From HawkCentral.com:
Ferentz’s contract expires in January 2020 (44 months left on his current contract), yet it doesn’t seem to be a pressing priority to extend it — even though the industry standard is to maintain five years’ cushion (60 months) to help reassure potential recruits of stability. Athletics director Gary Barta said in an email Friday that “there is nothing new to report” but that he and Ferentz “continue to talk about 2016 and beyond.”
Obviously this issue has not hurt 2017 recruiting but eventually Barta will have to sign him to an extension.
Hopefully the buy out is not crazy, too. Firing Ferentz after the rock-bottom 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl would've cost Iowa more than $13 million. But by January, that number will drop to about $8.1 million and then to $5.45 million after the 2017 season. Not that anyone's talking about firing him anymore.
Both parties would be wise to agree to add four years to Ferentz’s existing deal — getting him through the 2023 season — with escalating pay raises to reach $5 million annually. (In 2015, seven Division I coaches’ pre-incentive salary was $5 million or higher; Ferentz’s pay ranked 14th.).
Make that deal, and Ferentz would be 68 when it finishes.
Ferentz owns a 127-87 record at Iowa. If he stays another eight years and averages 8½ wins per season (realistic, considering he’s averaged 8.2 since 2001), he’ll surpass Bo Schembechler’s 194 wins at Michigan for No. 3 all-time among Big Ten Conference coaches.
Yes, No. 3 — behind men named Amos Alonzo Stagg (232 wins) and Woody Hayes (205). That's history worth pursuing.
Beyond a statue-worthy win total (and 25 years at Iowa being a clean number), there are two more reasons age 68 would be a nice contract- and career-ending target.
One, Brian Ferentz will turn 40 in 2023. If the program averages eight or nine wins per season and contends for Big Ten West titles at least half the time, Iowa’s fifth-year offensive line coach and run-game coordinator will be plenty seasoned and warmly welcomed as coach-in-waiting. (That’s a big if; a diet of 7-5 seasons won’t cut it.)
Two, well, I’ll let Kirk Ferentz — now tied with Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, 55, as college football’s continuous active longevity leader at one school — explain this one.
When we talked this week, he referenced watching two other coaching giants: The longest-tenured coach in the NFL, Bill Belichick, 64; and the NBA’s longevity leader, Gregg Popovich, 67.
Ferentz could’ve also mentioned Nick Saban, who at 64 is certainly going strong at Alabama.
Neither Belichick nor Popovich has lost his coaching edge. And 2015 indicated that Ferentz's has returned.
“It seems like those guys are doing pretty well. I think you can do OK after 65,” Ferentz said. “We’ll just kind of see where it all goes.”
The full article from HawkCentral discussing this is here: http://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sp...ension-sunday-column-chad-leistikow/84341246/
Ferentz’s contract expires in January 2020 (44 months left on his current contract), yet it doesn’t seem to be a pressing priority to extend it — even though the industry standard is to maintain five years’ cushion (60 months) to help reassure potential recruits of stability. Athletics director Gary Barta said in an email Friday that “there is nothing new to report” but that he and Ferentz “continue to talk about 2016 and beyond.”
Obviously this issue has not hurt 2017 recruiting but eventually Barta will have to sign him to an extension.
Hopefully the buy out is not crazy, too. Firing Ferentz after the rock-bottom 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl would've cost Iowa more than $13 million. But by January, that number will drop to about $8.1 million and then to $5.45 million after the 2017 season. Not that anyone's talking about firing him anymore.
Both parties would be wise to agree to add four years to Ferentz’s existing deal — getting him through the 2023 season — with escalating pay raises to reach $5 million annually. (In 2015, seven Division I coaches’ pre-incentive salary was $5 million or higher; Ferentz’s pay ranked 14th.).
Make that deal, and Ferentz would be 68 when it finishes.
Ferentz owns a 127-87 record at Iowa. If he stays another eight years and averages 8½ wins per season (realistic, considering he’s averaged 8.2 since 2001), he’ll surpass Bo Schembechler’s 194 wins at Michigan for No. 3 all-time among Big Ten Conference coaches.
Yes, No. 3 — behind men named Amos Alonzo Stagg (232 wins) and Woody Hayes (205). That's history worth pursuing.
Beyond a statue-worthy win total (and 25 years at Iowa being a clean number), there are two more reasons age 68 would be a nice contract- and career-ending target.
One, Brian Ferentz will turn 40 in 2023. If the program averages eight or nine wins per season and contends for Big Ten West titles at least half the time, Iowa’s fifth-year offensive line coach and run-game coordinator will be plenty seasoned and warmly welcomed as coach-in-waiting. (That’s a big if; a diet of 7-5 seasons won’t cut it.)
Two, well, I’ll let Kirk Ferentz — now tied with Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, 55, as college football’s continuous active longevity leader at one school — explain this one.
When we talked this week, he referenced watching two other coaching giants: The longest-tenured coach in the NFL, Bill Belichick, 64; and the NBA’s longevity leader, Gregg Popovich, 67.
Ferentz could’ve also mentioned Nick Saban, who at 64 is certainly going strong at Alabama.
Neither Belichick nor Popovich has lost his coaching edge. And 2015 indicated that Ferentz's has returned.
“It seems like those guys are doing pretty well. I think you can do OK after 65,” Ferentz said. “We’ll just kind of see where it all goes.”
The full article from HawkCentral discussing this is here: http://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sp...ension-sunday-column-chad-leistikow/84341246/
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