Kirk Ferentz becomes Iowa’s all-time winningest coach

#KF143 is now #KF144.

Kirk Ferentz became the winningest coach in Iowa football history with Saturday's 33-7 victory over Northern Illinois, opening his 20th season with his 144th win.

Ferentz (144-97) breaks a tie with his predecessor, Hayden Fry, who was 143-89-6 in 20 years at the helm.

» Hlas column: Fry/Ferentz gave 20/20 vision to Iowa football

Ferentz, 63, served as Iowa offensive line coach under Fry from 1981-89. He rejoined the Hawkeyes in 1999 as head coach.

His first win as Iowa head coach also came against Northern Illinois, a 24-0 triumph on Sept. 18, 1999. It was the Hawkeyes' only victory that season.

Since then, he's had just two losing seasons at Iowa, and only one since 2000. He's led Iowa to 15 bowl games in 19 seasons, including the 2016 Rose Bowl and the 2010 and 2003 Orange Bowls.

» Inside Kirk Ferentz's first meeting as Iowa head coach

Ferentz is the longest-tenured coach in the FBS and has been named Big Ten coach of the year four times. He was the national coach of the year in 2015 (Football Writers Association of America) and 2002 (AP).

He ranks fifth all-time among Big Ten coaches, trailing only Amos Alonzo Stagg (Chicago, 232), Woody Hayes (Ohio State, 205), Bo Schembechler (Michigan, 194) and Joe Paterno (Penn State, 162).

Celebrate Ferentz's historic achievement with a poster highlighting Iowa's top 10 wins of the Ferentz era, as ranked by Marc Morehouse.