FryFest: Remembering Hayden Fry panel

200 volunteers working on fryfest today everything from parking cars to selling beer to stand in line and and pushing around and where to go where not to go and so it's a great time frightfest is a place to be hi Kenny Fright Fest is the place to be we're so glad you're here don't forget to wander around the the building here and see all these vendors they all brought some very nice and unique properties and and Gifts down here and we'd like to have you stop in and see their wees and a peils and make sure you make buy something and get freshen up your wardrobe for the big game tomorrow darn right that's the way to do that so we had a wonderful uh uh Hall of Fame uh presentation here this morning and then they signed autograss they're at the luncheon right now which should be breaking up so in about 3 or 4 minutes uh we're going to have all kinds of good old Hawkeyes up here we're going to remember Hayden fry we've got a little video to play for you and then we're going to get going so grab a seat uh have at it it's another afternoon of fryfest thank you for coming [Music] [Music] night down [Music] [Music] my [Music] [Music] [Music] tell we [Music] [Music] [Music] I it it [Music] [Music] your name [Music] Al chair [Music] oh B you guys my [Music] [Music] [Music] I guess so you want to switch him well the time is upon us we're going to remember Hayden fry I think of a Hayden fry every day of my life this is all great to be a Hawkeye that's where we're at at frightfest and we've got some real uh real real big time hawkey up for you but right now ladies and gentlemen I'm going to introduce to you Mr Mitch spck from kga television we'll save the Applause for these six gentlemen here thanks so much uh welcome welcome to fryfest 15 years this how cool is it I'm sure a lot of you show hands that just here how many have been here every fryfest yeah just one of those things right great way to kick off the football season certainly a great way to honor a man who who changed the game on and off the field and and what a great lineup we've got here to to introduce you to real quick we'll just go down the line real quick and start uh all the way down there with a guy who really is connected to coach fry the longest Don Patterson was with him for a year in Denton Texas at North Texas you're Texas and he somehow convinced you to come up where they got winter here uh in the winter of 78 right there in December uh fantastic coach in zone right two Gateway titles at Western Illinois uh and again as known Hayden for or knew him for as long as anybody here on the docket Phil hadti a guy I've worked with a little bit just being a member of the media and if you any media members have probably seen him on uh some camera shots here and there a college sports communicators Hall of Fame member just in the last few years a cedar ridan like myself a wash High School grad uh was with the athletic department for a long time 1971 to 2012 in a number of different uh positions took over for George wi as Sid and certainly fantastic to have Phil up here he's got stories as well Dan McCarney Iowa City Zone a city high grad a little Hawk we got any little hawks here a captain in 74 one of Hayden's first assistance was there for a decade and then Barry got a job in Madison and he needed a DC so Dan goes up there and then of course uh move to ases and had a heck of a run there in ases leading the Cyclones to some unprecedented Heights that they hadn't been to and then because Life's a little like poetry he goes to Denton himself and has a stint there in North Texas great to have Coach McCarney back home we got Jared Dev talk about a guy who's played for some Legends applington Parkersburg and everything he did up there for coach Ed Thomas three-time all big 10 performer was a senior for Coach Fry's final season and uh some great stories about the the end of the road I'm sure he he's going to have for us there he Peterson before Pat anger came in and got everybody talking about bondorf don't forget about H Peterson folks a heck of a player for for the Bulldogs I believe I read first bondorf Bulldog to be voted in the Iowa high school hall of fame as a football player or something like that you can brag a little bit putting putting borf on the map there 81 to 85 co- captain in 85 First Team all big 10 part of some of the greatest teams in the history of this program that's C saying something last but certainly not least Jim molini who was kind of the bridge in there from 76 to 79 Saw coach fry come in after playing for Coach Cummings a Nebraska native who made the right decision to Head East we appreciate that certainly Jim and I've got a question for you later as we get deeper in the panel about an i club meeting in t County I read a story about you and a and I think that might already be bringing up some memories but speaking of memories haven't worked for kjn we've been doing this thing since 1953 we've got a deep archive system so want to direct everybody's attention up here to the video board we're going to take a trip back to 1978 that December of 1978 we found our report from the initial press conference of Hayden fry being introduced in Iowa City and super fun to hear how it was portray How It Was Written so take a listen to those words and uh let's take a back to the back to the past from almost 46 years ago Hayden fory has made a career of turning losers into winners he did it at SMU then again the last years at North Texas State but even with 10 and one and 9 and2 records the last two seasons at North Texas there were no Bowl invitations so fry has come to aowa where right now there are real doubts that there ever can be a winner but there's also hope that fry can work his magic for the Hawkeyes I have uh done my homework to find out if Iowa is going to be committed to do whatever is necessary within the and regulations to be comparable with the winners in the Big 10 I have been assured that this will take place therefore I am exceptionally happy to accept the job head football coach here fry talks as though he's about to waken a sleeping giant if somehow he can return Iowa to the Glory Days of big 10 championships then bowl games a national Acclaim can no longer elude him for that he's willing to work very hard the