There is something to be said about the value of staying in one place
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Kirk Ferentz and three of his assistant coaches met with the media on Thursday to discuss whatever came up.
It was laid-back and casual, the kind of press conference a team has after closing the regular season with three consecutive victories and with a game against Florida in the Outback Bowl still more than two weeks away.
Ferentz was the last of the four coaches to address the media in a press conference that lasted nearly 90 minutes.
Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle was the first to speak, followed by defensive line coach Reese Morgan, offensive line coach Brian Ferentz and then Kirk Ferentz.
The Outback Bowl was certainly part of the discussion, but the questions went beyond that.
This was Kirk Ferentz’s first time speaking publicly since the Iowa offensive line won the Joe Moore Award, and it was easy to tell just from listening to Ferentz what the award means to him. It wasn’t necessarily what Ferentz said that delivered a powerful message, but how he said it.
What started as a player-coach relationship when Ferentz was in high school in the early 1970s turned into a life-long bond that was built on trust, admiration and a passion for coaching football and working with kids.
Ferentz told reporters on Thursday that Moore played a huge role in helping to rebuild the Iowa program as sort of an unofficial adviser. Ferentz said there wasn’t much done from a decision standpoint from 1999 to 2003 without first consulting with Moore, who was Ferentz's high school coach.
“He was really a special person in my life,” Ferentz said Thursday, his voice cracking with emotion.
Moore also played a major role in helping Doyle achieve success in coaching. Moore took Doyle under his wing, much like he had Ferentz two decades earlier, and molded him into a coach who valued hard work and loyalty.
All four of the coaches who met with the media on Thursday value hard work, loyalty and life in Iowa City.
Kirk Ferentz is nearing the end of his 18th season as the Iowa head coach and his 27th season overall in the Iowa program.
Doyle is also nearing the end of his 18th season at Iowa and was a member of Ferentz’s first coaching staff.
Morgan has been on Ferentz’s staff for 17 seasons, while Brian Ferentz has spent most of his life in Iowa City. Brian was born in Iowa City in 1983. He graduated from City High and from the University of Iowa where he played football for his father.
The four coaches who addressed the media on Thursday have worked at Iowa for a combined 58 years.
All of them could have left at some point for different jobs, and they still could, although, it seems likely that the 66-year old Morgan will retire as a Hawkeye.
Kirk Ferentz already has made it apparent that he plans to retire as a Hawkeye after recently signing a 10-year contract at the age of 61.
It’s reasonable to think that Doyle will stay at Iowa for as long as Kirk Ferentz is the head coach.
And the same for Brian Ferentz, who some think might replace his father as the Iowa head coach after Kirk retires.
You’d be hard pressed to find a college football program at any level that has more continuity than Iowa.
The benefits from having continuity stretch beyond the football field into one personal’s life.
Ferentz and Doyle can take satisfaction in knowing that all of their children will have graduated from the same two high schools. All five of Ferentz’s children graduated from City High, while two of Doyle’s sons have graduated from West High, and his youngest son is currently a junior at West.
Many of us might take stuff like for granted, but staying in one place means a great deal to a college football coach because they rarely have an opportunity to plant roots.
“That’s unbelievable,” Doyle said of being in one place for nearly two decades. “We are so blessed and grateful as a family.
“Iowa City is a unique place. When you look at the academic opportunities, the high schools are outstanding here, absolutely outstanding. The health care, outstanding. The athletic opportunities, outstanding.”
Doyle still misses life on the east coast. He grew up near Boston and still has numerous family and friends who live in the area.
But much of his adult life has been spent in Iowa City. And when a person stays in one place for an extended period, that place becomes a part of them.
“I miss home,” Doyle said. “And for us, it’s the east coach because that’s where family is and we visit there.
“But I’m so grateful that we’ve raised our children in Iowa City. And to have the continuity of our three kids to go from kindergarten to high school is really unique in this current climate and landscape of college football. So we just consider ourselves extremely grateful for every opportunity our kids have had. We’re lucky.”
Luck might be part of it, but neither Ferentz nor Doyle would’ve lasted for this long without producing results.
Doyle moved to Iowa City in 1999 thinking it would only be a temporary stop on his climb up the coaching ladder. He told a story on Thursday about getting his first driver’s license after moving to Iowa City and why he picked a five-year renewal date on his license instead of 10 years.
“This was the seventh school I had worked at in ten years because you get a job and get a job and you’re kind of climbing and you go to the next best job,” Doyle said.
Doyle remembers laughing when asked if he wanted a five or 10-year renewal date.
“I was like, `I’m not going to be here in five years,’” Doyle said. “If history repeats itself, I won’t be here in five years.”
Doyle picked the five-year renewal. But when that license expired, he went with the 10-year plan, because by that time, the Iowa program was thriving again.
“I had no idea that we were going to be successful here,” Doyle said. “Were we scared? Yeah. I didn’t know if we were going to pay off my house.
“You’re just trying to win a game. You’re just trying to break the rock. You’re just trying to get better.”
Iowa did get better and now the 48-year Doyle is one of the most respected and highest paid strength and conditioning coaches in college football.
Ferentz said Thursday that Doyle might be the most important member of Iowa’s coaching staff, with himself included.
Doyle spends more time around the players than any of the coaches, especially during the offseason.
“So his opportunity to be with our players and be with them in critical times is far going to exceed mine or any of our position coaches,” Ferentz said. “So as a result of that, he's probably the most important coach, including me, in my mind.”
Doyle barely was 30 years old when he moved to Iowa City filled with ambition and uncertainty. Little did he know that his life was about to change dramatically with help from Ferentz and with help from his new home town.
“You extend yourself, and you're almost afraid to develop relationships because you know at some point they're probably going to get broken,” Ferentz said. “You're going to be moving. It's a little easier with kids when they're not in middle school and high school. But it's not good for adults and it's certainly not good for kids in high school. So that's something I'm really appreciative of. A chance to have them in this building, that's the cherry on top, certainly.
“But those things, they all factor into a really nice existence, and just an opportunity to maybe have a little fuller life than maybe if you were just coaching here and then coaching there.”