Would Iowa be willing to fire Kirk Ferentz if the Hawkeyes lost to Northwestern?

There is no coach in college football who has been with his program longer than Kirk Ferentz has been at Iowa. Ferentz has been at Iowa longer than most of the players on his roster have been alive. Ferentz took the head coaching job at Iowa in 1999 and now, 25 years later, he remains with the Hawkeyes until 2029, 30 years after he took the job.

Ferentz did a lot and had a lot of success in Iowa, but it wasn’t all happy and joyful in Iowa City. This year, Iowa fans went wild on social media, calling for Ferentz to be fired for numerous reasons. They want Ferentz gone because of his choice in who he plays, his inability to fully hand offensive control over to offensive coordinator Tim Lester, and the loss of games the team could have won because of his coaching decisions.

The fans were loudest after the Hawkeyes lost to Ohio State because Ferentz was too stubborn to pull quarterback Cade McNamara after three turnovers that put a 7-0 game completely out of reach. Then Iowa went out and manhandled Washington at home in Kinnick Stadium, and the chants of “Fire Ferentz” began to die down. Now, after an embarrassing loss to Michigan State, fans are back to their regular schedule.

This Northwestern game suddenly feels a lot bigger than it should. The Iowa Hawkeyes have dominated Northwestern in the past with a series record of 53-26-3 and have won their last three meetings.

Currently, Northwestern sits at the bottom of the conference in the Big Ten at 3-4 and 1-3 in conference play. The Wildcats have the worst offense in the Big Ten, averaging 286.6 yards per game and 19.0 points per game. Northwestern also has one of the weaker defenses in the conference, allowing opponents an average of 350.1 yards per game and allowing opponents 19.6 points per game.

Iowa is the 14.5-point favorite in this game, so the oddsmakers clearly believe they can pull off a big win. However, the Hawkeyes were clear favorites against Michigan State and ultimately lost significantly.

If the Hawkeyes lose this game, they drop to 4-4 on the season and have just four chances to qualify for the bowl. A loss to Northwestern could force the university to really consider releasing Ferentz from his contract early. Unfortunately, Ferentz is coming off a whopping $42 million buyout and it’s no wonder Iowa isn’t rushing to let Ferentz go.