Ferentz deal beyond 2019 under discussion

CEDAR RAPIDS — Neither Kirk Ferentz nor Gary Barta is sweating the longtime Iowa coach's next contract.

Ferentz will begin his 18th season as Iowa's head football coach with four seasons remaining on a contract that pays him $4 million a year. The contract was monumental when it was agreed to in 2010 and remains very favorable. During Wednesday night's Linn County I-Club event at the Cedar Rapids Marriott, Ferentz and Barta said work has begun toward something new.

'I want Kirk to retire at Iowa,' Barta said. 'You'd have to ask him, but I'm pretty sure he'd like to retire at Iowa. He's got a great contract now, but we continue to have discussions about what we can do in addition to that.'

It's college football industry standard for a coach to have at least five years on a contract, so recruits know that staff is at least under contract for the five possible years they will be at the school. Ferentz said that hasn't come up in recruiting. Iowa just picked up an oral commitment from Belton, Texas, quarterback Peyton Mansell on Monday.

'I've always been treated very fairly here, and I'm very appreciative on that,' Ferentz said. 'I'm not losing any sleep on this stuff right now.'

Barta said salaries for Iowa football assistants are currently under discussion. Multiyear deals for assistants could be under consideration, but not because of the reported mega-media rights deal the Big Ten likely will announce with Fox and ESPN later this summer, but because Barta believes continuity is a key for Iowa to have success.

'Continuity at Iowa is something we've always taken a lot of pride in,' he said. 'Kirk is going into his 17th year and a lot of his assistants have been here a long time, but go beyond that. (Women's basketball coach) Lisa Bluder is going into her 18th year. (Men's basketball coach) Fran McCaffery is the new kid on the block and he's going into his seventh year. (Wrestling coach) Tom Brands is going into his 11th year. So, continuity is important and one of the ways you do that is with good contracts. We feel like we take good care of our people.'

Ferentz said assistant salaries for 2016 football assistants are in the final stages. In the wake of Wisconsin losing defensive coordinator Dave Aranda to Louisiana State when it offered a three-year deal at $1.3 million per, Ferentz doesn't necessarily agree multiyear deals will stop that from happening.

'I don't know how big of a deal that is,' Ferentz said. 'As long as there's stability at the top, hopefully everyone feels like things are OK. ... Luckily, we haven't had that issue (a school outbidding Iowa for an assistant) and we've had a lot of good coaches on our staff.'

Some other points of discussion Wednesday night:

• The Kinnick Stadium north end zone renovation, which now has an estimated cost of $75 million, remains in the planning stages. Barta said he hopes to have a firm decision on whether or not the project moves ahead and is ready for the 2018 season by late this summer or early fall. If planning takes longer, it's likely the project will be complete for 2019.

With not a lot of width in the north end zone area, which hasn't been renovated since the early 1980s, it's likely going to be a vertical structure with premium seating being the centerpiece.

• Sophomore free safety Brandon Snyder, No. 1 on the depth chart, and longsnapper Tyler Kluver, who's entering his third season in that job, will be put on scholarship, Ferentz said.

'Coming off last year, we felt both of those guys really proved themselves,' Ferentz said. 'We wanted to reward them.'

With the departure of sophomore tight end Jameer Outsey, Iowa did have four or five scholarships available. Ferentz said it's wait-and-see mode for the remaining scholarships.

• Outsey was the seventh scholarship player to leave Iowa since January. After senior George Kittle, Ferentz said spring practice was an open competition for the No. 2 tight end spot (Iowa uses two tight end formations around 30 percent of its snaps) and juniors Jon Wisnieski and Peter Pekar pulled ahead.

Other bodies that could factor include redshirt freshman Nate Vejvoda and walk-on Nate Wieting and a trio of true freshmen — Noah Fant, T.J. Hockenson and Shaun Beyer. 'We'll make that evaluation in camp and maybe into the season a little bit,' Ferentz said. 'Hopefully, it's not a situation where we have to do it out of necessity. I don't think we're going to go there.'

Given Kittle's speed, Ferentz said Iowa does need more of an in-line tight end to rise up. 'I think both Peter and Jon have done a good job there,' Ferentz said. 'They've improved considerably since last December.'

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