How close was Terry Allen to becoming Hayden's successor?

[Herkyalert]

I remember hearing that Bob Bolwsby wanted Allen to take over for Fry, and heard this again on The Gazette's On Iowa podcast this morning. While I do recall the rumors back then, just how close was this to actually happening?

I know Hayden went out in 1998 but had he retired a year sooner, would Terry Allen have been Iowa's coach? Since Allen left UNI for Kansas in 1997 would he really have had the job locked up?

 

[hawkinn3]

I have no inside knowledge of this at all nor do I remember when it was going down but it makes some sense. Kirk was a lesser name in the college game when he was hired but he was from the Iowa family.

I don't see Allen being the top choice but likely on the short list.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Don't know about "locked up", but that particular coaching search showed just how much "pull" Bowlsby did--or didn't--have.

Allegedly, he made a huge push for Allen. As his former boss, why wouldn't he? Allen was at least a "decent" to "good" coach at the FCS/1AA level.

Other rumors were that Hayden thought Stoops was too young and that he didn't have enough pieces to "build", thus, if he failed, he was "finished" at Iowa. If he had success elsewhere, he was always able to look at Iowa later.

Still other rumors were that Allen and Stoops were the "unofficial" final two, but KF dazzled everyone at "interview" time.

In reality? Who knows.

 

[Section136]

There are people on this board and others that know very distinct details of the KF hiring process, including the close calls with Allen and Stoops. Fascinating if you ask me.

IIRC, big time donors had to put a stop to Bowlsby hiring Allen. It was close.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

There are people on this board and others that know very distinct details of the KF hiring process, including the close calls with Allen and Stoops. Fascinating if you ask me.

IIRC, big time donors had to put a stop to Bowlsby hiring Allen. It was close.

I have heard that, too. Not sure how true it is. For all the people who, at some point, made claims of being there, it's hard to separate fact from fiction.

Sort of like, in the 1980s, tons of people in in Orlando claimed they sold land to Disney. In the 1990s, everyone that moved from New York to Orlando claimed to have testified against Gotti. Then we went through our "everyone's a Warlock" phase, on to the "I have first-hand knowledge of the 9/11 attacks".

 

[Section136]

Also, Stoops wanted an offer before he left the room. Bowlsby wouldnt give it to him and Stoops took the OU job shortly after, maybe even the next day. KF ended up saving Bowlsby's ***.

 

[Herkyalert]

Who was even on the short list back then? I don't remember anyone after Stoops, Allen, and Ferentz.

Also, Allen was already at Kansas when Fry retired so I don't recall his name being as strong of a candidate. I was thinking if Fry retired after the 1997 season it would have been possible that Allen would have been hired.

 

[thejumper5]

Who was even on the short list back then? I don't remember anyone after Stoops, Allen, and Ferentz.

Also, Allen was already at Kansas when Fry retired so I don't recall his name being as strong of a candidate. I was thinking if Fry retired after the 1997 season it woud have been possible that Allen would have been hired.

I remember hearing that Bob Elliott was basically the only name on the list before he got sick.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

I remember hearing that Bob Elliott was basically the only name on the list before he got sick.

I also heard he was, several years earlier, "supposed" to be the heir apparent. Then, he became "bitter" toward the UI.

So much speculation.

 

[eyekwah]

Bob Bowlsby lived off the hires of Bump Elliot. He gets credit or blame for hiring KF, but KF wasn't his choice. HF had stated publicly that KF would one day be a good head coach. The one big hire of BB was Steve Alford and we know how that turned out. I'm glad BB is the Big XII commissioner.

 

[LASBUR]

Right I think Elliot was hand picked and groomed for the job before he got sick. I have never heard about him being bitter toward Iowa. I also think BB has pretty well shown he is pretty darn competent reguardless of the Alfford hire

I remember hearing that Bob Elliott was basically the only name on the list before he got sick.

 

[joshhawk]

I don't buy the notion that Kirk dazzled everyone in his interview. If he had in fact wowed them I think would have been offered a contract instead of the deal he got. I think the fans wanted Stoops but Bowlsby wanted Allen. When he let Stoops go to Oklahoma he thought Allen would slide right in but it didn't happen and our last option was Ferentz.

