Drew Thurman (4:27 pm)

If you haven't been fortunate enough to see ESPN Bottomline this morning; Iowa announced today that they have reached a seven year deal to keep Kirk Ferentz. I have seen a few ignorant people questioning the move, but in my opinion this was an important move not just for the Hawkeyes but for the entire Big Ten. If you read my stuff at all you know that I constantly make remarks about how the quality of coaches in the Big Ten is not up to par with what I feel it should be. Experts can make all kinds of comments about how the SEC recruits better because the players are in their backyard, but another element they fail to mention is the quality of coaches that the Southeastern Conference possesses.

This brings me to Ferentz, who I have a ton of respect for, and I think his 70-53 record and two Big Ten titles speak for themselves. I cannot imagine the difficulty of trying to bring recruits to the corn and soy bean torture known as the state of Iowa, and he has put up some solid teams even with those restraints (Why do you think Steve Alford left for New Mexico?).

Ferentz had been rumored as a possible candidate for several NFL jobs, including the Browns, and his departure would have hurt the conference. I think he one of the upper echelon coaches in the conference, and without him there is no way that Iowa Hawkeyes get better. The Big Ten is in period of transition for the good, and keeping Ferentz around should help another team in the conference continue to be a contender. Nice move Iowa!

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