Mark Farley

Mark Farley (born April 5, 1963) is an American football coach. He is the head coach at the University of Northern Iowa, a position he has held since 2001. Farley started at inside linebacker at Northern Iowa from 1983 to 1985. He led the team in tackles in 1984 and 1985, was named Gateway Football Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 1985, first team all-conference three times, earned honorable mention All-America honors twice and twice named Academic All-American.

Mark Farley

Farley at the 2011 Principal Charity Classic
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Northern Iowa
Conference	MVFC
Record	183–112
Biographical details
Born	(1963-04-05) April 5, 1963 Waukon, Iowa, U.S.
Playing career
1983–1985	Northern Iowa
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1986–1988	Northern Iowa (GA)
1989–1996	Northern Iowa (LB)
1997–2000	Kansas (LB)
2001–present	Northern Iowa
Head coaching record
Overall	183–112
Tournaments	17–13 (NCAA D-I-AA/D-I playoffs)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
7 MVFC (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011)
Awards
Eddie Robinson Award (2007)

He then became an assistant at Northern Iowa. In 1989, he was named linebackers coach by new head coach Terry Allen. In 1997, he followed Allen to the University of Kansas, but left in 2001 when the head coaching position at his alma mater opened up. Acting as his own defensive coordinator, Farley's squads perennially rank among the top defense teams in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. In early 2008, Farley served as the interim director of athletics at Northern Iowa. With a win over in-state rival Iowa State on September 3, 2016, Farley passed Northern Iowa legend Stan Sheriff in all-time wins as a football coach. Farley notched his 150th Northern Iowa career win with a home victory over Southern Utah on September 7, 2019. He recorded his 175th win with a road victory at Idaho State on September 16, 2023. On November 10, 2024, Farley announced he would retire following the end of the current season.

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	TSN/STATS#	Coaches'°
Northern Iowa Panthers (Gateway Football Conference / Missouri Valley Football Conference) (2001–present)
2001	Northern Iowa	11–3	6–1	1st	L NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal		4
2002	Northern Iowa	5–6	2–5	T–6th
2003	Northern Iowa	10–3	6–1	T–1st	L NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal		5
2004	Northern Iowa	7–4	5–2	3rd			25
2005	Northern Iowa	11–4	5–2	T–1st	L NCAA Division I-AA Championship		2
2006	Northern Iowa	7–4	5–2	T–2nd			17
2007	Northern Iowa	12–1	6–0	1st	L NCAA Division I Quarterfinal	5	4
2008	Northern Iowa	12–3	7–1	T–1st	L NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal	4	4
2009	Northern Iowa	7–4	5–3	T–3rd		18	18
2010	Northern Iowa	7–5	6–2	1st	L NCAA Division I First Round	18	19
2011	Northern Iowa	10–3	7–1	T–1st	L NCAA Division I Quarterfinal	5	6
2012	Northern Iowa	5–6	4–4	T–6th
2013	Northern Iowa	7–5	3–5	T–7th
2014	Northern Iowa	9–5	6–2	3rd	L NCAA Division I Second Round	10	10
2015	Northern Iowa	9–5	5–3	T–3rd	L NCAA Division I Quarterfinal	8	6
2016	Northern Iowa	5–6	4–4	T–4th
2017	Northern Iowa	8–5	6–2	T–2nd	L NCAA Division I Second Round	19	19
2018	Northern Iowa	7–6	5–3	T–3rd	L NCAA Division I Second Round
2019	Northern Iowa	10–5	6–2	2nd	L NCAA Division I Quarterfinal	5	5
2020–21	Northern Iowa	3–4	3–4	6th
2021	Northern Iowa	6–6	4–4	6th	L NCAA Division I First Round	23	25
2022	Northern Iowa	6–5	5–3	T–3rd
2023	Northern Iowa	6–5	5–3	T–3rd
2024	Northern Iowa	2–3	0–1
Northern Iowa:		181–104	116–60
Total:		181–104
National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

External links

• Northern Iowa profile