 

[FreedComanche]

Also, Stoops wanted an offer before he left the room. Bowlsby wouldnt give it to him and Stoops took the OU job shortly after, maybe even the next day. KF ended up saving Bowlsby's ***.

I do remember hearing that and totally believe it. Bowlsby got pressured into putting together a stupid committee after interviewing Stoops. Then, not long after that, either OU's president or AD (can't remember which) flew to where Bobby was and hired him on the spot. I like the OU way of doing things!

A buddy and I were so mad once we heard how that went down. Would Stoops have done better than kf? Many say, yes. I am not sure.

FreedComanche

 

[SpiderRico]

None of this I know for sure, but was told some years back by a big money donor who was pretty involved in the process.

1. Terry Allen was absolutely at the top of Bowlsbey's list because of previous ties. But Terry (or anyone for that matter) wasn't going to be hired immediately. The University/search committee was committed to the process put into place.....which was interview all their targeted candidates and come to a consensus and then make the offer.

2. Bob Stoops did NOT ask for an offer before he left the interview. However, shortly after the interview was over, he was offered the OU job. He called Bowlsbey to inform him that he had gotten an offer from OU, but that he wasn't going to accept if Iowa could turn around and make him an offer. Bowlsbey couldn't because of the search committee and process, so Stoops accepted the OU offer.

3. Ferentz hit his interview out of the park. He came prepared with detailed notes and examples of exactly how he intended to bring Iowa back to prominence. No coach speak or emply platitudes. Easily the most prepared, well-versed and passionate of all the candidates that were interviewed. When his interview was over, it was a no-brainer that he was the man for the job. Hayden's blessing before the offer was made sealed the deal.

This is how I was told it went down and I have no reason to believe otherwise. As it relates to search committees, I can only hope that whenever Ferentz retires that the UI doesn't make this decision again. In this world of 24 hour news/sports, technology, etc, an AD can't afford to be hamstrung by a lengthy, bureaucratic process once his man has been targeted. For the amount of money ADs are paid these days, they should be trusted with the responsibility to make the hire they see as the best for the University. If they fail, then fire them and bring in someone who can do better.

But to answer the OPs question, Terry Allen was never very close to being the successor. Even though Bob preferred him because of past ties, Allen was never going to get the support of the entire search committee.

 

[FreedComanche]

2. Bob Stoops did NOT ask for an offer before he left the interview. However, shortly after the interview was over, he was offered the OU job. He called Bowlsbey to inform him that he had gotten an offer from OU, but that he wasn't going to accept if Iowa could turn around and make him an offer. Bowlsbey couldn't because of the search committee and process, so Stoops accepted the OU offer.

Mamma's don't let your babies grow up to be public university bureaucrats.

FreedComanche

 

[nationalchamps]

None of this I know for sure, but was told some years back by a big money donor who was pretty involved in the process.

1. Terry Allen was absolutely at the top of Bowlsbey's list because of previous ties. But Terry (or anyone for that matter) wasn't going to be hired immediately. The University/search committee was committed to the process put into place.....which was interview all their targeted candidates and come to a consensus and then make the offer.

2. Bob Stoops did NOT ask for an offer before he left the interview. However, shortly after the interview was over, he was offered the OU job. He called Bowlsbey to inform him that he had gotten an offer from OU, but that he wasn't going to accept if Iowa could turn around and make him an offer. Bowlsbey couldn't because of the search committee and process, so Stoops accepted the OU offer.

3. Ferentz hit his interview out of the park. He came prepared with detailed notes and examples of exactly how he intended to bring Iowa back to prominence. No coach speak or emply platitudes. Easily the most prepared, well-versed and passionate of all the candidates that were interviewed. When his interview was over, it was a no-brainer that he was the man for the job. Hayden's blessing before the offer was made sealed the deal.

