Ferentz on the Coaches Hot Seat

Coaches Hot Seat is back at it, this time with its offseason review of Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, currently No. 3 on the Hot Seat rankings behind Washington's Tyrone Willingham and Wyoming's Joe Glenn.

Ferentz experienced a spectacular three-year run that saw the Hawkeyes win 31 games. That earned the coach a long-term deal and significant boost in pay. But according to Hot Seat, that's when it all started to fall apart in Iowa City.

"The problem is that since Ferentz signed that very rich contract his overall record is 19-18 and his record in the Big Ten is 11-13."

Along with the Hawkeyes' predictable offense are a myriad of other problems. Hot Seat says the "overall intensity level is dramatically different, with the 2002-04 teams playing with much more passion, drive, and fire. The second very noticeable item is the amount of stupid penalties and lack of focus by the Iowa players in the last couple of years."

Iowa opens with creampuffs Maine and Florida International. Then comes Iowa State and a trip to Pittsburgh.

Hot Seat: "We see the Pitt game as the beginning of the end of the Hawkeyes in 2008, with a loss to Pitt being the first loss of 6 in the last 9 games of the season. The biggest problem for Iowa in recent years has been in the Big Ten, and we see Iowa going 2-6 in the conference, which if it happened would give Ferentz a 4-year record of 17-19 in the Big Ten. "

Ferentz, is you're keeping score at home, has a $4.55 million buyout.