Mark Farley
UNI 150: People you should know
Shaping men, preparing them for lives in and outside football
In 1982, Mark Farley walked onto the University of Northern Iowa football team as a student-athlete and never looked back. 24 years as head coach at UNI led him to become the winningest coach in Missouri Valley Football Conference history.
Farley played for UNI from 1982 to 1986. As a walk-on player, he received the nickname “walk-on from Waukon.”
As co-captain of the team, he was remembered as a leader to his teammates.
“He was our leader on the field, in the weight room and in the film room,” said former teammate Mark Steines. “Farley not only left an indelible mark on myself, but on the game and every player who suited up with him and every player that suited up for him.”
Farley went straight from a player to a graduate assistant for two years, then was elevated to a full-time assistant.
Between 1987 and 1996, he was the position coach for UNI stars Bryce Paup, James Jones, William Freeney and Andre Allen... as well as one of Kurt Warner’s strength coaches.
He became head coach of the UNI football team in 2001 and held this role until his retirement in November 2024.
“UNI football has been more than a team to me; it has been a family,” said Farley, in a profile published in the 2025 UNI Alumni Magazine. “Personally, our family has been blessed with the friendships of so many wonderful people in the community that we are forever thankful for.”
Farley not only left an indelible mark on myself, but on the game and every player who suited up with him and every player that suited up for him.
The legacy he left did not go unnoticed. He was the winningest football coach in UNI and MVFC history with 182 victories.
He also won seven MVFC Championships, two MVFC Coach of the Year awards and was recognized as the 2007 FCS National Coach of the Year.
41 of Farley’s players made it to the NFL.
“I’m here in Buffalo because of him. He took a shot on a kid from Lenox, Iowa and I wouldn’t be here without him. A perfect man to lead a group of young men and to turn them into men,” said Spencer Brown, offensive tackle for the Buffalo Bills. “I couldn’t be more thankful for what Coach Farley and the University of Northern Iowa did for me.”
Farley wasn’t just known in the community for producing great players, but also for creating great men who went on to do commendable things outside of sports.
“You can come here as a zero-star and become a five-star,” Farley once said. “I’ve got an orthopedic surgeon, an eye surgeon and a heart surgeon who all played here. We’ve had lawyers who become judges. We’ve had teachers who became superintendents. You can also come here and become a great farmer. We just had a former player who went back home to take over his grandpa’s farm.”
Farley was inducted into the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.
Celebrate 150 years of the University of Northern Iowa by nominating individuals who have made a significant impact on our campus, community and beyond.
