Hayden Fry impact on Iowa

dwghawk said:
Would the WAVE exist if the children's hospital had not added the floors to put it above the stadium walls to make the playing field visible? Who donated much of the money to make that possible? Isn't the WAVE a reaction to that action? No, I wouldn't give Kirk Ferentz total credit for it but certainly the Ferentz family should get some recognition for bringing about the WAVE's possibility.

Its like when the federal government built the road system into Yellowstone Park. No, they didn't create the natural beauty of the park, but they made it more accessible for people to see that beauty. Well, that added hight to the hospital made it possible for the kids to see the Hawkeys play and get that big Wave from everyone in Kinnick.

JMO
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Kirk Ferentz's donation(s) to the hospital had nothing to do with the design placing it high enough to see the field/spectators. You guys are getting ridiculous.
 
tksirius said:
Kirk Ferentz's donation(s) to the hospital had nothing to do with the design placing it high enough to see the field/spectators. You guys are getting ridiculous.
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There's an old saying that a man can go far in life if he doesn't care if he gets the credit.

I wonder what the saying is about caring so much who gets the actual credit? :)
 
tksirius said:
Kirk Ferentz's donation(s) to the hospital had nothing to do with the design placing it high enough to see the field/spectators. You guys are getting ridiculous.
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Sorry, I was inaccurate in my opinion. I was thinking I read somewhere or heard that the Ferencz family lobbied for the building to be high enough to see into Kinnick.
 
I know Hayden Fry had an enormous impact on Iowa Football, the community, and the resources allocated to the program within the University. Turning a losing program of 20 years into a winner is a tough, tough task. It goes without saying what impact he had in Iowa City.

What I will say is that this thread sells Hayden Fry short...way short...and doesn't even approach what he meant to the larger landscape of college football. His success wasn't evident at just Iowa. Ask Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Iowa State, & Kansas State how they feel about their programs. His coaching tree is simply unprecedented, and if you ask those coaches what they owe their success to, every last one of them will start with Hayden Fry.

When you hear some people say the word legend...the legend in my mind comes from the impact that he had throughout college football...not just at Iowa. His legacy is much grander than Kirk Ferentz and Kirk Ferentz will tell you that.
 
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tksirius said:
Kirk Ferentz's donation(s) to the hospital had nothing to do with the design placing it high enough to see the field/spectators. You guys are getting ridiculous.
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Speaking of which, let's do the math

During his time at Iowa the Ferentz clan pulls in over 75 million dollars (plus another 75 million before he leaves) and he gives 1 mil of that to the children's hospital for a tax write-off and that makes him Mother Teresa?

Considering he has actually earned his paycheck 6 years out of 19, that is not impressive. He does have one accomplishment that is impressive, he has lowered the IQ of 500,000 fans/journalists/administrators.
 
One argument I've noticed goes like this:

In the Fry era, there were four teams in the Big Ten that had winning records over the span of those 20 years, who were in the league for that entire time: Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa and Wisconsin. The Badgers were two games over .500.

So Iowa was the 3rd winningest program during Fry's 20 years. BUT . . . all the other teams (plus the Cyclones) were crap. Where as Kirk has played in a tough conference and every program that's he's faced has been better than the one's Fry faced.

Let's look at the 20 years prior to Fry's arrival. Were those programs better or worse than Iowa? They were above Iowa in the pecking order. Fry helped turn them into crap. When you consistently beat your opponent two things happen: your program gets better,and their program gets worse. So Fry took Iowa from a bottom-dweller to TOP 3.

Fry 15-2 against Wisky
Northwestern 17-3
Michigan State 11-4
Iowa State 16-4

KF, same comparison
Wisky 7 wins - 10 losses
Michigan State 7-8
Cyclones 10-9
Northwestern 8-9

So if you assume Kirk has had a tougher schedule (and I don't because of the OOC comparison), well Kirk made it tougher by giving them hope. The simple truth is, when you dominate your opponents, your schedule looks easy. When you don't, it looks difficult. Fry diminished his competition. Kirk strengthened his.
 
Joshbrown said:
One argument I've noticed goes like this:

In the Fry era, there were four teams in the Big Ten that had winning records over the span of those 20 years, who were in the league for that entire time: Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa and Wisconsin. The Badgers were two games over .500.

So Iowa was the 3rd winningest program during Fry's 20 years. BUT . . . all the other teams (plus the Cyclones) were crap. Where as Kirk has played in a tough conference and every program that's he's faced has been better than the one's Fry faced.

Let's look at the 20 years prior to Fry's arrival. Were those programs better or worse than Iowa? They were above Iowa in the pecking order. Fry helped turn them into crap. When you consistently beat your opponent two things happen: your program gets better,and their program gets worse. So Fry took Iowa from a bottom-dweller to TOP 3.

Fry 15-2 against Wisky
Northwestern 17-3
Michigan State 11-4
Iowa State 16-4

KF, same comparison
Wisky 7 wins - 10 losses
Michigan State 7-8
Cyclones 10-9
Northwestern 8-9

So if you assume Kirk has had a tougher schedule (and I don't because of the OOC comparison), well Kirk made it tougher by giving them hope. The simple truth is, when you dominate your opponents, your schedule looks easy. When you don't, it looks difficult. Fry diminished his competition. Kirk strengthened his.
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Joshbrown said:
One argument I've noticed goes like this:

In the Fry era, there were four teams in the Big Ten that had winning records over the span of those 20 years, who were in the league for that entire time: Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa and Wisconsin. The Badgers were two games over .500.

