Kirk Ferentz, the Iowa Hawkeyes head coach, is the only other serious candidate other than Brian Kelly for the job at Notre Dame, IrishCentral.com has learned.
IrishCentral was the first to predict that Kelly would be the Notre Dame choice, and while he remains the overwhelming favorite, Ferentz is apparently still a contender, according to sources close to the situation.
Once Bob Stoopes of Oklahoma and Urban Meyer were out of contention, it came down to Kelly and Ferentz, the source says, with Jim Harbaugh of Stanford making up the final three.
Ferentz is just coming off an excellent year with the Hawkeyes.
The 2009 Hawkeye football team got off to the best start in school history. Narrow home victories over Northern Iowa and Arkansas State, coupled with double-digit road wins over Penn State and Wisconsin fueled a 7-0 start.
Ferentz' 2009 Hawks became the first Iowa team to win eight games to start a season by triumphing at Michigan State, 15-13, with a touchdown pass on the final play of the game.
After defeating Indiana to run their record to 9-0, the Hawks lost quarterback Ricky Stanzi to injury in an upset loss to Northwestern. Iowa then lost the de-facto Big Ten championship game at Ohio State, 27-24, in overtime.
The Hawkeyes shut out Minnesota to finish the regular season with a 10-2 record, and will they play Georgia Tech in the 2010 Orange Bowl on Jan. 5.
Now Ferentz, who has been touted for several head coaching jobs in both college football and the NFL, is in the running at Notre Dame, where he has attracted a number of admirers after his successful 12-year tenure at Iowa.
However, Kelly remains the inside favorite and very much the head coach in waiting. The departure of Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate has only helped Kelly in his quest for the job.
He is a miracle worker with offense, and has a talent for plucking talented quarterbacks from obscurity. He would need all that and more with the Fighting Irish.
3 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Griff10 | Dec 09, 2009, 01:27 PM EST
Sorry...."under consideration" was in another of your articles. "Notre Dame checks out Kirk Ferentz"....that's hilarious. It should be more like "Notre Dame begs Ferentz again but he still says no" Your programs sense of self importance kills me. Get a grip dude.
Griff10 | Dec 09, 2009, 01:21 PM EST
Good article. I think you're getting your facts mixed up though. Kirk Ferentz has not indicated any interest in the ND job, nor FLA previously, Mich, etc... In fact, he has publicly stated he is not. I know that's hard to believe how he couldn't be interested in NOTRE DAME, but he's not. He wasn't interested before the Weis hire either. It just gets funny to me how ND fans think they can just go and pluck anyone they want like it's still 1970. I hate to break it to you but, BK is the ONLY one of their targets who would even take the job. If KF would have wanted the job he'd already be there....."under consideration"...hilarious.
raabeye | Dec 08, 2009, 09:48 AM EST
Name you sources you mindless idiot. YOu have no credibility and no one cares.