Keeler: Chances of Ferentz to Penn State? About none
Kory Beidler can see it now. Ah, yes. There’s Kirk Ferentz, chewing the gum, clapping, patrolling the sidelines at Beaver Stadium, his offensive line slowly grinding the other team into dust.
Only it’s the home sidelines. And Ferentz is wearing blue and white.
Kirk Ferentz and Joe Paterno talk before their game last year at Beaver Stadium. (Matthew Holst/Press-Citizen)
“He’s a good one,” says Beidler, a Penn State alum and former Iowa resident who shipped off to Maryland a few years back. “You certainly don’t want some of these high-falutin’ overpaid coaches in some other conferences coming, that certainly wouldn’t work.”
We’re talking about who should replace iconic Joe Paterno, who’s coached the Lions since the Teapot Dome Scandal. When I mention Ferentz, the Iowa coach and Pennsylvania native, Kory’s voice is a ray of sunshine. When I add that Ferentz just agreed to a contract extension in Iowa City through 2020, it’s dusk again.
“Never say never.” Beidler says. “I don’t know. We stole another great one from Iowa when we got (wrestling coach) Cael Sanderson. That actually was a shock, but they promised him the world and gave him great facilities.”
Penn State, which visits Kinnick Stadium on Saturday night, could pitch the same to Ferentz one day, if he’s willing to listen. And yet the longer the ageless Paterno hangs around, the less likely that seems.
A few years ago, before the Hawkeyes dipped and rebounded again, Ferentz was listed among Sports Illustrated.com’s top 5 candidates to replace JoePa, now 83 years young. The fit seemed undeniable: He’d won big in the Big Ten; he’d played high school ball in western Pennsylvania. He’s low-key, self-effacing and dry — the anti-Spurrier. The Keystone State has forever shaped him and the program he runs today.
But he’s also older now, wealthier now. Entrenched. When Ferentz says Iowa will be his last head coaching job — this latest extension will take him to the age of 65 — it doesn’t ring like another recruiting spiel. It sounds genuine.
“I don’t think Kirk’s going anywhere — that’s my personal opinion,” offers Ed Cunningham, the ESPN analyst who got to observe the Hawkeye staff up close during preparations for the Iowa-Iowa State game. “And frankly, after seeing the culture and being around the program that he’s built, I can see why he doesn’t want to leave.
“If you can sell someone to your No. 1 fund-raiser and they’re willing to write a big check out, you can go break a contract, and Penn State has that type of money and those type of backers to do that. But it’s just a matter of how bad they want them.”
Ferentz’s total annual compensation checks in at $3.675 million. According to a comparison program on the Web site Salary.com, the cost of living in Harrisburg, Pa., is 4.8 percent higher than it is in Cedar Rapids — meaning you’d have to make $3.85 million in order to maintain your current standard of living. Which also means you’d have to want him pretty badly.
“I think they have a lot of respect for the guy,” says Tom Mertz, president of the Penn State alumni association’s Central Iowa chapter, noting Ferentz’s 7-2 career record against the Lions since 1999. “Frustration, on a fan level, is totally understandable. But when you look back on it, you’ve got to appreciate what the guy’s doing.”
And, more importantly, where he’s been doing it. Penn State will always be a destination job, one of the top three in the Big Ten even with Nebraska in the fold. State College remains gorgeous, especially in the fall, a valley of orange and amber surrounded by purple mountains’ majesties. Beaver Stadium at night is college football the way God intended it.
But a move from Iowa City to Happy Valley would seem to be largely a lateral one. According to federal data provided to the Department of Education for the ’08-’09 fiscal year, while the Lions’ gridiron revenues were significantly higher — $61.7 million versus Iowa’s $38.9 million — the Hawkeyes actually spent more money on football than Penn State: $26.9 million in expenses compared to the Lions’ $19.1 million.
“It’s not like he’s going from Bowling Green,” Cunningham chuckles. “You walk around Iowa — the place is OK, things aren’t broken at Iowa. For that exact reason, it’s not really a jump up.”
Never say never. Then again, if you can beat ‘em, why join ’em?
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes Football
[...] Keeler: Chances of Ferentz to Penn State now? About none Kirk Ferentz is older and wealthier now. Entrenched. When he says Iowa will be his last head coaching job — this latest extension will take him to the age of 65 — it doesn’t ring like another recruiting spiel. It sounds genuine. Read more on The Des Moines Register [...]
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Don’t worry, Penn State would never hire him. They know they can hire superior coaches for 20% of Ferentz’s salary.
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@Jake8 – you’re an idiot. Ferentz is one of the best coaches in the country.
Also, Ferentz has said it 100 different ways: He is not leaving Iowa any time soon and he can’t envision another situation better than the one he is in. That said, the media will write a crap article like this just to stir the pot..
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