Iowa

Kirk Ferentz still committed to Iowa after watching friends Bill Belichick, Nick Saban move on

Published

1 year ago

July 24, 2024

Kirk Ferentz still committed to Iowa after watching friends Bill Belichick, Nick Saban move on

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz watched two of his best coaching friends, Bill Belichick and Nick Saban, leave football after last season.

So, naturally, college football’s longest-tenured coach smiles and nods as he reflects on his own potential exit.

“All of us have to do that,” the 68-year-old Ferentz said Wednesday at Big Ten Media Days. “Fifteen years ago, the pause was going to come because I was going to get fired. I’m not saying that’s not a possibility as we move forward, but it’s probably a little less a percentage and more realistic toward retirement. At some point, you retire. It’s up to everybody. Both Bill and coach Saban are older than I am.”

The connection runs deep for Ferentz.

In what seems like a lifetime ago, he and Saban were assistants on Belichick’s staff with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns coach from 1993-95.

Ferentz enters his 26th season as the Hawkeyes’ coach with a 208-140 record and as the school’s career leader in victories. His only Big Ten titles came in 2002 and 2004, and his contract, which pays $7 million per year, runs through 2029.

The Hawkeyes should be strong again this year, returning a veteran group from a squad that went 10-4 in 2023. Ferentz has hired a new offensive coordinator, Tim Lester, to replace his son Brian in hopes of producing more points. Iowa also believes former Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara could be part of the solution after suffering a season-ending knee injury in the Hawkeyes’ third game last year.

Meantime, Ferentz has been checking in on his friends.

“He and I have exchanged some notes, but we haven’t had a personal conversation,” Ferentz said when asked about Belichick. “I’m a little lower level than those guys, easily. They’ve got a little seniority on me, but it’s all relative, too. They’re both in good health. I feel good. As long as you feel good and like what you’re doing, you keep doing it.”

Ferentz has been around long enough to see the Big Ten nearly double in size, with 18 members, athletes getting paid and the transfer portal. It’s not a world he recognizes.

“I’ll go back to 1990, when I was a head coach at Maine,” Ferentz said. “It was a couple of weeks into the job. I came home one day and I told my wife, ‘If I ever come home and say I’m surprised by anything, just hit me with a baseball bat right in the head.’ One thing I learned real quickly is you never know what’s going to happen.”

Rosy playoff

CFP Executive Director Rich Clark, a retired Air Force lieutenant general, confirmed Wednesday that Rose Bowl officials have requested the game continue to be played around New Year’s Day even though it could be out of the national championship game hosting rotation.

Game officials endorsed the new 12-team playoff format earlier this year.

Clark said the playoff committee would consider granting the request, though no other bowl game in the rotation has made a similar request.

Known as “The Granddaddy of Them All,” the Rose Bowl has been played the first week of January every year since 1916. The first Rose Bowl was played in 1902.

Familiar foes

When first-year Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith left his alma mater, Oregon State, after last season, he landed in a league that doesn’t feel so new with four of his former Pac-12 foes — Oregon, UCLA, Southern California and Washington — joining the Big Ten.

What does feel different, though, is wearing green — the predominant color of Oregon State’s biggest rival.

“I have not worn much green leading into this,” Smith said Wednesday. “But I do have green eyes.”

He’ll be seeing plenty of green again on Oct. 4, when the Spartans play at Oregon. By then, he also could be seeing red thanks to a demanding midseason stretch during which the Spartans host Ohio State and Michigan while visiting Oregon and Iowa.

Smith was a four-year starter at Oregon State and turned the program around when he returned as coach. He went 25-13 in three seasons and was named the league’s coach of the year in 2022.

Endorsing Leach

Southern California coach Lincoln Riley added his name to the list of advocates for the late Mike Leach to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame despite Leach’s 59.6% career win percentage falling short of the 60% minimum.

Riley played quarterback for Leach at Texas Tech in 2002 and then became a Red Raiders assistant through 2009. Leach died in 2002 at age 61 from heart complications.

