Kirk Ferentz Signs New Contract, Will Stay at Iowa through 2015

Kirk Ferentz has signed a contract extension that will keep him at Iowa through the 2015 season.

Though Ferentz’s salary of $3.02 million annually will not change, he will be granted personal use of a private jet for up to 35 hours a year, the value of which is estimated at $85,000.

photo courtesy of Anthony Djuren (anthonydjphoto@mac.com)

The 2009 season will be Ferentz’s 11th at Iowa, good for second longest tenure all time among the University of Iowa’s head football coaches. Hayden Fry coached for 20 seasons, while Forest Evashevski coached 9.

I love that we can keep Kirk for at least 17 seasons should he honor his newest contract. It’s hard to imagine that after Joe Paterno steps down at Penn State, Iowa will have the Dean of Big Ten Coaches. After Purdue’s Joe Tiller retired following last season, Ferentz became the conference’s second most tenured head coach. Not bad for a guy that went 2-18 in his first 20 games at Iowa while fans screamed for Bob Stoops.

Personally, I think we might have Ferentz even beyond 2015. I think he’s a guy who understands that NFL stands for “not for long.” He already spent 9 years in the 80’s at Iowa as a position coach under Hayden Fry and had this to say to ESPN earlier this month: “My day to day existence – I don’t think it’s been better any place I’ve been than it’s been here at Iowa.”

Since Ferentz’s arrival at Iowa in 1999, his teams have compiled an overall record of 70-53 (43-37) and are 4-3 in bowl games. Iowa has won two Conference Championships under Coach Ferentz.

Audio of Kirk Ferentz’s Spring Wrap Up (Final Project)

For Kirk Ferentz’s Spring recap, click the photo below:

Ferentz meets with the media at the conclusion of Spring Camp

I’ve got audio from players that I’ll be incorporating into the next several posts for my final project in my sports writing class.

58 days until kickoff!

Jewel Hampton: “I’m OK”

In a new twist of events regarding Jewel Hampton, the injured Hawkeye running back has hinted that his acl injury may not be as serious as previously thought.

Reporters from the Des Moines Register went to Hampton’s Iowa City apartment to get the story straight from him and observed him running up stairs and wearing no brace or anything else that would indicate injury.

Hampton commented that he was “OK,” but indicated that he didn’t know whether or not he’d play this fall.

The interesting part of this latest development in my opinion is how the Register’s reporters got their story. Speaking from personal experience, I know that the University of Iowa tries very hard to protect its student athletes. All interview requests must be submitted through the sports information department. Andrew Logue and Erin Jordan’s dropping by his apartment most likely won’t fly with UI.

Hawkeyereport.com‘s Tom Kakert, commenting on Logue and Jordan’s tactics said “everyone on the Iowa beat is going to pay a price for this one with Kirk (Ferentz)” on Hawkeyereport’s premium message board.

This could get interesting…

photo courtesy of the Iowa City Press Citizen

Jewel Hampton Injures ACL

Blair Sanderson of Hawkeyereport.com is reporting that runningback Jewel Hampton has injured his ACL in summer workouts.

Hampton was expected to be the starter at tailback in 2009 after backing up Shonn Greene in 2008 as a true freshman.

The Indiana native rushed for 461 yards on 91 carries last season, averaging 5 yards per carry.

Jewel Hampton

Iowa has a handful of runningbacks who will now challenge for the starting spot, most notably redshirt freshman Jeff Brinson and incoming freshman Brandon Wegher.

ACL injuries typically take anywhere from 8 to 12 months to heal, meaning that Hampton will most likely miss the 2009 season.

Class of 2010 Looking Great for Hawkeye Football

At this point last year, the Hawkeyes had just one verbal commitment for the class of 2009 in Ohio running back Brad Rogers. While signing day isn’t until February, Iowa fans had reason to be concerned as conference giants Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State were already in the double digits with commits.

The Hawkeyes find themselves in a much better position this year with recruiting, though.  Kirk Ferentz and his staff received their eighth verbal commitment this week when Harlan’s Matt Hoch let them know that he’d be playing his college ball at the University of Iowa. Hoch, rated a 3 star prospect by Rivals.com will be playing defensive end at the next level.

