CHICAGO -- In volunteering a small piece of forgotten trivia, the longest-tenured coach in the FBS fulfilled two purposes.
Kirk Ferentz reminded everyone listening at Big Ten Media Days that he hasn't been in charge at Iowa forever -- just since 1999. He also complimented Rutgers running backs coach Lester Erb.
The fact lost to history is that Erb replaced Eric Mangini -- the former Jets and Browns coach -- as an offensive assistant with the Baltimore Ravens in 1997. That marked the first of 16 seasons that Ferentz, who was the Ravens offensive line coach at the time, and Erb worked together.