Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz will return in 2026 for his 28th season

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Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, the winningest coach in Big Ten history, said Wednesday that he will be back on the sideline for a 28th season in 2026.

Ferentz, 70, guided Iowa to an 8-4 regular-season record with the Hawkeyes’ bowl destination to be learned Sunday. It will be Iowa’s 12th bowl game in the last 13 years and 22nd of Ferentz’s tenure.

“I feel good physically,” Ferentz said Wednesday at a recruiting day press conference. “I’ve got permission from my wife to keep doing this. And it’s what I like doing. I really enjoy doing it. … I don’t envision stopping any time in the near future. It’s what I do. I don’t golf, and when I did, I stunk. So I don’t see going back to that.”

Ferentz, who is the longest-tenured coach in major college football, said his age does come up during the recruiting process.

“I just tell them the truth: I feel really good,” Ferentz said. “I had no idea what it feels like to be 70, and now I do — however many months it’s been. And it doesn’t feel any different than when I was 60.”

Ferentz’s contract runs through the 2029 season. He said during the summer that he expects to sign another contract with the school at some point.

Ferentz has a 212-128 record (62.4%) since arriving at Iowa in 1999 after serving as the Baltimore Ravens’ assistant head coach/offensive line coach.

Ferentz passed legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes (205 wins) to move atop the Big Ten victories list when the Hawkeyes routed UMass 47-7 on Sept. 13.

Ferentz has won 10 games or more eight times during his tenure, including a school-best 12-2 mark in 2015 when the Hawkeyes lost to Stanford in the Rose Bowl. He has had four losing campaigns, including his first two seasons on the job.

–Field Level Media