Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz vindicated with unbeaten season; named Big Ten COTY

Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz vindicated with unbeaten season; named Big Ten COTY

(AP) — Kirk Ferentz knew it would take a major turnaround to get the Iowa Hawkeyes back to where they wanted to be.

Few believed the veteran coach could actually pull it off. That's why the most successful of Ferentz's 17 seasons at Iowa is arguably his most rewarding one.

The league on Tuesday announced Ferentz’s honor was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year by vote of coaches and media.

Ferentz has taken a team pegged for mediocrity to the Big Ten championship game against No. 5 Michigan State (11-1, 7-1) on Saturday, with a playoff spot likely going to the winner.

'We've never ever had any doubt in Kirk Ferentz. He's an unbelievable coach. An unbelievable man to play for,' tight end Henry Krieger Coble said. 'We're just doing a little better job carrying out the plan.'

More like a lot better. The fourth-ranked Hawkeyes are 12-0 for the first time in school history and 8-0 in the league for the first time since 2002, when Ferentz won national coach of the year honors. Ferentz might claim the award again in a few weeks after a season few saw coming after Iowa went just 34-30 from 2010-14.

'If you have success and then you dip, and then you're able to drive back up to success … those are the things that amaze me,' Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said.

Though it seemed so unlikely back in August, it wasn't entirely surprising that Ferentz fixed the Hawkeyes.

He did it twice before.

Ferentz led a program whose talent level had slipped dramatically at the end of coach Hayden Fry's tenure to three consecutive top-10 finishes from 2002-04. After a threeyear dip, Iowa won nine games in 2008 and made a national title run the following year that culminated in their only BCS bowl win. Before the 2010 season, Iowa gave Ferentz a 10-year deal, priced at roughly $40 million, with a prohibitive buyout clause that was often quoted whenever the Hawkeyes started slipping.