By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Kirk Ferentz could have been Urban Meyer.

Or at least he could’ve had the chance to be similar to Urban Meyer.

But instead, Kirk Ferentz has stayed loyal to Iowa and Iowa has stayed loyal to him, some will say to a fault.

What can’t be disputed is that Ferentz has had opportunities to leave Iowa for what are perceived as better coaching jobs, but for reasons that only those close to him know, the 61-year old Ferentz has stayed put.

Ferentz could’ve had the Jacksonville Jaguars head coaching job in 2003 or the Michigan job probably twice since Lloyd Carr retired in 2007.

And Penn State probably would’ve rolled out the red carpet for Ferentz if he had been willing to clean up the mess in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal that led to Joe Paterno’s shocking fall from grace.

Some Iowa fans are tired of Ferentz and don’t care anymore about his longevity and loyalty, and that is their prerogative as fans.

They don’t like that his son is the offensive coordinator or that his son-in-law is the director of recruiting.

And they don’t like Ferentz’s one-sided buyout or his conservative coaching style.

But the purpose of this column isn’t to sway that opinion because it’s too late at this stage with Ferentz being two-thirds of the way through his 19^th season as head coach.

You are either with Ferentz at this stage or you're not.

But with Urban Meyer coming to town on Saturday as the head coach for third-ranked Ohio State, and powered by a roster filled with 4- and 5-star recruits, I was reminded that Ferentz could’ve used his early success at Iowa to land one of the true destinations job.

He and Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle could have bolted a long time ago for an elite program that mostly recruits itself and usually has an advantage in talent.

But they didn’t, and sometimes that is worth pointing out because stability and loyalty are easy to take for granted until you don’t have it.

The legendary Hayden Fry could’ve left Iowa in the mid-1980s after ending nearly two decades of misery for a job with more pay, more prestige and more tradition. Fry could’ve surrounded himself with star recruits and almost always had an advantage in talent, as Meyer does now at Ohio State.

But Fry stayed at Iowa for 20 seasons and embraced the grind that is part of running a developmental program before retiring in 1998.

And now Ferentz has done the same thing, like it or not.

Any column about Ferentz at this stage is likely to trigger mixed reactions, especially with Iowa struggling on offense this season, because that’s what happens when you stay in one place for so long.

Ferentz Fatigue is real for some fans. Trust me, I hear about it on a regular basis, from his style being boring and predictable to complaints that he makes too much money.

But the majority of fans in my opinion still appreciate what Ferentz brings to the program in terms of stability, integrity and the chance for Iowa to be successful in most seasons.

Urban Meyer and Nick Saban are widely regarded as the two best coaches in college football, and it’s hard to argue against that based on wins and losses.

But Meyer and Saban also have a huge edge in talent in most games, unlike Ferentz who gave up that luxury by staying at Iowa.

 Imagine Ferentz as the head coach at Ohio State or Alabama where he could stockpile star recruits and win games more on talent than strategy or scheme.

It wouldn’t matter if Ferentz’s offense was conservative and predictable because the talent would make up for that in most cases.

Iowa State coach Matt Campbell likely will face the same temptation to leave for something that is perceived as being better, given his team's sudden rise in Ames. How Campbell reacts when others come calling will say a lot about his priorities.    

Iowa also deserves some credit for Ferentz staying loyal, because while it isn’t considered a destination job, it hardly is a stepping stone, either, with regard to pay and tradition, thanks to what Ferentz and Fry have accomplished.

Ferentz knew exactly what he was getting into when he replaced Fry as head coach in late 1998.

Ferentz wasn't the popular choice to replace Fry as most fans wanted Bob Stoops to return to his alma mater. But Ferentz, as we now know, was the right choice in so many ways.

The nine season that Ferentz spent as Fry’s offensive line coach at Iowa from 1981 to 1989 grew on Ferentz. The community grew on Ferentz to where Iowa City became his home.

Ferentz was born in Michigan and raised in Pennsylvania, but his heart and soul are in Iowa, along with most of his family, including his oldest son, Brian Ferentz.

The fact that Brian Ferentz is his father’s outspoken offensive coordinator has created a delicate situation that boiled over last Saturday when Brian unleashed a profanity-laced tirade in the Kinnick Stadium press box at halftime of the Minnesota game.

Kirk Ferentz, in my opinion, handled a very awkward and emotional situation as best he could, saying it was unacceptable and that it can’t happen again.

Some fans say the situation was blown way out of proportion by the media, while others say Brian Ferentz got off easy with no suspension.

Like almost everything with Kirk Ferentz these days, there are two contrasting views that collide head on.

But it’s time to move on from the Brian Ferentz incident and hope that it doesn’t happen again.

Kirk Ferentz is a master at moving on to the next challenge and staying the course.

His teams don’t always meet expectations and they sometimes lose games that they shouldn’t lose.

But the good still outweighs the bad with Kirk Ferentz, both on and off the field.

He treats everybody with kindness and respect, even the media, and has a better sense of humor than he gets credits for and showed it while joking on Tuesday about the alternate uniforms that will be worn against Ohio State on Saturday. It was a side of Ferentz that fans and the media rarely see, and it was good to laugh after a tough weekend.

Ferentz and his wife, Mary, also donated $1 million to the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital in August and that was just their latest donation.

There is nothing wrong with a coach who aspires to run a blue blood program such as Ohio State. It takes somebody special and driven to be in that high-profile position.

But there is also something to be said for a coach like Kirk Ferentz who resisted that temptation to stay at a place where winning on a consistent basis is more difficult.

Illinois has had nine different head coaches since Fry came to Iowa in 1979 and five since Ferentz took over in 1999.

Ferentz's five children all graduated from Iowa City High School because their father valued stability and loyalty more than individual glory.

His five children are very fortunate.