SB Nation tasked us with examining some of the greatest “what-if” scenarios in program history, and previous articles in this series have tackled everything from Lute Olson coaching at Iowa for life to Hawkeye super babies (don’t ask). Now it’s time to stop beating around the bush and address the greatest, most enduring what-if of the Ferentz era.
Iowa football was the dregs of the Big Ten at the turn of the century, but unbeknownst to the college football world, its new head coach Kirk Ferentz had a plan to turn things around. Thanks to a few fantastic recruiting classes filled with both blue chips and unheralded gems, a stellar staff of assistant coaches, and a legendary player development program, Iowa clawed its way back to respectability by 2001 and was the Cinderella story of the 2002 season.