'I never had a compelling reason to leave': Kirk Ferentz explains decision to stay at Iowa, pass on job with Cleveland Browns
Kirk Ferentz has become the dean of B1G football. The longtime Iowa head coach has been around for the last 21 seasons, guiding the Hawkeyes to 162 wins in that time.
During his career, Ferentz has had opportunities to take jobs elsewhere but has decided to stay the course at Iowa. Even in 2008, Ferentz was considered a strong candidate to take the job with the Cleveland Browns, but chose not to pursue a career as a coach in the NFL.
This week, Ferentz joined the Dan Patrick Show to explain why he didn’t want to take the job with the Browns.
“My response has been, I always felt like I needed a compelling reason to look elsewhere,” Ferentz told Patrick when asked how close he was to leaving Iowa. “We’ve loved living here, we’ve loved it as a family and the professional opportunities have been great. So, I never felt like I had a compelling reason to leave. The other spot — which you never count on this — we’ve had three of our sons go through the program. So it’s really hard to put a price tag on that.”
Ferentz has called Iowa home since 1999, when he took over for Hayden Fry as head coach. Prior to that, he was with the Hawkeyes from 1981-89 as the offensive line coach. He explained that, after spending nine years in Iowa City the first time, it was very difficult to leave.
In 21 seasons at Iowa, Ferentz has compiled a 162-104 record, taken his teams to 17 bowl games, won two B1G titles and finished with one undefeated regular season (12-0) in 2015.
You can see more of Ferentz’s interview with Patrick below:
Plain and simple Kirk Ferentz loves Iowa… Theres never been a compelling enough reason for him to pursue other opportunities… Not even for the NFL. @TheIowaHawkeyes @HawkeyeFootball
For Coaches' Full Interview: https://t.co/M4E47Bl4jP… pic.twitter.com/Y3Nm0Zjdv5
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) May 7, 2020