Well, I'll also say that you set up a bit of a false premise. Iowa isn't out looking for a coach every year and picking Ferentz.....they hired Ferentz in 1999 and have chosen not to fire him. There are legit criticisms over some of the contract extensions he's received (particularly when it comes to length), but looking back, there were really only a couple of times when firing him wouldn't have been a PR disaster -- after the 2007 season or 2012-13 era. Change is uncomfortable because it could go either way, so that's part of it. I like that Iowa has not been a disaster over the last 40 years. There were some dips at the start of each coach's time, but on the whole, they've been competitive with years where they went higher.
I get that this season was disappointing on many levels, especially after seeing the absolute beatdown of OSU, but is 8-4 really fireable? IMHO, no. Could Iowa possibly hire a better coach right now? Sure, but how do you justify a firing? IMHO, at this point, the best move for Iowa is to let Kirk finish out (unless the team becomes a disaster). There's been talk of Brian Ferentz, but that will work itself out over the next couple years. If he turns Iowa into a really good offensive team, then maybe there's a path, but otherwise, that's going to work itself out. If/when Iowa goes on the market looking for a coach, they have a 40 year legacy of a lot of NFL players and they're really the only P5 program that can sell job security. Iowa doesn't fire coaches often and that will likely be attractive to coaches who are interested in a long-term future at this level.
