Kirk Ferentz comments on receiving game ball from DC Phil Parker following B1G West title
Kirk Ferentz delivered an emotional moment Saturday as Iowa rallied for a game-winning score late vs. Illinois. As a result, the Hawkeyes secured the outright B1G West title and will head to Indianapolis for Championship Weekend.
The win against Illinois was also the 195th win of Ferentz’s career, pushing him past legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler for third all-time in career wins as a B1G coach. For the emotional win, Phil Parker presented Ferentz with the game ball in an emotional locker room scene.
The victory is the 195th of head coach Kirk Ferentz’s career, moving him past Michigan’s Bo Schembechler for third place in career wins as a member of the Big Ten Conference. 📈#Hawkeyes https://t.co/v6Kx9nYdCT
— HawkeyeFBNotes (@HawkeyeFBNotes) November 19, 2023
After the game, Ferentz was asked about the moment receiving the game ball. The head coach started by joking that it was “a little self-serving” of Parker — a former Spartan — to award the ball after Ferentz surpassed a UM legend.
“I want to preface that because it’s a Michigan State guy giving a ball to the guy who moved past the guy from Michigan,” cracked Ferentz. “I think it was a little self-serving on his part quite frankly, but it’s just — I never got into it for that reason. And certainly, 23 years ago, you could have made some money if you placed a friendly wager.”
At the end of the day, Ferentz said the accomplishment and game ball are all about the type of coaches and players he has been around:
“Again, it goes right back to what we just talked about. The caliber of people who have been through here,” Ferentz explained. “Been a lot of great coaches come through here, and same type of players, it’s all about that. You’ve got Dallas Clark in there, you would have thought he played today. That’s 20-something years ago, that’s just the beauty of this whole thing.”