Passionate Hayden 7 years before arriving in Iowa City
- Thread starter paednoch23
- Start date
Interesting clip. I think we should have ****canned Frank Lauterbaur and hired Hayden onthe spot right then and there.
Of course, I have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.
as an aside, why did SMU fire him? I thought I remember reading that it was because he tried to integrate the SW Conference.
Of course, I have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.
as an aside, why did SMU fire him? I thought I remember reading that it was because he tried to integrate the SW Conference.
In his autobiography, he alleged that boosters wanting to launch a slush fund to buy players forced him out.
thx for that info.
So, basically something similar to what SMU did in the '80s that got them the infamous Death Penalty? it sounds like that kind of corruption was going on at SMU way before the '80s, then. I canot see Hayden Fry ever going along with anything like tha.
A few years later, SMU got nailed for "buying players". Bobbie Collins was the head coach then.
Thank you SMU for freeing up Hayden, and saving Iowa football.
Fry recruited black player Jerry Levias to SMU in the mid 1960's. Levias had a great career at SMU and a very good pro career. So Hayden already had integrated SMU by 6 years or more before he was fired.
Levias wrote the Forward in Hayden’s book.
True, and that may be part of what rubbed some of the good ol' boy boosters wrong. Fry played ball his way.
Here's an interesting story that has to do with LeVias.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/31...er-and-the-wild-spring-training-scam-of-1971/
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/31...er-and-the-wild-spring-training-scam-of-1971/
Hayden Fry was a man of integrity and courage, a Marine who demanded discipline but who accepted individual and cultural differences. Fry had a creative offensive mind, but he knew defense wins championships. But knowing that didn't stop him from putting together high-scoring, entertaining teams. He knew that taking calculated risks was smart. And he knew that keeping the other team guessing helped him gain a winning edge.
Hayden was one of those especially individual personalities. A product of his West Texas upbringing, he was his own person in every way. He was emotional, and he wasn't too macho to show those emotions publicly.
There should be no doubt that Hayden Fry was the architect of every good thing associated with Iowa football for nearly half a century. That his 1985 team, ranked #1 in the nation most of the season, was denied the national title and Rose Bowl championship, will always be one of the great disappointments for Hawkeye fans.
IMHO, no one can say enough good things or give enough credit to Hayden Fry for turning the graveyard of coaches and the laughingstock of college football into a perennial Big Ten and national power, and doing it with class, creativity, and empathy.
Hayden was one of those especially individual personalities. A product of his West Texas upbringing, he was his own person in every way. He was emotional, and he wasn't too macho to show those emotions publicly.
There should be no doubt that Hayden Fry was the architect of every good thing associated with Iowa football for nearly half a century. That his 1985 team, ranked #1 in the nation most of the season, was denied the national title and Rose Bowl championship, will always be one of the great disappointments for Hawkeye fans.
IMHO, no one can say enough good things or give enough credit to Hayden Fry for turning the graveyard of coaches and the laughingstock of college football into a perennial Big Ten and national power, and doing it with class, creativity, and empathy.
Bizarre to see him hanging his head like that. But he carried himself well through the trial.
Imagine where Iowa would be in the shifting conference landscape if he'd never come and brought the program back to life.
Imagine where Iowa would be in the shifting conference landscape if he'd never come and brought the program back to life.
Conversely, imagine where Iowa could be if Evy had gotten his way by assuming the AD duties and continuing to coach concurrently.
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