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Iowa Football: Kirk Ferentz Reads ‘Mean Tweets’

By Joe Favia

STATE COLLEGE, PA - NOVEMBER 05: Head coach Kirk Ferentz of the Iowa Hawkeyes walks the field before the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions on November 5, 2016 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA - NOVEMBER 05: Head coach Kirk Ferentz of the Iowa Hawkeyes walks the field before the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions on November 5, 2016 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /
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EVANSTON, IL – OCTOBER 17: Head coach Kirk Ferentz of the Iowa Hawkeyes walks off the field after their win over Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on October 17, 2015 in Evanston, Illinois. Iowa Hawkeyes won 40-10. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, IL – OCTOBER 17: Head coach Kirk Ferentz of the Iowa Hawkeyes walks off the field after their win over Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on October 17, 2015 in Evanston, Illinois. Iowa Hawkeyes won 40-10. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images) /

Being the longest tenured coach not only in the Big Ten, but all of major college football allows fans to usually know what they can expect from Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. But, during Big Ten media days, his reading of some ‘mean tweets’ was a chance to see the lighter side of the veteran coach.

Ferentz who has long had a firm anti-Twitter stance not only for himself, but the players of his program, read the tweets which were very much on the lighter side of what you will find when searching his name on Twitter, especially when the Hawkeyes aren’t winning. Here is the video done by the Big Ten Network:

The tweet regarding Ferentz wanting 4 punters and 3 lineman goes along with the narrative of Ferentz-led teams (always) punting inside their opponents 35. It will be interesting to see if this season under new OC Brian Ferentz if things open up for the offense, but don’t expect to see the Hawkeye lead the Big Ten in passing anytime soon.

Ferentz also closed the bit with stating:

"I don’t do Twitter, but I am reading Twitter’s, and I may start because these are kind of entertaining and interesting, so you may open a new door for me."

While said mostly in jest, a day when ‘Captain Kirk’ was actively on Twitter would be ‘a thing’. Most of Ferentz’ staff use the social media outlet to varying degrees. Recruiting coordinator and assistant defensive line coach Kelvin Bell uses it often, while defensive coordinator Phil Parker only has 11 tweets in the 3 years on the site.

While this incarnation of the ‘mean tweets’ was rather tame in comparison to the version that made it famous on Jimmy Kimmel, it was a fun video to show a different side of the Hawkeyes coach.

Here is an example of the Kimmel edition: