Ferentz on college sports landscape: ‘There’s no structure’
IOWA CITY — Before addressing the elephant in the room, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz acknowledged the good that the transfer portal has done for his program.
Ferentz named dropped several Hawkeyes, including those of the past, such as Zach VanValkenburg and Mekhi Sargent. Others are still on Iowa's current roster, such as linebacker Nick Jackson and quarterback Cade McNamara.
“I think in general terms,” Ferentz said of the transfer portal on Tuesday, “it's been good for us.”
But this acted as a preface for a development that has been widely scrutinized on a local, and even national level.
On Jan. 20, Alabama transfer Kadyn Proctor announced his commitment to Iowa. But roughly two months later, it was made public that Proctor would be leaving the program.
“Surprised? No,” Ferentz said of the development. “Somewhere in my first year of being the head coach at the University of Maine — I can't remember what happened exactly — but I told my wife when I went home that night, I said if I ever come home and say I'm surprised by anything, just hit me with a baseball bat. So (I) try not to get too surprised by anything. I think it's just probably a reflection of the system, quite frankly, and where we're at right now.”
The Proctor situation highlights the lack of structure in the modern landscape of college sports. NIL and the transfer portal have thrown major complications into the process of rosterbuilding.
There are clear benefits. Athletes who generate so much revenue are allowed to make money off their names.
There are also many transfer portal success stories. Jackson, who played four seasons at Virginia before landing at Iowa, has made a big impact in Iowa City.
But there is also an ugly underbelly to the process. This is not new. But it was just exposed again by the developments with Proctor.
“Probably the biggest concern of this whole thing is just learning boundaries,” Ferentz said of NIL and the transfer portal. “There's no structure, no framework, and that part makes it interesting in the fact that I don't know if it is sustainable.
“So at some point, we're going to have to be able to have a framework and a mode of operation. It's just part of the business, I guess, and fortunately, we haven't experienced too many of those types of things.”
What made Proctor's departure sting even more for Iowa fans was that it felt like Groundhog Day.
A former star at Southeast Polk High
School, Proctor was ranked as the No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2023 class, according to 247Sports. Proctor verbally committed to Iowa, which seemed to be a big-time addition for the Hawkeyes. But he ended up flipping to Alabama.
Proctor made an impact as a true freshman, appearing in all of Alabama's 14 games as the Crimson Tide made a run to the College Football Playoff semifinals, before losing to eventual national champion Michigan. Following the season, legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban retired and former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer took over. Proctor entered the transfer portal and committed to Iowa shortly after.
It seemed as though Proctor's decision to commit to Iowa this time around erased the ill will from his previous choice to spurn attending Iowa.
On the day he committed to Iowa in January, Proctor attended a men's basketball game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“This is home. I love home,” Proctor said then. “This is where I wanted to be.
This is the first place I thought of when I entered the transfer portal.”
Roughly two months later, Proctor backed out of that commitment.
“At the end of the day, whenever it happens, if it does happen, you don't want a player in the program that doesn't want to be here,” Ferentz said. “If his heart and soul is not into it, it's not good for him, it's not good for us, either. We're his teammates so I think that's kind of the bottom line. If there's a silver lining here, too, we didn't spend any practice reps with someone who had no intention of being here, and that's a positive, as well.”
The current state of Iowa's offense made Proctor's departure even more inopportune.
That side of the ball has been a major area of deficiency for the Hawkeyes in recent years, which ultimately led to the departure of offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz. Iowa hired Tim Lester to take over that position, setting into motion a new offensive era, which is now in its early stages. On top of that, Iowa's offensive line has underperformed for the last several seasons.
It wasn't just Proctor's talent that made the addition seismic, but also that it came in a place of need. But Iowa will again have to move forward without him.
It has made for quite a messy situation on multiple levels.
Some may want to put responsibility for this situation on Proctor's shoulders. But it's not a stretch to place blame on the system that allowed him to do it.
“I don't know how we get there in college football or college athletics,” Ferentz said in reference to NIL, “but it would be nice to have some clarity.”