University of Iowa and I'm sure the president do a far better job than I in elaborating on this but we are prepared to compete with the people that have been winning in the Big 10 and whatever it takes we're going to do it as long as ethical and within the RO fry may have what it takes to make Iowa a winner for the first time in two decades or he may not what it took to get him here was $45,000 a year and the challenge to put the Hawkeyes back on top probably the best 45 Grand University of who ever spent right I get chills when I hear that reporter say fry speaks as if he's about to weak aaken a sleeping giant because it didn't take long right well Jim you were here in 78 and and part of his that that first class with him what were your first thoughts when when coach fry took the podium and spoke like that and and had a whole new direction for a program that you crossed Enemy Lines so to speak to come from Nebraska to Iowa to play for for well when coach fry came in he uh had a very sense of what he wanted to get done I mean he had it laid out exactly how we were supposed to act how we're supposed to dress what we're doing on the field what we're doing off the field and very impressive and the coaches he had that he brought with him plus the ones he hired when he was here with Barry Alvarez Dan McCarney unbelievable coaches uh we'll just go down the line he if you want to go just first impressions of Hayden Wherever Whenever you uh first met him uh I would say that that coach fry was probably the consant professional I mean he uh he was always positive around his players um you know always coaching everything like that but I know that these guys you know Coach Patterson coach McCarney um you know he really held those guys accountable for you know our play and and um so thanks guys for taking the heat for us but but uh he was he was an amazing uh amazing motivator a great Visionary uh a lot of the motivational things uh that he talked about and what he did as a coach um you know we all thought that it's like ah you know the what what is he even talking about visualizing and all this kind of stuff you know it didn't it didn't uh it didn't really Dawn us until we got a little bit older we really started to appreciate and buy into what he was doing so well I I had the honor to catch coach Fry on the on the tail end of his career and I I hope I'm not the one that caused him into retirement but um coach fry uh was unbelievable from his pregame speeches to the Hokey pokei um sense of humor out of the out of this room um so it's just a a pleasure to to play for him watch him interact with assistant coaches which at later in his career he was letting his assistant coaches do a lot of the coaching but you could see him either in the in The Crows Nest or just in meetings just uh orchestrating everything great to see everybody how about them Hawks this is amazing really appreciate everybody that's put this on and continued this tradition couple of things and I'll share a couple memories um first of all maybe we can get some of the people on the outside just to quiet down a little bit just for all of us that are speaking and for all of you that are here we just want to respect you and let you listen to what we're talking about um it's an amazing you stop and think about it we're sitting here watching it on on the video 1979 and here it is 2024 in this amazing tradition and this show of respect for what Hayden fry meant to University of Iowa to Iowa City to the state of Iowa to all the college football to have all of you here and to keep paying your respects and and love and what he did for us and you drive through town as we all do it's always fun to come back I spent 36 years in this town I'll always be proud of my roots and you see all those Hayden friy flags hanging all over town the Herky the hawk statues I'm telling you nobody in America kicks off college football like we do in Iowa City like you guys do nobody nobody it's it's it's amazing Phil and I were just talking he said that Phil that press conference was in the old letter winners Club in the old Fieldhouse when they introduced coach fry I'm sitting on mornings Side Drive with my mom and dad listening to her on the radio figuring I had no chance to stay with Hayden uh I was a part-timer with Bob Cummings played for him and uh all of a sudden I went in for an interview he wanted to talk to all the coaches that were here before amazingly after about a half an hour he said well Dan what do you think about being my tight end Coach for $188,000 and I about jumped off the seat we were all he was doing all the interviews in bump Elliott's office I had no idea I had the least amount of experience the youngest but he took a chance on me and then that later that spring and I'll pass this on to Phil but later that spring Bob Lee as Donnie Patterson remembers came with Hayden from North Texas he had the defensive line he got lonely for Texas decided to go back I had Jimmy Swift at tight end because of the job he did in Spring ball Hayden decided to give me all the defensive line and he came in and and one day and he opened the door and shut the door after Bob Lee had left and he said Dan what do you think about being my defensive line coach and he said I'll never forget this new defensive lineman can really appreciate this he said it's not that complex either tell him to go straight ahead right or left it's not that complex he said and then when it's a passing down you get your butt up in the air you seat red and you smell horseshit and you go hit the quarterback like it was yesterday I said gotch you coach I'll take that job as a defensive line coach and the rest of his history is they say great to be back thanks a lot everybody [Applause] well my first impressions of Hayden there was two people beside my parents that I've known that commanded immediate respect just by walking into the room one was Horus deevi and the one thing I'll say about Evie was I didn't have to work for him so that I from what I'm told that was the good thing I just knew him as a friend and he walked in and that's the way it was the first time Hayden fry walked into the office of bump Elliott he had on a winter coat which he very seldom wore in his life he said he had to borrow it from somebody him walking into