Iowa football: Kirk Ferentz disrespected in coach rankings

Iowa football head coach, Kirk Ferentz, was ranked as the 23rd best college football coach. However, should he have been ranked higher?

Iowa football coach, Kirk Ferentz, was recently ranked in the top 25 of college football coaches, 23rd to be exact. However, after reviewing the list, it’s hard to believe how some coaches were ranked ahead of him. Guys like Scott Frost (22nd) and Matt Campbell (9th) were valued ahead of Kirk Ferentz, which is hilarious if I am being honest.

This list has Northwestern head coach, Pat Fitzgerald ranked as the seventh-best coach among power five schools. I am actually fine with that ranking. Fitzgerald gets the most out of just average recruiting classes and will probably be coaching there until he retires. So good for him.

Here is the full list of coaches on the list:

The other two guys in Frost and Campbell are a combined 0-4 against Kirk Ferentz’ Iowa football team. The list specifically states that it is based on a combination of “situation, strengths, track record, and current trajectory”. However, having Campbell and Frost ahead of Ferentz completely negates all of these things.

Frost’s first year in Lincoln could not have gone worse. The team went 4-8 and missed going to a bowl game for the second consecutive year. He figures to have a better second season at Nebraska, but as previously noted, it can really only go up.

Matt Campbell is another one that is head scratching to me. He will be entering his fourth year on campus and has an overall record of 19-19 and 13-14 in the Big 12. Yes, they have beaten a couple of top five teams in the last two seasons, but lost to Northern Iowa in his first game as head coach and got blown out by Iowa 42-3 in his second game.

Kirk Ferentz will be entering his 21st season as the head coach of the Iowa football program. He has an overall record of 152-101 and 91-72 in the Big Ten. He also has an Orange, Capital One, Alamo, Outback (2), Insight and Pinstripe bowl victories in his back pocket. Regarding the current trajectory, Ferentz is under contract through the 2026 season and his recruiting classes just keep getting better.

I like to believe that these rankings have Ferentz lower than his counterparts because they believe teams are recruiting against his age, but as previously noted, he is under contract for quite some time. That was the point of his ten-year contract extension back in September 2016.

There is no guarantee that Nebraska will improve this season and who knows how the Iowa State offense functions without David Montgomery. Quarterback Brock Purdy could have a similar regression as Trace McSorley after he lost running back Saquon Barkley.

Ferentz has not had a losing season since 2012 and has just four of them in his twenty years at Iowa so far. He is the model for consistency and should be given more respect than these rankings are showing.