Any contract talks between Iowa, Ferentz are on hold

IOWA CITY — There has been zero discussion on a rollover for Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz's contract, Iowa athletics director Gary Barta said.

Ferentz will have four years remaining on his contract, which runs through the 2019 football season, after the No. 5 Hawkeyes (12-1) face No. 6 Stanford in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

It's college football industry standard for a coach to have five years remaining on a contract, so the program can sell recruits that the coaching regime will be in place for their entire five-year careers at the school. It's generally handled with a rollover clause.

Of course, the Hawkeyes, coming off their first perfect season since 1922 and their first Big Ten West Division title, have been kind of busy.

'Not one bit,' Barta said after the Hawkeyes' Rose Bowl news conference on Sunday. 'Right now, we're focused on the journey, and it's been fantastic.'

The topic hasn't been broached and there is no timeline. 'Not in the near future,' Barta said. 'We have a game to play. We haven't talked about it at all and haven't thought about it.'

In September 2010, Ferentz and Barta agreed to a 10-year contract extension that included $39.8 million of guaranteed money. Last season, Ferentz made nearly $4.1 million and was No. 9 nationally in coaches salaries, according to the USA Today coaches salary database.

Schools that haven't signed coaches to new contracts often have a rollover that automatically loads a one-year extension at the end of every season. Ferentz's current contract doesn't have one of those clauses.

The only time Ferentz spoke on this issue was at Big Ten media days in August.

'Not even thinking about it,' Ferentz said. 'We're just worried about playing well this year. That's where our thoughts have been. The University of Iowa has been more than fair to me, historically going back to 1981. That's the least of my worries right now. I think all of us are worried about performing as well as we can.'

When Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer retires after this season, Ferentz and Oklahoma's Bob Stoops will be the longest-tenured college football coaches in the country. They were hired in December of 1998. Barta said he believes that longevity will more than calm any nerves Iowa's staff might find on the recruiting trail through the Rose Bowl.

'If I'm sitting at home and I'm a student-athlete or I'm a parent of a student-athlete, you can't get much better than that,' Barta said. 'He's proven that he loves Iowa. We've proven that we love him being here. Right now, we're all just focused on finishing this journey.'

Barta decided at the end of last season to stay with Ferentz. One of the measures Barta observed and kept in mind was the energy and the rapport the players had with the coaching staff. He said that never wavered.

'I'm in the lockerroom, I'm around practice,' Barta said. 'I'm thrilled to see how excited they [the players] are to come and practice everyday and now seeing the success they're having. That's what I'm excited about.'

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