and Penn St. then for starters. ISU, as bad as they've been in for whichever 15 period of time you want to look at during Kirk's tenure were still a better program during that 15 years in a row Hayden rolled them.
 
MissouriHerk said:
Like Ferentz, will be nostalgic when he is gone someday, BUT, not one major category can anyone say he did better than Fry, AND:
1. Fry had significantly less LOSSES than KF. We can’t just look at wins and ignore losses and W %
2. As John points out, Fry has many more AP poll rankings.
3. Fry utterly dominated the in state ISU rivalry. KF has been below average in that rivalry.
4. KF has not just lost more games, he has lost many games to clearly inferior teams. More embarrassing losses.
5. In the Big Ten, oranges don’t compare with roses.
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I am not stumping 1 way or the other, just again, want it to be objective. Ok, maybe I am stumping a lil more on the Ferentz side... but honestly I don't care. I just want it at least be a fair comparison. It never will be I get it.

1. 97 to 89 doesn't seem that significant - considering 2 things, 1 of which you brought up - Kirk has more games and ... Hayden has more seasons.
2. Ferentz has more top 10 finishes and a major bowl win. People tend to forget HF never won any of those Rose Bowls.
3. ISU has been night and day a better program in every shape or form over the last 2 decades then when Fry was pounding them into the ground.
4. KF has also beat a lot more top teams, it's not even up for debate.
5. The B1G changed it's bowl ties because it was forced to. That's not even within the control of a HC...the Orange and the Rose are absolutely comparable when it comes to level of bowl. They're the same bowl tier.
 
tksirius said:
Yes
One other thing to mention is Fry played a lot more ranked teams in the OOC as well.
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True. However that was happening before Fry arrived. Go look at Cummings and Laterbur schedules .The College football landscape has totally changed from the those days and once the 90's hit so did the scheduling..
 
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tksirius said:
Yes
One other thing to mention is Fry played a lot more ranked teams in the OOC as well.
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Times were definitely different back then, it's a whole different game, makes it hard to compare but fun to debate. I don't see the value in Iowa scheduling ranked teams in the OOC any more.
 
Things are different. Teams rose up to beat the legend Fry. Coaches thought it was a challenge to play Fry. Likewise... sort of......., top teams are terrified of getting Ferentzed.
 
Ferentz may be a legend inside the state of Iowa, but outside the state, its amazing how many real college football fans you run into that have no idea who the Iowa coach is.

Of course they knew the name of guys like Saban, Stoops, Urban Meyer, and they knew the names of long time guys like Frank Beamer or Bill Snyder, but when it comes to Iowa, they just get this blank look on their face when they try to think of the Iowa coach's name.
 
Just a few years older but grew up during Fry turnaround listening on WMT. Ron Gonder and Mike Reilly. Great time for football.
 
Balanced said:
First Iowa coach to lose to an FCS team....the true stuff legends are made of....not nonsense like pummeling ISUcks into complete submission 15 straight years....
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No recruits from North Dakota yet. Thought that might change. Maybe in the next year or two.
 
MissouriHerk said:
Like Ferentz, will be nostalgic when he is gone someday, BUT, not one major category can anyone say he did better than Fry, AND:
1. Fry had significantly less LOSSES than KF. We can’t just look at wins and ignore losses and W %
2. As John points out, Fry has many more AP poll rankings.
3. Fry utterly dominated the in state ISU rivalry. KF has been below average in that rivalry.
4. KF has not just lost more games, he has lost many games to clearly inferior teams. More embarrassing losses.
5. In the Big Ten, oranges don’t compare with roses.
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Different era, just ask any Nebraska fan! Times change. Like Jordan versus Lebron. Just enjoy each for their time.
 
HawkPrdatr40 said:
True. However that was happening before Fry arrived. Go look at Cummings and Laterbur schedules .The College football landscape has totally changed from the those days and once the 90's hit so did the scheduling..
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That's the thing though; if Fry played as many patsies as Ferentz has, he'd have more wins and bigger bowl games. I'm not saying Kirk is a bad coach and I'm also not saying either coaches are legends, but when all factors are considered, it is obvious that Fry has the edge on Kirk.
 
tksirius said:
That's the thing though; if Fry played as many patsies as Ferentz has, he'd have more wins and bigger bowl games. I'm not saying Kirk is a bad coach and I'm also not saying either coaches are legends, but when all factors are considered, it is obvious that Fry has the edge on Kirk.
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That’s Fair. be curious to see how many games each coached against Rank opponents. That actually would be an interesting stat to see..
 
tksirius said:
Yes
One other thing to mention is Fry played a lot more ranked teams in the OOC as well.
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True. I have zero ability to back this up, but I am guessing KF has played a fair number more ranked team In conference. Again, i dont know this to be true. It would take a ton of research to compare this over 40 years. I just remember the conf being referred to as OSU/Mich and then everyone else.... now you have OSU, Mich, MSU, Wisc, PSU, formerly nebby, more recently NW all being ranked pretty often.

I don't think you can argue, outside of the perennial elite national teams, that parity over the last 10+ years is huge compared to the 90's and prior.
 
A lot of arguing who is better or how they compare when in actuality they are pretty similar.

Fry took over a dead program. Ferentz took over a program very short on talent.
Fry's breakthrough season was his 3rd. KF's was his 4th.
Both had a pretty remarkable decade. Fry 1981-1991 (11 years actually). KF 2001-2010.
Both coaches had an incredibly disappointing season in that span in which there where high expectations (Fry 1988, Ferentz 2010).
Both had an "all most" season in which a couple close losses derailed a possible great season. (Fry 1984, Ferentz 2005).
Both had a two year lull during that great span (Fry 1988-1989, Ferentz 2006-2007)
After both coaches completed their great decade, the program dropped off and fans got impatient.
Both coaches had one more season after their great decade in which the team looked great but suffered blowout losses that knocked them back down to Earth (Fry 1996 got destroyed by Ohio St and Northwestern at home, Ferentz 2015 got destroyed by Stanford)
 
westender said:
Different era, just ask any Nebraska fan! Times change. Like Jordan versus Lebron. Just enjoy each for their time.
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Yep. Jack and Tiger as well. To me Jack is still GOAT, but all things equal, I think Tiger beats him if both in their prime. Different times.

It's a fun debate.
 
Have thought it for a over a decade, said it dozens of times and will stand by it until he retires ...

GREAT guy, average coach who loses way to many he shouldn't.
(By "he", I mean, his dogmatic strategies and inherently limiting schemes.)
 
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