4 most underappreciated college football head coaches

Kirk Ferentz

Many college football fans won’t hesitate to call Kirk Ferentz one of the most overrated head coaches in college football. Heck, even some Iowa fans seemed to get tired of him but one thing he’s continued to do over the years is: win.

Ferentz has not won as much as some fans would like. But it’s Iowa. Let’s remember that. Iowa doesn’t have a natural recruiting base in its home state or anywhere near it and also, Iowa is never going to be like Michigan, Ohio State, or Penn State and always get talented players.

At best, Iowa is the fourth or fifth-best recruiting program in the Big Ten and that’s even under ideal situations because historically even Nebraska has been better and also Michigan State.

But few Big Ten teams have won as consistently as Iowa has under Ferentz. Kirk has won 61 percent of his games in 23 seasons and has just two losing seasons to his credit along with a pair of Big Ten championships.

Ferentz has also coached Iowa to two Big Ten West division titles and a Rose Bowl berth, as well as two trips to the Orange Bowl and one victory.

On top of all that, Iowa routinely churns out NFL talent and dominates its rivals. Ferentz owns Iowa State and Nebraska. In fact, Matt Campbell and Scott Frost, the current hotshot head coaches at each school, have yet to beat him.

That’s saying something.

It’s also probably why most reasonable Iowa fans were happy that Ferentz was paid and extended this offseason.

He’s done as good a job as anyone could have possibly imagined, and his seven seasons with double-digit wins remind us that’s he easily one of the most underappreciated head coaches in all of college football.