The Big Ten has a new highest paid coach, as Iowa announced a contract extension with Kirk Ferentz last night. While there are various reports on the details, it appears that the annual salary is about $3.7 million each year, with retention bonuses for each year on the deal. This gives Ferentz a slightly larger deal than Jim Tressel, and moves Ferentz into the realm of the salaries of Mack Brown and Nick Saban.
Most importantly for Iowa it does two things
- It locks up Ferentz at a time when there are likely to be openings at Penn State and (possibly) Michigan in the next 2-3 years.
- It enables Ferentz to engage in the following conversation with Purdue's Danny Hope at the next Big Ten Coaches Meeting:
KF: Hey, Danny Boy! Remember how I make sooooooooooo much more money than you?
DH: Ummmm...yeah.
KF: Great! Here's $100 for remembering.
(Repeat 73 times through the course of the conference)
And that my friends, is how you treat an arch-rival. Viva La Iowa-Purdue Death Rivalry!