After 47 years with the Vikings, an equipment manager gets his Hall of Fame moment

 

            After 47 years with the Vikings, an equipment manager gets his Hall of Fame moment

            By Alec Lewis

          July 24, 2026

          When the Vikings drafted running back Robert Smith in 1993, his agent, Neil Cornrich, provided him with information about a few key members of the organization.

“He’s, like, ‘Frank Gilliam, Scott Studwell and Dennis Ryan, the equipment guy,’” Smith recalled. “I was, like, ‘Why are you bringing him up?’ Later on, it didn’t even really feel like he was part of the organization. It was more like he was part of the team.”

Equipment manager Dennis Ryan was a fixer, confidant, barista, manager, planner and innovator during his 47 years with the Vikings. Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

After 47 years with the Vikings, an equipment manager gets his Hall of Fame moment

By Alec Lewis

July 24, 2026

He might not like this story. Not because it’s wrong or rude or negative, but because it’s about him.

For more than four decades, Dennis Ryan mostly escaped the headlines. He did what he was determined to do: remain unheralded, contribute in a way where you’d have to know to really know. Ryan did his job and left the Minnesota Vikings’ facility later than anyone else without extra praise or prestige.

He was a fixer, confidant, mechanic, barista, manager, planner and innovator. Vikings Hall of Famer John Randle equated Ryan to the person, cloaked head to foot in soot, who shovels coal into a train engine without the passengers ever seeing his face. Former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins respected Ryan so much that he recently sent him a lengthy voice memo detailing the extent of his reverence.

Reach out to any well-known wearer of purple, and they will rave about Ryan.

“People talk about Bud Grant being the cornerstone of the Vikings, the identity of the Vikings, who the Vikings were and are, and who they should be,” former Minnesota linebacker and coach Pete Bercich said. “I would have to put Dennis Ryan tied with him or 1B because he is the man who put Bud Grant’s vision into reality.”

So why write this story now? Why shine the spotlight on Ryan in July of 2026? Well, for one thing, the NFL machine will begin to whir next week. And with that, the media apparatus will gloss over the behind-the-scenes men and women who keep the churn going.

Who better to represent them than the man who worked as the Vikings’ equipment manager for 47 years?

Ryan, who retired three years ago, worked 922 games for the franchise, including 705 consecutive games from 1979 to 2021. Last spring, he received an award of excellence from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He earned the honor for an anonymous career spent in camera-free spaces. He touched Vikings players and teams in ways both tangible and mystical.

For that, for all of the time and work and impact, he deserves his day in the sun.

Here is an assortment of stories from 10 former Vikings who relished telling them.

We’ll start with the zygomatic arch.

If you’re a physician, you may know this as a bone on the side of the skull that bridges the jaw and cheekbone. If you’re a football player, you may know that this is an area where you want to avoid getting hit.

In December 2000, three St. Louis Rams defenders collided with then-Vikings receiver Chris Walsh at the same time. Some bells get rung. Others get blasted with metal. This injury was more the latter.

“It looked like someone took a 9-iron to the side of my face,” Walsh said. “My face got caved in.”

He underwent surgery after the game. Doctors expected him to miss at least two weeks, a generous prognosis considering Walsh prided himself on special teams play. A day later, he trotted out to the practice field in uniform, determined not to miss time.

Teammates understood why he believed he could avoid worsening the injury: Walsh’s will to return was matched by Dennis Ryan’s creativity.

Toying with a sponge-type material in the equipment room, Ryan developed a donut-shaped pad and lodged it inside Walsh’s helmet. The pad prevented pain when resting. It absorbed contact when Walsh attempted tackles.

“He built almost an airspace where the broken bone was,” Walsh said. “There’s no book on how to do that, but there is no way I would’ve been able to get back on that field if it wasn’t for my belief in what he built.”

They can still taste the flavor.

“He made the best coffee I’ve ever had,” Bercich said.

What made it special?

“I know he had a certain way he prepared it to be brewed,” former Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway said. “And it was strong as all heck.”

Greenway didn’t drink coffee before he entered the NFL. One afternoon as a rookie, listening to coaches drone on in a dark room with film cutups flashing in front of them, his head bobbed. Afterward, Hall of Fame offensive lineman Steve Hutchinson pointed him toward the equipment room and said: “Go talk to Dennis.”