“Obviously, Mike Leach meant a lot to my career, was instrumental in my upbringing,” Riley said. “I know there’s been a lot of debate and talk about him belonging in the College Football Hall of Fame, and certainly (I) want to voice my support for that happening here on this stage. That’s something that’s very important to me. He changed the game and changed a lot of people’s lives, mine included, in the process of it. I know there’s technicalities and rules that have to happen, but I totally agree that the Hall of Fame is simply not complete without Mike Leach being in it.”

Awkward moment

First-year UCLA coach DeShaun Foster turned heads with the briefest opening statement of the first two media days before saying he’d take questions. The ensuing pause led to an awkward moment on the stadium field, where reporters are working.

The soft-spoken Foster explained later he’s an “ask me” kind of guy who doesn’t tend to give long opening statements.

___

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Iowa

Seven Iowa High School Wrestlers Off To Dominant Starts This Season – FloWrestling

Published

6 days ago

December 29, 2025

Press Room

Seven Iowa High School Wrestlers Off To Dominant Starts This Season – FloWrestling

The first month of the Iowa high school wrestling season has been filled with scintillating individual performances. Here’s a look at seven standouts who have been racking up bonus points in December.

Drew Anderson (Riverside)

The Class 1A state runner-up last year at 132 is up to 144 this season and he’s 14-0 with 11 technical falls, a pair of pins and a forfeit win. Anderson, a junior in his second season at the school, already owns the Riverside school record for technical falls with 28. Anderson is on pace to more than double the previous Riverside tech record of 23.

Urijah Courter (West Marshall)

Courter won the 2A title last season at 113 after placing third as a freshman at 106. He’s up to 120 this season. Courter is 14-0 this season with 10 pins and two technical falls. His ledger also includes a 6-5 win against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s Simon Bettis in a rematch of last season’s state title bout.

Cooper Hinz (Jesup)

Entering the holiday break, Michigan commit and two-time state medalist Cooper Hinz is 22-0 with 21 wins via pin, technical fall or forfeit. His other victory was a 4-1 overtime decision against returning state placewinner Cain Rodgers of North Fayette Valley. More impressively, all of Hinz’s pins and technical falls have all come in the first period.

Lincoln Jipp (Bettendorf)

Jipp placed fifth at 138, third at 165 and second at 175 in Class 3A during his first three seasons. Now he’s up to 215 — 77 pounds more than where he started his career as a freshman. The North Carolina recruit pinned his way through the prestigious Dan Gable Donnybrook. He’s 16-0 with 10 pins, four technical falls and a forfeit.

Mason Koehler (Glenwood)

The returning 2A champ at 215 is 20-0 with 18 pins and a major decision. His only two matches that went the distance came at the Council Bluffs Classic, where he defeated Nebraska standout Ryan Boehle of Grand Island 14-4 and Minnesota hammer Joe Kruse of Totino-Grace 9-2. The rest of Koehler’s matches this season ended in first-period pins. He has already registered a six-second pin and another in nine seconds this season.

Jaxon Miller (Carlisle)

Miller is a three-time state medalist, a two-time finalist and returning state champ in Class 3A. He placed fourth as a freshman at 145 before making trips to the finals at 157 and 165. He’s 16-0 this season with 13 first-period pins, two technical falls and a forfeit.

Keaton Moeller (Starmont)

Moeller placed third in 1A as a freshman at 145 before winning a state title at 150 as a sophomore. He missed all of last season after suffering a torn ACL in football. Now he’s back as a senior at 190 and Moeller hasn’t missed a beat. He’s 13-0 with five pins, six technical falls and a pair of forfeits. He has yet to wrestle a full period this season.

Iowa High School Premium Rankings

Check out the Iowa High School Wrestling Premium Rankings, which are generated by using an athlete’s complete match history to predict a wrestler’s performance against others in their weight class by considering factors such as win-loss records, the quality of their victories (pins, technical falls, major decisions), the strength of their opponents and overall historical performance patterns. The data is updated every Monday, sourced from the Trackwrestling season results. Since each team is responsible for maintaining their season results, any data discrepancies for a wrestler should be addressed by contacting their coach to manage the information within the season. This includes the weight class assigned. Wrestlers are eligible to be ranked after competing in five matches at a single weight.

