On Sunday, Nov. 10, UNI head football coach Mark Farley announced that he will be retiring at the conclusion of the season. This comes while the Panthers have been struggling so far this season, with a conference record of 0-6, and a 2-8 overall record. Despite the struggles that have occurred in what will be Farley’s last year as head coach, the end of his 23 year career as head coach will mark the end of an era for UNI football.
“It’s been a heck of a run,” said Farley at Monday’s press conference. Farley’s career at UNI started 20 years before he took on the job as head coach in 1982, when he walked onto the UNI football team. He quickly grew from his walk-on status to being one of the best players in the country. As an inside linebacker, he led the team in tackles for three years, was a two time All-American Honorable Mention, and was named the Gateway Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 1985. He was also on a UNI team that made it to the NCAA Division I semifinals in 1985.
After his collegiate football career ended, he remained at UNI as a graduate assistant, and quickly made his way to being a full time assistant. He briefly left UNI to coach with Terry Allen at Kansas, but he made his way back to UNI as the head coach in 2001.
When asked about what he thought things would be like as the coach of UNI, he said, “I had no intention, good or bad, to stay 25 years.”
Over that 25 years, Farley has been one of the very best coaches in FCS football. In total he has won 180 games, a UNI and Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) record. He has won seven MVC titles, made the playoffs 13 times, won 17 postseason games, made it to the quarterfinals several times, made it to the semifinals a couple of times and in 2005 took the team to a runner-up finish in the national championship game. In 2012 Farley was inducted into the UNI hall of fame for his accomplishments as a player and a coach.
After nearly 40 years of being a part of the UNI football program, Farley said that it is a bittersweet feeling to leave the program. There were ups and downs in his tenure, but there were a lot of great moments and seasons. In his time, he noted that hard work and overcoming adversity were a big part of the success. For him personally, he overcame adversity as a player after being a walk-on, and helped instill a drive to be the best and work harder than everyone in the players he coached. In referring to a player that he had, he summed up what he thought UNI football has been like.
“He outworked people, he outdid people, and he wasn’t going to let anyone beat him. That is UNI football. If I can leave that, then I have left it in a good spot.”