So Iowa was the 3rd winningest program during Fry's 20 years. BUT . . . all the other teams (plus the Cyclones) were crap. Where as Kirk has played in a tough conference and every program that's he's faced has been better than the one's Fry faced.

Let's look at the 20 years prior to Fry's arrival. Were those programs better or worse than Iowa? They were above Iowa in the pecking order. Fry helped turn them into crap. When you consistently beat your opponent two things happen: your program gets better,and their program gets worse. So Fry took Iowa from a bottom-dweller to TOP 3.

Fry 15-2 against Wisky
Northwestern 17-3
Michigan State 11-4
Iowa State 16-4

KF, same comparison
Wisky 7 wins - 10 losses
Michigan State 7-8
Cyclones 10-9
Northwestern 8-9

So if you assume Kirk has had a tougher schedule (and I don't because of the OOC comparison), well Kirk made it tougher by giving them hope. The simple truth is, when you dominate your opponents, your schedule looks easy. When you don't, it looks difficult. Fry diminished his competition. Kirk strengthened his.
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Wisconsin and Northwestern turned their programs around while HF was still coaching at Iowa, not after he left. KF had nothing to do with those programs getting better.
 
peerok said:
Wisconsin and Northwestern turned their programs around while HF was still coaching at Iowa, not after he left. KF had nothing to do with those programs getting better.
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Correct.As for Michigan State, Northwestern and Wisconsin those are not the same programs.. Hayden was 1-6 Against those teams in his final 2 seasons..
 
Joshbrown said:
One argument I've noticed goes like this:

In the Fry era, there were four teams in the Big Ten that had winning records over the span of those 20 years, who were in the league for that entire time: Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa and Wisconsin. The Badgers were two games over .500.

So Iowa was the 3rd winningest program during Fry's 20 years. BUT . . . all the other teams (plus the Cyclones) were crap. Where as Kirk has played in a tough conference and every program that's he's faced has been better than the one's Fry faced.

Let's look at the 20 years prior to Fry's arrival. Were those programs better or worse than Iowa? They were above Iowa in the pecking order. Fry helped turn them into crap. When you consistently beat your opponent two things happen: your program gets better,and their program gets worse. So Fry took Iowa from a bottom-dweller to TOP 3.

Fry 15-2 against Wisky
Northwestern 17-3
Michigan State 11-4
Iowa State 16-4

KF, same comparison
Wisky 7 wins - 10 losses
Michigan State 7-8
Cyclones 10-9
Northwestern 8-9

So if you assume Kirk has had a tougher schedule (and I don't because of the OOC comparison), well Kirk made it tougher by giving them hope. The simple truth is, when you dominate your opponents, your schedule looks easy. When you don't, it looks difficult. Fry diminished his competition. Kirk strengthened his.
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Plus Hayden would have jumped off his tractor and did cart wheels if he got to play Maryland and Rutgers every two years instead of playing Ohio st every year
 
hawkeyebob62 said:
"Exposure" and "relevance" aren't a function of "who invented or created". Although, by the time I left Iowa City, I was pretty sure Hayden DID farm and drive a tractor. He had that effect and impact, for sure.

And to be fair, with internet, "ANF" would have been the "Black Lives Matter" of the 1980s...
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I was going to post ANF wasn't as destructive and 'reparation-driven' as Black Lives Matter but didn't an Iowa sheriff get shot at while attempting to foreclose on a farm in the 1980s? Too political?
 
Joshbrown said:
One argument I've noticed goes like this:

In the Fry era, there were four teams in the Big Ten that had winning records over the span of those 20 years, who were in the league for that entire time: Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa and Wisconsin. The Badgers were two games over .500.

So Iowa was the 3rd winningest program during Fry's 20 years. BUT . . . all the other teams (plus the Cyclones) were crap. Where as Kirk has played in a tough conference and every program that's he's faced has been better than the one's Fry faced.

Let's look at the 20 years prior to Fry's arrival. Were those programs better or worse than Iowa? They were above Iowa in the pecking order. Fry helped turn them into crap. When you consistently beat your opponent two things happen: your program gets better,and their program gets worse. So Fry took Iowa from a bottom-dweller to TOP 3.

Fry 15-2 against Wisky
Northwestern 17-3
Michigan State 11-4
Iowa State 16-4

KF, same comparison
Wisky 7 wins - 10 losses
Michigan State 7-8
Cyclones 10-9
Northwestern 8-9

So if you assume Kirk has had a tougher schedule (and I don't because of the OOC comparison), well Kirk made it tougher by giving them hope. The simple truth is, when you dominate your opponents, your schedule looks easy. When you don't, it looks difficult. Fry diminished his competition. Kirk strengthened his.
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To the tune of almost the exact same record, more top 10 finishes and more bowl victories? You can slice two records an infinite number of ways but the end result is they have about the same record. What is the point of your post?
 
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