Kirk Ferentz should feel insulted by how his approach to Iowa State is perceived
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Contrary to the opinion of some, Kirk Ferentz cares about the Iowa State game.
He cherishes a win over the Cyclones and agonizes over the losses.
He might not show it on the outside because Ferentz often conceals his emotions. He is stoic and reserved, which is considered cool when you defeat the Cyclones, but not cool when you lose to them.
The long-standing debate about Ferentz and Iowa State doesn’t always surface during the week leading up to annual showdown anymore because he has addressed it so many times before.
But it did come up again on Tuesday and Ferentz basically said what he always says when addressing this topic.
He was asked where the narrative comes from that says one side (Iowa State) cares more than other.
“I kind of found it insulting in some ways,” Ferentz said. “You know, it's almost like you don't care. That's really insulting to say to anybody that competes in anything.
“I don't know, I guess I haven't jumped up and down. Have to do some jumping jacks or something, be a little bit more demonstrative out there. When you win, what you do is great. When you lose, not so great. I think it's just kind of part of that narrative.”
There is no mystery to the roots of this narrative. It mostly comes from Iowa fans who are frustrated and perplexed about the Iowa State rivalry being so competitive.
The series, which continues on Saturday in Ames, is tied at 10-10 over past the past two decades, so you can’t get any more competitive than that.
Combine the competitiveness with Ferentz’s every-game-matters approach and his lack of emotion and it is easy to convince yourself that he doesn’t care enough about the Iowa State game.
I’ve heard that criticism over and over, especially when former Iowa State coach Dan McCarney was defeating Ferentz and the Hawkeyes on a regular basis about 15 years ago.
McCarney is the anti-Kirk Ferentz when it comes to showing emotion. McCarney also grew up in Iowa City and played football and coached for the Hawkeyes.
So when Iowa State started to dominate the rivalry, some Hawkeye fans needed an explanation for why a program they considered inferior to Iowa could be so successful.
They explained it by saying McCarney cared more about the game than Ferentz. McCarney, according to some Iowa fans, was supposedly obsessed with defeating his alma mater to where it became his Super Bowl.
The Iowa State players supposedly fed off McCarney's energy and passion and that's why they often would lift their performance to another level against Iowa. At least, that was the perception.
McCarney left Iowa State over a decade ago, but the Super Bowl perception hasn’t changed, partly because the rivalry has stayed competitive.
“We do things the way we do,” Ferentz said. “Fans have a lot of opinions about a lot of things, which is great. I'm glad they are passionate and interested. We try to do things in a consistent way and from my vantage point, every game is really important. The one we played last week is. You only get 12 of them, so boy, you'd better be focused on all those.”
Fans are entitled to believe what they want, but to suggest that the 62-year old Ferentz doesn’t care enough about the Iowa State game is not only insulting, it’s silly. It is a convenient excuse to help deal with the frustration of losing to an instate opponent that is almost always considered inferior on paper.
Former Iowa coach Hayden Fry never had to fight this perception because his teams defeated Iowa State 15 times in a row from 1983 to 1997, and many of the game were lopsided.
But why would Fry, who grew up in Texas, care more about the Iowa State game than Ferentz, who was born in Michigan and raised in Pennsylvania?
Fry didn't care more than Ferentz.
Fry just dominated the Cyclones and that is perceived as caring.