Iowa has been under the guidance of Kirk Ferentz for 27 years now. He is probably one of the few coaches in the history of modern college football to have seen everything in the sport. However, at 70, fans and experts have constantly debated the reality of him hanging up his whistle. The head coach, once again, opened up on this much-talked about aspect.

“I really don’t think much about it,” Ferentz told On3. “Obviously, people bring it up. There’s no question, I have reminders I’m getting older. Constant reminders. People can make you aware of it sometimes.”

“My health has been good. I’m not a health nut, but I try to take care of myself a little bit. I enjoy what I do, and I enjoy my family too, my grandkids. A lot of motivation to stay healthy, but part of that’s luck and faith.”

Ferentz might be one of the oldest coaches on the block right now, but it hasn’t stopped him from ensuring that Iowa remains a relevant program in the country. He has already become the Hawkeyes’ winningest head coach, last recording a losing season in 2006. The level of dedication remains the same in Kirk Ferentz, as he enters his 28 year at Iowa. Those speculating his retirement won’t be getting any crumbs from him anytime soon.

It’s not like Kirk Ferentz has hit a plateau of some kind in these long years at Iowa City. In the last five years, he’s reached a 10-win total twice. The Hawkeyes were also Big 10 Championship contenders in both those years. Ferentz is clearly still doing his job. Sure, he has a massive age gap with the players on his team, but they’re still very much keen to play under his leadership. Iowa hauled in a 23-ranked class in the 2026 recruiting, with seven 4-star players in it. He’s all set for however long he wants to be with the Hawkeyes.

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“They’re performing at a great level,” Athletic Director Beth Goetz said on the Hawk Central Hour podcast. “As long as he’s [Kirk Ferentz] engaged and feels great about it, we want him to continue to do that.”

Well, Ferentz is already signed on till 2029. That alone made it evident that the head coach will not vacate his seat anytime soon. And in this time, fans can still hope for the veteran coach not to disappoint them. However, though he isn’t concerned about the longevity of his career at the moment, he does have some concerns for the current state of college football.

Kirk Ferentz ‘frustrated’ about CFB landscape

The Hawkeyes’ head coach needs no handbook about college football coaching. However, the landscape that he is in currently is not the one that he grew to master. Ever since NIL gained a stronghold in college football. It has left the sport with little clarity. Kirk Ferentz is unimpressed at how uncertain things have become in the arena he spent more than 20 years in.

“As we’ve evolved into the revenue-sharing, which I thought was a worthy and needed step, we’re sitting in a quagmire. Just garbage. It’s so cloudy, it frustrates me not knowing what’s real. … I hear about what people’s payrolls are, but nobody can document that or prove it. It’s pretty evident that some teams are bigger than the others, and that’s just frustrating to me.”

Iowa is no Ohio State or Michigan when it comes to NIL money. The Hawkeyes always have to compete hard when it comes to requirement. In June 2025, the school launched the Flight Funds. This is a charitable organization where donors give money to good players in the form of NIL. But the pool doesn’t seem to attract top players in the market. Iowa has now built a pattern of getting players from the lower ranks of football in the portal. Rarely do elite players consider Iowa, of all places, a likely home.

Revenue sharing settles things within the program. But outside, the scenario is still a complete mess. Players are still jumping programs when a better offer comes up. And, the presence of different NIL laws in different states further complicates things for colleges. Plus, its lawsuits galore at the court, as players take the NCAA to court to get more NIL by way of more eligibility.

Kirk Ferentz has always been a supporter of revenue-sharing. But the practice has done little to contain the storm that NIL has been creating over the past few years. Regardless of how long he continues to be the head coach of the Hawkeyes, one can only wonder when things can begin calming down.