FanHouse GaryBarta

Look, it doesn't matter if you think Kirk Ferentz is overpaid. The University of Iowa doesn't think so, because they announced today that Ferentz has signed an extension which will keep him in Iowa City (theoretically) through 2015 at a salary of $3.02 million per year.

The deal was agreed to in principle back in April but wasn't signed until last week. The extension comes after a season in which the Hawkeyes returned to their early 2000s form, knocking off No. 2 (at the time) Penn State and becoming the only team in the conference to win its bowl game.

Needless to say, Ferentz is one coach who won't be flying coach any time soon.

After the Hawkeyes' latest stultifying loss, Iowa athletic director Gary Barta would like you to know he likes what he's seen from the team this season.

"We have a young team," Iowa's athletic director said. "I like where we're headed with the players that we have.

"We have to win some games, and we all know that."

Yes. We also know that water is wet, feet are useful, and the Large Hadron Collider has not yet destroyed the universe.

Okay, to be fair, losing three games by a total of nine points isn't the most shameful fate a team can endure, especially if the losses are to three teams which are no worse than slightly above average, which aptly describes Pitt, Northwestern, and Michigan State. Yet it seems to irk some fans, as Barta knows:

"I continue to have great confidence," Barta said. "When you lose close games, people tend to get upset, and I understand that."

Call me crazy, but I don't understand that. I can live with a Hawkeye loss so long as I got to see a good football game.

Recall, if you will, that the University of Iowa's latest football-related legal scandal (aside from last night's public intox arrest of incoming freshman Riley Reiff, anyway) came about six weeks ago when freshman defensive backs Cedric Everson and Abe Satterfield were arrested in connection with an alleged sexual assault. What made the assault case peculiar is that it allegedly happened in late October, and investigations by public safety didn't even take place until about a month later. Everson and Satterfield transferred after the fall semester.

Why the long delay, you may be asking? The victim's mother wondered the same thing.

In a letter to the University dated November 19, 2007 and released today by the Iowa City Press-Citizen, the mother detailed a long list of frustrations in relation to the school's handling of the case. The concerns ranged from the university's preference to keep punishment for the alleged sexual assault "in house" to the general welfare and safety of the alleged victim.

The University offered a response that included the following passage:

The safety and well-being of the student has always been at the forefront of our concern. Each step of the way everyone involved with the University worked in accordance with University policy and procedures and attempted to convey those policies and procedures to the student and her family.

The mother's letter, however, paints a starkly different picture.