This is how I was told it went down and I have no reason to believe otherwise. As it relates to search committees, I can only hope that whenever Ferentz retires that the UI doesn't make this decision again. In this world of 24 hour news/sports, technology, etc, an AD can't afford to be hamstrung by a lengthy, bureaucratic process once his man has been targeted. For the amount of money ADs are paid these days, they should be trusted with the responsibility to make the hire they see as the best for the University. If they fail, then fire them and bring in someone who can do better.

But to answer the OPs question, Terry Allen was never very close to being the successor. Even though Bob preferred him because of past ties, Allen was never going to get the support of the entire search committee.

This is exactly how it went down, except for your part about Allen never being very close to getting the job. Terry was very close and word got back to Hayden and Hayden basically had to biatchslap Bowlsby and told him to look elsewhere (Stoops, Ferentz, Elliott). It would've been a PR nightmare had Terry been hired. Par for the course from what we've seen come out of the athletic department over the past 5-10 years.

 

[Section136]

Par for the course from what we've seen come out of the athletic department over the past 5-10 years.

This all went down almost 15 years ago.

 

[SpiderRico]

This is exactly how it went down, except for your part about Allen never being very close to getting the job. Terry was very close and word got back to Hayden and Hayden basically had to biatchslap Bowlsby and told him to look elsewhere (Stoops, Ferentz, Elliott). It would've been a PR nightmare had Terry been hired. Par for the course from what we've seen come out of the athletic department over the past 5-10 years.

From what I understand, Terry was close in Bob's mind, but he was never really a "serious" potential in the eyes of most of the search committee. Since the committee had the say on who was going to be hired, my understanding is that Terry would never have been approved by the committee.

 

[ThunderHawk]

Bowlsby wanted Allen. The big donors revolted. Emphatically. That's what happened on that front.

 

[PJHawk]

Within the last couple of years this subject came up on this board. A poster who goes by cecil (not sure if he is still around) recounted what happened. I had seen posts on Rivals (copied below) years ago by him describing the events and his account years later on this site corroborated all the same info. He had intimate knowledge of what went down - at the highest level. And it went like this:

[FONT=&amp] A few of the facts are these:[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Had Bobby Elliott not gotten sick, he would have been the head coach at the University of Iowa. He was very popular with the fan base at the time. Terry Allen most definitely WAS Bowlsby's favorite candidate. Marv Cook is virtually solely responsible for saving Iowa from that catastrophe. Stoops most definitely would have taken the Iowa job. Why even interview when he was already offered the OU post? Ferentz was unknown by virtually everyone, including Bowlsby (remember, KF left Hayden's staff before Bob became the Iowa AD). At the time of the hire, KF was the default choice do to losing Stoops, Elliot's illness, the internal revolt over Terry Allen, and the uninspiring candidacies of Don Patterson and Chuck Long. To sum up, it is a legitimate miracle that things ultimately turned out the way that they did.[/FONT]


[FONT=&amp]The anti-Allen phone calls, faxes and emails overwhelmed the AD office, the UIF office and the President's office -- because insiders saw what BB was doing. Terry Allen had a PC in Lawrence scheduled the afternoon Ferentz was being interviewed. Bowlsby had to make the call following the Ferentz interview and tell him there was a change of plans. The PC in Lawrence became an 'I'm a Jayhawk' PC (he was fired the next year).

Bowlsby was catching a lot of heat over Stoops. Two candidates were ceremonial ones. Ferentz who was encouraged to apply from Bill Dervich and Greg Morris blew the committee's socks off. Even then, thank Marv Cook, and yes, Ann Rhodes for averting disaster. The much maligned search committee saved Iowa football from Bowlsby and the sewer. Bowlsby looked like a dead man at Ferentz's introductory reception at the UIF the night he arrived in IC. Yes, I was there.[/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Yes, Terry Allen was indeed interviewed... the Friday after Thanksgiving to be specific.

FWIW the Wednesday before TG was Chuck Long, Friday after Allen, Saturday was Patterson, Monday was Stoops, Tuesday was Ferentz. And to the other person...Hayden Fry was not on the search committee.[/FONT]