Kirk Ferentz Quotes (108 Quotes)

At times, I've wondered how in the heck we've ended up with seven wins at this point.

The main thing is he's not polished. But the thing is, he's a guy the coaches can trust to do the right things, make the right decisions.

Two years ago, Florida probably underestimated us a little. That's not going to happen this year.

Marques is certainly going to be one of those we consider ... but we won't make any decisions until August.

After what they saw (last week), I'm sure that'll give them more encouragement, and rightfully so.

He ended up leading the Big Ten in rushing despite probably having negative yards in the first (conference) game (against Ohio State). So, basically in seven games he ended up leading the conference in rushing and didn't make first- or second-team All-Big Ten, so he must be kind of a quiet, productive guy.

It's very clear right now that we have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of rough edges.

It's amazing when you go through their two-deep how many fourth- and fifth-year guys are there, and the offensive line is the focal point of that. They're not just older, they're experienced and good football players that are aggressive and tough. It will be a challenge for us up front (on defense).

We had two choices after the ballgame in Chicago. We could dwell on what happened the previous game or previous games, or we could look forward to what was in front of us and try to make something of that opportunity. That's what our guys chose to do.

Recruiting at Iowa has never been easy, and I don't think it ever will be. Our biggest challenge has always been to get people to visit our campus. If we can get them here, I feel like we give ourselves a chance because we do have a lot to offer.

I think once in at least 13 years I can think of. I wasn't out there so I can't tell you if it happened or didn't happen.

I've had discussions about that the last couple of years. I'm still here, aren't I

Now the big challenge probably is to make sure he doesn't feel like he has to do too much, just has to play his position but doesn't have to be the hero every play or every game. We don't want any of our guys thinking that.

I still maintain the best thing about (Hodge and Greenway) is it's not what they do on the field, which is significant, it's all the things they contribute off the field in terms of leadership, work ethic, attitude. They're so different and yet so similar in terms of the contributions they make.

I learned a long time ago that at the end of the day, the only stat that counts is points, ... The other ones are significant, but I'd much rather have the right score on the board. At the end of the day, that's what we're worried about.

The things I remember more about Chuck as a player were the leadership qualities he had. He was a very strong leader of our football team, and a very tough player. People on the outside may not appreciate it as much, but you see a guy who's having a hard time walking certain weeks, and then he'd go out and play. And that was a big part of the reason we were so successful during that period.

You see guys playing in games and the picture becomes a little more clear. Plus, everybody has a little different role in the backfield and each of the guys we have has some different strengths and weaknesses so we'll try to get them in a position that works for them.

I think you're right on target, ... It depends on the teams you're looking at. Nobody in the country runs the ball as well as Minnesota. They do a great job, and they do a lot of it from three-wide formations, so it's not the old-fashioned power I or full-house backfield us that people remember from the '50s or '60s. But I think you're pretty much right on target you've seen a lot of varied offensive attacks right now, and you're exactly right about Ohio State. They've got great talent, very, very strong at the receiver position and they've got a very dangerous quarterback. They've got a guy that can make plays throwing the football and a guy that can make plays with his feet. But it changes week-to-week, game to game. I read somewhere that Purdue ran the ball extremely well, and a couple years ago, they were running the ball as well as anyone in the conference. Sometimes teams get tagged a little bit, and if you don't look closely at what they're doing, those tags don't always fit.

If we don't perform well, that's my responsibility, and so that's what I worry about. We have no control, like (today), we have no control how Florida is going to play. I'd anticipate them to play extremely well. When you have the talent that they've got and they play well, that's scary for us, so that's what we're expecting, and our job is to find a way to try to match that tempo and try to find a way to minimize some of the advantages they may have. So, that's our goal. I don't worry about the other stuff.

After that game, we probably would have signed on for any bowl that would have taken us. I probably would have signed in blood that evening. I'm glad that we didn't, but at that point there were all kinds of things racing through all of our minds.

It takes a lot of courage and confidence in your defense to make that call and most importantly, they executed. It looked initially like we had them stopped, but it was a great individual effort. He refused to go down, and it was a huge play in the game.

Bryan's rebounded well (from the injury) and has been at full speed through the whole camp. He's done a great job and he's earned the starting job.

To me, it's all about performance. It's about how you do things on a day-to-day basis. The attitude you take, the approach you take, being consistent and realizing that whether you win one week or lose the next, if you're doing things right over the long haul, things are going to work out.

