Kirk Ferentz: Oklahoma assistant Bruce Kittle helped start my career

Bruce Kittle, the former University of Iowa football offensive tackle/graduate assistant coach, credits Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz as being a mentor of his.

I wrote about Kittle this weekend in this story. Sunday, I spoke with Ferentz about Kittle, who became an Oklahoma assistant coach early this year after being out of college coaching since the 1985 season ended.

Ferentz was 25 when he joined Hayden Fry's Iowa staff in 1981. Kittle was a senior player, and a team captain for a program that ended almost two full decades of non-winning seasons by claiming a share of the Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl berth.

"I wasn't the most-veteran coach in the world," Ferentz said. "Bruce was very accepting. He was willing to give me a chance, and so I think the other players followed his lead. It turned out to be a special year for the program and the team. I don't think things would have worked out so well for me if it wasn't for Bruce's acceptance. He was one heck of a football player on top of that.

"And he did an extraordinary job coaching for us (from 1982 to 1985). He connected well with the players, which isn't easy when those are some of the guys you played with."

Speaking of extraordinary, Kittle has had a resume unlike any other major-college coach. He was a lawyer, a corrections department officer, an ordained minister and a church pastor.

"Only Bruce could pull that off," Ferentz said. "He had come full circle. I always felt he'd be an excellent coach if that's what he chose to do. All the things he did, he did very, very well.

"So he took the leap of faith and went to Oklahoma. He knew he'd have to sacrifice (he spent a year as Bob Stoops' staff as the on-campus recruiting coordinator, then got the assistant coach's job when Kevin Wilson left OU to become Indiana's head coach.) But he had great trust in Bob. We all used to spend time together."

Ferentz and Stoops, though on opposite sides for the Dec. 30 Insight Bowl, are longtime friends. Not long ago, Ferentz visited Stoops in Oklahoma to get a tour of OU's football facilities.

Stoops, like Kittle, was an Iowa graduate assistant and volunteer assistant after his Iowa playing days ended. Stoops was a junior on that 1981 squad.

"I know Kirk called Bob before we played Oklahoma State and wished him good luck," Kittle said. "Unfortunately, he didn't wish him enough good luck."