Kirk Ferentz has done a lot for the Iowa football program. He has finished in the top 10 of the national polls four times, won two Big Ten titles and guided the Hawkeyes to two Orange Bowl appearances.
But, after another bowl game loss and a disappointing 7-6 year in 2014, the Iowa fans are starting to turn. And they likely won’t go back the other direction unless Iowa Athletic Gary Barta makes a change in leadership.
According to former University of Iowa Sports Information Director Phil Haddy, there has never been a worse turnout of Iowa fans for a bowl game in the Ferentz era.
Haddy went as far to say that he thought the turnout was also worse than any bowl game Hayden Fry coached in. And Haddy has attended every bowl game since then.
The real question of how hot Ferentz’s seat is will come in the offseason when fans decide if they want to renew their season tickets.
I personally know two friends who have had four season tickets for the past 10 years and both of them have said openly to me that 2014 will likely be their last for a while.
None of that bothers Ferentz though. He has bigger issues to dedicate his time to.
“We had a coach to the west of us (Nebraska’s Bo Pelini) that won a lot of football games that got fired,” Ferentz said after the 45-28 loss to Tennessee in the TaxSlayer Bowl. “If you’re in this profession, that’s part of the deal. If I’m going to sit around listening to the temperature, reading the temperature on the outside, more what I need to do is take the energy that I can put towards the job and put it on our improvement. That’s typically what we’ve tried to do for 16 years.”
Ferentz will have to put some of his energy toward finding out who his quarterback is, if both Jake Rudock and C.J. Beathard return to Iowa City.
He also needs to figure out why a defense that prides itself on playing physical football suddenly has issues with tackling.
The punting game is bad. The recruiting has taken a dip. And Iowa hasn’t won a bowl game since it defeated Missouri back in 2010. In fact, the Hawkeyes are just 26-25 overall since that game.
“I don’t believe it’s going to go down the drain. That’s what I believe and how I live. It’s how I look at the world,” Ferentz said.
Barta admitted earlier this season that 7-5 seasons are not acceptable at Iowa. He later said that Ferentz would return in 2015. But after Tennessee took Iowa to the woodshed in Friday’s bowl game, Barta also admitted the angst around the program is greater than at any time since he arrived in 2006.
Has the end come for Ferentz? If so, what’s next? Where does Iowa go from here? If not, how many more 7-5 seasons can the program take before the fans completely say goodbye to attending games on Saturdays.
Letting go of Ferentz won’t be easy. He has a $13.3 million buyout that is part of the 10-year contract Barta helped him sign. That contract includes a longevity bonus of $525,000 that comes up due on Jan. 31.
“I made the decision [on the deal] based on results, based on marketplace, and based on my comfort that Kirk would continue to lead us toward expectations,” Barta told the Cedar Rapids Gazette. “And some years we do, and some years we don’t, and I understand there’s angst right now. But at the end of the day I’m still going to make the decision whether or not Kirk’s ability to lead the program back is strong or not regardless of the contract.”
It’s hard to think things could get much worse with the fans. And I don’t know what Ferentz can do at this point to turn them back to his favor.
But as long as the football program continues to bring in some of the largest dollars in the nation, Iowa President Sally Mason and Barta may look the other way, despite the results on the field.
Can declining ticket sales be enough alone to pull the trigger? We may all soon find out.
Either way, it looks like the University of Iowa football program will have an interesting offseason.
Buckle up. The path to spring practice could get a little bumpy.
Contact Troy Hyde at
641-792-3121 ext. 6536
or thyde@newtondailynews.com