No matter the accomplishment, Kirk Ferentz is always quick to deflect the attention from himself. 

The 70-year-old Iowa coaching legend has won 205 games, two Big Ten championships, four Big Ten Coach of the Year awards, and two national coach of the year honors in Iowa City, but each week,  his focus always remains on improving.

Ferentz’s even-keeled attitude after Saturday’s 34-7 win over Albany didn’t convey the significance of his victory. The longest-tenured head coach in the nation is now tied with legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes for all-time wins by a Big Ten head coach and could break the record with a win at in-state rival Iowa State on Saturday. 

“He kind of shunned it off, and he said, ‘Don’t worry about it when he retires,’” Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski said after Iowa’s 34-7 win over Albany. “But I’m happy for him. It’s a big accomplishment for him, but we’re going to keep winning all season.”

“I’m just happy to be coaching,” Ferentz told Big Ten Network on Aug. 11. “This [the record] has been talked about more outside our building.” 

Many of the Iowa players and coaching staff share that same sentiment. Their focus is winning games on the field, not winning to fit a media storyline.

“He’d be the first to tell you he’s not too worried about [the possible record],” Iowa general manager Tyler Barnes said at Iowa media day on Aug. 8. “I certainly know he’s not going to make a big deal out of it moving forward.”

“Everything you hear from the outside is proven true” 

Ferentz’s humility doesn’t keep the Hawkeyes from celebrating recent milestone victories. The coach will be the first to admit that he’s an emotional guy, and those emotions poured out in the locker room after a 2023 win over Iowa State. The 20-13 triumph marked Ferentz’s 200th career win as a college head coach, and he was given the game ball by defensive coordinator Phil Parker, who choked up while congratulating his boss. 

The Ferentz-Parker duo has been together since Ferentz’s first season at Iowa in 1999. The Hawkeyes won just one game that season, but it will always hold a special place in Parker’s heart. 

Parker, then 36, had already established himself as a well-respected college coach. He spent 11 seasons as Toledo’s defensive backs coach, serving under Hall of Fame head coaches Gary Pinkel and Nick Saban (also his coach at Michigan State). 

Ferentz quickly took notice of Parker’s strong leadership abilities, but the deciding factor that lured Parker away was when his old defensive coordinator, Norm Parker (no relation), was hired as Ferentz’s new defensive coordinator. 

“Understanding what Iowa was all about, playing in the Big Ten, and understanding what they’ve done,” Parker told The Athletic in 2018. “I really didn’t know Kirk at the time, but Norm said there might be an opportunity.” 

Parker remained Iowa’s defensive backs coach through the 2011 season, when he was elevated to defensive coordinator after Norm’s retirement. The Hawkeyes’ defense was already a well-respected unit under Norm, but Parker has taken it to the next level. 

Iowa has allowed fewer than 20 points over the last nine seasons, the only team in the nation to do so. This success earned Parker the 2023 Broyles Award, given to the top assistant coach in college football. The Hawkeyes have responded by giving Parker a significant salary increase, and he will make over $2 million in 2025. 

Parker, 62, has likely received offers to become a head coach elsewhere, but has chosen to remain loyal to Ferentz and Iowa. Now, Parker gets the chance to help his boss make history. 

“When it comes, it comes, but it’s been a great pleasure to be working around him and being with a consistent guy of how he handles things in the last 26 going on 27 years here,” Parker said. “So I’m very lucky and fortunate to be part of that. He gave me a chance to come out here a long time ago, and I really appreciate that.” 

Iowa’s coaching staff features several former Hawkeyes, including special teams coordinator LeVar Woods, a member of Ferentz’s first Iowa team, and defensive line coach Kelvin Bell, who joined Iowa in 2000 before suffering a career-ending injury. Many of these men have spent nearly half their lives with Ferentz, so his impact on their lives is obvious. 

But what about some of the newest members of the staff? 

New running backs coach Omar Young has been on staff since March 17, replacing Ladell Betts, another former Hawkeye player under Ferentz. Young, who has 10 years of NFL coaching experience, was quick to brush off the incoming record, but that didn’t stop him from praising how Ferentz runs his Iowa program. 

“Everything you hear from the outside is proven true,” Young said. “And when that day comes, it’ll be a great deal. I’ll be thankful and blessed to be a part of that. But every single day, we’re trying to get better, right? And that’s the focus.” 

“Everyone loves playing for him” 

Ask any player from the Ferentz era, past or present, and they will have nothing but good things to say about their coach. Iowa has featured plenty of star talent in Ferentz’s 26 seasons in Iowa City, but the attention now turns to this season’s Hawkeyes. 

Iowa will have to take down in-state rival Iowa State on the road to do so. But this shouldn’t be a problem as Ferentz has clinched milestones in Ames before, winning his 200th career game at Jack Trice Stadium in 2023. 

Fifth-year wide receiver Kaden Wetjen was on that squad. The senior has many fond memories of Ferentz, but his favorite moments with his former coach  have been some of his most important victories, namely a win over Illinois later in that season that clinched the Big Ten West for Iowa. 

“We went to the Big Ten Championship already with him, and just kind of getting him, I can’t remember what accolade he had, but I think he might have passed somebody that could have been what it was, but it’s just cool,” Wetjen said. 

