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CBS Sports ranks Kirk Ferentz as the No. 13 Power 5 coach nationally

In a recent ranking of the 65 Power Five head football coaches in the country, CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli ranked Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz at No. 13. Coming in just outside the top 10 says a lot for what Ferentz has been able to build in Iowa City.

Known for the consistency and a program that churns out NFL talent year after year, it is no surprise to see Ferentz this high on the list. His tenure at Iowa has been successful by nearly every account and has even picked up steam the last few years.

Ferentz climbs four spots after going 10-4 last year and winning the Big Ten West. It was the second time the Hawkeyes won 10 games in the last three seasons after doing so only once (2015) from 2010-18. Ferentz has been at Iowa since 1999, and you know what you’re going to get. The Hawkeyes are going to be solid defensively and frustrate their fans on offense while winning anywhere between seven and 10 games. – Fornelli, CBS Sports

As Fornelli stated, the head man has Iowa turning a bit of a corner with two seasons of 10 or more wins in the last three years. Dating back to 1999, the Hawkeyes have failed to reach six wins just three times in Ferentz’s entire tenure.

The top five of Fornelli’s rankings look like this: Alabama‘s Nick Saban is No. 1, Georgia‘s Kirby Smart is No. 2, Clemson‘s Dabo Swinney is No. 3, USC‘s Lincoln Riley is No. 4 and Texas A&M‘s Jimbo Fisher is No. 5.

Surrounding Ferentz in the rankings are some familiar foes. Penn State head football coach James Franklin finds himself at No. 15, while Wisconsin head football coach Paul Chryst comes in at No. 14. These seem rather fair and even rankings as the trio of Iowa, Penn State, and Wisconsin typically take turns winning against each other.

A rather precarious decision—and one that is downright flabbergasting—is somehow ranking Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell ahead of Ferentz at No. 12. There is really no metric, stat, record or anything else out there showing Campbell is a better coach than Ferentz.

First off, he has never even beaten Iowa. He is 0-6 against Ferentz. Secondly, Campbell doesn’t have a single 10-win season in his career whereas Ferentz has done so two out of the past three seasons.

Putting Campbell above Ferentz in Power Five rankings seems to ignore head-to-head and every other statistic, but I can promise you Kirk won’t care. He doesn’t care about his ranking or anything else. All he cares about is doing his thing and continuing to win games.

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