Kirk Ferentz addresses how he handled changes across college football

Now the longest tenured head coach in college football, Kirk Ferentz of the Iowa Hawkeyes has seen plenty of changes to college football. In recent years, though, those changes have been more rapid and larger than ever before.

Ferentz recently addressed some of those changes coming to the game. In particular, he admitted they’ve forced him to think about how to properly handle the changes.

“Our local media has at times asked me, ‘Does it ever get old? Does it ever get,'” Kirk Ferentz said. “And I think even in normal times, if you’re paying attention in life, there’s always something every day that pops up that’s going to make you reflect and think a little bit. When I was in the NFL, I was usually football-centric, if you will. See something on film where, for as much film as I’ve seen, boy, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that situation or scenario. Now my scope’s a little bit broader, and it’s the same thing if you look at a broader scope, and then certainly again the last couple of years as you’ve alluded to.”

There have been several changes to all of college athletics recently. NIL has allowed players to make money while playing in college. Coupled with being able to transfer an unlimited amount, building rosters is completely different now than it was a few seasons ago.

“It’s just this is unprecedented, and quite frankly, not all of it’s been great. But the good news is, I think, at least we’re taking steps, aggressive steps, to try to contain things a little bit and create some type of framework. Because these last couple of years we’ve operated, roughly, without any framework to speak of. At least, nothing meaningful. To me, not to sound like the old guy in the room,” Ferentz said. “But it wasn’t good for the future of the game, and hopefully we’re taking some steps now where we can get it back to where it’s going to be workable for everybody.”

The House settlement is another major recent change. It, in essence, allows for rev-share. It has also changed enforcement over NIL deals. NIL deals above $600 will need third-party approval and will be sent to a new clearinghouse called NIL Go. That oversight is hoping to set a new market. There is, on top of that, a new enforcement agency in place called the College Sports Commission. 

That’s another challenge for Kirk Ferentz to negotiate now. He and his staff are working to address it quickly, but that’s not easy with how quickly things continue to change.

“You look at it. A lot of it doesn’t make sense. You can’t make it make sense. On that level, to me, it’s been patience and hope that maybe somebody is going to get this thing reigned under control a little bit. Getting on the wrong end of a major lawsuit probably helped with some expediency, this whole thing. However, we got here, at least now there’s an attempt to create a structure that’s going to be fair for everybody involved. That’s an ongoing process too. But on the one hand, you’ve got to have some patience realizing things will, hopefully, get somehow back to a workable point,” Ferentz said.

“Then, in the short term, you just have to deal with it on a day-to-day. I think, ultimately, do what you feel is best for your program or what fits your program. That’s probably a different story. We’ve got 18 teams in our conference. We probably all have a different vantage point on that and what the best way to navigate it is. So, it’s like anything. You just try to deal with the short term but also, over time, hope the powers that be will get things under control a little bit.”

Kirk Ferentz on what his former self would think of revenue sharing

Kirk Ferentz first began coaching in 1977. He’d briefly be the head coach at Maine from 1990 to 1992. Then, in 1999, he became the head coach at Iowa. At the time, there had been some talk about rewarding players more, but nothing like there is today.

“One thing that seemed to make sense was maybe putting incentives in scholarships if possible,” Ferentz said. “And rewarding players for some tangible results, like graduation, which nobody has talked about in the last two years. Maybe three years. Just how the landscape’s changed. But maybe give them some targets so when they do leave school with a degree and at the completion of their career, they would have a little bit of a nest egg. That type of deal. Those ideas got floated about 20+ years ago, and that made sense to me.”

Of course, in the more than two decades that Ferentz has been at Iowa, the game has rapidly changed. Ferentz has seen that too, particularly the amount of money in it.

“The thing that has obviously changed in college football is the revenue explosion. I spent six years in the NFL, and I remember in the ’90s wondering at what point is this gonna end? At what point is the ceiling gonna take place monetarily? As we know, it just keeps accelerating. I’m pretty sure that’s the world we live in. There’s a real thirst and appetite for football, pro and college. Then the expansion of the TV contracts, it’s just out of sight. That’s why teams in the Big Ten are playing on the West Coast against member schools. The concept of tradition and geography have kind of been put on the other side of the ledger,” Ferentz said.

“But all that being said, as the revenue grew, it just made common sense to share that with the people involved, and a big part of this whole enterprise, obviously, the main part of the enterprise are the players involved.”

The 2025 season is going to be the 27th season for Kirk Ferentz at Iowa. He’ll hope to continue addressing those recent changes and find a way to keep Iowa competitive in the Big Ten at the same time.