‘I hope to keep doing this for quite a while’: Kirk Ferentz clarifies Iowa head coaching future
Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz shared his first public remarks on Tuesday since the news broke that his son, Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, wouldn’t be retained beyond the 2023 season.
In many Hawkeye fans’ minds, Kirk Ferentz’s initial response cast his head coaching future into doubt.
Asked if he definitively planned on returning as the head coach in 2024 in his Tuesday press conference, Kirk Ferentz responded with the following.
“My plans are like they always are, to worry about this game and bigger scale, bigger picture, these four games. That’s where my focus has been this entire season. Obviously, there was more than four games a week ago, or two weeks ago. That’s what I think about and that’s each and every year it’s been pretty consistent, just like the other things I referenced,” Ferentz said.
Then, assuming he returned in 2024, Kirk Ferentz was asked what the timeline would be to find Brian Ferentz’s replacement. Given another chance to assure the fan base he would return, Kirk Ferentz didn’t take it on Tuesday.
“Let’s kind of go back here. Really what I’m worried about right now are the next four weeks. I think anything beyond that is getting way ahead. That would be an injustice to our football team to be thinking about any of those things that you mentioned.
“That’s my first loyalty is to the football team. Things are in your control, which I think this is. You do what you can do that will give us our best chance to be successful knowing that all four of these games are going to be challenging. That’s not going to change. I’d be foolish to be giving thoughts to things that are outside the realm of that,” Ferentz said.
All of this had Iowa fans thinking that perhaps Kirk really might retire after this 2023 season.
On Wednesday night during his “Hawk Talk” radio program, Kirk Ferentz was asked by host and Iowa play-by-play voice Gary Dolphin asked if he could clarify his coaching future.
“Yeah, sure, I’d be happy to. First of all, I was not trying to intentionally cause celebration for some people that would love to see me go start a stamp collection or go birdwatching or whatever. Or, don’t mean to throw caution to anybody who might think we’re doing a good job, so that was not the intent. The intent was to try to steer this thing back to what is important right now. I enjoy coaching.
“Fortunately, I feel really good. The doctors tell me I’m okay. I hope they’re right, and I hope to keep doing this for quite a while. I’ve always loved being here. I’ve been here 34 years now. All I’ve got to tell you is when the wind’s blowing like it was this morning or yesterday morning, that may give you a little worry about things. Outside of that, I like what I do. Most of all I like the young people we’ve had a chance to work with. It was that way in 1981, it’s the same now, the same last year. Such quality people,” Ferentz said.
Ferentz also released a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. It was another strong indication that he’s not planning on going anywhere any time soon.
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) November 2, 2023
“While my immediate focus is on finishing the season strong, I love coaching and my intent is to continue coaching here at the University of Iowa. We have built something very special here and I plan to coach until I am no longer passionate about the game, players or coaches,” Ferentz said.
Though Kirk admitted parts of college football have changed and he’s not a fan of all of it, he said on his radio program that the good still outweighs the bad.
“I’ll share this. There’s a lot of things I don’t like about college football right now and that really kind of came to a crescendo last December, but you deal with those things. That’s part of any job. You have things you don’t like doing. As long as the good things far outweigh the bad things. NIL’s not going away, the lack of a salary cap, the lack of a roster management, all the things that we don’t have that we need in college football. I can tell you this from experience. I’m not an expert on much, but I can tell you this, none of this stuff’s going to get corrected overnight because it’s the NCAA and it’s college football. So, it seems like we have a propensity to increase the problems before we try to decrease them. Doing a really good job of that right now.
“But, despite all that stuff, I like our players, I like coming in our building, I like what I do. In a sick way, I like the highs and I like the lows. Everybody likes the highs, but the lows are tough on you, but that’s what makes the highs good, too. And that’s I think what you’re chasing your whole life when you quit playing, you’re chasing that. That’s probably why people are dumb enough to get into coaching or whatever it may be. Hopefully, you’re helping some younger people along the way, too, and, if you get the chance to do all of that stuff, it’s a pretty good deal. Until they tell me to sit down, I’ll probably keep going,” Ferentz said.
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