Ferentz named to succeed Fry at Iowa
Posted: Wednesday December 02, 1998 07:38 PM
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Ferentz: "Coach Fry has a special place in my heart"
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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Baltimore Ravens assistant coach Kirk Ferentz, who worked under Hayden Fry during some of the best years of Iowa football, is returning as Fry's successor, the university said Wednesday.
Ferentz, an assistant from 1981 to 1989, was with the Hawkeyes for eight consecutive bowl appearances, two Big Ten titles and a five-week stay at No. 1 in 1985. He will be introduced as Iowa's 26th coach at a news conference Thursday night in Iowa City.
"Having spent a lot of time out there, I really have a love for that area and those people, no question about it," Ferentz said Wednesday at the Ravens' practice facility in Owings Mills, Maryland, before the announcement was made.
Ferentz, 43, the Ravens' offensive line coach and the assistant head coach for offense, left Iowa to become head coach at Maine.
Fry retired November 23 after 20 years with the Hawkeyes.
"I am simply elated that one of my former coaches and a member of the Hawkeye family will be coming on board," Fry said. "Kirk is very intelligent, very knowledgeable, an outstanding teacher and an individual who will be an outstanding representative of Iowa football and the University of Iowa."
Ferentz moved to the top of the short list of candidates after Bob Stoops, who played for Fry on the Hawkeyes' 1981 Rose Bowl team, accepted the head coaching job at Oklahoma hours after interviewing with Iowa on Monday.
Earlier Wednesday, Kansas coach Terry Allen, an Iowa City native, withdrew his name from consideration.
"I'm not a job-seeking guy, but Iowa is my native state. My family and friends are there, so it was important that I look into the job," Allen said.
Ferentz will be thrown immediately into the thick of recruiting. Tuesday was the first day coaches could directly contact prospects, and the first big weekend of the recruiting season begins Friday.
Ferentz played linebacker at Connecticut from 1973 to 1976 and was an assistant for the Huskies in 1977. He also was an assistant in 1980 at Pittsburgh before joining Fry's staff.
During his three years at Maine, Ferentz was 12-21, including 6-5 his final season in 1992.
He joined the Cleveland Browns in 1993 and moved with the team to Baltimore in 1996.
"Kirk is an exceptional football coach and a terrific person," Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby said. "He is a real players' coach, and he has had success at every level of his career."
He will be taking over a program that had trouble moving the ball in 1998 and finished with a 3-8 record, the worst in Fry's tenure at Iowa.
Four of Iowa's highest-scoring teams were helped by offensive lines coached by Ferentz, including the 1983 squad that averaged 470 yards a game.
"Many of the greatest achievements in the Hayden Fry years at Iowa were while Kirk was developing and leading our offensive line," Bowlsby said, adding that Ferentz is "widely regarded as one of the best offensive scheme people in the National Football League."
The Ravens (5-7) are currently 10th out of 15 AFC teams with 3,537 yards total offense this season.
A Ravens spokeswoman said the team would have no comment on Ferentz' departure.
The Iowa search committee's meeting Tuesday with Ferentz came after Stoops, considered to be the leading candidate, accepted the coaching job at Oklahoma.
Iowa also interviewed current Iowa assistant coaches Chuck Long and Don Patterson.
Stoops met Monday with Bowlsby and a seven-member search committee. He later accepted an offer of close to $700,000 a year for five years at Oklahoma.
"Obviously, there are a lot of people who are upset," said Larry Bergdale, president of the National I-Club, Iowa's main boosters' group. "Bob Stoops was clearly the fan favorite. A lot of people are disappointed about what has happened. There is a lot of anger out there."
Bergdale said Wednesday that he thought Hawkeye fans would be able to support Ferentz.
"He was the offensive line coach in the glory years of the '80s and last year the offensive line was one of our biggest concerns," Bergdale said. "Hopefully, Kirk Ferentz will be the man that can get that corrected."
Bowlsby said Tuesday the screening committee did not make Stoops an official offer because at least one candidate, including Ferentz, had been promised an interview.
Fry had said he hoped his successor would have Iowa ties.
"This is certainly not anything I've been looking for," Ferentz said. "Anyone associated with that program or coach Fry, I think we all were hoping he'd coach till he's 100, because that's what Iowa football is all about. But he chose his time to step down, and right now they've got to keep moving on, so we'll see how it comes out."
Ferentz described his relationship with Fry as "like family."
"You can't be around anyone nine years and not pick up a whole lot," Ferentz said. "Coach Fry has a special place in my heart."
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