University of Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz said he is “real excited” about his 2008 opener against the University of Maine.

It will be played on Aug. 30 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City and Maine will receive a $400,000 guarantee.

And he said there are parallels between the two programs despite the fact Iowa is a I-A program and Maine is a I-AA program.

Ferentz, a two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and the Associated Press National Coach of the Year in 2002, was the head coach at Maine from 1990-92 (12-21 record) and current Maine head coach Jack Cosgrove was his offensive coordinator.

“Obviously, my connections still exist from my time in Maine. Jack was one of the first people I met when I interviewed up there. Jack has done a great job with the program and there have been a lot of great developments there,” said Ferentz, who is beginning his ninth season at Iowa and is the school’s second winningest football coach (55-43).

He has led the Hawkeyes to six straight bowl games.

Former 17-year Maine assistant Bob Wilder, who was recently named the head coach at Old Dominion University (Va.), also worked for Ferentz at Maine, and current Maine defensive coordinator Robb Smith was a graduate assistant at Iowa under Ferentz from 1999 to 2001.

Ferentz added that Smith’s wife, Amy, was an excellent business student at Iowa and “got all of our computers straightened out.”

“She helped out a bunch of dumb football coaches,” he quipped.

The 52-year-old Ferentz said the programs are a “lot alike in a lot of areas. There isn’t a great in-state population base [from which to recruit from]. You recruit as well as you can in your home state, but you’ve got to cross state borders and spend a lot of time projecting [on a player’s potential]. You have to look for guys others [recruiters] don’t see. Sometimes you get lucky on guys.”

Tight end Dallas Clark and free safety Bob Sanders, who play for the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts, were two such recruits at Iowa.

“Dallas was a walk-on for us before he earned a scholarship, and Ohio University was the only other school that recruited Bob because he was 5-foot-8. He’s still 5-foot-8,” said Ferentz.

Maine was one of few schools that recruited All-Pro Seattle Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu. Tatupu played as a freshman at Maine before transferring to the University of Southern California, where he helped lead the Trojans to back-to-back national championships.

Ferentz considers Maine to be a “great attraction” and was quick to point out how well the Black Bears have played against I-A teams.

Maine stunned Mississippi State 9-7 in 2004, trailed Nebraska 15-7 with 10 minutes remaining before losing 25-7 in 2005, and trailed Boston College 15-0 late in the third quarter of an eventual 22-0 loss last fall.

Nebraska and BC went on to win bowl games.

“Those were all tough, competitive football games and based on what I know about Maine’s program and about ours, that’s what I would expect when we meet,” said Ferentz.

He said he has fond memories of his time at Maine.

“There are a lot of great people there right on campus like Walt Abbott, Bob Cobb and Dave Brown,” said Ferentz. “They’re all great guys.”

He said the game will be nostalgic for him.

“That will be an added benefit or it will make it tougher, I guess,” said Ferentz. “From that standpoint, it’s going to be a neat thing for me.”

Iowa has played I-AA schools the last two years, beating Northern Iowa 45-21 in 2005 and topping Montana 41-7 last year, although it was a 17-7 game with 6:44 left in the third quarter.

He considers Maine to be in the same mold as Northern Iowa and Montana: perennial playoff-caliber teams.