The java tradition coincided with players from all eras. Mind you, Ryan was 16 when he began working for the Vikings in 1975. He replaced the team’s first-ever equipment manager, Jimmy “Stubby” Eason, six years later.

If Randle carted out to a local golf course next week and spotted Adam Thielen, they would connect about the man who kept them awake.

Several former players wondered aloud if the memory of the coffee is directly linked to the joy of the times. Being part of a team. Spending time together off the field. Playing cards in the equipment room on an otherwise mundane Wednesday.

In the 1990s, Randle would wheel into the parking lot at 6 a.m. His first stop? Ryan’s office for a cup of joe.

“Some newer guys would ask, like, ‘Is the coffee ready? How do you know he’s got a pot brewed?’” Randle recalled. “I’m, like, ‘Bruh, D Ryan is always there.’ He was Mr. Dependable — like the mailman. Rain, sleet or snow. He was always going to be there.”

Longtime Vikings equipment manager Dennis Ryan adjusts a player’s shoulder pads.Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

Every quarterback has a preference when it comes to how the football feels. Some place more importance on the texture than others, and some demand the laces to stick out at a distinct height.

When Brad Johnson played for the Vikings in the 1990s, teams could not come to the stadium with footballs previously prepared. Instead, an equipment staffer lugged a bag of balls into a side training room and was allotted an hour to massage the footballs to the preferred specifications.

Johnson didn’t observe the process. He did, though, recall seeing Ryan weave through the locker room in the aftermath. His wavy hair angled all over the place. His shirt doused in sweat. Blood dried on his knuckles.

“That was all from him trying to rub the football just right,” Johnson said. “He just cared about every player and wanted to win as much as anybody.”

Longtime Vikings tackle Tim Irwin, who played for the team a decade before Randle, described Ryan as a “sneaky little twerp.”

Once, Irwin said, the minuscule Ryan, who was a high school wrestler at St. Paul Humboldt, pinned the 6-foot-1, 290-pound Randle in a wrestling match.

“That was one of my favorite things I ever saw him do,” Irwin said.

Like all legendary tales, the story takes on a different form depending on the narrator. Randle vehemently denied the allegation. Former Vikings tight end Steve Jordan thought Ryan made quick work of former center Jeff Christy, a constant menace. Walsh supported that recollection.

Whatever the case, these shenanigans broke up the monotony. In those days, the players frequently warred with tube socks flying across the locker room. Ryan participated. One quiet midweek evening, he surfaced with a World War I-era mask that made the rest of the room shriek.

Perhaps the silliest event came during training camp at Minnesota State in Mankato. One summer in the late 1980s, according to Bercich’s retelling, Vikings coach Jerry Burns asked Ryan to drive to the local mall to scavenge for a mannequin.

When Ryan hauled one into the office, Burns directed him to dress it up like defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. One morning later in camp, Burns staged a fight, resulting in defensive lineman Keith Millard hurling the mannequin off the roof of a building next to the practice fields.

“Those days, unfortunately, are over,” Bercich said. “That’s the price you pay for the money these guys make and the attention these guys get.”

Ryan was not afraid to mix it up and have fun with players.Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

In the 1990s, the Vikings defensive linemen took issue with all the grabbing.

The rules allowed offensive linemen to grapple and hold the bottom of their shoulder pads with savvy bordering on deviousness. So the Minnesota defenders asked Ryan what they could do. He listened and mulled their complaints. Then, after practice one day, he drove to NAPA Auto Parts.

“He comes back with these Harley-Davidson mud flaps,” Randle said, “and he’s screwing them on our shoulder pads.”

You can imagine a group of towering men marveling over the handiwork. And this kind of thing happened all of the time. Adjacent to the team’s locker room, the sounds of drills digging and screws rattling were constants.

Ryan sawed at the nubs of players’ cleats to fit their preferred specifications. Some players preferred their shoulder pads to cling more snugly to their jersey, so Ryan applied double-sided tape to both. He zip-tied additional filler to the shoulder pads for added protection. He stuffed elbow pads with more cushioning to prevent players’ arms from scraping the turf. Randall McDaniel accidentally melted his cleats with a butane heater one chilly afternoon, and Ryan had fetched a new pair before he even returned to the sideline.

