Followed Hayden Fry. Kirk Ferentz raised Iowa from National Program I to Power Program II.
It is good to get the win. Every game, that’s the goal. We don’t talk a lot about it, but why would you put the work in if you’re not trying to do that? I think it’s just really, overall, a very positive first step for us, considering our team right now and the makeup of our team
He enjoys catching balls
We’re going to let this thing play out, all the guys are competing well right now
He’s a guy all the guys on our team look toward
The one guy everyone talked about was [Montgomery]
[Ostrenga] followed that blueprint
I can only tell you we’ll know the answer when we know it
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached Power Program in his 4th career season — faster than 37% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #215 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
56–35 against his rivals. Just 1–4 against Jeff Brohm.
A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.
Model fit as of 2026-09-04.
Fan claims · every quote verified verbatim
Iowa has had that 7-3 game and the infamous 6-4 victory with a fuck you safety. The years pass and times changes but Kirk Ferentz getting low scoring wins is inevitable.
Based on 5 comments from 4 posters across 4 threads · Jul 6, 2026–Sep 13, 2026 · via CFB, Josh Pate's College Football Show, hawkeyes
If Kirk can't fucking beat a bad ISU team then he needs to step the fuck aside.
If we lose to ISU on their rebuilding year at home, I don't care if we beat tOSU and go to the playoffs, I want his fucking ass gone. Especially if he don't sit down Brown.
Based on 2 comments from 2 posters across 2 threads · Sep 13, 2026 · via CFB
I've always thought Ferentz was the best "coach" in the B10. The reason is how much he gets out of middle of the road talent. Iowa consistently gets more out of less than any program imo.
Based on 1 comment from 1 poster across 1 thread · Jul 6, 2026 · via Josh Pate's College Football Show
3rd-best Iowa tenure of 13 by the numbers.
Underperforms his recruiting talent on offense and outperforms his recruiting talent on defense.
Followed Hayden Fry (1979–1998).
| Season | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Record | 1–10 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 11–2 | 10–3 | 10–2 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 11–2 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 12–2 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 6–2 | 10–4 | 8–5 | 10–4 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 0–0 | |
| Postseason | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | L bowl | L bowl | L bowl | W bowl | W bowl | W bowl | — | L bowl | W bowl | L bowl | L bowl | W bowl | — | |
| Recruiting rank | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | #58 | #59 | #47 | #41 | #39 | #41 | #35 | #23 | #30 | #41 | #32 | #38 | #26 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pass rate | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 46.0 | 39.4 | 38.2 | 42.5 | 45.6 | 47.6 | 45.6 | 44.3 | 45.2 | 41.7 | 34.3 | 36.2 | 51.1 | |
| Coordinators | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| OC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Greg Davis | Greg Davis | Greg Davis | Brian Ferentz | Brian Ferentz | Brian Ferentz | Brian Ferentz | Brian Ferentz | Brian Ferentz | Brian Ferentz | Tim Lester | Tim Lester | Tim Lester | |
| DC | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Phil Parker | Phil Parker | Phil Parker | Phil Parker | Phil Parker | Phil Parker | Phil Parker | Phil Parker | Phil Parker | Phil Parker | Phil Parker | Phil Parker | Phil Parker | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 57 | 54 | 15 | 23 | 58 | 41 | 63 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 49 | 10 | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 37 | 57 | 79 | 89 | 95 | 88 | 95 | 84 | 99 | 97 | 78 | 83 | 97 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 41.4 | 33.2 | 31.6 | 38.5 | 38.5 | 42.9 | 40.2 | 37.3 | 41.6 | 36.4 | 23.4 | 28.4 | 44.4 | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 34.5 | 31.5 | 37.1 | 45.0 | 48.4 | 41.8 | 45.3 | 30.1 | 38.0 | 28.9 | 32.7 | 29.1 | 41.7 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 39.5 | 19.5 | 34.2 | 47.2 | 34.0 | 22.0 | 15.4 | 19.2 | 16.7 | 15.4 | 12.8 | 33.3 | — | |
Barely touches the portal — recruits and develops his own.
Typical size for position, once adjusted for position mix.
A typical class-year mix of incoming transfers.
103 NFL Draft picks: Jared DeVries (1999), Eric Thigpen (1999), Austin Wheatley (2000), Matt Bowen (2000), Kevin Kasper (2001), Ladell Betts (2002), Aaron Kampman (2002), Kahlil Hill (2002) + 95 more
18 player-seasons honored (All-America / national award): Tyler Linderbaum (2020), Daviyon Nixon (2020), Tyler Linderbaum (2021), Riley Moss (2021), Caleb Shudak (2021), Kaevon Merriweather (2022), Jack Campbell (2022), Tory Taylor (2022) + 10 more