the room he also commanded respect without saying a word so forest deevi and Hayden fry those are my first impressions of Hayden fry he commanded immediate respect and I assume that's the way it was with his players when he came in uh he was someone special and you knew right away Hawkeye football was headed in an upward Direction and uh didn't take long took a couple years but uh we went into land that we for the most part people are my age and most people out here had never seen before as far as Hawkeye football and uh you know all we can say is thank God for Hayden fry I want to take you back to the fall of 78 my one and only year at North Texas we lost two games that year we lost a three-point game at the University of Texas they're pretty good as you know and we lost we played both Mississippi State Oklahoma State we beat one we lost to the other can't remember which one but we had two losses on the season and yet we could not get to a ball game simply because we couldn't sell enough tickets that's what Hayden said we have to we have to go somewhere else there were three options one obviously was Iowa the other two were University of Mississippi which had a good program and also Oklahoma State I do remember as We R around the table bill Boer had this to say some of you know Bill he said well all I know is this you win at Iowa you only go to the best damn ball game there is I'm voting for Iowa and I think that's going to Mo quite a bit Hayden changed a lot off the field as well of course America needs Farmers that was his idea I believe he you were a senior that year in ' 85 when that was introduced I'll ask you about that in a bit but the Hat itself is Iconic and the tiger Hawk certainly iconic I talked to some of you uh before we got up here what were your memories of those of you that were within the program or around the program the the logo chain and and what a stark turn that was and and what it's meant to now be again one of the most iconic logos in in all of sports I remember Wright Thompson wrote a great story uh about Coach Gable a few years back and talked about a guy who traveled overseas and saw a tiger Hawk and said the only English word he knew as he pointed that and said Gable and now that's happening with Caitlyn Clark that's happened a few times as well but what do you guys remember about the introduction of the tiger Hawk and you couldn't have imagined it get the legs that it did and and become as iconic as it did it was probably just a a big change you're looking at what's going on here it's a a different thing but what are you guys' memories of of those initial discussions and even if you weren't it with the program yet just seeing it for the first time that's a big change well you know I was here and we had the old Iowa script Iowa helmets and when Hayden came into a team meeting he goes to us he says we're changing everything about us we're be become winners so we're going to look like winners and one of the things he did said was we're going to style our uniforms after the Pittsburgh Steelers who were Super Bowl Champs at the time with the black helmets and then he came up with the tiger Hawk and we're just saying you know very iconic as far as players are going this is great this will be our emblem for us and that's the way it all started with us he says we want to be winners we're going to look like winners yeah it was it was definitely a feeling of a new regime uh things were definitely you know I wasn't here um you know I wasn't here when when Mo was here in the transition everything but I grew up around it used to come to Iowa Games my dad would always say hey let's go to a hawk game we see some good good football and I'm like I'm like which team we watch and he's oh yeah Michigan's in town this week you know or something like that but uh it was definitely uh it was definitely a new era um and for a player it it was cool it was uh it was very iconic um and uh it really set us apart in terms of you know things are going to be different well the tiger Hawk was obviously established when when I was playing here but um as a player I don't think you could be more proud of of playing for a university that tiger Hawk and the man that made it and Coach fry brings up a lot of great memories um we were just talking I was talking to Dave Brown and Jimmy and hap and Jared and we were outside uh some of those some of the best that ever pulled on a uniform here University of Iowa was hawkey in the defensive line anyway the first staff meeting I'll never forget it coach fry came in he sat down a t-shirt he sat down a hat he sat down a deck of cards he sat down a sweatshirt and and he had the new tiger Hawk on it and we're looking at and going what the hell is this and what what is this in a staff meeting and he sat him down the end of the table and he said this is the new logo this is the new look this is the future of the Iowa Hawkeyes we're going to make people around the country recognize and respect this logo and in your spare time if you can sell some of these things on your own you can make some money true story Donnie remember and we're sitting there we're thinking listen we're already working 17 hour days how the hell we going to sell any of this stuff we got no time for that but um the rest of this history as we say when you you put it on and you see it around the country and you see anywhere and everywhere it's one of the most recognizable loal as Mitch said around the country and then I'll mention another this is another quick story but it's it's a true story Donnie remember I was recruiting Reggie Roby out of waro East High School and uh early offers really weren't made there weren't many that many early offers back then and when Reggie was coming out but I'd heard a lot of great things about him Hayden sent me to his first game it was war L East at Marshal Town High School the opening kickoff of the game Bobcat oh yeah Bobcats Marshal Town Bobcats there you go it's in Marshal Town on the opening kickoff of the high school season Reggie kicked off kicked off and he hit the uprights uh on the on the field on on the kickoff and I'm going I think this guy's pretty special long story short we end up evaluating him recruiting him knew he was going to be really important little did we know that he