hawkeyebob62
Well-Known Member
His first "full" recruiting class brought RBs JC Love-Jordan and Eddie Phillips (numbers one and two in Illinois, and the Chicago Tribune all but had Love-Jordan going to O$U), Norm Granger out of Jersey, and Glenn Buggs out of South Beloit, IL.
He actually said he typically had worse second seasons, and that was true. And the 1980 season had some seriously dismal moments. Among them: after an opening 16-7 win over Indiana, the Hawks got biatch-slapped in Lincoln, 57-0; the Hawks lost to ISU, then looked atrocious losing 5-3 to Arizona; they ran the Statue of Liberty (as promised)...TWO PLAYS IN A ROW in a loss to Illinois; loss to Minnesota, a beating at Purdue and a 41-17 loss to O$U. Wins over NW (back when it actually was NOT automatic) and Wisconsin (which, along with Iowa and NW, fought annually for the Big 10 cellar), and a season-ending crushing (41-) over Michigan State.
It was easy to see, however, that the Hawks could become a bowl team (not Rose Bowl, obviously, as that was still the exclusive January 1 destination of either O$U or Michigan) from time to time. It was NOT unfathomable that we could, in the near future, put together some 6- or 7-win seasons. And there was good reason for being optimistic.
Clearly, skill positions were being upgraded; the 1980 defense showed signs of being good, and virtually everyone from that defense would return; Reggie Roby, despite woeful inconsistency on PATs and FGs, had a cannon for a leg; and the Hawks actually showed signs of life when returning kickoffs and punts (frequent repetition couldn't have hurt!).
I remember thinking to myself when reading the paper the morning of the 1981 Nebraska game, "I bet the Hawks keep this a lot closer than anyone figures". Prophetic!
As much as I love KF--and he would probably agree with me on this--Hayden LITERALLY built the program we see today. In prior years, opposing coaches had ZERO reason to hate Iowa. Hayden managed to hack off--with a mix of on-field success and a "stop us, you wuss" post-game presser attitude--nearly every Big 10 coach at one time or other. There was NO reason, on paper, to think this program could be in contention for conference titles after mid-September. Under Hayden, it became the norm to be in the conversation, still, after mid-October and beyond.
He actually said he typically had worse second seasons, and that was true. And the 1980 season had some seriously dismal moments. Among them: after an opening 16-7 win over Indiana, the Hawks got biatch-slapped in Lincoln, 57-0; the Hawks lost to ISU, then looked atrocious losing 5-3 to Arizona; they ran the Statue of Liberty (as promised)...TWO PLAYS IN A ROW in a loss to Illinois; loss to Minnesota, a beating at Purdue and a 41-17 loss to O$U. Wins over NW (back when it actually was NOT automatic) and Wisconsin (which, along with Iowa and NW, fought annually for the Big 10 cellar), and a season-ending crushing (41-) over Michigan State.
It was easy to see, however, that the Hawks could become a bowl team (not Rose Bowl, obviously, as that was still the exclusive January 1 destination of either O$U or Michigan) from time to time. It was NOT unfathomable that we could, in the near future, put together some 6- or 7-win seasons. And there was good reason for being optimistic.
Clearly, skill positions were being upgraded; the 1980 defense showed signs of being good, and virtually everyone from that defense would return; Reggie Roby, despite woeful inconsistency on PATs and FGs, had a cannon for a leg; and the Hawks actually showed signs of life when returning kickoffs and punts (frequent repetition couldn't have hurt!).
I remember thinking to myself when reading the paper the morning of the 1981 Nebraska game, "I bet the Hawks keep this a lot closer than anyone figures". Prophetic!
As much as I love KF--and he would probably agree with me on this--Hayden LITERALLY built the program we see today. In prior years, opposing coaches had ZERO reason to hate Iowa. Hayden managed to hack off--with a mix of on-field success and a "stop us, you wuss" post-game presser attitude--nearly every Big 10 coach at one time or other. There was NO reason, on paper, to think this program could be in contention for conference titles after mid-September. Under Hayden, it became the norm to be in the conversation, still, after mid-October and beyond.