Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz is the longest tenured coach in the Big Ten, but some fans have seen enough and are ready for a change at the top. A collection of emails gathered by The Cedar Rapids Gazette revealed those who took the time to write an email to Iowa officials were not very happy with the way things are going with the football program, some calling for a new coach.
Surprise! People on the internet can be mean.
One fan wrote Iowa to say after 17 years of being a Hawkeye fan, he had enough and lost his faith in the ability for Ferentz to run the program.
I am not really sure what The Cedar Rapids Gazette was expecting to see through this Freedom of Information Request, because how often are fans writing positive emails following tough losses during the season? What’s next? Scanning the comment section of Black Heart Gold Pants? It might be more entertaining.
Ferentz has been the head coach at Iowa since 1999. In that lengthy span, Ferentz has led Iowa to a record of 115-85, including a bowl record of 6-6. Iowa has not won more than eight games since 2009, and the Hawkeyes have yet to play in a Big Ten championship game since the conference introduced the new divisional format four seasons ago. But hey, at least Iowa is not Indiana or Purdue, right? In defense of Ferentz, Iowa has had just one losing season since he started to turn the program around (three in total including his first two seasons on the job).
At this point, Iowa may start asking a question Nebraska recently took time to assess. What is the bar for Iowa football, and is Ferentz the best option to get Iowa there? If the answer is no, then the calls for Ferentz’s job may become more vocal than just emails to university officials. Iowa can be a good team under Ferentz, but if the program has Big Ten championship aspirations and Ferentz is not the guy to get them there, then it may be about time to figure out who is.