Mystery solved: How Bill Belichick first found Kirk Ferentz

[Franisdaman]

Pretty cool story.

Some excerpts:

How did Belichick — now one of the NFL’s all-time great coaches — find Ferentz when he was the head coach at Division I-AA Maine?

Jay Hilgenberg, the former Hawkeye and longtime Chicago Bears center, ...remembers exactly what happened.

He and quarterback Mike Tomczak, who had just completed their first seasons with the Browns in 1992, were vacationing in January, 1993 when Belichick called.

Belichick told Hilgenberg he was firing his offensive line coach, Hal Hunter, and was looking for recommendations for a replacement.

“I recommended Kirk Ferentz,” Hilgenberg told the Register this week. “He goes, ‘Who the (heck) is that?’”

One thing led to another, and Browns executive Mike Lombardi called Ferentz … and soon, Ferentz was off to the NFL for six seasons — three under Belichick — before taking over at Iowa prior to the 1999 season.

“I thought he’d be a perfect fit,” Hilgenberg said. “I thought he’d be a great offensive line coach in the NFL.

"I’m proud that I recommended him."

Former Iowa offensive lineman Jay Hilgenberg is shown during the 1986 Super Bowl while he was a key starter for the Chicago Bears.


Link to the FULL STORY: https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...-ferentz-hawkeyes-cleveland-browns/673193002/

 

[NorthDSMHawk]

That's really cool. I listened to the interview and was surprised that Kirk honestly had no idea how Belichick found out about him. Said he never decided to even ask Bill, just went with it.

 

[anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba]

Thanks for that, OP. Really, really interesting, and it shows again that connections are key. KF owes a pretty big thank you to Hilgenberg. Without that recommendation, who knows what KF would be doing today.