For the 27 time at Iowa City, Kirk Ferentz will be putting on his head coach cap to lead the Hawkeyes in the 2025 season. He’s been here a long, long time and has a formidable career backing him as his legacy. Notably, he also gets to call himself a friend of Bill Belichick. Having worked with the legendary coach for 3 years, Ferentz opened up about what page he’d like to take out of Belichick’s playbook.

If Belichick hadn’t accepted the UNC offer, Kirk Ferentz would have still held the title of the oldest HC in the FBS. But ever since the icon landed the job, the Hawkeyes’ coach has always been appreciative of his new direction. But the two have known each other for decades, as Ferentz signed up to be Cleveland’s O-line coach in 1993. Having worked with the veteran for 3 years, there are definitely going to be some areas where he’d like to employ some Belichick-style measures.

In a September 12 appearance on the Big Ten Network, Ferentz was asked what he’d like to take from Belichick’s long years as coach and apply in his own career. “His organizational skills are unbelievable”, he said. “And his mind is usually about ten days ahead of mine, that’s for sure. Maybe more. But the biggest thing I think about him was his consistency,” he added. Though the football world didn’t know then what was to come of Belichick later on with New England, Ferentz did.

“As you know, about the NFL, boy – it’s not week to week, it’s day-to-day. There’s so many ups and downs in an NFL season and it goes forever. But his consistency, and approach, personality, and just everything about him helped stabilize things,” Ferentz added. Belichick took over in 1991 after the Browns went 3-13. Belichick finished his Cleveland career with a 36-44 record. He was fired after the Browns moved to Baltimore for the 1996 season. But Ferentz stayed on and became one of the reasons why star OT Jonathan Ogden became a sensation in the NFL.

Now, we’re watching how the Bill Belichick project is unfolding at Chapel Hill. He started rough, but has come back up fighting. There’s still a long way ahead for Belichick in college football, but Ferentz is confident that Belichick will turn out to be worthy. “He’s an excellent teacher, an excellent listener, just an excellent leader,” the HC added in his praise for Belichick. The two have spent a short time together in the NFL, but it’s established a bond that remains even today. “I learned a lot from him in the three years that he coached for me at the Browns,” Belichick said in 2019, then still in the NFL.

The Iowa HC had seen the beginnings of the veteran coach, and both have come a long way since then. However, if it weren’t for one phone call, we wouldn’t have been able to hear these comments.

How Bill Belichick and Kirk Ferentz began their journey together

Ferentz has remained tight-lipped about how he got to work with Cleveland in the first place. He was then fresh out of a job, his last stint being the HC of Maine at that time. But before that, he’d had tremendous success as Iowa’s O-line coach. He saw 11 of his O-linemen make it to the NFL in his first stint. However, the person who seems to have made it all possible was never coached by Ferentz.

That was former Hawkeye and Chicago legend, Jay Hilgenberg. Belichick rang him up in 1992, with a plan to get him to play for Cleveland. He’d started with asking for a recommendation for the empty O-line coach spot, and Hilgenberg had recommended Kirk Ferentz. “He goes, ‘Who the (heck) is that?’” Hilgenberg told the Register. Kirk Ferentz had never been to the NFL before. But Hilgenberg saw how he developed star OL and Jay’s brother, Joel. Belichick then asked Jay if he would come to Cleveland if the coach was on board, and he agreed, reports Hawk Central.

Belichick made Ferentz the offer when he was on a recruiting trip in 1993. And before kickoff that year, Ferentz began his journey in the NFL under the legendary coach. From being strangers to striking — and continuing — a long friendship, Bill Belichick and Kirk Ferentz remain appreciative of each other’s careers so far. The Iowa HC can still aim to learn a thing or two from the older coach, knowing he has lots more to offer.