Never too early to prepare for Hawkeye football after Kirk Ferentz
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Since Lisa Bluder already has the ball rolling with her recent decision to retire after 24 seasons as the Iowa women’s basketball coach, Kirk Ferentz and Fran McCaffery probably aren’t too far behind.
By saying not far behind, that could be anywhere from one to three, four and maybe even five years from now because neither Kirk Ferentz nor Fran McCaffery are under any pressure from a job security standpoint at this moment.
But with them both in their 60s, retirement will come sooner than later for both head coaches.
So, Iowa Athletic Director Beth Goetz will have to prepare for it.
The level of interest for the head coaching position in both sports could be impacted by where Iowa stands with raising NIL money when both jobs ultimately become available.
Hiring Bluder’s successor was mostly a foregone conclusion since it was widely assumed that long-time assistant coach Jan Jensen would get promoted as she did.
But with football and men’s basketball, it might not be as predictable.
And while Goetz probably already has a short list of candidates in both cases, here are six future head coaching candidates for football in no particular order:
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Phil Parker: Whether he remains a viable candidate will depend on how long Kirk Ferentz keeps coaching.
Parker would certainly deserve serious consideration considering how well he has performed as the Iowa defensive coordinator since 2012, and as the Iowa defensive backs coach for 23 of the past 24 seasons under Kirk Ferentz.
However, Parker also turned 61 in March, so at some point, his age could become a detriment.
Parker has probably turned down head coach opportunities to stay at Iowa and that might give him some leverage if he were to seek the Iowa job when it becomes open, because with loyalty comes much respect.
Parker is a defensive genius who also has an uncanny ability to see talent and potential in recruits that most other coaches at this level don’t see.
He was also an All-Big Ten safety for Michigan State in the 1980s.
But when people now think of Phil Parker, his long-standing success with the Hawkeyes is what immediately comes to mind.
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LeVar Woods: Iowa hasn’t had a former player as head coach since Bob Commings in the 1970s.
Unfortunately, for Commings, it didn’t end well as he was fired in 1978 after five seasons as head coach for his alma mater.
Woods is an Iowa native, and is considered a rising star in the coaching profession. He also played for the Hawkeyes and in the NFL, which gives him more credibility.
But the biggest reason Woods deserves to be on this short list is because of how well he has performed his duties.
Woods was promoted to special teams coordinator in 2017, and it’s no coincidence that Iowa has performed at an incredibly high level on special teams since then.
Woods deserves credit for recruiting Tory Taylor from Australia and then helping to make him one of the greatest punters in Big Ten history.
His attention to detail is often mentioned by the players. They praise Woods for leaving no stone unturned during preparation.
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Seth Wallace: Kirk Ferentz seemed to be sending a message when he promoted the 45-year-old Wallace to Assistant Head Coach in February.
With Brian Ferentz no longer on his staff, perhaps Kirk Ferentz believes that Wallace should be next in line to replace him.
A former wide receiver for Coe College, Wallace was named the Iowa linebackers coach in 2016 and was named assistant defensive coordinator in 2017.
The fact that he keeps getting promoted would suggest that Wallace is doing his job at a high level.
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Mark Stoops: Finally, we shift outside of the program for a candidate, but one whose family name is synonymous with Hawkeye football.
Mark Stoops isn’t Bob Stoops.
But Mark Stoops has won at least seven games in seven of his 11 seasons as the Kentucky head coach. His Kentucky teams also have won 10 games twice while competing in the rugged Southeastern Conference.
Kentucky is a basketball school in a football conference, and yet, Mark Stoops has found a way to make it work for an extended period.
It is reasonable to assume that if he can have success at Kentucky, the same could happen at Iowa where the 56-year-old Mark Stoops and his two older brothers all played defensive back under Hayden Fry.
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Chris Klieman: A Waterloo native, and a former Northern Iowa defensive back, Klieman has been the head coach for Kansas State since 2019 and he has a 39-24 record with the Wildcats.
His overall head coaching record is an impressive 111-37, thanks mostly to the five seasons he spent at North Dakota State where he finished 69-6 and won four FCS national titles.
Klieman got his start as a head coach in 2005 at Loras, compiling a 3-7 record. He has only had one losing season since then.
Klieman’s success, coupled with his Iowa roots, could make him an attractive candidate when the time comes to replace Kirk Ferentz.
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Bret Bielema: This is probably a longshot, but you never say never, especially when the person in question has a tiger hawk tattoo on his calf.
Nobody loved being a Hawkeye more than Bret Bielema, who joined the Iowa program in 1988 as a walk-on under Hayden Fry.
Bielema would go on to become a team captain and a starter at nose guard for the Hawkeyes.
He then joined the Iowa staff as a graduate assistant in 1994 and has been climbing the ladder ever since.
His results as a head coach have been mixed as Bielema led Wisconsin to three Rose Bowl appearances in seven seasons as a head coach from 2006 to 2012. However, he was then fired by Arkansas after compiling a 29-34 record in five seasons as head coach.
The 54-year-old Bielema is preparing for his fourth season as the Illinois head coach. His first three Illinois teams finished 5-7, 8-5 and 5-7 overall.
Editor’s note: An article listing five head coaching candidates for men’s basketball will be published Tuesday on Hawk Fanatic.