At Tuesday's news conference, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz fueled speculation that he's considering leaving the program after only committing to the next four weeks of the season.

Wednesday, at his weekly Hawk Talk radio appearance, Ferentz took advantage of the more controlled environment with host Gary Dolphin to address his future more directly.

"The intent was to try to steer this thing back to what is important right now," Ferentz said of his comments about focusing on upcoming foe Northwestern and the rest of the season. "I enjoy coaching. Fortunately I feel really good, the doctors tell me I'm okay, and I hope to keep doing this for quite a while."

At this point Ferentz's comments drew applause from the gathered Iowa fans at the Vue Rooftop in downtown Iowa City, where Dolphin's show is recorded every Wednesday.

"I've always loved being here [in Iowa City], I've been here for 34 years," Ferentz continued. "I like what I do, and most of all I like the young people we've had a chance to work with."

Ferentz, 68, is the dean of FBS coaches in his 25th consecutive season leading the Hawkeyes, after nine seasons at Iowa in the '80s as an assistant. He celebrated his 200th career win as a head coach in September after winning at Iowa State, but ongoing offensive challenges and injuries to star players have doomed any practical chance of his son Brian Ferentz meeting his contractually mandated goal of 25 points per game.

That led to an announcement from interim AD Beth Goetz on Monday that Brian would coach out the season, through the bowl game, but would not return to the program in 2024.

Skip to the 52:00 mark to hear Ferentz's full comments about his future, which were edited lightly for clarity in this article.

Ferentz's statements, of course, do not contain an overt, unequivocal affirmation that he would return, but he responded "hopefully a couple years, yeah," with a wry smile after host Dolphin asked to take it as a yes, that Ferentz would be back next year.

"I like our players, I like coming in our building, I like what I do," Ferentz said. "In a sick way, I like the highs, and I like the lows. [...] Until they tell me to sit down I'll probably keep going."

The program issued a statement from Ferentz shortly after his radio comments:

Iowa, who currently leads the Big Ten West via tiebreaker at 6-2 (3-2), faces Northwestern Saturday at 2:30 CT at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. Like Week 6 against Purdue, Saturday's game will be streamed exclusively on Peacock.