would be one of the most important guys to ever help us turn around this program after 20 years of losing and it comes down to Iowa and Wisconsin he had a number of offers came down to those two schools I'm at the rata end with Hayden fry the night before signing at in in wo Iowa he's either going to come at iow come to Iowa or go to Wisconsin one of those two there's no cell phones he's going to call me at the front desk of the romada in at midnight the night before signing and tell me he's either coming to iow or he's going to Wisconsin Hayden and oron having a cold beer having a sandwich in the bar in there and sitting there on pins and needles and I'm thinking to myself even though I didn't say it I'm either going to get a raise or I'm goingon to get my ass fired over this one now we get Reggie I'm going to get a raise I I I lose this guy we may I may be in trouble I might be looking for a job at midnight I get a call to the front desk I go up there the lady says it's for Dan mcne I came out there and took the call and I go hello Reggie goes coach Mack I said yeah he says I got some bad news for you and he waited he says I'm going to be a Hawkeye so I'm going crazy I'm going crazy Hayden Run I run into the bar in a restaurant I scream and yell him he's a Hawkeye coach he's a hawkey he's got some tiger Hawk boots that somebody had just given him that week and he's scanning up dancing in circles with those tiger Hawk boots on I'll never forget it one of the great memories I have with that tiger Hawk uh when we end up getting regie but anyway it's great to see it all around every everywhere you go in the state of Iowa and especially in Iowa City seeing that tiger Hawk that that kind of tells you right there where we were at that uh space in time when we got that excited about getting a kicker but uh I remember Hayden said we have to change the culture not just the wind loss we've got to change the culture of Iowa football and part of that was changing everything the uniforms putting the tiger hawk in there and there's a little something odd about that now some of you wearing uh your tiger Hawks today I don't know if you guys remember this you turn it and the young people won't have any idea what I'm talking about you turn it sideways about 45° and they call the h eyes cuz that's what the tiger Hawk looks like the flying Flintstones if you remember that Fred Flintstone turn the tiger Hawk sideways and it looks a little bit like Fred Flintstone and they says well here it is more losing with the frying f Flintstones here at Iowa and uh he knew what he was doing there was an illustrator from Cedar Rapids that Hayden got together with them and they designed the tiger Hawk and it's something that as they say will go down in infamy as far as Iowa history and uh it did in fact change the entire culture speaking of the tiger heart I do recall a meeting probably spring or summer that very first spring and summer believe it or not there were a lot of options regarding logo and I just want to reassure you some of them look more like chicken hwks than tiger hwks without a doubt we pick the best one no doubt about it so we get a new logo a new regime a new culture and as we get into the the early to mid 80s the change starts happening it starts pretty quick Happ you were on those teams as well some of you were still within the program Jimmy were still freshly out of it but what do you remember about the moments the season the stretches where you see it's changing it's happening everything he said he was going to do in that press the sleeping Giants getting woken up what was that like whether you're within the program whatever you were doing in the program or freshly out of it what do you remember about seeing that and just the the attention that was on Iowa City for this football program that was becoming a giant that was wide awake I got uh one great story with Hayden when he came in nobody knew who he was it was always Hayden who who's this guy from Texas when I first met him he pulls up in a Mercedes Snak skin boots and a Rolex and I go this is our coach okay okay but that was the first team meeting and everything went well from there and uh sports information director at the time said maybe we should go with Hayden to some of the eye club meetings so I ended up going to tame ey club with Hayden and everybody knows tame and it's a good town they like to have a good time so we're sitting there and they introduce Hayden to walk up the podium to speak and I'm falling behind him all of a sudden out the crowd comes a bit biscuit hits him right in the head and he goes Jimmy we'll fight our way in we'll fight our way out so he gets up there and he's gives a speech and of course he's got the whole place in the palm of his hand by the time it's all over and he goes to me afterwards he says Jimmy we got to go find a guy that threw the biscuit you know I I in practice a lick with him do didn't know him very well so I said you know whatever the coach needs if he he needs me to beat this guy up I'll do it I want to start so he goes over to the guy and he meets the guy and he goes sir we love your passion we just got to redirect it a little bit and the mor or less story he ended up becoming friends with the guy and years later he ended up going to the guy's funeral that's how the kind of guy Hayden fry was well I can tell you I can tell you as a freshman coming in 19 1981 uh uh everything was serious I mean it was serious it was intense it was very serious again coach coach was uh uh the consant motivator was got people excited about it and really really drove these guys you know he was one of these guys who was a great leader and relied on his coaches he knew if he hired good coaches these guys would do the job and and all would be well because he can't do it all right so I'll never forget it was my freshman year we're in practice and and uh you know Kirk ference now is a is a line coach this first year was my first year and Dan and Kirk got together and we were going to do uh pass rush drills but we're going to do things a little different Hayden always had a philosophy that you know ones against twos you never put the ones against each other and these guys got together and thought it'd be a great idea to put the ones against the ones and I'll never