Ferentz: Iowa’s finish ‘disappointing’

IOWA CITY - Kirk Ferentz and Gary Barta sat next to each other and talked Taxslayer Bowl on Sunday evening.

That's where Iowa football is right now. The Hawkeyes (7-5) were invited to play in the Taxslayer Bowl (formerly the Gator Bowl) opposite Tennessee (6-6) of the Southeastern Conference. Iowa football will be in Jacksonville, Fla., on Jan. 2 for the 2:20 p.m. kickoff on ESPN.

The Taxslayer Bowl was the order of business. When the season ended on Nov. 28 with a 37-34 overtime loss to Nebraska, Barta said four bowls called and then it quickly narrowed to two, the Taxslayer and the Foster Farms Bowl in San Francisco. The Iowa athletics director said he heard from Taxslayer president Rick Catlett in September and the impression even then was favorable.

'About two weeks ago, [Barta spoke again to] Rick Catlett, from that day forward, [he] was consistent in saying he wanted the University of Iowa,” Barta said. 'He loves our tradition, our history, our fan base, and Kirk's track record at bowls, etc. So from day one, he said he wanted Iowa.”

On Friday, Iowa football was in a very different place. Barta contacted The Gazette and wanted to speak on the topic of the future of Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. Barta said, of course, Ferentz will be Iowa's coach on 2015. Barta also said Iowa's 7-5 finish this season didn't meet expectations.

Sunday night, Ferentz was asked if a 7-5 record is unacceptable.

'I'm not sure unacceptable would be the word I would use,” Ferentz said. 'We're disappointed, certainly, with the outcome of the last two ball games.”

And that's where Ferentz focused. In 2013, the Hawkeyes won their last two games and flipped a 4-8 2012 into an 8-5. This season, Iowa fell flat in its final two games. It also fell flat against a 2-10 Iowa State, losing 20-17 at Kinnick Stadium, and fell into a well at Minnesota, losing 51-14, but the final two games are what Ferentz went with.

'It's interesting, if you look over the last two years, we were 7-3 after 10 games this year and 6-4 after last year, with the difference winning the last two ball games,” Ferentz said. 'There was a real feeling of momentum, euphoria, whatever it may be, and this year we lost.

'In my opinion, we played our best football in a losing effort two weeks ago against, I think, a very good Wisconsin football team and [then] came up short in overtime against the team that won nine ball games. It's a totally different feeling and I would say we're all extremely disappointed we didn't win either of those games or both of them. but you can't move backward.

'If there's any feeling or talk of us not being affected by it, that's ridiculous. Anybody who's ever competed, I think, would understand we're disappointed and we want to do better and that's our goal.”

On possible staff changes, Barta said Friday he thought Ferentz would make adjustments, he but hadn't mentioned any specific changes to him. Ferentz was asked Sunday if he started evaluating if coaching staff would come back next season.

'Ongoing process. I evaluate day by day,” he said.

Ferentz was asked about winning and momentum. He talked about the sacrifice players put into the game and said to suggest that winning wasn't important was an insult.

'Our emphasis is let's maximize what we have and play our best, and that's a tough goal to reach,” Ferentz said. 'So wins and losses don't always measure that, but that's the ultimate goal and that's going to be our goal this next three-plus weeks is to practice as well as we can and then go out and compete as well as we can against Tennessee and it's never easy. It's a competitive endeavor, but that's our goal is to do the best we can.”

On the concept of the hot seat, which was vividly illustrated with Nebraska's firing of Bo Pelini just days after the Huskers won in Iowa City: 'As a coach I've never felt comfortable. That's a word I choose not to use, because what we do is competitive. I don't know how you can get comfortable.

'It would to me suggest that you feel like you might have arrived. You never arrive at anything in life if you're trying to improve. That's not a word I would use. But the hot seat stuff, I got over that when I coached in the NFL.”

Ferentz also was asked about freshman wide receiver Derrick Willies, who left the team with five games left and has since expressed interest in returning. Ferentz said the two have talked, he has an open mind and the subject will be revisited when the season ends.

So, that brings you up to speed. There was a vote of confidence, the AD said Iowa didn't meet expectations during this 7-5 season and then the coach and the AD sat at a table in the new football operations building Sunday night and talked Taxslayer Bowl.

That's where Iowa football is right now.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com