Mr. 200: Kirk Ferentz's milestone shows he's still winning the race against time

IOWA CITY — More than half a decade ago, Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz and his wife, Mary, got into a limousine.
The couple was in Monaco for the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2018. Iowa’s “Touchdowns for Kids” campaign, which included the iconic Kinnick Wave, was nominated for an honor.
Mary remembers being accompanied in a limo by Steve Redgrave and Emerson Fittipaldi. Redgrave, a British rower, won gold in five consecutive summer Olympics. Fittipaldi, a Brazilian race car driver, twice won the Indianapolis 500, both coming after he turned 40.
That day, Mary listened to them.
“They were talking about age vs. youth and just how you lose a little of your physical edge as you age but you more than compensate for it in the mental edge and the wisdom that you have,” Mary recalls about that conversation. “How they were able to compete and remain champions even though physically older and losing their edge. Their mental edge compensated for it.”
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That conversation was especially relevant on Saturday. In vintage Iowa fashion, the Hawkeyes used great defense and superior special teams to grind their way to a 20-13 victory over in-state rival Iowa State. The win also marked a milestone: Kirk Ferentz’s 200th career win.
The day after Iowa’s win over Iowa State, that memory from Monaco years ago came up in the Ferentz household. It can serve as a reminder of what Ferentz has accomplished and, perhaps equally so, the unique intersection where Iowa’s head coach exists.
Ferentz turned 68 last month. In a profession where moving from one job to another is the norm, Ferentz is now in his 25th season as Iowa’s head coach. The Hawkeyes’ current starting quarterback, Cade McNamara, was not yet born when Ferentz was named Iowa’s head coach in the fall of 1998.
This fact is not meant to demean Ferentz but rather to paint a picture of his longevity. For better or for worse, the dynamics of college sports are vastly different than even a few years ago. The transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness have changed the landscape. Conferences are shifting.
And yet, Ferentz has not only survived but thrived. Only once since 2008 has Iowa not been bowl-eligible. Iowa has recorded 10 wins in two of the last four seasons. Since the beginning of the 2018 season, Iowa is 45-18.
Ferentz is winning the race against the clock.
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“Why do I coach? It’s easy,” Ferentz said in July. “It’s because that’s what I really like doing and nobody has told me to sit down yet. So at some point, they will. And if they do, that’ll be the time. That’s the good thing about this job — other people will let you know when it’s time to take a seat. It’s invigorating. It’s what I like. It’s what I do.”
Ferentz was influenced to be a coach by those around him. Ferentz admired his first high school coach, but after his junior year, that coach was fired.
“The guy that came in and replaced him, who I was convinced I was going to hate and not want to be part of it, probably ended up being the most influential person in my life, my professional life,” Ferentz said. “Outside of my family, the most influential person in my life. So that's one of the lessons you learn in life in general, you just never know who's going to walk in and impact you.”
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Ferentz decided to pursue coaching. After spending time as an offensive line coach at Iowa under Hayden Fry, Ferentz took a head coaching job at Maine. His teams were 12-21 over three seasons.
“The good news is in Maine, nobody noticed the mistakes I made,” Ferentz said in 2018. “They were more interested in hunting season at that point. Or the hockey season, probably.”
After a stint as an assistant coach in the NFL, Ferentz returned to Iowa, this time as head coach, leading the Hawkeyes in his first season at the helm in 1999.
Standing in front of reporters following Iowa's win over Iowa State on Saturday, Ferentz correctly recalled that his first win as Iowa’s head coach came against Northern Illinois. Ferentz, though, also added more context.
“I remember it was a long time till the next one,” Ferentz said.
Northern Illinois was Iowa’s only win that season. The Hawkeyes went 1-10. The next wasn’t much better, either. Iowa went 3-9.
“The name of the game is winning,” Mary Ferentz said. “And those are two just really hard, hard seasons. I was just amazed at how strong his shoulders were during those first two seasons here. They were not for the faint of heart. But he just held firm, he stayed the course and inspired the rest of us to do the same, never imagining we’d be here this long. We didn’t think we’d make it to the third year.”
But those first two seasons proved to be the building blocks of a program that has become a consistent contender in the Big Ten. The next two decades have delivered memorable moments — a game-winning Hail Mary to beat LSU in 2005, an Orange Bowl win in 2010, a last-second field goal to beat Michigan in 2016, and so many more.
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When interacting with the media, Ferentz often shows personality in witty soundbites.
Last week, while on the doorstep of 200 career wins, Ferentz was asked how much that number would mean: “Not a hell of a lot really, quite frankly,” he said.
Asked Saturday about how many of his 200 wins he can remember, Ferentz said, “I remember the losses better. Just a sick mind. Coaches have sick minds.”
Listen to how his players talk about him, too, and the admiration is apparent.
“He’s a really great coach,” Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean said. “I think he’s one of the best in the country. I’d do anything for him — for that man. I’m grateful for the opportunity that he gave me to be able to come here and I just want to go out there every Saturday and give it my all for him.”
Mary Ferentz watched Saturday’s game from home. Her nerves, like usual, were wrecked. At Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa waited in a locker room for Ferentz after the win. They drenched him in water. He held a football in the air with a smile, surrounded by his players.
Later that night, Mary had dozed off watching football while waiting for her husband to come home. After games, they talk about football but also other topics. On Saturday, they just sat down and talked, only mentioning the game briefly. The head coach also polished off pizza and salad from Maggie's Farm Wood-fired Pizza.
"Relieved in a happy way," Mary said.
Saturday was an important chapter in Ferentz's story, but not the final one. Iowa’s 2023 season is still just two games young. Who knows what he still can accomplish?
“I really like what I do,” Ferentz said. “I like the people I’m around. I feel fortunate. If you told me in 1981 that I was going to live 30-plus years in the state of Iowa, I’d say you were absolutely nuts. Out of your mind. So you just never know where life’s going to take you. And I’ve been really lucky.”