Kirk Ferentz has been at Iowa for 25 years and his current contract they he is under would keep him at Iowa until 2029, meaning he will have been the head coach for the Iowa Hawkeyes football team for 30 years.
30 years of Kirk Ferentz.
After Iowa's 17th overall loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in Week 6 of the 2024 football season, a game that was only 7-0 at halftime, fans were already starting to circle with pitchforks and signs. There were a lot of questionable calls in that game, including a timeout on a fake punt that would have worked if not for the timeout.
Ferentz has had his great seasons coaching at Iowa, but there is one thing he had never had with the Hawkeyes, and that is a solid offense. If Ferentz had a better offense this season, even though the one he has now looks markedly better than last season's, the matchup against Ohio State might have been a little closer than 35-7.
So, with fans starting to become fed up with Ferentz and his questionable play-calling, recruiting, and team decisions, it might be useful to know what his buyout is. Ferentz is locked in till 2029, but if Iowa chose to fire him, they would be stuck paying him a lot of money.
Kirk Ferentz would get paid a lot of money if he is fired
Back in 2021, Ferentz signed an extension that locked him into his job till 2029, making $7 million each year with a $500,000 base. In addition to that, he also gets $5.5 million in supplemental compensation and a $1 million longevity bonus.
So if the Iowa Hawkeyes decided to part ways with Ferentz before his contract expires in 2029, the university would owe him a total of $42 million, equaling out to $6 million. Obviously, the longer the Hawkeyes keep Ferentz around, the less his buyout will become.
So unless Ferentz decides to hang up his headset and retire from coaching, or he does something that could cause him to be fired that breaks his contract, he will be the coach at Iowa until 2029.