I suppose you can try to punt the ball out of bounds, but that's risky business, too. It's going to take a real team effort to try and contain (Ginn). We're really going to have to be exacting with what we do.

I thought we were better, though I might put an asterisk in there that it would be hard not to be better. We at least looked a little more like a cohesive offensive team.

He's doing a good job, and it's good to have him back, ... That was a bright spot. We ran the ball well (and) that's encouraging. The game wasn't a total loss, but the bottom line is that there's a lesson to be learned.

I thought they did a great job in the third quarter. We had the wind and we come out with three points.

It took a lot of courage and confidence to make that call in that situation and they executed it well. They made some huge plays in the game.

First of all, we're happy to get the win on Saturday... It was just a good outing for our team to get back, ... I thought we looked a little bit sharper. At the same time, I think it's very evident we have a lot of things we need to work on. That's a big focus for us this week. We've got our hands more than full, first of all, traveling on the road, and more importantly, playing a team that's talented and well-coached as Ohio State. So we've got a lot of work to do between now and game time. With all that being said, we're looking forward to the weekend.

It's improving but the danger there is we can't fool ourselves and think our percentage (of signing top recruits) is going to be as good as some of the other schools. We have to keep recruiting the way we have been recruiting and looking for the same traits and attributes.

The last two years we've gotten the punt block for six. But today it went the other way.

Everybody got distracted by last week's game. Last week's game doesn't mean crap. It's what you do today. It goes both ways on that one.

In 2002 when Iowa went to the Orange Bowl, we sailed right through without losing a starter to a surgery. This season has been the opposite. I think we've had 10.

We're really just trying to take that real slow. The biggest thing to me is make sure he's healthy at the end of this period. Hopefully, he'd be full speed by June when we get going with the summer program, if in fact he does get that sixth year.

I wouldn't say it's come right back, and we won't know until game time if it's back totally. But the last month we were playing pretty well on offense and doing a lot of good things, so obviously we're hoping we can get back to that point.

We faced some adversity, and to respond in a positive way, that's good for everybody. Hopefully we learned something about ourselves.

It's an early season loss. We didn't deserve to win. Iowa State did the things necessary to be victorious and we didn't. We have to move on and we have to move on fast.

This is like the most overrated holiday in the world, and I haven't seen too many of them. I just hope nobody bangs any pots or pans for the guys that are sleeping.

First and foremost, it centers around bringing in the right type of people, players who will be a good fit with our program and players who have a chance to develop. A willingness to work to develop is at the center of it.

Bob Sanders wasn't the biggest guy coming out of Erie, Pa., but I don't think anybody would dispute that he was a pretty good player for us.

But he was a second-year guy on campus and a first-year starter, and those things are very natural. To me, the whole key is his attitude and that's been excellent.

Based on the way things went today, I don't have an awful lot to complain about. Offensively, we haven't looked that sharp since we got started here in August. I think they were really focused on what they were doing and played a pretty clean game.

You educate players that if the team wins and they play well, the NFL is going to find them. If they want to go to Hollywood and they're pretty, Hollywood's going to find them, too. If you take care of business, life works out.

You guys are always asking me about why I like to be at Iowa, ... I don't read the Internet, as you know, but I get stuff handed to me by people in the office. I'm reading about Michigan as much as I can, and boy, it's a pretty tough audience up there.

How other people perceived our season might go, it doesn't affect me. I'd have to be an insane person to worry about what anybody else thinks. Our challenge was to do the best we could with the circumstances, and this season has been no different than any other.

It'd probably be hard to find a college game with better linebackers on the field at one time. It ought to be exciting. Tough on the offenses - but it should really be exciting for the fans to watch.

We're not sure where everybody is going to end up. The good news is, we really like what we see.

I think the consensus was and continues to be they'd rather be together on Christmas. That was our thought get down here, it gives us a chance to get our feet on the ground and, most importantly, we're all here together.

They're probably emphasizing the return game a little bit more now, for obvious reasons -- the guys they have. A blocked punt -- I don't know what the percentages are, but I know it's bad. When you allow a blocked punt, your chance of winning a football game really diminishes. But right now, they're thinking more about returns. They may pull out that block for us, and try and test us again. It wouldn't surprise me.

That's his nature. He's an aggressive player. He doesn't play defense, but he's going to react aggressively in any situation. That's pretty predictable. There's no question there was frustration.