He'll always be remembered as the guy who rescued us from hell.
People talk about how hard it is for KF to recruit. Imagine it is 1979. Your program has been to two bowl games in its history, both of which happened before any of the recruits were born!!! Current NFL alumni almost non-existent. Literally no other B1G team has a longer non-winning streak. Your facilities are unimpressive and your stadium isn't exactly new. National award winners? A few, again born before the recruits existed. Recruiting pipelines??? None. In-state talent?? More likely to be impressed with Iowa State's recent accomplishments than Iowa's. National media presence? None. National brand? Rodney Dangerfield gets more respect. History of legendary coaches? Recruits more likely to read articles on Iowa as a coaching graveyard. Athletic department able to give you a jet (like the current HC) for recruiting? Puhleeeezz. Athletic department budget? Smaller than many of your rivals. Academic standards? Higher than any of the southern schools you'd like to steal from.
Optimism for Fry to draw upon? Even Bump said this might be his last hire. So not much optimism.
Fry had everything working against him, except one thing. And he mentioned it in his autobiography. A loyal fanbase. Loyal to the school. Fry took the job and realized the fanbase (thru marketing and willingness to travel to bowl games) could help him build something special at Iowa.
Now, thanx to Fry and Ferentz, Iowa routinely goes to bowl games and plays against college royalty, and has even jumped the likes of Michigan for preferential treatment in bowl selection.
Fry is a legend on Earth, and on Asgard.
