With each passing season, it is becoming more and more apparent that Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz should probably hang up his headset and pass Iowa on to the next head coach. However, Ferentz doesn't seem like he has any plans of leaving anytime soon and has signed to be the head coach for the Hawkeyes through the 2029 season.
This season, it became obvious that Ferentz just isn't keeping up with the ever-changing world of college football, and it all starts with the transfer portal. Last season, Ferentz got in trouble in the portal by contacting former Iowa contact Cade McNamara before the portal officially opened, which is the first basic rule of the transfer portal.
Ferentz also has never been very active in the portal, bringing in only a handful of guys every year and just relying on recruits and guys who have been in the building for multiple years. However, that is going to start to become a lot tougher for Feretnz, especially with the amount of guys he is losing to the NFL and the portal.
With the first portal window closed for a few weeks now, Ferentz has lost more than triple the guys he has brought in. A total of 17 Hawkeyes entered the portal, and five of them still have yet to find a new home, they could always return to Iowa. On the flip side, Ferentz has only brought in five guys from the portal. If he wants to keep up in what is becoming a very competitive Big Ten conference, he needs to do better.
Even people who are not fans of the transfer portal and believe there should be restrictions on it understand the importance of it. A number of teams would be lost without the portal. The portal gives coaches the ability to bring in experienced players to fill key positions in their lineup.
Ferentz keeps losing more players than he is bringing in, though, and at some point, if the Hawkeyes continue to have a season like they have in 2024, they won't be bringing in a ton of recruits either, at least not highly ranked ones.
If Ferentz wants to keep his job at Iowa and choose to hang it up on his own terms, he needs to keep up with the changes in college football, or it might be time for him to hang up the headset.