Each player came to him with different asks and ideas. Before McDaniel’s first NFL game, one Vikings defender aggressively poked his left eye in practice. To cover up a patch and to prevent opponents from plucking at the spot, Ryan tinted a face shield for McDaniel, a style that later became popular.

“Some guys wanted different types of undershirts,” Jordan said. “Some needed new shoes every game, every half. It was constant.”

Ryan ordered an ankle machine for Jordan every year at training camp. He called Nike to ensure the company would provide Randle with shoes similar to those his hero, Chris Doleman, had worn. He put Vaseline in Warren Moon’s fanny pack before every game.

When the Vikings drafted running back Robert Smith in 1993, his agent, Neil Cornrich, provided him with information about a few key members of the organization.

“He’s, like, ‘Frank Gilliam, Scott Studwell and Dennis Ryan, the equipment guy,’” Smith recalled. “I was, like, ‘Why are you bringing him up?’ Later on, it didn’t even really feel like he was part of the organization. It was more like he was part of the team.”

Ryan retired in April 2023 after working 922 games with the Vikings.Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

Cousins always marveled at Ryan’s longevity. He peppered him with questions about Fran Tarkenton, Alan Page and Ahmad Rashad. Once, Ryan explained to him how fascinating it was to watch Don Hasselbeck and Archie Manning as Vikings in the 1980s … then witness the entirety of their sons’ quarterbacking careers.

Ryan outlasted all of them. Furthermore, he maintained his prolific output with a small staff that includes current Vikings assistants Adam Groene and Terrell Barnes, who carry on his legacy.

Who compiled the 100-page list of items to pass through customs on international trips? Ryan. Who washed the uniforms when the team arrived home at 3 a.m. after a prime-time game? Ryan. Who dragged bags of footballs onto the field before practice? Ryan.

Bercich said the day the Metrodome roof caved in, Ryan’s car idled on the side of the road, unable to handle the onslaught of snow. Rather than call for help, he walked to the stadium without paying mind to the frigidity.

“He lived in the facility at times,” McDaniel said. “Like, he literally had a fold-out couch and bed.”

After one of his final seasons in Minnesota in the 1990s, Randle visited Ryan’s office with a gift.

“Because of what you’ve done for me all these years,” Randle told him.

Ryan, looking down at a shiny Rolex watch inside a box, shook his head. He wouldn’t take it. He didn’t need it. He refused.

These memories, Randle shared, are his way of thanking Ryan in a form he cannot deny. Not this time.

Raiders Given Rare Grade for Stealing $81 Million Pro Bowler away from Ravens

 

By Tony Adame

Updated Jul 7, 2026 at 5:46pm

The value of a good center can’t be overstated.

Look no further than the Kansas City Chiefs and their combination of quarterback Patrick Mahomes and center Creed Humphrey, who have teamed up to win 2 Super Bowls and play in 1 more in their 1st 5 seasons together.

The Baltimore Ravens lost their superstar center in free agency after 3-time Pro Bowler and former 1st -round pick Tyler Linderbaum signed a 3-year, $81 million free-agent contract with the Las Vegas Raiders in March.

Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton handed out a rare “A” grade to the Raiders for stealing Linderbaum away from the Ravens — a move that’s almost certainly made the Ravens’ offense much worse in 2026.

For the Raiders, Linderbaum represents a bridge between veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins and the future of the franchise in 2026 No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza.

“The Baltimore Ravens allowed three-time Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum to test the open market, and he signed the second-richest deal among offensive free agents,” Moton wrote on July 7. “Linderbaum played for a perennial contender and chose to sign with a franchise that’s been in a perpetual rebuild for over two decades, which says a lot about general manager John Spytek’s ability to close big deals and first-time head coach Klint Kubiak’s appeal … In Year 1 with the Raiders, Cousins and Linderbaum will set the foundation for the offense. When the team inevitably inserts No. 1 overall pick Fernandon Mendoze into the lineup, he’ll have help from one of the league’s best centers in making pre-snap calls and changes at the line of scrimmage.”

---

‘Difficult’ Contract Negotiations Before Ravens Exit

The Ravens and Linderbaum seemed destined for a messy split before he finally made it official by leaving for the desert.

In February, reports were already surfacing of tension between the 2 sides.

“(The Ravens) have tried to negotiate with (Linderbaum),” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said on February 24. “His agent is very difficult to negotiate with. Neil Cornrich is the agent, and his method is basically not responding.”

