http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/07/sports/iowa-extends-contract-of-football-coach-kirk-ferentz-until-2025.html 2016-09-07 07:00:14 Iowa Extends Contract of Football Coach Kirk Ferentz Until 2025 Ferentz is one of the nation’s longest-tenured coaches, having been hired in 1999. A 12-2 season and a Rose Bowl berth in 2015 convinced the Hawkeyes to hold on to him. === The Ferentz’s annual salary will rise to $4.5 million under the new deal. He is in his 18th season leading the Hawkeyes. Ferentz’s past contract, which was for 10 years at roughly $40 million, was set to expire in 2020. Ferentz’s large buyout under his previous deal was the subject of scrutiny, but a 12-2 season in 2015, capped with a trip to the Rose Bowl, quieted that talk. Ferentz and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops are the nation’s longest-tenured coaches, having been hired within days of each other in 1999. Matt Carpenter, Randal Grichuk and Jhonny Peralta homered off closer Tony Watson with two outs in the ninth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied to defeat the Pirates, 9-7, in Pittsburgh. The Cardinals were down to their final strike when Carpenter sent a long drive to right-center field to tie the score, 6-6. Grichuk followed two batters later with a two-run shot off Watson (2-4), and then Peralta hit a solo homer as St. Louis held on to the second wild-card spot in the National League. ASTROS HAND KLUBER A DEFEAT Kluber (15-9), a right-hander, had won his previous seven decisions. INJURY LIST The Chicago Bears signed kicker Connor Barth to replace Robbie Gould. Barth played in 12 games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, going 23 of 28 on field goals and making 25 of 26 extra points. He signed with the New Orleans Saints in May and was released on Saturday. Gould, the most accurate kicker in Bears history, was released on Sunday night. JETS WAIVE TIGHT END Will Power was cleared to race for the IndyCar championship in two weeks after a Sunday crash at Watkins Glen International in New York left him with concussionlike symptoms. Power trails the leader Simon Pagenaud by 43 points with only the finale at California’s Sonoma Raceway on Sept. 18 left on the schedule. Power and Pagenaud, both of Team Penske, are the only drivers in contention for the championship. Julien Vermote of Belgium, the winner of Monday’s second stage at the Tour of Britain, retained the overall lead after the third stage, a 111-mile ride from Congleton to Tatton Park. Vermote had a six-second advantage on Stephen Cummings of England. The Englishman Ian Stannard produced a dominant ride to win the stage, 1 minute 46 seconds ahead of his countrymen Graham Briggs and Kristian House. (AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE)