Former Northern Iowa Coach Unretires, Joins Big Ten Staff

Last November, one of the longest tenured football coaches in the state of Iowa called it quits after 24 consecutive seasons and over 40 years collectively.

That coach was Northern Iowa's Mark Farley, who retired following the 2024 college football season. Farley's final game was a home game against Indiana State on November 23rd. After starting the season 2-0, Northern Iowa had lost eight consecutive games. Couple that with the changes brought on by the NIL era and Farley clearly thought it was time for both a personal and program change.

READ MORE: Northern Iowa HC Mark Farley Calls it Quits: 'The Purity of College Football is Gone'

Mark Farley Joins a Big Ten Team:

Yesterday, it was announced that Farley would be reentering the college football landscape. Illinois Fighting Illini Football Coach Bret Bielema announced that Farley would be joining his staff. Bielema made the announcement ahead of the Illini's first game of the season on August 29th. The Illini take on Western Illinois.

While Bielema added that Farley has spent two weeks with the Illini, he didn't specify his position on the staff. I would assume he's a "senior advisor," a title given to veteran coaches, often former head coaches, who join other staffs and exist on the periphery. He also could be a consultant for other position coaches.

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Mark Farley's Impact on Northern Iowa Remains Deeply Felt:

Farley was as indispensable to Northern Iowa as the school has been to his own story and personal life. Farley started at linebacker at Northern Iowa from 1983 to 1985, leading the team in tackles in 1984. From there, he became an assistant coach and then a linebackers coach until 1997 when he bolted for a job as a linebackers coach at Kansas. That only lasted a few years. Farley returned to Northern Iowa in 2001 where he's been ever since:

It has been a great honor to be part of the Panther family for over 40 years. For me, UNI football has always been about setting a standard that goes beyond the game. It has been about a legacy of resilience, pride, hard work and excellence. Watching our players grow into leaders and champions on and off the field and carry that standard with them beyond the football field has been the greatest reward of my career. - Mark Farley, per a news release from the University of Northern Iowa

Mark Farley is 62-years-old, and was the winningest coach in Northern Iowa and Missouri Valley Football Conference history with 183 career victories. Read more about him joining the Fighting Illini coaching staff on KWWL's website.