forget I've never I don't think I've never saw a coach run down a field as fast as that but he came running down and within you know a lot of screaming a lot of wave arm waving and stuff like that I could hear I could hear coach say Dan I just hired you as a dline coach you're fired Kirk you just came on board you're fired if you guys don't train this around right now you guys are both to be out of a job and so that's how I was like and I'm a you know I'm an 18-year-old kid I don't know I was like what the hell is going on here you know I this is unbelievable and uh but sure enough you know I could just say that that there was definitely an attitude change by time I got there things were very serious you know very business-like when you you went to practice you get your work done work hard there was no loafing anything and uh all I know is if we you we love coach Mack and everything and we worked our ass off just to make sure that coach didn't get fired so [Applause] well it appears or it sounds like a uh a lot of eye clubs have a lot of stories so I'll I'll tell one myself um it was our senior year um we took a small plane over to De Moine uh just for time sake I I I believe I'm correct in this story and we're coming back and there's some weather and you know cooler coach for I sitting back in his uh his airplane and I'm I'm like I've got the my hands clenched against the seat and he looks over he goes now jar when it's your time it's your time I'm like I don't know coach I don't like this but he he he was a cool customer there was amazing uh the the transition and the transformation and um I'll never forget that first game and any many of you probably were there we played Lee Corso University of Indiana Donnie remembers it well Phil does obviously um and um tremendous game hell of a game we're ahead we lead almost the entire game um last game of the excuse me last play of the game uh they run an out and up on Mario Pac our corner from Ohio and unfortunately Mario car covered the out and he didn't cover the out and up and they got behind it scored one we didn't know how to win it was the it was the it was the progression it was the transformation it was a transition about learning how to go from losing for 20 years no bowl games no winning seasons and teaching everybody how to win U I'll never forget one of those first um staff meetings Hayden Friday Hayden had said to all of us in the staff meeting Donnie don't you ever forget where your loyalty lies I knew he was talking to me and Bernie because Bernie and I were retained we loveed the place it's our armal moer we gave everything we had but we were new to his staff and he said don't you ever forget where your where your loyalties Li it's where your damn paycheck comes from and he was letting Bernie and I know all your loyalty better be with me period end the story what he established so and I just thought of this when these guys are talking it all played for him have such deep incredible respect for the head coach all these decades later he did this and he didn't come out and say it but when you look back on it now he he made sure all of us coaches and players alike had a chip on our shoulder he made sure that we would fight for our brothers coaches and players alike uh we're not going to make any excuses because he wouldn't allow that unlike what you hear all the time nowadays everybody's got an excuse for failure you're not going to make any excuses and together let's make history that's exactly what we did and then we went on that 1981 season and those you were there and half was of freshman as you mentioned it was unbelievable for someone that grew up in this town loved the Hawks never got to experience a bowl game never got to experience a winning season and we're not only going to bowl game we're going to the Rose Bowl and we beat three top 10 teams doing it University of Nebraska after they hung about beat us by about 50 the year before in Lincoln Nebraska and they were still loaded we beat uh uh UCLA top 10 we beat Michigan top 10 it was one of those unbelievable memories SE memorable seasons and then you who will ever forget Phil blaer running running up and down the field against Michigan State our defense was incredible the two best defenses I was ever around was a 1981 Iowa defense and the and the Florida defense when we won the National Championship We Beat Bobby Stoops uh who was averaging 56 points a game we held him to 14 those were the two best and I was around some of the best ever in the history of college football those two are the best but the the the formula was real good solid offense don't turn it over keep them guessing scratch word itches which Hayden made famous play incredible defense and Reggie Roy you flip the damn field and we're going to the Rose Bowl and that's what we [Applause] did you know a lot of people uh don't realize that but Dan McCarney you know our big rivalry Iowa State hardly ever ever lost to Iowa State he got so fired up I'm talking about Dan when we played Iowa State he'd be up and down the Halls all week and I'm sure he remembers saying okay guys it's cloney week it's cloney week we got to go after him and that's why we never lost him that's another reason when he was at another school just west of us while it was very hard for us to beat us beat them when they were at when he was at Iowa State the one thing I want to say I want to bring up somebody and that's Bill braer Bill braer after that first season said look at all those people going crazy after we beat Michigan State so we knew we were going to go to the Rose Bowl and uh we're in good shape Bill brazer said Phillip get used to it we're going to be going to a bowl game every year from now on and you know what he he was right when he when he said that and that's a guy saying that after we hadn't been to one in like 24 years so the other point I want to make and I I don't know if people fully realize this that could have been in the mid 80s without question in my opinion the greatest entire football staff ever assembled in college football when you consider the number that went on to be head coaches including Donnie then you know you've got Bill Snider uh the ones that stayed did not become could have been head coaches that's like Carl Jackson Bill braier any of