What College Football Hall of Fame’s eligibility change could mean for Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz

IOWA CITY — The College Football Hall of Fame’s recent changes in eligibility criteria may be welcomed news in Iowa City.

The change — a minimum career winning percentage for coaches of .595 instead of .600 — made national headlines as it opens the door for the late Mike Leach to be eligible for the Hall of Fame.

But it also quietly makes the path much more feasible for current Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz to earn Hall of Fame eligibility whenever his coaching career concludes.

Ferentz’s head coaching record is 216-145 (.598) from his 26 seasons at Iowa and three seasons at Maine before that, putting him slightly above the threshold for eligibility ahead of the 2025 season.

That record will, of course, change once the 2025 season begins. If Iowa goes 7-6 with a postseason bowl game or 6-6 without a bowl invitation, that would be good enough for Ferentz to stay above the .595 benchmark.

If the College Football Hall of Fame kept the .600 benchmark, Ferentz’s Hawkeyes would have needed to go 9-4 in 2025 (when counting the bowl game) as they face three teams that appeared in last year’s College Football Playoff. BetMGM’s over/under for Iowa’s 2025 win total is 7.5.

If Ferentz coaches in 2025 and 2026, his teams would need to go a combined 15-11 for him to remain above the .595 mark. If he coaches through 2027, Iowa would need to go a combined 22-17. (These records work under the assumption that Iowa’s streak of 12 straight bowl invitations continue.)

Ferentz, the longest tenured FBS head coach, will turn 70 later this summer. The only older head coach in the FBS ranks is Ferentz’s former boss, Bill Belichick at North Carolina.

He has not publicly given a timeline for how much longer he wants to coach. He reaffirmed in December that his “plan” is to continue coaching at Iowa in 2025. Back in 2023 during his weekly radio show, he indicated his desire to “keep doing this for quite a while.”

“The more the game changes, the more circumstances change, it’s still about being around good people,” Ferentz said in December. “Our key is and I think what we enjoy — I think I speak for our whole staff — when you get the right guys on your team, it’s a lot of fun.”

The College Football Hall of Fame’s other eligibility requirements did not change. Candidates must be a head coach for at least 10 seasons and have coached 100-plus games. Kirk Ferentz is well above those minimums with 29 seasons and 361 games coached, including his time at Maine.

Hall of Fame eligibility is not the only milestone within reach for Ferentz in 2025. He needs two more wins to break Woody Hayes’ record for overall wins as a Big Ten member. (That could potentially happen as early as Iowa’s Sept. 6 game against Iowa State.)

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

Sign up for our curated Iowa Hawkeyes athletics newsletter at thegazette.com/hawks.