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Iowa

Iowa women’s basketball vs. Penn State today: Live updates, score

Published

7 days ago

December 28, 2025

Press Room

Iowa women’s basketball vs. Penn State today: Live updates, score

is

As No. 14-ranked Iowa women’s basketball (10-2, 1-0 Big Ten) returns from the Christmas break, the Hawkeyes will begin the bulk of their Big Ten slate today as they welcome Penn State (7-5, 0-1 Big Ten) to Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Iowa looks to rebound from its 90-64 loss against No. 1 UConn on Dec. 20, where its sloppy play (26 turnovers leading to 41 UConn points) ultimately proved to be its undoing against the Huskies.

Entering today’s game, sophomore center Ava Heiden leads the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game on 64.4% shooting from the floor, with senior forward Hannah Stuelke (13.4) and sophomore guard Chit-Chat Wright (11.7) also averaging double-figure scoring.

Defensively, Wright leads the team in steals per game with 1.6, while Heiden tops the squad in blocks with 1.2 denials per contest.

As tipoff nears between the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions, follow along for live updates, the latest score, and highlights of the action:

Hawkeyes are on fire offensively through the first quarter of play (shooting 10-for-16 from the floor), while also dominating the defensive glass (leading 7-2 in defensive rebounds) and keeping Penn State off-synch.

Chit-Chat Wright leads everyone with 12 points on 4-for-4 from the floor, 2-for-2 from 3-point territory, and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.

Timeout Penn State.

Hawkeyes are on a roll offensively since the Nittany Lions’ appeal, with a 14-0 scoring run that forces a Penn State timeout.

Penn State’s appeal was successful on the foul call, but the shot clock violation on the Nittany Lions still stands.

Nittany Lions retain their timeout.

Timeout Penn State.

The Nittany Lions are appealing the foul call on Gracie Merkle and the ensuing shot clock violation.

Both teams are shooting well to start the game.

On its game day availability report, sophomore Emely Rodriguez remains out. Graduate starting guard Kylie Feuerbach is also “questionable.”

Watch Iowa vs. Penn State

TV: Big Ten Network

Tip-off Time: 3 p.m. CT

Iowa women’s basketball schedule

All times CT

Nov. 3 vs. Southern: Iowa 86, Southern 51
Nov. 9 vs. Evansville: Iowa 119, Evansville 43
Nov. 13 vs. Drake: Iowa 100, Drake 58
Nov. 16 at Northern Iowa: Iowa 74, UNI 41
Nov. 20 vs. Baylor (WBCA Showcase in Orlando): Iowa 57, Baylor 52
Nov. 22 vs. Miami (WBCA Showcase in Orlando): Iowa 64, Miami 61
Nov. 26 vs. Western Illinois: Iowa 86, Western Illinois 69
Nov. 30 vs. Fairfield: Iowa 86, Fairfield 72
Dec. 6 at Rutgers: Iowa 79, Rutgers 36
Dec. 10 at Iowa State: Iowa State 74, Iowa 69
Dec. 13 vs. Lindenwood: Iowa 102, Lindenwood 68
Dec. 20 vs. UConn (Champions Classic): UConn 90, Iowa 64
Dec. 28 vs. Penn State: Big Ten Network, 3 p.m.
Jan. 1 vs. Nebraska: Big Ten Network, 1 p.m.
Jan. 5 at Northwestern: Big Ten Network, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 11 at Indiana: Big Ten Network, 4 p.m.
Jan. 15 vs. Oregon: FS1, 8 p.m.
Jan. 18 vs. Michigan State: Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
Jan. 22 at Maryland: NBC, 5 p.m.
Jan. 25 vs. Ohio State: Peacock, 1 p.m.
Jan. 29 at USC: Peacock, 8 p.m.
Feb. 1 at UCLA: Fox, 3 p.m.
Feb. 5 vs. Minnesota: Big Ten Network, 6 p.m.
Feb. 11 vs. Washington: BTN+, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 16 at Nebraska: Fox, 11 a.m.
Feb. 19 at Purdue: BTN+, 6 p.m.
Feb. 22 vs. Michigan: Fox or FS1, 11 a.m. or 1 p.m.
Feb. 26 vs. Illinois: Big Ten Network, 8 p.m.
March 1 at Wisconsin: BTN+, 2 p.m.
March 4-8 Big Ten Tournament

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions. Follow Scout on X: @SpringgateNews

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