them it was a staff that was unmatched and he said he did not want a coach on his staff unless they wanted to become a head coach someday that they had the feeling they could be a head coach and that was in my opinion the greatest entire football staff in the history of college football you know Hayden earned a reputation for being a great motivator and that really is true uh I listened really well in those early years and years later as you know I went to to Western Illinois and I was able in our second year we won our first conference title I was able to call up coach Fry on Christmas and say oh by the way coach I want you to know this those stories you told to players at Iowa I'm telling them at Western alloy and they still work Timeless stories for sure it wasn't just the tiger Hawk that coach fry came up with but of course in ' 85 we talked about this Happ the America needs Farmers initiative that still stands 40 years later now what do you all remember about just him dropping another ID on the table like that and certainly any you were Farmers back in ' 85 you know the the hellscape that they were dealing with and and what did it mean to you Heep and to everybody who's who's worn that helmet now to to just recognize farmers and know that you know we're in the Heartland and whether you're from Nebraska Iowa Texas they got farmers down in Texas too what did it mean to have that initiative and to to strap on a helmet and go out there every single game knowing that you're you're playing for yourself you're playing for your teammates your coaches but you got a lot of hard work in Highland back there too that you're representing when that came to be I wasn't on the team but being from Nebraska it's another farming Community Iowa you know a lot of farmers that in Nebraska we'd always be out in the field or being on a pheasant hunt or something and we got to get in at one clock turn the game on the radio you know America needs their Farmers when aen come up with that they just put it in the Forefront and then and right now I have a son-in-law that's a farmer in Nebraska now so it it's a great great thing for the whole farming community and the Midwest you know that was a that was a really emotional time for the state of Iowa um you know farm crisis hit people were losing their Farms um I grew up in the Quad City's bedor my dad worked for International Harvester the farming community and uh many of the farmers and uh uh you know both in Iowa and Illinois we knew a lot of them and I'll never forget uh was a senior senior Captain uh coach had had come to the toh his staff and you know with an idea and then uh you know he had enough respect for his players and and team and everything he came to the coaches and and pitched it to us and of course we got way behind it and it was it was exciting um you know Iowa is a really special place you know what I mean and uh um a very special place and for him to honor the core and the the you know the heart of of the state like that it was uh it was pretty emotional I still get emotional about it because it affected my family as well but uh it gave us an opportunity to really honor the people in the state and uh what we're all about and uh it it was fantastic great idea again again a great marketeer a great leader um amazing guy and and really Happ that's what it's all about I mean that's what it's all about you can you can see the emotion you can feel the emotion um you know as a as a Young Man growing up in a in a farming family uh listening to the Hawks on the radio uh work in the fields with my dad um you know hard work is what this uh state is about it's what coach fry is about it's what this program is about and ANF just captures it all yeah know just it just goes back to all the special things that coach fry did when he built this program to make it special to make it unique to be make it different um you know it's it's it's the tiger Hawk uh who ever saw a football coach in the midwest wearing white pants on game day uh sunglasses on game day um when putting a&f to to to Really to exaggerate and and make sure the country knows we're supporting our Farmers that's at the heart of everything we do it's there isn't a a a a profession or occupation in the state of Iowa that that we have more respect for than Farmers if you didn't live on one or work on one you haven't really lived I never wored I never lived on one jar but I worked on them four summers in a row bail and hay on the old skids you talk about some work now and we just had such great deep respect you stop and think about the ANF on the helmet you think about the way that you guys took the field every there was a rhyme and a reason for anything and everything that Hayden did uh the Swarm here it is 2024 I was talking to Kelly fry Hayden's son earlier today and just said it's amazing this is 45 years later and the people are just still crazy about Iowa football and Hayden fry and remember what he meant to this place 45 years later it's amazing and the fryfest lives on but it's the way we took the field it's the Swarm it's representing the the heart and the soul and the and the pride of Iowa people including the farmers that worked so hard everything that he did there was a reason behind it in a rhyme he never pulled anything out and just threw it out and hope it stuck he knew what he was doing he was one of the smartest most intelligent one of the great marketers and one of the great football coaches in the history of the game and thank God we all got to be a part of it and experience it and remember it all these years later exactly what Dan said everything Hayden did he did for a reason and the reason was to make his team better now we've I I think they'll all agree with me we've got to realize we're in Iowa that's something we're all proud of but we're not Southern Cal we're not Michigan we're not Ohio State we're not Alabama it takes something special for us to win 9 10 11 games a year against teams just like that and that's one of the things about ANF we Iowans we all proud of it everybody loves to be a Hawkeye we filled up our Stadium when we were winning one and two and three games a year that's one of the reasons that Hayden came to Iowa he showed that to his staff down in north Texas and said look at those stands they're full