Iowa notebook: Ferentz’s new contract, Jewell’s reaction to being disqualified and more
By Ryan Murken
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Stability has become a trademark of the Iowa football program in 18 years under Kirk Ferentz.
Already one of the longest-tenured coaches in the country the future for Ferentz at Iowa has become even more stable.
Iowa announced on Tuesday it had given Ferentz a six-year contract extension through the 2025 season.
The 61-year old Ferentz will be paid $4.5 million annually under the new contract that expires in January of 2026.
“The date goes through 2026, I don’t consider that to be a cap; that question was asked,” Ferentz said Tuesday, shortly after the new contract was announced. “I’m not big on caps in any sort. We’ll just continue to take it week-by-week and year-by-year.”
Ferentz signed a contract extension in 2010 following an 11-2 season that ended with an Orange Bowl victory.
That contract pushed Ferentz’s salary to $4 million a year and extended through the 2019 season.
Tuesday’s extension comes following a 12-2 season a year ago and a 45-21 season-opening win over Miami, Ohio on Saturday.
“He builds his own culture of a family atmosphere, he’s here for the players and that puts trust in one another,” Iowa senior cornerback Desmond King said of Ferentz. “That’s why the coaching staff has been here for so long is because of their stability to maintain a good program.”
Ferentz has a 128-87 record during his time at Iowa and has had five seasons with double digit victories.
Iowa has won seven or more games 12 times under Ferentz.
“It’s nice to know that you have a coach that is locked in and you know what you are getting for your time,” Iowa freshman Anthony Nelson said. “Obviously that can always change, coaching is a profession where change happens all the time so just to know that the University of Iowa has that faith is great and it’s a testament really to how coach Ferentz runs and operates things and how his teams perform.”
Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta said Tuesday that Ferentz’s new buyout is similar to the buyout in Ferentz’s previous 10-year contract. Ferentz would receive 75 percent of his annual yearly compensation under the current buyout agreement.
"The idea to give somebody a long-term contract is to say, we’re in, we’re in all the way," Barta said.
Guilty as charged: Iowa junior linebacker Josey Jewell didn’t think he deserved a penalty for targeting early in last Saturday’s game against Miami of Ohio until he saw the play for himself.
“As I hit him, I didn’t think there would be a flag,” Jewell said to reporters on Tuesday. “But as I saw it on the board, there definitely should have been a flag. So it was good call. I just need to stay under control.”
Jewell was disqualified from the game as part of the punishment for targeting. The Decorah native barely had played three minutes when he was penalized after making a vicious block on a long punt return by teammate Desmond King.
“I tried to create a little pressure and then turned around and saw Desmond coming and I thought I could get a nice hit on somebody,” Jewell said. “But unfortunately, I might have led with the head a little bit. I was not under control. Next time, I have to learn from my mistake.”
Jewell, who made second-team all-Big Ten last season, was in misery having to watch the Iowa defense play without him. The Hawkeyes defeated Miami of Ohio 45-21, but the Iowa defense allowed 424 yards.
“It sucked,” Jewell said. “It wasn’t very fun. I just wanted to help my team. And unfortunately, I couldn’t do that.”
Ferentz said Tuesday that he and Jewell just want to move on and learn from the play. Ferentz also said when asked that he didn’t send a tape of the hit to the Big Ten Conference.
The targeting penalty calls for a player to sit out at least one full half. Since Jewell’s disqualification came in the first half he will be eligible to play on Saturday against Iowa State.
“We moved on,” Ferentz said. “First of all, it was great hustle play on his part. He was rushing the punter and working his tail off to get back there. I don’t want to speak for everybody else, but looking at it, there was no malicious intent on that.”
The targeting call is being emphasized in college football as part of the heightened awareness for dealing with concussions.
Minnesota had three players disqualified for targeting during its season-opening victory over Oregon State last week.
“And a lot of these calls are going to be bang-bang calls, but this is 2016,” Ferentz said. “It’s a point of emphasis. We’ve got to try to do a better job of educating our guys, what they have to be alert for. But it’s hard, too.
“You don’t want to defang a guy, too, that’s a pretty aggressive player. You want to be very careful about that. It’s just one of those things that happened, unfortunately. Everybody was healthy and we’re all able to move on.”
Sophomore Jack Hockaday replaced Jewell at middle linebacker in last Saturday’s game and finished with six tackles.
“I think he did a pretty good job for being a young guy,” Jewell said. “There are always things to improve on, especially in the first game.”
Injury update: Sophomore Parker Hesse is listed atop the depth chart at defensive end, whether or not the sophomore starts or plays on Saturday is still up in the air.
“Parker is probably going to be day-by-day,” Ferentz said. “It’s not maybe as bad; you know, you’re always curious coming out of it. So it’s going to be day-by-day.”
The news sounded better for sophomore receiver Jay Scheel who didn’t play in the opener against Miami of Ohio.
“Jay I think has a chance, he’s moving closer,” Ferentz said. “Hopefully he had a good day today. Hopefully he’ll be able to make it by game day. Encouraged on that front.”
Staying put: Following a 2.5-sack performance by Anthony Nelson in his college debut on Saturday, teammate Desmond King suggested that Nelson could play linebacker or even defensive back.
Nelson, who earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors for his performance against Miami of Ohio that also included two forced fumbles and a pass breakup wasn’t buying it.
And he wasn’t planning on moving from the defensive line.
“I think he might be exaggerating a little bit,” Nelson said of King. “I play defensive end, I’m not any defensive back or linebacker those guys are special in what they do. I’m impressed by them every day in practice.
The 6-foot-7, 253-pound Nelson finished with six tackles to go with his 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles, both of which resulted in Iowa touchdowns.
The Waukee native is the son of former Iowa defensive lineman Jeff Nelson and was committed to Iowa State in high school before shifting his allegiance to Iowa.