“He’s an awesome guy. Everybody loves playing for him, and we’re just super excited to try to get him to that level this year.”

Wetjen’s story is one that has been a common theme in the Ferentz era — an unheralded walk-on turned star player. Wetjen began his career at the junior college level with Iowa Western, but he’s now regarded as one of the NCAA’s best kick returners, earning first-team All-American honors after tallying over 1,000 returning yards in 2024. 

“At the start of last year, I don’t mind telling you, I was a little curious and anxious and whatever, and boy, he just played great as a return guy,” Ferentz said. 

Sam Phillips’ road to Iowa hasn’t been as winding as Wetjen’s, but it has still provided many ups and downs. The fourth-year wideout received few FBS offers out of high school and decided to stay in his home state of Tennessee and play for Chattanooga.

Iowa added Phillips from the transfer portal in the winter after he led the Southern Conference with 823 receiving yards. The transition from the Smoky Mountains to cornfields has been a wild one for Phillips, but it also allowed him to marvel at his renowned head coach. 

“Now that I’ve kind of settled here, just realizing the legendary run he’s [Ferentz] been on,” Phillips said. We don’t talk about a lot, but just when you bring it up, it’s definitely a major accomplishment.”

As the 2025 team prepares to clinch Ferentz’s elusive mark on the field, his former players are eagerly watching from afar. One of those players is Drew Tate, the star quarterback on Iowa’s 2004 team, who earned a share of the Big Ten title with Michigan. 

Tate’s journey to Iowa City was far from traditional. The Texas native initially committed to in-state power Texas A&M, but was forced to look elsewhere after longtime Aggies coach R.C. Slocum was dismissed after the 2002 season. 

Baylor, Houston, and Syracuse immediately showed interest in Tate, but Iowa soon became the frontrunner for two reasons. The first was a strong connection between Tate’s stepfather, Dick Olin, and his high school football coach, Carl Jackson, who was then the longtime Hawkeye running backs coach. 

The relationship began in the late 1970s. Olin had already established himself as an up-and-coming young head coach in Clinton, Iowa, while Jackson was just beginning his long stint in the Hawkeye State, having been successfully coaxed by Hayden Fry to make the leap from North Texas to Iowa in 1979. 

“He [Jackson] had called my dad, and he had heard the head coach [Slocum] at A&M might be on the chopping block,” Tate said. “And that’s kind of how it all got started.” 

Olin, who grew up in Iowa and played for Northern Iowa in the mid-1960s, always hoped Tate would play for the Hawkeyes. Olin’s connections to the program and the state made the Hawkeyes a viable option, but Tate’s first meeting with Ferentz was more than enough to convince him. 

The meeting took place in December 2002, shortly after Ferentz and Iowa concluded a memorable 11-1 campaign that culminated in a share of the Big Ten championship. The Hawkeyes were on top of the college football world at the time and were preparing to face Southern California in the 2003 Orange Bowl, but that didn’t stop Ferentz from maintaining his professionalism with Tate. 

“[He’s] a very polished and professional man,” Tate recalled. “I thought it was just a different flavor of barbecue than the barbecue in Texas.” 

One month later, Tate was a Hawkeye. 

“It’s just funny how it all worked out,” he said. 

After spending his freshman campaign learning Iowa’s system through Ferentz’s informational practice routines, Tate was named the Hawkeyes’ new signal-caller for the 2004 season, the first underclassman to do so. Iowa was coming off another 10-win season in 2003, resulting in sky-high expectations from fans and the local media. 

Those lofty goals appeared to be in danger after the Hawkeyes opened 2004 with a measly 2-2 start. But Ferentz and his staff were quick to keep the team focused on the road ahead, going so far as to flush a toilet in the weight room to show the players that it was time to move on to the next opponent. 

The toilet story is one of many examples of Ferentz’s infamous 24-hour rule, where Iowa spends only 24 hours discussing the previous week’s loss before flipping the page to the next game. 

“The biggest thing is learning from it on Sunday, and then you move on,” Ferentz said at Iowa media day. “We don’t have time to celebrate. We have to get moving on to the next team.” 

Ferentz’s 2004 team wouldn’t need another 24-hour rule. The Hawkeyes blasted Michigan State by 22 points the following week, which kicked off a six-game winning streak to set up a de facto Big Ten championship game at Kinnick Stadium against rival Wisconsin. 

Iowa won the game, 30-7, to claim its 11th and most recent Big Ten title. 

“I thought it was a hell of a deal,” Tate said. “I’d only been on campus for two years, so I thought it was cat’s ass.” “To win it at night at Kinnick, the mecca of college football, was also something.” 

After playing 12 seasons in the Canadian Football League, Tate transitioned into coaching, where he currently serves as an offensive assistant for the Toronto Argonauts. Tate and Ferentz’s busy schedules limit them to occasional congratulatory text messages, but that hasn’t stopped Tate from modeling Ferentz’s coaching style. 

“There was always respect and class,” Tate said. “Those are always top things. And so I always think that that’s such a good thing that you want to bring to the table in this profession.” 

 While Tate’s coaching career is just beginning, his college coach is now one win away from history. Tate is grateful to have played a small part in Ferentz’s legendary Hawkeye career. 

“I just think about how he and the program have changed many lives and the way that they’ve changed them,” Tate said. “It’s a special place. You’ve only had two head coaches in 50 years.”