Coach ,
The Hawkeye’s don’t usually come to mind when you start talking about the top ranked team’s in college football, and that’s because they haven’t been in this position since 1985.
In 1998 Kirk Ferentz took on the huge task of filling the shoes of legendary Coach Hayden Fry. In over two decades since, Coach Ferentz has established himself as a coaching legend as well.
Currently ranked #2 ranking in the AP poll marks the highest Iowa has achieved since their historic 1985 season.
They are the only team in the country to open the season by playing two ranked opponents, Indiana and Iowa State, and beating both by double-digits.
While they do not put up big numbers on offense (#119 in total offense and T#49 in scoring offense) they play complementary football that supports a staunch defense which is currently the #4 Scoring Defense and the #9 Total Defense. They are #1 in the country in the turnover margin at +2.5 per game.
At 23 years for the Hawkeyes, Coach Ferentz is the longest tenure coach in the FBS. In addition, he has consistency on his staff:
- Defensive Coordinator Phil Parker has been there since 1999.
- His son Brian Ferentz played at Iowa and has been on the staff since 2012.
- Special Teams Coordinator Levar Woods played at Iowa and has been on staff since 2008.
- Kelvin Bell, DL Coach played at Iowa and has been on staff since 2014.
- RB Coach Ladell Betts played at Iowa.
- Ken O’Keefe has two stints at Iowa totaling 17 years
- Seth Wallace GA’d at Iowa then returned in 2014 and has been there since.
If you look around college football, you won’t find many staffs with this kind of consistency. That consistency is a big part of building a culture that stands strong at the top of the highest level of competition.
In this free video, Coach Ferentz shares his philosophy on coaching which he has developed over his career. Here’s what he covers:
- Reflections on the coaches he has worked with and his influences
- Takeaways from the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Championship
- Commonalities of good seasons
- The technology boom in coaching
- “The Right System” is what’s best for you
- 7 Essentials learned from Marv Levy
- Lessons of football
- The impact of a football coach
Here’s a peek at what Coach Ferentz has to say about the impact of a coach (click on image for video):
If you want a resource to refer back to often then add this one to your library. As with all CoachTube courses, once you book it, you have access to it forever.
Enjoy the free video and the insight from Coach Ferentz and thank you Iowa Football Coaches Association for sharing.
Always be growing!
Coach Grabowski
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