All of his children were born in Iowa City

Kentucky, Georgia, and Ole Miss have potential if their coaches plan right,It will be one hell of a season. I am already ready for it to begin.And no, I did not leave LSU out, I just do not know what to say about them yet; let's see if the Hat makes any staff changes first (and enrolls in a math class and does not get put on probation from the NCAA)Preachers Power Rankings:1 Alabama 2 Florida 3 LSU (Barely) 4 South Carolina 5.Tennessee 6 Kentucky 7 Mississippi State 8. Arkansas 9 Ole Miss 10 Auburn11. Georgia 12. VanderbiltI know I will get some nasty comments, but that the way I see it from the Preachers Porch . It seems like it has become an annual ritual. Where is Kirk Ferentz headed this year In 2009, given that the ax has now officially fallen on Charlie Weis, the smart money appears to be on Ferentz leaving Iowa City for greener pastures in South Bend, Indiana.Please allow me to enlighten everyone that will listen. Ferentz will not be leaving Iowa for Notre Dame. Coach Ferentz has a multitude of reasons for staying put.First off, Ferentz has told anyone that will listen that he is very happy at Iowa. Why people refuse to believe him is beyond me. Ferentz signed a contract extension over the summer of 2009 that runs through the 2015 season. Thus, whoever would want to lure Ferentz away from Iowa City would likely need to pay a hefty sum to buyout the remaining years on Ferentzs contract with Iowa.All of his children were born in Iowa City. His son, James is currently a red shirt freshmen on the team and Im sure that Ferentz would like to have the opportunity to coach James the next few years, just as he did with his son Brian, a few years ago.Ferentzs youngest son is a sophomore in high school at City High in Iowa City. I just cant imagine that he will uproot his family at this stage in their lives when he seems very comfortable in Iowa City. Oh, but Notre Dame could throw gobs of money at Ferentz you say While that might be true, Ferentz already makes a healthy salary. He is the highest paid state employee in the state of Iowa and pulls in nearly $3 million a year. It is doubtful that even Notre Dame could up the ante too much more than that.Not only that, but Ferentz has use of a private jet for personal use as part of his current contract. This unusual perk clearly demonstrates that the Iowa administration knows exactly what they have in Ferentz and they are willing to go the extra mile and do whatever it takes, just to keep Ferentz in Iowa City.Still need more convincing Take a good look at the current state of the Iowa program vs.

the Notre Dame program. Iowa expects to return as many as 18 of 22 starters to a team that posted a 10-2 record, including starting quarterback Ricky Stanzi, who will be a senior in 2010. The starting running back duo of Adam Robinson and Brandon Wegher were both freshmen this year. The future is very bright for the Hawkeyes.Notre Dame posted a 6-6 record against a historically weak schedule and likely will lose at least their two best offensive players to the NFL and their defense had a hard time stopping anyone this year. Whoever takes the Notre Dame job could be in for some serious rebuilding.Granted, Iowa is Iowa as far as recruiting goes. Notre Dame would offer certain recruiting advantages. But, the scrutiny that goes with being Notre Dames head football coach isnt something that Ferentz would relish. The wild card in the Ferentz to Notre Dame rumor mill happens to be former Irish offensive line coach under Lou Holtz, the late Joe Moore. Moore achieved legendary status for coaching offensive line prospects in the 1980s and 90s at Notre Dame. In Moores nine years at Notre Dame, every starting offensive lineman he coached moved on to the National Football League.Moore was unceremoniously relieved of his duties after Bob Davie took over the program. Moore subsequently filed an age discrimination lawsuit against Notre Dame and eventually won. What does this have to do with Ferentz Moore just happens to be Ferentzs high school football coach back at Upper St. Clair High School near Pittsburgh. Ferentz also worked extensively with Moore when he was a graduate assistant coach at Pittsburgh in 1980. In fact, Ferentz considers Moore to be as big an influence on his life and coaching career as anyone out there.Ferentz had this to say about Moore in September 2009:When I played for him as a senior in high school, I was 17. In 1980, I worked with him at Pitt. I spent 90 percent of my awake hours with him for a yearlong period there. He was a mentor and also a very close friend of mine up until his death.Ferentz undoubtedly still harbors negative feelings towards Notre Dame related to the treatment Moore received on his way out the door. Loyalty is a very important quality to Ferentz. To underscore this thought, he has had the same offensive and defense coordinators since he began his head coaching duties at Iowa 11 years ago. Why, then would Ferentz entertain returning to the school that treated his beloved mentor so poorly Ferentz to Notre Dame makes for some nice headlines, no doubt. But, when any logical person looks at this situation from afar, there is very little reason to think that Ferentz would even remotely consider the head coaching position at Notre Dame, given everything he has going for himself and his family at Iowa.. Twins general manager Bill Smith had better have the Pohlads checkbook ready.As Tuesday nights 11 p.m. deadline for teams to offer arbitration came and went, it officially sounded the real opening bell on free agency.Dont get me wrong, I know that free agents, all 171 of them, have been able to sign with teams since November 20th. However, teams rarely sign any Type-A or Type-B free agents prior to the arbitration deadline.If a team signs a player prior to the deadline, the other team will undoubtedly offer arbitration to recoup their losses in the form of draft picks.Tuesdays deadline, however, was the last opportunity for teams to offer arbitration to free agents. The opportunity to sign high-profile players without surrendering draft picks makes them all the more appealing.As such, Ive taken a look at some of the popular targets for the Minnesota Twins this offseason who were NOT offered arbitration by Tuesday nights deadline.All of these players whoreportedly and/or hopefullyare on the Twins offseason radar are now available, without the added cost of a draft pick.Let the games begin.

(Not offered arbitration by the Chicago Cubs Type-B Free Agent)Rich Harden is exactly the type of pitcher the Twins need at the front of the rotation.Harden, 28, is a bulldog who can go deep into games and strikeout hitters by the boatload. He does, however, come with the caveat that must always be stated before one can begin waxing poetic about his skills, and that caveat is when healthy.You see, when healthy, Harden is one of the top pitchers in the game and can literally carry a team on his back.When hes not healthy, which has been an inordinately large percentage of his career, hes going to be the trainers best friend and everyone elses worst nightmare.The Twins showed interest in Harden before the trade deadline in August and had reportedly won a waiver claim on the righthander before the Cubs pulled him back so he could be present for their late season push for complete irrelevancy in the National League Central.Harden could probably be had on a one-year deal, but the Twins would be wise to offer at least a two-year deal with an option for a third year. The deal would undoubtedly have to be loaded with incentives for at least the first year, but if the Twins got the dominate, healthy-version of Harden, hed prove to be worth every penny.. Once again he is a Type-A free agent, but the Dodgers chose to let him walk rather than risk having him return and receive a hefty arbitration raise.On the whole Hudson put up a solid .283/.357/.417 line that would have looked much better in the Twins two-hole than anything Orlando Cabrera, Alexi Casilla, or Matt Tolbert did all year.Many people are very high on Hudson and would really like the Twins to pursue the veteran.I, on the other hand, am not one of them. I wouldnt complain if the Twins did sign him, but on the whole his overrated defense and his inability to stay healthy in recent years dont lend themselves to the type of player the Twins need going forward.If the Twins do sign him, Id hope its a two-year pact at most, but I expect thatespecially without an arbitration offerhell find bigger money and more years elsewhere..