Hoch joins other 3 star athletes Austin Gray, Mike Hardy, James Morris, and Louis Trinca-Pasat as future defensive players for UI. Additionally, The Hawkeyes have added Jim Poggi and Anthony Ferguson to their defensive commitments. 6 foot 7 Austin Vier has committed as an “athlete” and will challenge for a spot at either quarterback or tightend.

With seven players already committed on the defensive side of the ball, Ferentz and his staff will look for offensive players for the class of 2010, most notably Cedar Rapids’ running back Andre Dawson and all-everything Iowa City High quarterback A. J Derby, the son of former Hawkeye linebacker John Derby.

For comparison’s sake, little sister iowa state has four commitments at this time, none of which are ranked. Nebraska has five fairly highly ranked commits.

Video My Roommate Made for the Upcoming Season

68 days until kickoff, Hawk fans! Props to Yashar Vasef for making this beauty…

Arizona Game a 2:30 Kickoff

The September 19th home football game against the Arizona Wildcats will be a 2:30 kickoff and televised on ABC, as per an announcement from the Big Ten today.

At this point, Iowa’s regular season schedule looks like this:

9/5 Northern Iowa 11:00 AM kickoff, Big Ten Network

9/12 @ Iowa State 11:00 AM Kickoff, Fox Sports

9/19 Arizona 2:30 PM Kickoff, ABC

9/26 @ Penn State 7:00 PM Kickoff, ABC/ESPN

10/3 Arkansas State ?

10/10 Michigan 7:00 PM Kickoff, ABC/ESPN

10/17 @ Wisconsin 11:00 AM Kickoff, ?

10/24 @ Michigan State 6:00 PM Kickoff, Big Ten Network

10/31 Indiana ?

11/7 Northwestern ?

11/14 @ Ohio State ?

11/21 Minnesota ?

Kickoffs for the last four games and the Arkansas State game will be announced after the season begins.

I love the later kickoff time for the Arizona game. Nothing at all wrong with 3.5 more hours of tailgating!

Here’s a little video from the last time Arizona visited Kinnick Stadium in 1996, a game Iowa won 21-20.

72 more days until Football Season!

Freshman Tight End Anthony Schiavone Leaving Team

After enrolling early for the Spring semester, freshman tight end Anthony Schiavone has decided to leave the University of Iowa according to Hawkeyereport.com‘s Blair Sanderson.

Schiavone, a native of Connecticut,  graduated from high school a semester early to participate in Iowa’s spring practices.

I can’t imagine moving half way across the country to start college when my friends were still in high school, so I can empathize with the kid a bit.

Schiavone was not expected to compete for a starting spot this fall, so damage is minimal. The Hawkeyes still have 8 tight ends on campus, not including incoming freshman.

Senior-to-be Tony Moeaki and junior-to-be Allen Reisner are the expected starters at tight end heading into Fall camp.

Barring injury, senior-to-be Tony Moeaki will start at tight end this fall. (Jonathan D. Woods/The Cedar Rapids Gazette)

Hawkeye Right Tackle Kyle Calloway charged with OWI

It seems that any news regarding the game of college football or college football players during the off season is usually bad news, and the latest bit of news from the Iowa Football team  continues that trend.

Kyle Calloway, who has started 25 straight games for Iowa on the offensive line has been charged with OWI, for driving his mo-ped while intoxicated.

5th year senior Kyle Calloway will miss Iowa's opener against UNI

The fifth year senior will miss Iowa’s opener against the Northern Iowa Panthers.

This incident will undoubtedly add to the criticism some Hawkeye fans have increasingly engaged in regarding the Iowa City Police Department and its supposed targeting of football players.

As far as I’m concerned, I wonder how these guys keep finding themselves in these situations. You’d think there would be some jersey chaser willing to provide rides for drunk football players. Or even one of the guys on the 100+ man team?

Pictures from Iowa’s Spring Scrimmage

Literally hundreds more to follow. I want to thank Sam Jadali for letting us use his camera. It’s awesome and expensive and he didn’t have to go out of his way for us. Also, thanks to Yashar Vasef for taking such great pictures while I played journalist.  Just click on the pic below. Hope you guys enjoy!

Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz

– Bill Delehant