​As the 2026 college football season draws near, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz has been named to the 2026 Dodd Trophy preseason watch list. The announcement was made Thursday by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl, Inc. The Dodd Trophy honors a head coach whose team combines on-field success with a strong commitment to scholarship, leadership, and integrity—the three pillars of the legendary Bobby Dodd’s coaching philosophy.
The watch list was established through a selection process led by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl, Inc., which weighs each program’s Academic Progress Rate (APR) and Graduation Success Rate (GSR), along with the team’s dedication to service and charitable involvement within the community, and the anticipated performance for the 2026 season.
Ferentz enters his 28th year as Iowa’s head coach, making him the longest-tenured coach in college football. Over his 28 years guiding the Hawkeyes, Ferentz has mentored 14 individual national award winners on 17 occasions and overseen 101 NFL draft selections. He has steered Iowa to Big Ten championships in 2002 and 2004, as well as Big Ten West Division titles in 2015, 2021, and 2023. Under his leadership, the Hawkeyes have amassed 209 wins, cementing Ferentz as the winningest coach in Big Ten history in all games played while the conference member. He has achieved 133 Big Ten victories, ranking him third in league history behind Michigan’s Bo Schembechler (143) and Ohio State’s Woody Hayes (153).
The 70-year-old coaching veteran has guided Iowa to 23 bowl invitations, including 14 appearances in January bowl games. The Hawkeyes have consistently finished among the top half of the Big Ten standings 19 times under Ferentz, and the team has earned final Top 25 rankings in six of the last eight seasons. Ferentz previously reached Dodd Trophy semifinal status in 2023 and captured the Coach of the Year honor in 2015. In addition to the 2015 Dodd Trophy, he has been named Big Ten Coach of the Year four times (2002, 2004, 2009, and 2015) and has been recognized as the Woody Hayes and Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year in 2015.
The preseason Dodd Trophy group alongside Ferentz includes 19 coaches from programs at Alabama, Boise State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Louisville, Miami (FL), Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, and Washington.
Iowa opens the 2026 season on September 5, hosting Northern Illinois at 3:15 p.m. CT at Kinnick Stadium. For ongoing Iowa news, notes, and analysis, follow Hawkeyes Wire on X (formerly Twitter) at @HawkeyesWire and like the page on Facebook. Follow Scout on X at @SpringgateNews for additional coverage related to this topic. This information originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire in coverage about Kirk Ferentz’s inclusion on the Dodd Trophy preseason watch list.