What follows is a column by Steward Mandel, now with Fox, formerly with SI. Yes, Mandel in July 2013 called KF one of the 5 worst coaches in college football; see http://www.si.com/college-football/2013/07/08/best-worst-college-football-coaches
After you check out the story below, you might want to visit the link, where there is also a podcast where Mandel discusses Iowa. Here is the story and podcast link http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...n-cook-michigan-state-michigan-mailbag-102115
Mailbag: How Ferentz is pulling off a rare feat with No. 12 Iowa
Hawkeyes coach survived extended period of mediocrity without getting fired -- and has stuck around long enough for resurgence
By Stewart Mandel Oct 21, 2015 at 10:00a ET
How many of you have the TimeHop app on your phone? I'm kind of addicted to it. And I particularly love looking back at old tweets this time of year because they're basically a time capsule into the past six college football seasons.
Just the other day, in fact, a tweet directed me to a story I wrote the night of the thrilling Florida State-Notre Dame game a year ago last weekend, which mentioned offhandedly that the 'Noles were "one of just five* undefeated teams left." That seemed awfully low to me considering that a year later**, we still have ... 14.
* -- Upon fact-checking this, I found there were in fact six. I apparently forgot about Marshall . . . just like the selection committee.
** -- Technically, this season started a week later, but most teams had an extra bye during the first half of 2014, so it evens out.
Some of these unbeatens will start losing soon enough, but if I'm putting money down on who goes down first, No. 3 Utah is a much safer bet than No. 12 Iowa. In fact, given their remaining schedule, there are probably 13 teams I'd take before the Hawkeyes.
Can you recall a coach with as miraculous a turnaround as Kirk Ferentz of Iowa has engineered this season? He has gone from boosters trying to find a way to buy out his contract to a national coach of the year candidate. More shockingly, he's done it by overhauling his approach . . . in his 17th season.
-- Blake M., Minnetonka, Minn.
"Miraculous" seems a bit strong -- we'll reserve that for when Purdue starts 7-0 -- but it is unquestionably rare in today's climate for A) a coach to stay at one school for 17 seasons, B) that coach to go through an extended period of mediocrity and not get fired, and C) actually turn things back around.
Nine times out of 10, when a coach's program starts slipping, everyone panics and assumes there's no getting it back on track. If not for that monstrous buyout, Ferentz would have likely lost his job by now. Meanwhile, other recent coaches in much the same position (Bobby Bowden, Mack Brown) kept hanging around and firing coordinators in a desperate attempt to recapture their edge. Ferentz, by contrast, did not make one staff change after last year's disappointing 7-6 season.
To Iowa fans' credit, many remained loyal to their two-time BCS coach through all those Insight and TaxSlayer Bowl seasons. Many lashed out at me for including him on a list of the five worst coaches in the country in the summer of 2013. (In another testament to Ferentz's longevity, the other four on the list were all later fired.) But his support had definitely waned. Season-ticket sales had reportedly declined by about 25 percent from 2010 to '14. I did not see any rosy preseason predictions about the Hawkeyes.
Fast-forward to mid-October, and Iowa is 7-0 with a remaining schedule of five foes (Maryland, Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue and Nebraska) with a combined conference record of 2-12.
It's not an exact parallel, but "Ferentz 3.0," as this resurgence has been dubbed, reminds me of Joe Paterno's late-career renaissance a decade ago. Paterno suffered four losing seasons in five years, including 4-7 in 2004, only to turn around and win 11 games and a Big Ten title in '05. I don't believe any coach today -- save perhaps for Bill Snyder -- could dip that far and still stick around long enough to enjoy that payoff. Ferentz by comparison had only one truly bad season (4-8 in 2012). Just something to keep in mind later this season as we watch which fan bases try to run off their established but struggling coaches.
After you check out the story below, you might want to visit the link, where there is also a podcast where Mandel discusses Iowa. Here is the story and podcast link http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...n-cook-michigan-state-michigan-mailbag-102115
Mailbag: How Ferentz is pulling off a rare feat with No. 12 Iowa
Hawkeyes coach survived extended period of mediocrity without getting fired -- and has stuck around long enough for resurgence
By Stewart Mandel Oct 21, 2015 at 10:00a ET
How many of you have the TimeHop app on your phone? I'm kind of addicted to it. And I particularly love looking back at old tweets this time of year because they're basically a time capsule into the past six college football seasons.
Just the other day, in fact, a tweet directed me to a story I wrote the night of the thrilling Florida State-Notre Dame game a year ago last weekend, which mentioned offhandedly that the 'Noles were "one of just five* undefeated teams left." That seemed awfully low to me considering that a year later**, we still have ... 14.
* -- Upon fact-checking this, I found there were in fact six. I apparently forgot about Marshall . . . just like the selection committee.
** -- Technically, this season started a week later, but most teams had an extra bye during the first half of 2014, so it evens out.
Some of these unbeatens will start losing soon enough, but if I'm putting money down on who goes down first, No. 3 Utah is a much safer bet than No. 12 Iowa. In fact, given their remaining schedule, there are probably 13 teams I'd take before the Hawkeyes.
Can you recall a coach with as miraculous a turnaround as Kirk Ferentz of Iowa has engineered this season? He has gone from boosters trying to find a way to buy out his contract to a national coach of the year candidate. More shockingly, he's done it by overhauling his approach . . . in his 17th season.
-- Blake M., Minnetonka, Minn.
"Miraculous" seems a bit strong -- we'll reserve that for when Purdue starts 7-0 -- but it is unquestionably rare in today's climate for A) a coach to stay at one school for 17 seasons, B) that coach to go through an extended period of mediocrity and not get fired, and C) actually turn things back around.
Nine times out of 10, when a coach's program starts slipping, everyone panics and assumes there's no getting it back on track. If not for that monstrous buyout, Ferentz would have likely lost his job by now. Meanwhile, other recent coaches in much the same position (Bobby Bowden, Mack Brown) kept hanging around and firing coordinators in a desperate attempt to recapture their edge. Ferentz, by contrast, did not make one staff change after last year's disappointing 7-6 season.
To Iowa fans' credit, many remained loyal to their two-time BCS coach through all those Insight and TaxSlayer Bowl seasons. Many lashed out at me for including him on a list of the five worst coaches in the country in the summer of 2013. (In another testament to Ferentz's longevity, the other four on the list were all later fired.) But his support had definitely waned. Season-ticket sales had reportedly declined by about 25 percent from 2010 to '14. I did not see any rosy preseason predictions about the Hawkeyes.
Fast-forward to mid-October, and Iowa is 7-0 with a remaining schedule of five foes (Maryland, Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue and Nebraska) with a combined conference record of 2-12.
It's not an exact parallel, but "Ferentz 3.0," as this resurgence has been dubbed, reminds me of Joe Paterno's late-career renaissance a decade ago. Paterno suffered four losing seasons in five years, including 4-7 in 2004, only to turn around and win 11 games and a Big Ten title in '05. I don't believe any coach today -- save perhaps for Bill Snyder -- could dip that far and still stick around long enough to enjoy that payoff. Ferentz by comparison had only one truly bad season (4-8 in 2012). Just something to keep in mind later this season as we watch which fan bases try to run off their established but struggling coaches.
