Kirk Ferentz is a candidate for the Kansas City Chiefs job? Really?

I guess some people weren't paying attention last week when Kirk Ferentz said he's be Iowa's head football coach again next season.

This was the headline of an NFL.com story: McDaniels, Ferentz, Crennel will be candidates for Chiefs

Charles Davis of the NFL Network wrote this:

The name that intrigues me the most is Kirk Ferentz, head coach at Iowa. In the past he has resisted the siren song of the NFL, but to me, if he's ever going to make the move, this would be the time and place for it.

OK. But why not next year, and somewhere else?

Steve Wyche, senior writer at NFL.com, quickly made Ferentz a candidate to replace the fired Todd Haley. Wyche wrote:

(Chiefs General Manager Scott) Pioli's plan and personnel could fit the ideology of his next hire, which likely will be someone he's familiar with, like Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star, an excellent reporter and writer, had this piece on the Star's website Tuesday with the headline If Chiefs go college route, one candidate stands out

That "candidate" is Ferentz. The primary reason given in all these stories is Ferentz has been friends with Pioli for two decades. What seems to be neglected is Ferentz is making about $3.8 million per year at Iowa.

Sam Mellinger of the Star focused more on Pioli, writing the following:

The Chiefs could go nowhere with both Pioli and Haley in the same building, so in that way, the GM essentially pulled rank. That was the easy part. Now we get to see, once and perhaps for all, whether Pioli is the golden-boy personnel guru from his Super Bowl-winning days in New England or just one more poser taking credit and fame off the glow of Bill Belichick's star. ...

Pioli is most effective when he knows what's coming and can read the clock. He becomes tentative and hesitant among surprises and unknowns.

He wants control, over everything, and struggles in situations he can't have it.

Adam Teicher of The Sporting News says this is Ferentz's second chance to become the Chiefs' coach.

Candidates could include (Chiefs interim coach Romeo) Crennel, former Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher and Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, who could have had the job before the Chiefs hired Haley.

Finally, ESPN's John Clayton doesn't go as far as to say Ferentz is a candidate, but the Professor did write this.

The easiest answer will be the hardest sell. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is a close friend of Pioli's and would be his first-round draft choice, but Ferentz is reluctant to leave the college ranks. NFL general managers have long believed that Ferentz could be successful in the NFL because he was a former NFL offensive line coach. NFL friends and admirers have taken runs at Ferentz without success for years.

OK, that wasn't really the final item. The final one is just a weird coincidence gleaned from this SB Nation blog post that correctly states Ferentz won't be the Chiefs' next coach. Matthew Hays is the writer.

Besides, would Kansas City fans really want two head coaches in a row that graduated from the same high school? That has no bearing on the future at all, but I do find it an amusing anecdote that Todd Haley and Ferentz are both graduates of Pittsburgh's Upper St. Clair High School.