ORLANDO, Fla. — The No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes and No. 21 Tennesee Volunteers football teams face off in less than 24 hours in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, and while both program’s head coaches have their sights firmly set on the game, they’re also voicing frustrations around the current state of college football. 

During a press conference Sunday morning, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and Tennesee’s Josh Heupel took turns answering questions from reporters regarding prepping for bowl season in December while also managing high school players committing, current players choosing to enter the transfer portal or the NFL Draft, and the policy around name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals. 

“I’m sorry to say two years later, we’re in worse shape than we were two years ago, I didn’t think that was possible, but we, the adults, had done a lot to certainly kind of screw this thing up,” Ferentz said. “I’ve got some concerns about what the future is going to look like.”

The head coach for the Hawkeyes for the past 24 years criticized the lack of structure and policy that programs must follow and said college football would be better served with a commissioner similar to what some professional sports leagues have. 

“We always lead with what’s best for the student-athletes, but we don’t always practice that with some of the decisions we make,” Ferentz said. “There are some unintended consequences that we really don’t think about before we make decisions.”

Ferentz claimed if college football enacted rules regarding how schools constructed rosters, then it would even out the playing field and minimize tampering.

“In the NFL, everybody kind of starts even, so for example, when I [coached] in the league, the [Cincinnati] Bengals were terrible, and now recently they’ve played at a really high level,” he said. “It just shows that everybody’s got an opportunity, and I’m not sure college football is like that.”

Ferentz detailed how he has also noticed more players opting out to prepare for the NFL Draft now more than ever, and said he wants players to make the choices best for them but worries they might be getting information from “predatory individuals” looking to profit off of athletes. 

“There’s just a lot of parties involved, and some aren’t necessarily thinking about what’s best for the individual player,” he said. “That just kind of flies in the face of what we try to do as coaches.”

During the past month as Iowa has prepared for Tennessee, Ferentz said he has told his players who are still uncertain about returning to campus to compartmentalize their future plans and focus solely on winning the bowl game. He pointed out how former Hawkeye and current Denver Broncos cornerback Riley Moss was “distracted” with his NFL decision leading up to Iowa’s bowl game in 2022, but maintained that Moss never wavered in his choice to return to Iowa City for an extra season. 

“It’s like recruiting in a way; you just want the player to make the decisions best for him, but he’s got to go through it methodically and get accurate information from people that actually do know,” Ferentz said of players considering future plans. 

While Heupel acknowledged the challenges of dealing with the uncertainty around which players would opt out and which would be playing in the bowl game, but he added it creates an opportunity for younger players and backups to get some meaningful playing time. 

“It’s an opportunity for the young guys to take ownership and go prove that they’re ready to go play at a high level,” Heupel said. “And in some ways, bowl games are the culmination and finish to the 2023 season, but also the start of the 2024 season for these guys.”

Lastly, Ferentz said the amount of media attention towards the College Football Playoffs and what team will be crowned national champions has diminished the importance of other bowl games happening across the sport. In the Orange Bowl on Saturday between No. 5 Florida State and No. 6 Georiga, 23 Seminole players did not participate due to transfers or opt-outs. In a non-CFP contest, the Bulldogs won in dominating fashion, 63-3. 

“[My first bowl game as the Iowa head coach] in 2001 was at San Antonio [in the] Alamo Bowl, and [after] it was like we won the Super Bowl, like that was a really important game and an important year for us,” he said. “We’ve drifted away from that a little bit and that’s unfortunate because a lot of people are missing out on some really special experiences.”