Describe Your Best Memory from the Fry Era

I will always love how he changed the mindset of our teams and also of our fans by saying he'd punch anyone in the damn mouth if he caught them smiling after a close loss.
His very blunt message: NO MORE MORAL VICTORIES
From that moment on the Iowa Hawkeyes played to win. That's what exceptional leaders do, they instill excellence because they expect it.

That and the Hokey-pokey after a special win are forever my best Coach Fry memories.
 
NCHawker said:
The euphoria of 1981 - that year stood in stark contrast to many years. The excitement of winning the conference and the prospect of going to the rose bowl. I got a commemorative Hawkeye Pepsi Bottle.

One of the greatest was the win over #6 UCLA. I was there for that game. I have not been to too many games in my life at Kinnick. It was awesome.

Iowa's 26-0 win over Michigan in 1984 was awesome.

When Iowa beat OHIO STATE in 81 or 82 or was it 83. Long bomb to Moritz
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That was the 1983 game against O$U. What I won't forget about the game was the almost frantic/panic on the sidelines with Hayden and staff giving the sign to go for 2 after the Moritz TD.
 
I was pheasant hunting near Tama. The radio was on and they announced Iowa had hired a guy named Hayden Fry. My buddies and I said in chorus, “Hayden Who?” We soon found out.
 
We hired him just in time.

An unusual number of high profile jobs had opened or soon would in the midwest alone.

Woody Hayes would unceremoniously bow out at tOSU after punching the Clemson player. Earle Bruce would get that job which would open up ISU (who tried to lure Barry Alvarez as an assistant).

Oklahoma State would hire Jimmy Johnson.

Co!orado would hire Chuck Fairbanks from the Patriots.

Illinois would hire Mike White.

The U would hire Howard Schnellenberger.


Any one of these schools could easily have had Hayden on their short list.
 
mopkins said:
I was a little too young for Fry. I obviously remember him and remember watching him and his teams, but I started college in year 2 of Ferentz.

My earliest memory of Fry was as a little kid being at my Dad's company picnic. A bunch of guys were listening to Iowa play Northwestern on the radio and Iowa hung like 60 on them. I remember my dad laughing and saying "typical Hayden just blowing the F out of Northwestern". I have no idea why but that memory has always stuck with me.
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Just looked at some of Hayden's scores vs. Cats...man he laid wood to those fools.
 
One of Hayden's 90's teams that the injury bug hit hard "We went into the game boogered up.....we ended the game double boogered up"
 
I'll add the 95 Sun Bowl to the list. Washington thought it would be an easy win, but Fry got is revenge in convincing fashion.
 
I was living in Minnesota when Fry was hired. The Gopher fans I knew up there were amused to say the least by his hiring, having been used to Iowa being the whipping boy of the conference for a long time. I told people that Hayden would wipe the smirks off their faces and would take Iowa back to the top.
 
1994 vs Central Michigan. The first game for Tavian Banks, Tim Dwight, and 10 year old me. I got to see Banks run one in, Timmy D dive over the pile for his first touchdown, and watch them smoke Central Michigan to secure my fandom.
 
--Hayden trying to pronounce the last name of Minnesota QB Mike Hohensee, then saying, "Dadgummit! Well, I'll just say he gave us a bit of trouble and I'm glad we won the game" on his Sunday night show the day after the 1982 game.

--1985 Michigan State and Michigan games with his complete command of the sideline

--His disdain for media after the 1983 Indiana game. After asking about Corny Robertson calling a TO with :00:10 on the clock, then throwing a TD pass, he explained to the media that we had second- and third-teamers good enough to get looks from the pros, and to put them in and ask them NOT to play would be an insult. He followed that up with, "I don't remember too many folks questioning our opponents when we were losing by scores like 57-0 (Nebby, 1980) and 58-13 (Purdue, 1980)"
 
Accompanied a past player’s dad and joined him in a visit at Hayden’s football office where we sat down and chatted with him for awhile. Hayden signed an Iowa football marketing piece with his picture on it. He also wrote a short note on it addressed to my dad who had Parkinson’s at the time. I gave it to my dad for Xmas that year as he introduced me to the Hawkeyes when I was a youngster........long before Hayden’s arrival.
 
I heard that Kinnick lights were on all night and Fry was up on the jumbotron. Does anyone have pics of this?
 
I remember a post game press conference where he called Epenesa Epenesa "Pete and Repeat". Probably stands out more in my memory w/AJ playing.....
 
Last game of the regular season at Kinnick, vs Minnesota, sometime in the late '80s/early '90s. Huge snowfall preceded the game and still snowing -- almost no fans willing to come out into the stadium seats until kickoff. Shoveling of the yard markers as the game went on. Iowa received the kickoff and started from inside their own 20 yd line. First play of the game. Everyone expected both teams would run the ball on every play because you could barely see anything. So Iowa's first offensive play was a fake off-tackle handoff, drop-back pass bomb to a WR on a deep post route in the middle of the field -- who made a diving catch at the 50yd line. THAT play symbolized Hayden Fry more than any I remember.
 
hawkdrummer1 said:
How do you pick one? If so...it has to be Nov 14th, 1981. Roses raining from the press box, grown men crying in the stands, complete euphoria. IOWA was going back to the Rose Bowl for the first time in over 20 years.
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This is the game that put the nail in the 20yrs of losing!
Best moment - Father Bob on the PA "A final score of some interest: Michigan 9, Ohio St. 14!"
Players start jumping all around, crowd is going crazy, Iowa scores 2 plays later to widen the margin over MSU and "Rose Bowl, Rose Bowl" all second half. It was very cold. The 2nd half and downtown IC that night was a giant party.

Iowa had lost 2 big 10 games and needed Ohio St to beat Michigan and tie w/ Iowa - Iowa gets Rose Bowl for having the longest drought.
 
Oh there are just way too many but ....

Someone already mentioned his first Iowa home game and game against Indiana and Lee Corso. The hawks jumped out to about a 26-7 halftime lead and when they used the standup TEnds the fans were like What is This.

I loved the way Fry would lull the other team to sleep towards the end of a game or half. At Purdue around 1985-6 the hawks got the ball just before halftime with maybe 50 seconds to go at about their own 30. They ran a typical run play power blast to the I back, they took their time getting into and out of the huddle, took their time, then boom snapped it with maybe 15 seconds to go and threw a bomb down to the Purdue 20 or so, called timeout then kicked a FG in what would be a very close game.

Fry did the same thing to MSU on the road at the end of the game and Skillet kicked what looked good as a FG but the refs called it no good and I think it ended in a tie.

So many others, the 1981 last game at home against MSU, PHil Blatcher running crazy, defense playing great, people had battery operated mini TVs in the crowd and when OSU beat MIch these small pockets of fans just started going crazy and then the word started spreading. There was someone a few rows in front of us with a tv so we found out pretty quick.

I just thought the gutty comeback with Hartleib to Cook at OSU was great. I thought the Matt Rodgers led teams in 90-91 were two of his best squads and were just a couple of plays from perhaps being undefeated and going for a Natty Champ. Lots of great memories.
 
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