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Former Northern Iowa head coach Mark Farley working for Bret Bielema at Illinois
Farley was UNI’s head coach for the last 24 years
Aug. 27, 2025 3:28 pm, Updated: Aug. 27, 2025 5:11 pm
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Mark Farley ended a 24-year tenure as Northern Iowa’s head football coach last November, but his days in the sport aren’t over.
Monday, Illinois head football coach Bret Bielema said Farley recently had joined his staff. Bielema didn’t specify Farley’s duties. He is not an assistant coach.
That came up when Bielema was discussing Illinois defensive lineman Carter Hewitt of Jewell, Iowa, who transferred to the Illini from UNI after being in Farley’s program the last four years.
This is Farley’s second taste of major-college football. He was the linebackers coach at Kansas from 1997 to 2000 before going back to his UNI alma mater. His record as the Panthers’ coach was 183-112, with seven Missouri Valley Football Conference titles and 13 FCS playoff berths.
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