Getting ghosted was not a great look for the Ravens, who tried their best to spin things like Linderbaum was something along the lines of ungrateful — not the best way to negotiate.

“Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said the team has made a ‘market setting’ offer to center Tyler Linderbaum, who will be a free agent next month,” ESPN’s Jamison Hensley wrote on X on Tuesday.

Linderbaum’s deal didn’t just reset the market — the 4-year, $72 million contract signed by Humphrey before the 2024 season — it blew it out of the water.

---

Tyler Linderbaum Rarest of Rare NFL Centers

There aren’t many centers who have been 1st-round picks in the NFL draft. Linderbaum is one of them, going No. 25 overall to the Ravens in 2022.

The 6-foot-2, 314-pound Iowa native dominated at the University of Iowa, where he was a 2-time All-Big Ten pick and was at his very best in his final season, winning the Rimington Trophy, earning All-American honors and being named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year.

Headed into the 2022 NFL draft, NFL draft analyst/guru/shaman/expert Lance Zierlein compared Linderbaum to future Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Kelce.

“Teams with certain size standards might pass on him, but his tenacity and talent make him a can’t-miss prospect if matched in the right scheme,” Zierlein wrote in 2022.

https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/baltimore-ravens/raiders-rare-grade-center-tyler-linderbaum/

 

 

 

Tyler Linderbaum’s massive contract to have far-reaching impact on NFL player salaries

 

Charles Robinson | Senior reporter

Thu, April 16, 2026 at 8:00 PM EDT

The $81 Million Player Who Shattered the NFL’s Salary Scale

 

Center Tyler Linderbaum transformed the economics of his position by landing a deal worth 50% more a year than any of his peers

 

By Andrew Beaton

March 10, 2026 9:00 am ET

The Raiders signed center Tyler Linderbaum to a 3-year, $81 million deal. Terrance Williams/Associated Press

 

Tyler Linderbaum had every attribute he needed to set off a bidding war when NFL free agency kicked off on Monday. 

Over four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, he had clearly established himself among the best centers in the league. At 25 years old, he was also in the prime of his career. Even better, he was the only offensive lineman of his caliber on the market.

The only factor standing between him and breaking the bank was a general view that centers weren’t as valuable as other positions. Which is what made the deal Linderbaum received even more stunning. 

On Monday, Linderbaum agreed to a three-year, $81 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders that not only made the highest-paid player at his position—it completely warped the NFL’s salary scale. The previous top deal for a center, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Creed Humphrey, was for $18 million a year. At $27 million annually, Linderbaum raised the bar by 50%. 

Under normal circumstances, those records move in small increments, not gigantic leaps. But Linderbaum had a perfect storm on his side to supercharge his market. Players so young and so talented don’t become free agents all that often. And with the NFL salary cap now over $300 million, teams had plenty of money to spend—without many other top-shelf players to lavish it on. 

As it turns out, the team with the most money at its disposal was the one that landed him. The Raiders had over $100 million in room beneath the salary cap—along with a need to protect their most important asset. In next month’s NFL draft, they have the No. 1 draft pick, which they’re all but certain to use on Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.  

At 25, Linderbaum is in the prime of his career. Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images

 

So the Raiders didn’t think twice about splurging on the guy who will snap him the ball. As general manager Jon Spytek recently explained, bringing in a young quarterback means a need to keep him upright. 

“You want to limit the amount of pressure you have on that guy,” Spytek said. “A great offensive line, a run game, all the things that can limit his chances to really get killed.”

To understand how NFL teams value their rosters, you only need to glance at which positions draw the most cash. Quarterbacks are at the top, with 11 passers now having received deals worth more than $50 million a year. 

After that, the top pass rushers and wide receivers tend to have the most earning power. Centers only begin to appear near the bottom of the scale. Even compared to other offensive linemen, they tend to be cheap. The highest-paid tackle last year made $30.1 million, or 67% more than the Chiefs’ Humphrey. The top guard was also significantly higher at $24 million a year. 

That made centers a potential inefficiency in the market. The league is flush with strong pass rushers who come through the middle. And as modern defenses do more to disguise their coverages and blitzes, centers have an even bigger job as the brains of the offensive line. 

It’s no wonder that some of the savviest teams in the league understood it was worth shelling out for a good one. Before Linderbaum, the two centers who earned the most belonged to the Chiefs and Eagles—who have three of the past four Super Bowls between them. 

