DES MOINES, Iowa– The Hawkeyes have been one of the most consistent teams in the country when it comes to winning football games. It isn’t with a lot of style, but Kirk Ferentz has found the way to continue to raise his game as he gets older. Earlier this week, CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli released his Big Ten coaches power ranking. Ferentz checked in at No. 6.
CBS Sports college football analyst Brady Quinn wasn’t much of a fan of where Ferentz was ranked, calling it ‘disrespectful.’
“And so I would actually say this list as far as the ranking for Kirk Ferentz is a bit disrespectful, because not only has he had sustained consistency and success at Iowa, you also have to take into account what he’s got at Iowa,” Quinn said on CBS Sports HQ. “His recruiting rankings, his budget, it’s not anywhere close to the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, or Oregon for that matter, Southern Cal, some of these teams that are coming in to the Big Ten.”
Ferentz is Iowa’s all-time wins leader and ranks third all-time in both overall victories (196) and conference wins (122) among Big Ten coaches. Iowa ranks third among Big Ten leaders in number of players drafted (56) over the past 14 years. In addition, ninety percent of Iowa’s senior starters the last 21 years were selected in the NFL Draft or signed to an NFL free agent contract.
Quinn made it clear that he would have slotted Ferentz higher than most would.
“So, I would actually put him somewhere in the top five, maybe at say number four, number three for the job that he’s done at Iowa over the course of his tenure and the fact that they were able to move on from Brian Ferentz. I mean, say whatever you want, but obviously the offense wasn’t working quite the way they had hoped it was going to. It’s tough to move on from that, it’s tough to admit, I don’t want to say a mistake, but when something’s not working. Especially when it’s a family member, because that’s going to be an awkward Thanksgiving dinner. But, the reality is, he’s even able to at this day and age of his career, still be able to move on from someone like that and make those adjustments.”
“When it comes to Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes, listen, the reason he’s so high on this list is the consistency. It’s the long-term results. He’s been there forever and you know exactly what you’re gonna get. We have seen plenty of coaches have great seasons and flame out. Kirk Ferentz doesn’t flame out. The bad Iowa season is typically 8-5. Yeah, it could be ugly, it might not be fun to watch all the time, but you can’t really argue with the style when you get those consistent results.”
Ferentz will enter his 26th season with one of the most experienced defenses in Big Ten history. He’ll also be entering it with a freshman punter and an offense that will be led by a new man. With a bowl win in 2024, Ferentz would have the most bowl wins in Big Ten history with 11.
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