​In the current college sports landscape, it’s hard to project how long a coach will remain in one place.In some cases, there are unicorns like Kirk Ferentz or Mike Krzyzewski who spend decades coaching at one school. For every one of those guys, hundreds of coaches leave jobs after only a few years. Iowa is hoping they’ve found their men’s basketball version of Ferentz in Ben McCollum.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementYear one of the McCollum era was an unquestioned success for the Hawkeyes. The program made its first Elite Eight in nearly 40 years, reinstating itself into the national spotlight. In addition to that, Iowa put a guy into the NBA for the first time in three years after Bennett Stirtz got drafted. The vibes around McCollum and the program are high entering the fall.The next natural question for some is how long McCollum will remain in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes are a good job in a great conference, but they’re not a blue blood yet. What’s to stop a powerhouse from giving McCollum a ton of money to become their next head coach at some point?In a recent interview with CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, McCollum was asked whether he could see Iowa being the last job he ever takes. McCollum gave a candid response to the question, harkening back to a lesson he learned a while ago.”It could. My old athletic director gave me advice because jobs would come and go when I was at Division II. He said, ‘Whenever you take a job or if you ever take another job, you need to see yourself there for the rest of your life’. And so, any time I’ve taken a job, I’ve always taken it with that thought. It doesn’t mean that I’ll necessarily be there for the rest of my life, but it means that I’m taking it with that intent and then see what happens after that.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”I think so often people take a job to get another job to get another job. I think it’s a slippery slope and I think it’s a miserable life. And so ever since that, it was probably 15 years ago that conversation, I’ve used that advice every single time any type of job opportunity comes open,” McCollum said.While McCollum didn’t give a black-and-white answer about his future at Iowa, he did give some important insight into his mindset when looking at jobs. McCollum took the Iowa job with the mindset that he would be there the rest of his life.Even after just one season, Iowa fans certainly hope that’s the case.Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Zach on X: @zach_hineyAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Ben McCollum says Iowa basketball ‘could’ be final coaching job