Linderbaum capitalized on all of that during free agency’s soft opening, which featured the typical frenzy of agreements that can be officially signed on Wednesday. On a day that saw the Chiefs sign Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker from the Seahawks and linebacker Jaelan Phillips land a four-year, $120 million deal with the Panthers, Linderbaum was the one who transformed the economics of his position.

Linderbaum was a first-round selection of the Ravens in 2022. Julio Cortez/Associated Press

 

The odd twist is that the Ravens could have kept Linderbaum, one of their first-round draft picks in 2022, for far less. Last year, they had an option to keep him for an additional season, but it would’ve cost $23.4 million, which was $5 million more than the top of the center market. They deemed that too much and instead sought to work out a deal that they felt was more reasonable. 

“It is our intention for him to remain a Baltimore Raven long term,” general manager Eric DeCosta said at the time. 

What the Ravens didn’t count on was another team straying so far positional norms. But coming off a three-win season, the Raiders weren’t afraid to go to extreme lengths to rebuild their franchise.

“We’ve got a lot of needs to address,” Spytek said recently, “and we’ve got a lot of capital to do it.”

Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Appeared in the March 11, 2026, print edition as 'The $81 Million Center Who Shattered NFL’s Salary Scale'.

2026 NFL free agency awards: Best, worst, surprising moves

  

Ben Solak

Mar 11, 2026, 06:30 AM ET

 

And just like that, NFL free agency is over!

 

Well, not really. It actually starts on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET -- but as ESPN's Adam Schefter rightfully bemoaned earlier this week, let's just start calling the legal negotiation period (which began Monday) the real opening of free agency. Almost all of the significant dust has settled on major movers and new deals.

 

I like to hand out awards after the early parts of every free agent period. These aren't awards for biggest winners (your favorite team, surely) and biggest losers (the team that stole your favorite free agent targets, surely). My colleague Bill Barnwell hit all those on Tuesday. This is for the sillier stuff. The Market Buster Award. The Friendship Award. The Arch Manning Seat Warmer Award.

 

Intrigued? I sure hope so.

The Market Buster Award: Tyler Linderbaum

 

Yes, $27 million per year. 27! Twenty. Seven.

 

When the Raiders signed Linderbaum to a three-year, $81 million deal Monday, they reset the center market in a way that markets simply don't get reset in the NFL. The then-biggest deal at center was Creed Humphrey's deal at $18 million per year. Linderbaum's $27 million per year represents a 50% increase at the top. Unfathomable.

 

Here's a current look at the biggest contract at every position in the NFL by APY and what a new contract would have to hit in order to create a proportional increase to the "Linderbaum Leap" (copyright Ben Solak 2026, nobody else is allowed to use that without my written consent).

 

The 'Linderbaum Leap' at every position

 

 

Think about this: A team would have to pay an edge rusher $70 million or a running back over $30 million or a defensive tackle almost $50 million to get a proportionate jump. I only included kicker at the bottom because it might actually happen this year; Brandon Aubrey's negotiations with the Cowboys could get him around $10 million per year, which would be a 50% increase over Ka'imi Fairbairn's newly minted $6.5 million-per-year deal.

 

It's very easy to look at the Raiders, who entered the period with over $100 million in cap space, and shrug at the Linderbaum deal. Why not sign him for whatever exorbitant figure ensured he took his services to Las Vegas and nowhere else? (This, of course, was a much easier argument to make before Maxx Crosby's $30 million cap hit was suddenly catapulted back onto the Raiders' cap when the Ravens failed his physical and backed out of the trade. But it's the best Las Vegas knew at the time!)

 

This perspective is fine, but it doesn't change the fact that $27 million is an enormous number. Linderbaum is the sixth-highest-paid offensive lineman in all of football on this deal -- below only four left tackles and one right tackle. We've simply never seen an interior offensive lineman valued like this.

 

It's interesting to try to figure out when Linderbaum's deal will get beat. The league's best centers on rookie contracts are Zach Frazier (Pittsburgh) and Graham Barton (Buccaneers). Both were drafted in 2024 and are extension eligible after the upcoming season. Barton has a fifth-year option of team control; Frazier will be a free agent in 2028. We'll know how the Linderbaum deal has fallen for the Raiders by then, but if it goes well, more teams might be willing to pay their centers more than their guards -- and close to their tackles.

