Spencer Wagen / 1600 ESPN
When you think of football talent at the University of Northern Iowa, you can list off names like Kurt Warner, David Johnson, Spencer Brown or Trevor Penning, but make no mistake — your list of Panther greats should start and end with Mark Farley. The head coach of the UNI program announced his intention to retire over the weekend and spoke at length about his decision Monday afternoon in Cedar Falls.
It’s truly the end of an era for the school and the program. As has been repeated many times since the news of his retirement came out late Sunday afternoon, Farley, the former walk-on linebacker and assistant coach at the school, returned to his alma mater in 2001 and has been the head man ever since.
His career numbers say it all: 182 wins, the winningest coach in UNI and Missouri Valley Football Conference history; seven conference titles; two coach of the year awards, and the 2007 FCS National Coach of the Year award. Farley led the Panthers to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs 13 times, with his teams getting to the semifinals twice, and one appearance in the national title game in 2005, a 21-16 loss to Appalachian State.
As I talked about on Monday’s show, while the news of Farley’s retirement is definitely a surprise, his reasoning behind it really shouldn’t be. Much like we heard from Tony Bennett, the now-former men’s basketball coach at the University of Virginia, changes to college sports like name, image and likeness and the transfer portal have maybe sped up the retirement process for coaches like Farley. “Since about 2020, it’s just been more difficult with all the things that go on with college athletics,” Farley told reporters. “There’s just been so many dynamics that have happened in the last three to four years — there’s a wear and tear outside of football that goes on, more so than the wear and tear of football,” he said.
This brings us to one of the harsh realities of the new age of college sports — that time is running out for the “old school” coaches in any sport: football, basketball, etc. That’s not to say that those stalwart coaches can’t and won’t embrace NIL and the portal; many have and many will continue to, but for some, including Farley, the whole point of being a coach, the whole point of schools offering sports seems to be lost. “The purity is gone,” Farley said, “that’s the sad part of it, because we better have a purpose to college athletics — and maybe we’ve lost sight of what the purpose of college athletics is.”
All of that aside, what Mark Farley has done for the Northern Iowa football program, the university and for kids from Iowa and across the Midwest should be, and will be, celebrated for years to come. It’s unfortunate that there won’t be a chance at a “last dance” season for Farley next year, as this season the Panthers have been mired in an eight-game losing streak with just two games left to play.
“I’m grateful for every player, coach and supporter who has shared in this journey,” Farley continued. “Together we have built a program that strengthens character and challenges players to go beyond what they thought possible. UNI Football has been more than a team to me; it has been a family. Personally, our family has been blessed with the friendships of so many wonderful people in the community that we are forever thankful for.” Farley said in the news release announcing his retirement.
Where UNI looks to fill Farley’s shoes is anyone’s guess, but here’s hoping for continued success for the Panther program for years to come.
Spencer Wagen is the host of “Spencer on Sports,” weekdays from 4-6 p.m. on 1600 ESPN. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) and Threads @SWOnTheRadio and on Bluesky @swontheair.bsky.social.
