Kirk Ferentz

Can someone please explain to me what the fascination with Kirk Ferentz as a football coach is? I just don't get it. The man is 69-53 and 43-37 in Big Ten play in 10 years at Iowa University. Anybody for mediocrity?

For Iowa that record is most likely acceptable and is nothing to scoff at, expect for one thing; Ferentz made 2.8 million dollars in 2006 and 3.0 million dollars in 2007.

The seven highest paid coaches in the NCAA in 2006 where Bob Stoops, Kirk Ferentz, Pete Carroll, Mack Brown, Tommy Tuberville, Phillip Fulmer, and Jim Tressel. Five of those seven coaches have a national championship on their resume and Tubberville, who has not won a national championship, had a perfect 13-0 season. Guess who does not have a national championship to their name, that's right, Ferentz. In fact, in 2006 when he was the second highest paid coach in the country, his Iowa team finished 6-7, tied for 8th in the Big Ten conference with a 2-6 conference record, and lost to Texas in the Alamo Bowl.

So you say, hey maybe 2006 was a down year and we should not be so hard on him. Well 2007 was just as bad. Ferentz was again in the top seven in highest paid coaches in the country making 3.0 million dollars a year. The top seven are as follows: Bob Stoops, Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Kirk Ferentz, Pete Carroll, Mack Brown, Tommy Tuberville, and Jim Tressel. Ferentz lead his team to a 6-6 finish and 4-4 in the Big Ten and the team did not even get invited to a bowl game. Does that sound like someone that should be the 4th highest paid coach in the country?

Besides being grossly overpaid as a slightly above average coach, Ferentz also hasNFL teams showing an interest in him as well. After the 2006 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers contacted Ferentz about their head coaching vacancy. How in the world did his name even get brought up for that job? The Steelers had just won the Super Bowl and Bill Cowher, one of the best and most consistent coaches over the past 15 years was retiring. Really, you thought hey Kirk Ferentz just finished 6-7 and tied for 8th in the Big Ten, we should interview him. Now he is being mentioned as a possible candidate for the Cleveland Browns job, unbelievable!

Ferentz must be one helluva salesman to earn that kind of money and garner that type of attention from NFL teams when it is clear that he is a slightly above average coach with an average resume.