 

It's a trend to watch. But who knows what's really going to happen. We're in uncharted waters here -- $27 million worth of uncharted waters.

Kirk Ferentz one win away from passing Woody Hayes as Big Ten's winningest coach

 

by: Brett McMurphy

September 3, 2025

Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images.

 

LAS VEGAS – The (soon-to-be) winningest coach in Big Ten history starts laughing when reminded of how his Iowa career began. Kirk Ferentz lost 18 of his first 20 games – and admits he was fortunate he didn’t start 0-20.

Now, 27 years and 329 games later, Ferentz is one win shy of passing Woody Hayes as the Big Ten’s winningest coach. That will come either Saturday at rival Iowa State or the following week at home vs. UMass.

“I go back, like, ‘how the hell did this happen?’” Ferentz told On3 this summer.

A funny thing about Ferentz’s success is that he never really wanted to be a head coach. 

A former assistant at Iowa under Hayden Fry, Ferentz served as an offensive line coach for six seasons with the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens from 1993 to 1998. During that time, he paid attention to Iowa, Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin and Bill Snyder at Kansas State.

“In college, there was a better opportunity for family stability than in the NFL,” Ferentz said. “I really enjoyed coaching in the NFL, but I told my wife (Mary) early in our time in Cleveland that odds were we would be moving every 3-5 years.”

In 1999, Ferentz left the NFL when he was hired at Iowa. “I wanted to be successful, but if it didn’t work out, it wasn’t going to end my life,” Ferentz said. “I was perfectly happy going back (to the NFL) as a position coach.

“I know some guys have ‘got’ to be a head coach. I never wanted to be one, quite frankly.”

His success drew a lot of suitors. Ferentz had several opportunities to leave Iowa, but never did.

In the early 2000s, Ferentz jokes he “was the sexy guy in the room back then.” His agent, Neil Cornrich, approached him about a substantial NFL offer.

“Neil told me, you have to explain to your oldest son Brian, that this is ‘generational money.’ He’ll never have to work if you take this job,” Ferentz said. “My wife tells Brian (then an Iowa offensive lineman) that, and he looks at her and says, ‘I never asked to be taken care of.’

“That was a great parent moment. Like, you know, the kid’s thinking right.”

Ferentz recalls another NFL job he turned down. 

“I didn’t want to entertain it, and it was with a good owner, too,” he said. “A different college coach took the job, and I think it’s funny because that guy has no idea I was the first choice.”

Ferentz won’t name the many NFL teams and college programs that were “quote-unquote better jobs” that tried to hire him away from Iowa. Those so-called higher-paying jobs where donors would sabotage the athletic director or set up clandestine meetings with a prospective coach.

“I don’t want to swim in those waters,” Ferentz said. “At least I don’t have to worry about that shit. They love you when they love you, but they can cut and run pretty quick too. So I just never want to get involved in that.”

Ferentz has had a remarkable run with the Hawkeyes. He’s had only one losing season in the last 24 years. He’s been named Big Ten Coach of the Year four times, won two Big Ten titles and led the Hawkeyes to two BCS/New Year’s 6 bowls.

He’s 205-124. He’s won games in every way imaginable. There was the 6-4 victory – yes 6-4 – vs. Penn State in 2004 and then the infamous 7-3 victory vs. South Dakota State in 2022.

Iowa’s seven points? The Hawkeyes had two safeties and a field goal. Iowa is not always locked in a defensive tug-of-war. The Hawkeyes have scored half a hundred 14 times under Ferentz, the only Division I head coach to coach three sons (Brian, James, and Steve) at the same college. 

On Aug. 1, Ferentz turned 70. His playing career ended after three seasons as a hard-hitting linebacker at UConn in 1976. He’s been coaching ever since. Remarkably, Ferentz has been coaching longer than 59 current FBS coaches have been alive. 

Ferentz knows he can’t coach forever. He believes when he’s ready to step down, “it’s probably going to be pretty obvious to me. Otherwise, I’m cheating the kids, and I’m not going to do that. Or someone else is going to tell me to sit down.

“There’s no perfect jobs and every job has something you don’t like: speaking publicly or whatever it may be, making those appearances. But you do those things to do what you really love doing and that’s coaching. So if it gets to the point where I just start thinking ‘Hey, this stuff outweighs the good,’ then that’s the time to walk away too.”

