R.I.P. Coach Hayden Fry

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He was an unlikely savior for Iowa football when he arrived in '79, fifty years old and with a .500 record after 17 seasons elsewhere (89-89, plus some ties). He loved the Iowa fan base and turned the program into the success it has been since he went to the Rose Bowl his third season there. His system is so solid they've had only two coaches since 1979! Compare that to us. He did what Barry Alvarez did at Wisconsin. Fry's formula was defense and the kicking game, then add a really good QB. He understood symbolism (the military cap), the slow-march of the team onto the field, clasping hands, the switch to Pittsburgh Steelers uniforms. A great coach, a great adversary: 143-89 at Iowa.
 


I have a lot of respect for what he established at Iowa. He had cowboy style and he brought a winning type of football to Iowa. He made the Big Ten better. I don't really remember Iowa being bad in football and I'm almost 50.
 




Do u guys who remember him think he would of won at Minnesota in the 1980s at the level he did at Iowa with the lack of support from the top here back then??
 


Brandon said:
Do u guys who remember him think he would of won at Minnesota in the 1980s at the level he did at Iowa with the lack of support from the top here back then??
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He would have made things better, just as Lou Holtz did, briefly. Plus Barry Alvarez wanted to coach here about '90, but we didn't fire Gutekunst for another year or so. Any of those coaches would have built up the U at that time - and most felt the Dome was an asset for recruiting.
 

Really impressive run he had with the Hawkeyes, three conference titles, six bowl wins, 10 ranked finishes and 13 winning seasons. Made Iowa competitive before Alvarez was able to do the same with Wisconsin. Respect.
 

IceBoxGopher said:
Really impressive run he had with the Hawkeyes, three conference titles, six bowl wins, 10 ranked finishes and 13 winning seasons. Made Iowa competitive before Alvarez was able to do the same with Wisconsin. Respect.
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There is a reason Fleck brings up Fry and Alvarez when he discusses his goals for our program. Wants to see the kind of stability those two provided at their respective schools.

Fry had an amazing run at Iowa and laid the foundation for what that program has become. Sorry to hear of his passing but sounds like he has battled a lot of health problems in recent years.
 

Great Plains Gopher said:
He would have made things better, just as Lou Holtz did, briefly. Plus Barry Alvarez wanted to coach here about '90, but we didn't fire Gutekunst for another year or so. Any of those coaches would have built up the U at that time - and most felt the Dome was an asset for recruiting.
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How do u know Barry Alvarez wanted to coach here around 1990?? That’s the first I’ve heard of that
 

There it is. A while back there was a thread on "say something nice about Iowa". Couldn't think of anything at the time. But yes, Hayden was a great coach that did a lot for football.
 



MNfootballfan said:
Iowa has been pretty lucky going from Fry to Ferentz. Coach Ferentz has been my favorite non-Gopher coach for a long time.
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Not many Division I schools can say they have only 1 Head Coach (Current or Former) still alive. Quite honestly, probably only Iowa.
Whether one likes or dislikes the Hawkeyes - that’s incredible.
 

Buck_Buchanan said:
Not many Division I schools can say they have only 1 Head Coach (Current or Former) still alive. Quite honestly, probably only Iowa.
Whether one likes or dislikes the Hawkeyes - that’s incredible.
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Actually former Vikings coach Jerry Burns coached at Iowa in early 60s and is still around.
 

IronRanger91 said:
One of his first assistant coaches to do well, who isn’t being mentioned, was Dennis Green.
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That's because Dennis Green never coached with Fry. Green played for and was an assistant at Iowa, but that was before Fry arrived.
 

tjgopher said:
That's because Dennis Green never coached with Fry. Green played for and was an assistant at Iowa, but that was before Fry arrived.
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Caught that. He coached with Bob Commings the year prior. My bad.
 

Brandon said:
Do u guys who remember him think he would of won at Minnesota in the 1980s at the level he did at Iowa with the lack of support from the top here back then??
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Fry called Minnesota a sleeping giant, so he certainly believed you could win here back then.
 
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Never met the guy.


Heard good things though.
 

Brandon said:
How do u know Barry Alvarez wanted to coach here around 1990?? That’s the first I’ve heard of that
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Holtz told him he could win at Minnesota and "win big." He was an assistant under Holtz at Notre Dame. Both MN and Wisconsin were down then, but Wisconsin opened up first because we didn't fire Gutey and then hired Wacker (groan). Alvarez would probably have done at Minnesota exactly what he did at Wisconsin - use local huge lineman as the base, bring in QBs and speed from elsewhere and run a lot.
 

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