Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz celebrates on field with victorious Patriots after Super Bowl

Kirk Ferentz was in a somewhat enviable position at Sunday's Super Bowl LIII.

No matter who'd have won, he'd have won.

Although if you'd have made the 20th-year Iowa football head coach choose New England or Los Angeles, one would guess he was plenty more satisfied with the Patriots' 13-3 triumph over the Rams in Atlanta than the reverse.

One look at a postgame photo of Ferentz chumming it up with former Hawkeye and current Patriots defensive end Adrian Clayborn could do it.

Or a peek at that Patriots-provided gameday pass around his neck.

Or the briefest of glances at the New England roster, where his son James is part of the 53-man squad.

Other former Hawkeyes noticed, too, by the way:

Even if Tom Brady, Bill Belichick & Co. hadn't earned their sixth ring, though, Ferentz would still have found a former player to applaud. Rams offensive lineman Austin Blythe was a four-year starter for the Hawkeyes through 2015.

Clayborn, for his part, did not register in the box score but did provide a hurry to Los Angeles quarterback Jared Goff.

And James Ferentz is now a two-time Super Bowl champion, having been on the Denver roster when the Broncos won Super Bowl 50.