When that does happen, Ferentz said he will not be involved in finding his replacement.

“Whenever I step down, I just hope somebody in the (Iowa) family is allowed to elevate,” Ferentz said. “We have a handful of guys in the building that are really good. That’s not going to be my decision about that. They didn’t ask me, and I don’t want them to ask me. It’s not my call to make, other than I can endorse a lot of people that we have. I hope they get that chance.”

Despite Ferentz’s slow start to his career, he also got that chance. What a magical run it’s been.

https://www.on3.com/news/kirk-ferentz-one-win-away-from-passing-woody-hayes-as-big-tens-winningest-coach/

 

College coaches’ million-dollar buyouts: Revealing the unparalleled power shift in sports’ lucrative realm

 

By Michael Calabrese Stacker | Updated September 13, 2023 1:01 PM

Roughly half of all U.S. employers utilize non-competes in their contracts, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute in 2019. These companies want to exert a level of control over their employees, preventing them from "sharing confidential information or trade secrets." But another major benefit for companies is that non-competes limit employee bargaining power and suppress wages. The New York Times estimated that non-competes "suppress American workers' income by roughly 3 percent to 4 percent, or $250 billion to $296 billion."

It's rare for talent to turn the tables on employers, but in college football and college sports in general, that is precisely what has happened for coaches. OLBG explores how lucrative buyout agreements have granted coaches near-uncancellable contracts and reshaped the landscape of college sports. In the past twenty years, more and more men's college basketball and college football coaches have successfully negotiated multimillion-dollar buyouts in their contracts. Notre Dame's Charlie Weis was paid "to go away," after an unsuccessful tenure in South Bend, Indiana, 15 years ago. He was paid just shy of $19 million between 2009, when he was fired, and 2017. While his buyout made waves in 2009, it's considered buy-out pocket change for universities in 2023.

So which coaches are virtually "unfireable" today due to their buy-out clauses? Let's look at what coaches would make if they were fired today.

Two quick notes: This assumes no one on our list is fired for cause. That could get a college or university off the hook, monetarily speaking. And the second note is that this list comprises coaches from public universities only. Their contracts are publicly available, while private institutions are under no obligation to share contractual information. USC's Lincoln Riley may well have a buyout of over $90 million based on his current compensation that has been made public, but we do not have access to his buyout stipulation.

1. Kirby Smart, Georgia, Head Football Coach ($103.1 million buyout)

You can't buy the kind of job security that Kirby Smart has right now in Athens, Georgia. Smart has led the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championships. As a reward, his ten-year $112.5 million deal is fully guaranteed through 2026. His deal drops from 100% guaranteed to 85% on Jan. 1st, 2027, and would be paid out at that level through the end of the contract. Luckily, the UGA athletic department won't have to entertain the thought of firing their legendary head coach. The same can't be said for other employers on this list with massive contracts hanging like albatrosses around their necks.

2. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M, Head Football Coach ($86.7 million buyout)

The Aggies take their football seriously, so it is no surprise that they pay their head football coach handsomely. Fisher's most recent extension agreed to pay him $94.95 million over a ten-year period starting in 2022. It made sense when the Texas A&M Board of Regents voted to extend Fisher. He was coming off a 9-1 season with an Orange Bowl victory. But since then, Fisher and the Aggies are 13-11 with a losing record (6-10) in SEC play. Last fall's 5-7 mark would have gotten a lot of coaches fired, but not Fisher. His massive buyout ($86m) prevented an ouster at the time. While it has come down by another $9 million, it remains astronomical and would be the largest ever paid if A&M gave Fisher the boot following the season.

3. Mel Tucker, Michigan State, Head Football Coach ($86.6 million buyout)

Tucker's contract is fully guaranteed, according to documentation obtained by Boardroom.TV. Tucker's agent, Neil Cornrich, deserves a raise. Despite an 18-14 overall record, which includes two losing seasons in East Lansing, Tucker is entrenched as one of the sport's highest-paid coaches. He has a losing record in the Big Ten since taking over the Michigan State program, but if the school wants to move on from him, they'd have to pay his enormous buyout. Neil Cornrich 1, Michigan State 0.

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This story was produced by OLBG and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.

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This story was originally published September 13, 2023, 7:30 AM.