By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – As Kirk Ferentz was being interviewed on the field at Kinnick Stadium late Saturday night by one of his former Iowa players, you could feel and see the spirit of Hayden Fry helping to fuel this milestone moment.

From the tiger hawk logos on t-shirts worn by fans to the Iowa uniforms resembling that of the Pittsburgh Steelers to the person being interviewed and the person conducting the interview; Fry’s vast influence was everywhere.

The same Iowa program that Fry rebuilt nearly a half century ago continues to benefit from his contributions.

Fry created the tiger hawk logo, he re-energized fans, and most importantly, he brought Kirk Ferentz to Iowa City.

Fry gave Kirk Ferentz his one big break in 1981, hiring him as his offensive line coach at the advice of long-time coach Joe Moore, who was also a close friend of and mentor to Kirk Ferentz.

Fry trusted Moore’s opinion so much that Ferentz believes the job was his even before interviewed for it.

In this case, and like in so many other cases, Fry’s instincts were right as Ferentz has since followed in Fry’s footsteps by also becoming a Hawkeye coaching legend.

Ferentz also now has the distinction of being the Big Ten’s all-time winningest head football coach with 206 wins, a milestone he achieved with Saturday’s 44-7 victory over UMass at Kinnick Stadium.

“I’m thrilled and can’t believe, quite frankly, my name’s next to that distinction,” Ferentz said in his post-game press conference.

Ferentz then paid tribute to Fry, who still was in the process of rebuilding the Iowa program when he hired Ferentz as his offensive coach 44 years ago.

Iowa had suffered through 19 straight non-winning seasons when Ferentz and his wife, Mary, moved to Iowa City prior to the 1981 season.

“You think about how far the program’s come, Coach Fry’s leadership and what he did to improve the program and position thing,” Ferentz said. “So an awful lot of things have to go into it to having success. Certainly takes a lot of people. There’s no team sport like football. There’s so many people involved. I’ve been fortunate to work with so many outstanding coaches through the years.

“Think about the group that I joined in the ’80s, just really special people. Coach Fry is the only person who even looked at me at that point, and I’ll never forget that, and I’m appreciative of that fact.”

It was fitting that Herron, a former Iowa defensive lineman, conducted the post-game interview on Saturday, given his connections to both Ferentz and Fry.

Herron played his first two seasons at Iowa under Fry in 1997 and 1998 and his final two seasons under Ferentz in 1999 and 200o.

Iowa only won four games during Herron’s two seasons under Ferentz, finishing 1-10 in 1999 and 3-9 in 2000.

But the players on those first two teams helped to lay the foundation under Ferentz. The took a thumping so the players in the future wouldn’t have to do the same.

Iowa lost 18 of its first 20 games under Ferentz, and he almost reached his breaking point in 2000 when offensive lineman Sam Aiello was injured.

Ferentz has said multiple times that Aiello’s injury, which was the latest in a long list of setbacks and adversity for a program that was trying to rebuild, caused him to seriously question if he could actually get the job done at Iowa.

Ferentz stayed the course and Iowa would finally get over the hump in 2001, finishing 7-5 overall.

Then came the glory years under Ferentz, a three-year stretch from 2002 to 2004 in which Iowa compiled a 31-7 record and won shares of two Big Ten titles in 2002 and 2004.

Ferentz has had chances to take other more prestigious head coaching jobs since rebuilding the Iowa program, as did Fry after he worked his magic.

But they both stayed loyal to Iowa and together have carved out a unique piece of history that will almost certainly never be duplicated because the odds of two other major college head football coaches staying in the same job back-to-back for a combined 47 years are slim and closer to none.

If you’re around something every day, it’s easy to take whatever it is for granted.

The fact that Iowa has only had two head football coaches since 1979 in some ways seems almost normal because those close to the program don’t know anything different.

But it’s about as far from normal as it gets.

For example, Bret Bielema, who played for Fry at Iowa, is the 10th different head football coach for Illinois since 1979 when Fry took over at Iowa.

Purdue has also had 10 different head football coaches since 1979, while Nebraska has had six different head football coaches since 1998.

When Kirk Ferentz decides to retire, it will mark the end of an era that now stretches nearly a half century.

From Bump Elliott convincing Fry to coach the Hawkeyes to Joe Moore convincing Fry to take a chance on a mostly untested and inexperienced 25-year-old young man from Pennsylvania whose last named rhymes with parents, it’s amazing how two decisions have helped to steer the course of Hawkeye football.

Ferentz left Iowa to be the head coach for Maine following the 1989 season.

But he only stayed at Maine for three seasons before taking a coaching job in the NFL.

Ferentz was an offensive line coach in the NFL from 1993 to 1998 before Iowa came calling.

He wasn’t the popular choice to replace Fry as most fans wanted Bob Stoops to return to his alma mater.

But then Oklahoma swooped in and hired Stoops, while Iowa ultimately hired Ferentz, who obviously benefitted from his nine seasons as a Hawkeye assistant coach under Fry.

Both programs would go on to benefit greatly from who they hired.

Iowa still continues to benefit from its decision to hire Ferentz, even though it wasn’t the popular decision at the time. Ferentz’s staying power and his ability to overcome adversity, on and off the field, has been nothing short of an incredible.

Ferentz has overcame the racial unrest from the summer of 2020 that led to the dismissal of his long-time strength and conditioning coach, and the firing of his son as offensive coordinator with four games left in the 2023 season..

That’s a lot to overcome, but somehow he has managed to do it, even as the world around him continues to change due to the impact from NIL and the transfer portal.

Iowa also has had just two losing seasons since 2001 and has won at least 10 games in eight seasons under Ferentz.

Fit is always a huge factor when hiring the right coach, and Iowa hit the jackpot with both Ferentz and Fry.

And while Ferentz is just one branch on Fry’s vast coaching tree, which also includes legends such as Bill Snyder and Barry Alvarez; Ferentz stands out for achieving his legendary status as Fry’s successor.

Iowa had four different head football coaches from 1961 to 1978, so it used to be like everybody else.

Until Fry arrived, followed by Kirk Ferentz.

They both for their own reasons and motivation decided that Iowa was their destination job, and now they’re both Hawkeye legends for sticking around.

Ferentz will try for win No. 207 when Iowa opens Big Ten play Friday night at Rutgers.

And though he appreciates the praise that came from making history, Ferentz is ready to move on and wants to shift the attention back to his players because the players always come first.

It was the same way with Fry.

Ferentz, even at the age of 70, has given no hint that he is considering retirement.

The game runs through his veins, and is the second most important thing in his life, behind only his family.

But obviously the end for Kirk Ferentz will come sooner than later.

And when it does, it will be the end of something that we’ll never see again.