Fry: 143-89-6 (.613); Kirk: 138-92-0 (.600)

[HawkIDrummer]

I think KF passes Hayden this year. If not, it will be early next season.

How should Iowa celebrate / memorialize both NOW and in the FUTURE the all time winningest football coach?

This season... have you done the math?

Point of clarification. I'm talking winning percentage, not raw numbers. That's a more accurate representation of performance.

 

[DaCDiggity]

The real question is will there be the KirkDay?

 

[Hawkeye Dan in Storm Lake]

kirk has been to 1 rose bowl and hayden went to 1. but hayden had much better teams consisitently. too compare winning percentage between the two is abomination. hope kirk sacks up and wins a title this year.

 

[HawkIDrummer]

kirk has been to 1 rose bowl and hayden went to 1. but hayden had much better teams consisitently. too compare winning percentage between the two is abomination. hope kirk sacks up and wins a title this year.

Hayden went to 1 Rose Bowl. Uh, yeah......

 

[JEDN]

Hayden resurrected a dead program barely on life support and made Iowa relevant again. No comparison between the two in my mind. Did Hayden ever use the words developmental program or non-sexy in describing the hawks?

 

[General Tso]

Yeah, but that's not the point. We all know Fry took over a poor program. The issue is Kirk is about to pass Fry in total wins. Nothing to do with the program they inherited.

What Fry did was like being born into deep generational poverty and moving to the middle class. Kirk has managed to keep it in the middle class.

 

[General Tso]

kirk has been to 1 rose bowl and hayden went to 1. but hayden had much better teams consisitently. too compare winning percentage between the two is abomination. hope kirk sacks up and wins a title this year.

Alt facts, eh?

 

[Franisdaman]

Hayden took over Iowa during the Big 2 Little 8 era, and in a short time took us to the Rose Bowl. He opened up the playbook in a ground and pound league, and revived a program that was dormant for twenty years. Ferentz came in when the program was slipping and, with a plan that took a lot of patience, brought us back to respectability and in some ways exceeded what Fry had done. I say that because the rest of the BIG has taken a page from Fry blueprint and it is now a much stronger league from top to bottom than when Fry was at the helm. Both have been great representatives of the program, and we should be glad that we are part of a program that believes that a stable program is a great program.

Keep in mind that beating the other 7 of the Little 8 was a lot easier THEN than it is NOW

I don't understand why everybody tries to undermine what KF has done over the last 19 years; it is a lot harder now to accumulate wins that it was in the 70's, 80's and 90's

when Fry was head coach, wins were automatic vs Wisky, N'w, and Iowa State; under KF? Not so much

 

[wyldhawk9]

I think KF passes Hayden this year. If not, it will be early next season.

How should Iowa celebrate / memorialize both NOW and in the FUTURE the all time winningest football coach?

Interesting to think about...but I'm confused by the win percentage...but I'm not good at math so perhaps I just messed this up:
Fry
143+89+6=238 total games; 143 wins/238 total games = .601 <---is this not correct? I did not count ties in the win total but did count ties in the total number of games

Ferentz
138+92=230 total games; 138 wins/ 230 total games = .600

It is remarkable how similar the W/L records are between these 2 coaches.

 

[bagdropper]

It is remarkable how similar the W/L records are between these 2 coaches.

Great coaches.

I truly believe there's only a handful at most of coaches who could have done better at Iowa during the last 40 years.

 

[HawkIDrummer]

Keep in mind that beating the other 7 of the Little 8 was a lot easier THEN than it is NOW

I don't understand why everybody tries to undermine what KF has done over the last 19 years; it is a lot harder now to accumulate wins that it was in the 70's, 80's and 90's

when Fry was head coach, wins were automatic vs Wisky, N'w, and Iowa State; under KF? Not so much

Not necessarily true, unless you were Michigan or Ohio St. Yes, the rest of the conference was pretty balanced but IOWA was at the bottom of that little 8 when Hayden took over...nothing was easy. FYI Purdue and Mich St were both in the Top 20 when Hayden was hired...so it wasn't the complete dregs you infer.. Shortly after he took Iowa to the Rose Bowl Illinois went and then Michigan St. So the landscape changed and the conference strengthened.

If your argument is "beating the little 8 was easier" = more wins... Kirk gets an extra non-conf cupcake every year since 2001 with the 12 game schedule. That's one extra win (more or less) every year. I don't know that Hayden ever played an FCS team.

Two great coaches, we're fortunate. I'll go with win% over raw numbers It's more representative. Schedule and landscape is an endless debate.

 

[Ray Kinsella]

Interesting to think about...but I'm confused by the win percentage...but I'm not good at math so perhaps I just messed this up:
Fry
143+89+6=238 total games; 143 wins/238 total games = .601 <---is this not correct? I did not count ties in the win total but did count ties in the total number of games

Ferentz
138+92=230 total games; 138 wins/ 230 total games = .600

It is remarkable how similar the W/L records are between these 2 coaches.

A tie is considered half a win and half a loss. So 6 ties is the same as 3 wins and 3 losses. So you figure 146/238 = .613.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

I have always thought a statue of this picture would look pretty darn sweet.

This is an EXCELLENT idea!

 

[ferentzin04]

kirk has been to 1 rose bowl and hayden went to 1.

Dude...

 

[HawkIDrummer]

Alt facts, eh?

Not exactly. He was just plain wrong.

"Alt facts" are usually data or info that was left out intentionally or disregarded to slant a story or report. Popular as that phrase is because it sounded ridiculous at first utterance, "additional facts" would be more accurate.

 

[jpphawk]

Incorporating a statue of Kirk in with the Hayden statue would be pretty awesome but I would wait until he retires.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

The only thing I have to say about this topic is how truly blessed I feel to be a Hawkeye fan because my entire life as an Iowa fan there have been two coaches- Fry and Ferentz. Both of which are top notch coaches but more importantly run/ran their programs with class and dignity.

 

[Hawkeye Dan in Storm Lake]

god damit. sorry guys,, cant belive i missed haydens 2 other rose bowls. sheesh! probably drinkin...

 

[moondog24]

Iowa fans couldn't have asked for two better representatives of our football program, and both are College Football Hall of Famers.

Kirk Ferentz doing what he did has to be viewed maybe a little more favorably simply because the Big Ten is a better conference from top to bottom and it's not even close.

With that being said, what fry did by breaking into the elite of the Big Ten when it was just Michigan and Ohio State for 30 years is amazing.

In addition, Hayden assembled a great staff, many of whom will be Hall of Famers (Snyder, Alvarez, Stoops, Kirk, etc.) What he did is nothing short of remarkable. He did it without cheating and in a state with a small base to draw from. Kirk has carried on with integrity and class.