and they've hardly won a game so look what we could do if we went up there and he in fact did that now think about this we've got ANF just about everybody in the country know what that means America needs Farmers that's a great tradition for Iowa and that shows you where we're at what's the other great tradition that everybody knows about now and that's waving to the children at the hospital so Iowa in their football program it tells you a little bit where we're at as far as being Iowa ones in the heart you know way back in time when the ANF sticker was designed I don't think we as coaches had a full appreciation for how much of an impact it might have I wish I had a dollar every time someone came up to me and said I didn't get to see a lot of games in the past but I was bringing in the crops and listening on the radio and I still felt connected to with football in part because of that sticker on the helmet America does need Farmers certainly thank to all the farmers out here you've uh you've made your trip to Iowa City in Corville today uh you've all been massive successes in your own walks of life after your days in Iowa City what's the one or two major tenants of what you learned from coach fry that's helped build your success uh professionally and personally as you've moved on from your days in Iowa City carrying his his Tage along with you you know I came to Iowa City in 1976 and outside of a few years that I tried to play pro football I've been here my the whole time so I know this town very well had a construction company in town and I try to treat my workers the same way that he treated us as you know be on time be ready to work and do it the right way and it it worked for me throughout my whole business life and my friendships and and it's amazing the number of ex-players that are from around the country that still live in the Iowa City Cedar Rapids area and we all get together app and I and a few others around here have started it's called the Iowa football club and it's ex players ex- coaches trainers and and the like and we got over 500 members and we communicate with each other we have a tailgate over there where everybody can get together and it's still a big Brotherhood yeah I've been uh I've been in is this a long time good job give him a give him a clap I've been on the uh the commercial side of medicine for like 35 years and the biggest thing about uh and I and and I took all the lessons that that uh Hayden taught us from uh you know the years I was there and even the years past about you know being intentional with everything you do you know if you hire the right people good things will happen you know trust trust the people you hire trust the people around you surround yourself with good people um you know it was just the and it was always the little things you know like Jimmy said you know he always had a saying if you're 15 minutes early you're late so I've never been late for anything you know so he uh he he was just a really good leader he knew how to run an organization um you know winning is a process it's not an event and and Hayden was always always patient enough to let things happen if you if you do the right things you put the work in you surround yourself with good people make things happen it it it'll come to you and then to recognize that and then build upon that and not settle for anything and so we never settled for anything uh you know all the years we were there and then and then when you get to a point that for me that year in 85 we had was really really really special um it was we had followed the program followed the formula to such a degree there's a there's an err of knowing you know what I mean no matter what situation we got in we knew that we would be able to pull that game out or we knew that that we would get that stop um you know I know as a d lineman uh you know talk about Coach fry uh Hayden like to spend a lot of time down on the offensive end of the ball right and uh the last thing you wanted anything to ever happen was to have Hayden come marching down on the defensive side of the ball right coach that was that was the worst thing you know and it's like you knew you were messing up big time if coach came on our side of the ball and so that's that was one of our little mantras you know keep the old man down on that end of the ball you know on that end of the the sideline and not have anything to do with if we do our jobs that that'll make it happen so you know we could probably talk to any player and every coach and they're all going to have a very similar answer because coach fry was the ultimate constant um you talk about hard work you talk about showing I mean all those things the thing that I find it unique at least in my situation is all the values and morals that my folks taught uh uh coach fry reinforced and that that makes me feel good as a son that makes I try to parent that same way um you know and um that's that's the unique thing about Coach fry he he had the the values the morals of a hardworking uh farming community and and that's what he taught all all of us all these guys as well and uh is just a special guy just to just to take off on H uh mention about the coach coming down the sidelines we checked every time this is a true story now all those years we were together we had a guy named Ronnie Stang our phones guy on the sideline and before every game the defensive coaches made sure double check triple check that coach fry was not hooked up to the defensive coaches on game day he never was all those years we were here we always double check and triple check so most of the time you're just talking about the game and making adjustments and doing what you need to do to win games but once in a while something might be said from the box to the sideline to the sideline of the box and you didn't necessarily need coach fry to hear that but we had a graduate assist in every game that was in charge of in the Box besides charting writing things down just letting Barry Alvarez and I know when white pants was coming down the sideline towards the defensive coaches he always say coach he's on the way white pants is coming coach is coming be ready be ready that's true story now we always knew when coach was coming we must have screwed up um there's there's so many amazing