With Bob Stoops' retirement from Oklahoma, guess who's the longest tenured head coach in division 1-A college football? Believe it or not, it's Iowa's Kirk Ferentz.
It seems his absurd buyout in his contract keeps him in place at Iowa until his knack for periodically pulling off an amazing season in the middle of a long run of mediocrity saves his bacon. Just look at his last five seasons: 4-8, 8-5, 7-6, 12-2, 8-5.
Seasons like 2012 and 2014 brought grumbles from some Iowa fans about the size of Ferentz's buyout; seasons like 2015 result in a contract extension and an even bigger buyout.