Mason Richman made his case at Super Bowl Opening Night with the conviction of someone who lived it: Kirk Ferentz builds linemen who belong in the NFL. The Seahawks guard, a seventh-round pick who started 52 games at Iowa, rattled off statistics that most critics ignore when they call for the 70-year-old coach’s dismissal.
“There’s only been 4 teams in college football that have won 8 games every year since 2015,” Richman told PFSN. “That’s a pretty high pedigree.”
Iowa’s Quiet Consistency Produces NFL-Ready Linemen
Richman’s numbers check out, and they undercut a narrative that has followed Ferentz for years. Iowa joins Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State as the only programs to hit that eight-win threshold in every full season over the past decade. The Hawkeyes reached it again in 2025, crushing rivals Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska by a combined 118-19 margin in the process.
The offensive line production tells an even more compelling story. Ferentz has sent six first-round offensive linemen to the NFL since 2004: Robert Gallery, Bryan Bulaga, Riley Reiff, Brandon Scherff, Tristan Wirfs, and Tyler Linderbaum. Wirfs currently holds the title as the highest-paid offensive lineman in the league. Linderbaum has emerged as one of the premier centers in football since Baltimore grabbed him 25th overall in 2022.
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Richman fits the Iowa template perfectly. He arrived in Iowa City as a three-star defensive end recruit from Blue Valley High School in Kansas, hadn’t played offensive line since middle school, and left as the program’s all-time leader in starts by a lineman under Ferentz. He added 60 pounds during his first two years in the program and became a four-year starter, paving the way for an Iowa rushing attack that averaged 197.2 yards per game in 2024, the Hawkeyes’ best output since 2002.
“He’s just the same person every day, and there’s a rich history, and they know what they’re doing with the bigger guys,” Richman said. “I think it’s great, you know, because it’s a developmental program definitely, and it also comes with winning, so you know you can’t argue with those two things.”
The development piece matters. Iowa routinely transforms three-star recruits into NFL contributors. Richman pointed to that track record as a recruiting advantage that separates Iowa from schools chasing splash signings.
Ferentz Critics Ignore the Deeper Track Record
The calls for Ferentz’s firing reached a fever pitch during the 2023 season, when fans chanted for his son Brian’s dismissal during home games. The offensive struggles were real, and Brian Ferentz was let go after the 2023 season following a dismal stretch. But the elder Ferentz has weathered criticism before and kept building winning teams with players everyone else overlooked.
Richman’s journey from seventh-round afterthought to Super Bowl starter validates the approach. Seattle drafted him 234th overall, one of the Seahawks’ 11 picks, and he worked his way onto the field during a 14-3 season that landed the franchise in Super Bowl 60.
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Ferentz surpassed Woody Hayes to become the winningest coach in Big Ten history in September 2025. He has delivered 12 straight winning seasons and ranks first among active college coaches with 94 NFL Draft selections. The criticism about Iowa’s ceiling misses the larger point: consistent winning and professional development represent real value in a sport where most programs cycle through coaches every four years.
Richman will line up Sunday against the Patriots knowing what Iowa taught him. The system Ferentz built over 27 years in Iowa City created the foundation for moments like this one.
