Iowa football: You can’t put a price tag on integrity in college football
By Andrew Wade
Last week, CFB salaries were released and, in what has become a yearly event, there were questions about Iowa football head coach Kirk Ferentz’s salary.
It’s become an annual event for Iowa football fans. The salaries of all college football head coaches are released, and usually near the top is head coach Kirk Ferentz, who puts together a fantastic season about every five years with above-average, bottom-of-the-top-25 type seasons in the years in between.
Is that worth Kirk Ferentz’s $4.8 million yearly salary?
Well, it depends on who you ask. Some think it’s a large overpayment, and we should get fresh blood after over two decades of Kirk Ferentz’s tenure.
I, for one, am certainly not one of those guys. Not only do I think Kirk’s salary is worth it, I believe it’s starting to become a bargain when compared to the ever-growing college football head coaching salaries. And my main point doesn’t even have to do with the wins and losses.
I am more concerned with the integrity of the program, and I would say Kirk Ferentz has more integrity than almost any coach in the industry, and that’s not a knock on the other coaches, that’s just how good he is.
Kirk isn’t going to blame his players (ahem, Scott Frost) or offer 300 scholarships (ahem, PJ Fleck). And you better believe he isn’t promising unrealistic promises to these kids when recruiting them. He tells it exactly how it is to them. Some kids like it, some kids don’t, but if they don’t, then those aren’t the kids Kirk wants in his program anyways.
Furthermore, if a kid isn’t working his butt off or is in any sort of trouble, you better believe he isn’t playing on game day. For example, Tristan Wirfs gets cited for being in a bar underage. Was it stupid? Absolutely. He’s got to know that his gigantic frame is recognizable, but the offense itself was harmless. Yet, I legitimately thought he was going to be suspended for at least a half.
After a relatively turbulent first few years in the program, Kirk has zero-tolerance for off-field crap.
Meanwhile, Scott Frost let Maurice Washington play week one, despite this.
And most importantly, as the college football landscape is continuously embroiled in controversy over improper benefits given to athletes, let’s remember that Kirk Ferentz has had zero violations. I repeat, Kirk Ferentz has had zero violations.
I know that Kirk Ferentz isn’t likely going to win a national championship in his tenure, but I like knowing that the Iowa football program is at least doing things the right way.
But just to add to my case, let’s look at the coaches ahead of him. Here are a few that I would argue should be paid less than Kirk.
Jim Harbaugh – Since joining Michigan, he has been all hype and no substance. Since taking over, Michigan has gone 44-16 versus the Iowa football team’s record of 43-18 in that same time span without nearly as much assistance by the media or resources.
Jimbo Fisher – He left a huge mess in Florida State to take the Aggies’ job where he went 9-4 in his first season and is 5-3 right now.
Tom Herman – He’s turned Texas around from a laughingstock to the Michigan of the Big 12: a team with high expectations that don’t get it done.
Jeff Brohm – The guy is a good coach, and I think Purdue had to overpay to keep this guy from leaving when the program was actually starting to be decent, but he’s still no Kirk Ferentz.
Pat Fitzgerald – This one is tough for me because I think Pat has done an incredible job of building up the Wildcats, but I’m taking Kirk.
Mike Gundy – His tenure is sort of like the Iowa football team’s, and there haven’t been any major issues coming out of Oklahoma State, but I’m still taking Kirk.
Scott Frost – He is well on his way to another four-win season. Point made.
Willie Taggart – Taggart will go down as having engineered two of the worst seasons in the past 30 years of Florida State football.
Charlie Strong – He’s at South Florida and still can’t win consistently.
So if you are going to argue that Kirk Ferentz is overpaid, think about what this program could be. We could be doing things illegally or we could be paying even more for a worse coach. Personally, I think Kirk Ferentz is worth every single dollar.