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Iowa head coach Kirk
Ferentz decided to take his staff to visit one of his former employers for a
retreat. That former employer just so happens to be six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick.
Judging from the New England Patriots head coach’s reaction, he holds Ferentz in high regard.
Per The Daily
Iowan, Belichick
praised Ferentz for his accomplishments at Iowa and expressed gratitude for his
friendship. He reportedly invited his former assistant to speak to
his team after a practice.
“He’s the
winningest coach in the history of Iowa football,” Belichick said in a release.
“He’s the longest-tenured FBS coach at one school in football. He’s coached at
every level very successfully, so I think his résumé speaks for itself. He’s a
tremendous person; I learned a lot from him in the three years that he coached
for me at the Browns.”
“I’m grateful for
our friendship and relationship and the family members that he’s sent us,” he said in a release.
Ferentz worked as an offensive line coach under Belichick with the Cleveland Browns from 1993 to 1995. Though Belichick was fired when the Browns moved to Baltimore in 1996, Ferentz stayed on with the newly-formed Baltimore Ravens until 1998 before being hired by the Hawkeyes.
The relationship clearly
continued well beyond their parting in 1996.
Ferentz’s son Brian got
his coaching start with the Patriots before joining his own staff in 2012.
Meanwhile, Ferentz’s
younger son James currently plays center for the Patriots.
Suffice it to say, the Iowa head coach has one of the
best friends to have in all of sports, let alone football.
