The Iowa Hawkeyes don’t always dominate the national headlines like Ohio State, Oregon, or even Indiana these days. But if you’ve been paying attention, you know this program has been one of the Big Ten’s most quietly consistent forces. And that consistency starts at the top-with Kirk Ferentz, the dean of Big Ten coaches, and a man who’s racked up 206 career wins while building Iowa into a perennial contender.
Despite the swirling rumors about his future, Ferentz made it clear after Iowa’s bowl win: he’s not going anywhere just yet.
“I do want to go back and set the record straight,” Ferentz told reporters. “I was asked at that press conference, ‘Yeah, I plan on being back.’
Then all of a sudden it looked like I made a proclamation-I’ll be back. I never made a proclamation, for the record.
I did answer the question. Yeah, I’ll be back for next season.
I think my sights were a little further down the road than next season, but powers that be will decide that.”
That’s classic Ferentz-measured, grounded, and focused on the long game. And that’s exactly what Iowa has been under his leadership: a program that doesn’t chase headlines, but wins football games.
Looking ahead, there’s a growing sense that Iowa could be a serious problem for the rest of the Big Ten next season. As analyst Andy Staples put it, the Hawkeyes might just be a sleeping giant.
“If Iowa gets a little bit better, they’re right there… they were right there with Indiana, they were right there with Oregon, they were right there with USC,” Staples said.
And he’s not wrong. Iowa’s defense and special teams have been elite for years.
That’s not changing. Their identity is built on physicality, discipline, and execution-traits that don’t fluctuate year to year.
But if they can unlock just a bit more on offense, especially at quarterback, they could make serious noise.
“They lose the center-he’s the Rimington Award winner,” Staples noted. “It’s not as cut-and-dried.
But Iowa, look, a lot of this now is faith in the program itself, especially programs that kind of do the same things year over year. We expect their defense to be elite, we expect their special teams to be elite.
What they need is dynamic quarterback play and whether they’re going to get that or not is another question.”
That’s the big “if.” The Hawkeyes don’t need a Heisman-level quarterback to contend, but they do need someone who can stretch the field and keep defenses honest.
Last year, they were limited at the position, and it showed in the offensive output. Staples pointed out the gap with a comparison to South Dakota State’s Mark Gronowski-solid, but not quite the spark Iowa needs.
“You have to be a little bit more dynamic than Mark Gronowski,” Staples said. “But if you are, and they are similar to what they were this year, they will be in the mix for this thing.”
And for those already thinking ahead, the betting odds reflect just how under-the-radar Iowa is right now. At +15000, they’re a long shot-but not an impossible one. As Staples put it, “You throw $20 on them right now and they win the national title, you get $3,000.”
That’s not just a lottery ticket-it’s a reflection of where Iowa stands in the national conversation. Not flashy.
Not loud. But always lurking.
With seven months until kickoff, there’s a lot that still needs to fall into place. But if Ferentz can get even average quarterback play to complement that signature defense and special teams unit, Iowa won’t be sneaking up on anyone for long. This is a program built for the long haul, and next season could be one of its most intriguing yet.