Captain Kirk

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Four years ago, when Iowa was set to replace retiring Hayden Fry as football coach, the popular choice was obvious.

Hawkeye fans clamored for the hiring of Bob Stoops, a former Iowa player and assistant coach who had made his mark as defensive coordinator under Steve Spurrier at Florida.

But when Iowa officials didn’t move fast enough, Stoops went to Oklahoma and won a national championship in his second season.

Iowa settled for Kirk Ferentz, an obscure but respected NFL assistant who had coached under Fry. Ferentz promptly lost 18 of his first 20 games.

“It was tough,” he said. “Nobody likes to lose. But it’s like I tell our players, you usually get what you deserve in sports. And quite frankly, at that time we just weren’t good enough.

“But the important thing is, the attitude was good enough. No one got discouraged.”

Least of all Ferentz, who has orchestrated a remarkable turnaround at Iowa by preaching hard work and patience.

How have the Hawkeyes improved in four seasons under Ferentz? Let’s count:

1. From 1-10 in his first season to 11-1.

2. From 0-8 in the Big Ten to 8-0.

3. From unranked to No. 3 in the nation.

4. From nowhere to the Orange Bowl against USC on Thursday.

Fans who once complained that Iowa had botched the coaching search were calling sports radio shows in a dither last winter when Ferentz was rumored to be a candidate for the Indianapolis Colts’ head coaching position.

None of it fazes Ferentz, who said he has no plans to leave. Nine years as the offensive line coach at Iowa (1981-89) gave him an understanding of Hawkeye fans, whom he described as realistic and appreciative. He said he never considered himself on the hot seat.

“I think I know what the people in Iowa want,” he said. “And we’ve tried to give that to them. I think they realize we’ve worked at it methodically. We’ve put in an honest day’s work every day along the way.”

When Ferentz was named national coach of the year by the Associated Press, beating out Ohio State’s Jim Tressel and Notre Dame’s Tyrone Willingham, Iowa Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby might have summed up the feelings of all Hawkeye supporters when he said in a statement: “Kirk and his staff represent the best in college athletics in the way they have built our program.”

Seated in his office at the Hayden Fry Football Complex, a relaxed Ferentz speaks articulately in rapid-fire bursts. With his slim build, boyish face and full head of brown hair, he looks younger than his 47 years.

His youthful enthusiasm and work ethic were needed to rebuild a program that had slumped by the time Fry stepped down in 1998, after 20 seasons as Iowa’s coach.

“People always ask me, ‘How does it feel to replace Coach Fry?’ ” Ferentz said. “You don’t replace a guy like Coach Fry, you follow him. Twenty years earlier, when he came to Iowa in the ‘70s, they had poor facilities. They had no tradition.

“I felt so fortunate because I came here and we had great facilities and we had demonstrated success in football. So that gave me a chance to recruit a little bit.”

Ferentz recalled his first coaching stint at Iowa as a “magical part” of the school’s football history. During his nine years as an assistant, the Hawkeyes played in eight bowl games, twice in the Rose Bowl, 1982 and ’86. Iowa’s record in those nine years was 73-33-4 and included two 10-win and two nine-win seasons.

He left Iowa after the 1989 season and was head coach at Maine for three seasons, compiling a record of 12-21, before moving to the NFL. He was assistant head coach and offensive line coach of the Baltimore Ravens before returning to Iowa in December 1998.

Ferentz coached in the NFL for six years, a learning experience that taught him the importance of conditioning and special teams.

“Those are two things that we really were going to hang our hats on when we got here,” Ferentz said.

The work of Chris Doyle, Iowa’s strength and conditioning coach, is cited for helping turn the Hawkeyes into one of the most physical teams in the Big Ten.

The special teams, coached by Darrell Wilson, have flourished. Iowa ranked first in the Big Ten in kick coverage and net punting, second in kickoff returns and third in punt returns. Kicker Nick Kaeding is an All-American.

Even with his attention to detail, though, Ferentz needed time to mold Iowa into a competitive team. Transfers and injuries, particularly among offensive linemen, hurt the Hawkeyes during their 1-10 season in 1999.

Despite the problems, Ferentz continued to steer Iowa on a steady course.

“I had great faith that we would have every chance to be successful,” he said. “I also knew that I had no timetables to work with. We never had a set formula. All I knew was that we were going to work hard every day, and our players have done that.”

Iowa improved to 3-9 in 2000 and began its turnaround late in the season with a double-overtime victory at Penn State. The Hawkeyes have gone 20-7 since then, their 7-5 record last season capped by an Alamo Bowl victory over Texas Tech.

Players credit Ferentz and his staff for forging a winning attitude that led to this season’s unprecedented success. The 11 victories and 8-0 Big Ten record are firsts for Iowa.

“Like Coach Ferentz says, ‘If you do things right, good things are going to happen to you,’ ” said receiver Ramon Ochoa, a junior from Maywood. “He’s preached that since the day he got here, and look at us now.”

With his family settled -- son Brian, the oldest of his five children, is a redshirt freshman offensive lineman for the Hawkeyes -- Ferentz said he is content in his situation and has no immediate aspirations to return to the NFL as a head coach.

“I’ve got a great situation professionally, personally,” he said. “The only complaint I have is the weather here at times can be a little tough and there are too many stop lights between [the university] and my house.”

Other than that, life is good for Ferentz, the consolation prize who became a prize catch.