Background and career
Kirk James Ferentz (born August 1, 1955) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Iowa, a position he has held since the 1999 season. From 1990 to 1992, Ferentz was the head football coach at the University of Maine. He was also an assistant coach with the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Ferentz played college football as a linebacker at the University of Connecticut from 1974 to 1976. Since 2017, he has been the longest tenured FBS coach with one program. Ferentz is the all-time wins and losses leader in the Big Ten Conference.
Ferentz played high school football at Upper St. Clair High School near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was a standout linebacker and fullback, playing under Joe Moore, eventual offensive line coach at Pitt and Notre Dame. Ferentz also played baseball as a standout left-handed pitcher. In 1973, Ferentz committed to play football at the University of Connecticut. He was a football captain and an academic all-Yankee Conference linebacker at Connecticut. Ferentz was a team football captain and was named the ECAC Division II Defensive Player of the Week after 12 tackles and two fumble recoveries in a win against UMass. Ferentz's pregame speech against Boston University helped inspire the Huskies to their only home win of his senior season. Ferentz was named academic all-conference and earned defensive MVP honors. He served as a student assistant at Connecticut in 1977 under head coach Walt Nadzak.
Ferentz spent the 1978 and 1979 seasons as defensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Worcester Academy. Ferentz coached under Worcester head coach Ken O'Keefe and alongside offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, while coaching Joe Philbin, among others. At Worcester, Ferentz also taught English literature and coached the girls' basketball team.
After Worcester, Ferentz spent the 1980 season as a graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh, assisting his high school coach Joe Moore with the offensive line. The 1980 Pittsburgh Panthers football team, coached by Jackie Sherrill, finished with an 11–1 record and a number two national ranking. That Panthers team included several future NFL Hall of Famers and All-Americans, including quarterback Dan Marino and offensive linemen Jim Covert, Mark May, and Russ Grimm.
The next season, Ferentz joined Hayden Fry's staff at the University of Iowa, coaching the Hawkeyes' offensive line from 1981 to 1989. Ferentz worked under Fry and offensive coordinator Bill Snyder, and alongside assistant coaches Barry Alvarez, Dan McCarney, and Don Patterson. In 1981, Ferentz's first season, the Hawkeyes achieved their first winning season since 1961 and their first Rose Bowl since 1958. In Ferentz's time as an assistant at Iowa, the Hawkeyes would win the Big Ten again in 1985, holding the No. 1 national ranking for five weeks. Iowa appeared in eight bowl games during the time Ferentz was an Iowa assistant, including two Rose Bowl appearances and two Holiday Bowl appearances. Eleven Hawkeyes coached by Ferentz went on to play in the National Football League (NFL). Three of them were first round picks in the NFL draft, and five of his players were first team All-Big Ten Conference selections. Six of those players played over 100 games in the NFL: Offensive guards Ron Hallstrom, Mark Bortz, and Bob Kratch, tackles Brett Miller and John Alt, and center Joel Hilgenberg. Guard Mike Haight played in 63 games as well. Tackle Dave Croston won 1986 Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year, as would center Mike Devlin in 1992.
After nine seasons at Iowa, Ferentz returned to New England to become the head coach at the University of Maine in 1990, replacing Tom Lichtenberg. Ferentz took a $3,000 pay cut to become the head coach of the Black Bears, who had initially offered Tom O'Brien the job. In his first two seasons, Maine finished tied for seventh in the Yankee Conference (D1-AA), finishing 3–8 overall and 2–6 in conference play both years. Ferentz lost his first five games as head coach in 1990, but responded by winning three of his final six against Rhode Island, Delaware, and Northeastern. In 1991, Maine defeated Ferentz's alma mater Connecticut 41–20. In 1992, the Black Bears improved to 6–5 overall, 4–4 in conference play. The team won its first two games against New Hampshire and Kutztown; on November 14, the Bears upset No. 16 UMass at McGuirk Stadium in what would be Ferentz's final win at Maine. Maine finished tied for fifth in the Yankee Conference. Offensive tackle Dan Jones went unselected in the 1993 NFL draft, but would go on to play 34 games for the Cincinnati Bengals. After three seasons in charge, Ferentz led the Black Bears to a combined 12–21 record. "The good news is in Maine, nobody noticed the mistakes I made," Ferentz stated in 2018. "They were more interested in hunting season at that point. Or the hockey season, probably." Ferentz was succeeded by offensive coordinator and Maine alumnus Jack Cosgrove, who would coach the Black Bears for 23 seasons, winning three conference championships and compiling a 137–153 record.
