Kyle Whittingham explains what makes Kirk Ferentz's Iowa so tough

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Some college football coaches have systems that work seemingly indefinitely, and those are the ones that tend to have the most staying power. Such has been the case for two coaches who are set to face off against each other on Saturday.

Michigan football will host Iowa in Week 4 to open up Big Ten play, and that means two of the oldest head coaches in the sport will play against each other for the first time. Kirk Ferentz, 71, has never gone up against Kyle Whittingham, 66, even during Whittingham's 21 years at Utah. But Ferentz, who has been leading the Hawkeyes since 1999, has shown he has staying power, just as Whittingham had in Salt Lake City. And philosophically, they're quite similar in many ways.

And thus, Michigan will have a lot to plan against on Saturday.

"Yeah, I've met with him — not met with him; I've come across, crossed paths a few times, but nothing extensive," Whittingham said. "But just my initial impression was a great person, an absolute rock-solid football coach, and has done it the right way for a lot of years.

"So on film, good football team. Defense in particular, I guess leading the nation in defense right now, both total yards and in scoring D. So playing outstanding on that side of the ball, like usual. It's been an MO of theirs for years. Got some playmakers on offense, especially the receiver, explosive players. So they'll be a very stiff test for us, no doubt about that."

Given that Whittingham had been at Utah for 21 years as the head coach while Ferentz has been in Iowa City for 27 years, they each had to be doing something right. And in order to have such staying power, consistency is required.

Whittingham spoke on why Ferentz has been so successful and why that presents challenges to the Wolverines.

"He seems to be very, very consistent and very committed to their approach," Whittingham said. "They recruit their type of guys. They know how they wanna win. The consistency year after year and the continuity year after year, it's really what allows you to have a lengthy career like he's had. And so he's just done it the right way for a lot of years. And they recruit, like I said, the guys that fit their system as well as their — the type of guys they're looking for on and off the field."

Phil Parker, Iowa's defensive coordinator, has been with Ferentz the whole time — first as the defensive backs coach for the first 12 years, but he was elevated to DC in 2012.

Whittingham hasn't had the pleasure of crossing paths with Parker, but he knows a lot about the man who has consistently engineered one of the best defenses — and one of the toughest to crack — in the country, year in and year out.

"Observed, yes. I don't believe we've ever met," Whittingham said. "And I just know that they're always outstanding on defense. And the four-down guy, corners coverage behind it, just plays sound, fundamentally technique-sound football. They tackle well, they're physical, and they've been doing it a lot of years. They know exactly what they're trying to accomplish on defense, and right now they're doing better (than) anywhere in the country."

Michigan and Iowa will kick off at 3:30 p.m. EDT at The Big House with the game set to be broadcast on CBS.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Kyle Whittingham explains what makes Kirk Ferentz's Iowa so tough

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