Tag: Steve Ferentz

Steve Ferentz hired as South Dakota assistant coach

Former Iowa offensive lineman Steve Ferentz was hired as South Dakota’s outside linebackers coach. He’s the youngest son of Kirk Ferentz.

Steve Ferentz is taking the next leap in his coaching career, joining South Dakota as an assistant coach.

South Dakota head football coach Bob Nielson announced the hiring on Wednesday. Ferentz will work primarily with the Coyotes outside linebackers.

“We are excited to add Steve to our football staff. His background as a NCAA Division I football player and coach along with his experience coaching in the NFL will be an asset to our program,” Nielson said of Ferentz.

The youngest son of Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz, Steve played for the University of Iowa as a tight end and offensive lineman from 2012-16. Steve was a junior on Iowa’s last Rose Bowl team and competed in eight games as a senior when the Hawkeyes played Florida in the Outback Bowl.

“I am excited to get to Vermillion and join Coach Nielson and his staff. I look forward to getting to work with the players and build great relationships with them that will last beyond their time at South Dakota,” Ferentz said of the opportunity to join South Dakota.

After his Iowa playing career, Steve jumped into coaching as a graduate assistant with the Hawkeyes in 2017. Then, he spent two seasons in 2018 and 2019 with Central Michigan as a graduate assistant working primarily with the Chippewas linebackers.

Finally, each of the past three seasons Steve has worked with the Miami Dolphins as an assistant linebackers coach.

Now, it’s from the NFL back to the college ranks where Steve joins a South Dakota program that finished just 3-8 overall and 2-6 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

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Get to know Dolphins new assistant coach Steve Ferentz

Get to know Dolphins new assistant coach Steve Ferentz

The Miami Dolphins have conducted some last minute additions to their coaching staff. With the start of training camp looking to be approximately one month away, Miami’s new additions aren’t necessarily heavy hitters, but they figure to help allow the Dolphins staff to properly allocate their time and energy into directing the team to a successful season. One of the team’s two hires is Steve Ferentz — he will serve as a coaching assistant for the Dolphins in 2020.

Who is Coach Steve Ferentz, and how did he get here?

The first thing that comes to mind when football fans hear the name “Ferentz” is long-time Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz, Steve’s father. The elder Ferentz, who has been tenured in the midwest with the Hawkeyes since 1999, has his own fair share of ties to the NFL — including coaching Bill Belichick’s offensive line for the Cleveland Browns back in the early 1990s.

It was right around that same time that Steve Ferentz was born — and his pathway to the Dolphins appropriately took him through the University of Iowa for a stint of playing for his father at the collegiate level.

Playing time was hard to come by for Ferentz as an offensive lineman for a team that constantly churned out high end NFL talent in the trenches — and so when his eligibility ended, his transition to coaching was swift. He latched on at Central Michigan and has served an assistant role for the Chippewas for several seasons. Until now.

Now, Ferentz will look to capitalize on his experiences of seeing coaches work up close and personal at the pro level as a coaching assistant. If anyone knows exactly how he can best be of service to a coach, it may well be Ferentz, given that he’s grown up with a head honcho in the house his entire life.