things that you learn and there wasn't a game that I coached in after I left Iowa was here for two decades as a player and Coach 36 years in Iowa City but there wasn't a game I ever coached in as an assistant as a coordinator as a head coach that that I didn't think at some time during that game or preparation for the game that week what would coach fry do um it's amazing the impact of All These Guys these players are talking about and Donnie and Phil and all of us that were so impacted and enhanced our lives were so enhanced by coach fryan what he did um never ever ever did we did I ever do anything again without referring back and thinking about how would he handle it how would the one of the best that ever coached this game handle it um and you know we all go through life we we get so busy and everybody's going 100 miles an hour and sometimes it's just nice to stop and think about uh someone that's had such an impact on all of us and that's why it's so impressive to see this room jam-packed uh Ken will be packed again tomorrow tomorrow we all know we're supporting the Hawkeyes and by the way uh I didn't talk to kurk but I did tell him I don't want to know anything about what happened I don't care about anything that happened what I'm telling you is uh there's never been a coach that's had more Integrity or character than Kirt Fen when you take when you take the field in Iowa no question so that might be a little elephant in the room right now let's let's clear that up there's anybody in the world we'd rather have leading the hog and Kurt ference but I'll never forget this uh a couple of things that you really take with a study done where thousand thousands of people near death in their latter stages of Life were asked what was the biggest regret that you might have had in life and the majority of the people said it was not having the courage to do what I wanted to do or what I thought was right and you sto and think about Hayden fry and you talk about having the courage to do what's right and be the guy that could mean so much and impact all of our Lives all these years later it's pretty amazing and all of us we all know eventually are going to die we're going to let's put that off as long as we can but not everybody really lives Hayden fry really lived and he changed our lives he impacted our lives and he'll continue to impact the University of Iowa and especially University of Iowa football long after we're all gone and that's one of the most amazing things that I've ever been a part of I guess I guess one thing I'd like to reinforce uh there's been two people in my opinion I I I worked in the athletic department for 42 years that I think uh are pretty darn special and to me they were Godlike Hayden fry and bump Elliot I think those two people are the reason Iowa Athletics are what they are today both of them work together bump gave Hayden what he needed and think about this this is not the case at any un University in the entire country 45 years we've had two football coaches 45 years there's some schools that have had three football coaches in five years and I remember this in an interview early on they asked Coach Campbell at Iowa State you know you're going to get a lot of offers for jobs in other places he said I want to do what coach Hayden fry and Kirk fence did at Iowa he says this is a good State the people are good to you and the fact that everybody treats you right I'd like to build an Iowa state with those two built at Iowa and to me the University of Iowa is what it is today educationally athletically and just about every other way because of bump Elliott and Hayden fry [Applause] you know one of the things that made coach PR such an amazing coach was his ability to think outside the box let me give you an example a specific example this sometime mid90s maybe it's a Friday afternoon we're play in Indiana in kenck the next day he drops by the the the U conference room I'm scripting for The Works through practice that day he asked me a simple question and he said you got any problems I said no coach we're in good shape I'm almost done with the scripts and he said next question was do you have any regrets meaning regrets about the game plan for Indiana and I said yeah I do have one regret coach is said what's that and I said well we have a play that's not in and it should be in except it's my fault I didn't give it the proper time in preparation so we haven't practiced it he said well can you draw it up on the board I said sure I drew it up he liked it and he said well can't we walk through it this afternoon this is the day before the game I said yeah I suppose we can he said let's walk through it and if you feel confident that they can execute the play We may run it anyway the next day it went for 55 yards it was the longest play of the day and we never practiced it full speed that's a true story we are quick in these final few minutes before we hit 2:00 just we will go down the line what to you is the quintessential Hayden fry game whether it's one you played in one you watched one you remembered what is the game that your mind immediately goes to when you think of Coach fry well this isn't a game but it was a practice and this goes back to Reggie Roby and Reggie as a punter phenomenal punter but people don't realize he was a phenomenal athlete too and when he came down he tried to talk Hayden into to play tight end so Hayden says come on down we go down the first team defenses down here we'll let you play tight end valy came across the middle and he kind of ran into me or no I think I ran into him and he came up looking out his ear hole and he says son you just go back and practice kicking a little more we don't need you tight end I mean there's yeah I made have an All-American yeah yeah Jimmy made him an All-American that's good job I mean there's so many there's so many stories and examples I mean things that pop in my head is you know uh my year 85 uh number one versus number two playing Michigan at home first night game yeah it's fantastic I hate the Wolverines uh that was a that was a fantastic game but you know Hayden was always the guy the the Mind guy you know what I mean he you know the the whole pink uh uh locker room thing and uh and how frustrated guys like Bo shamb Beckler used to and he try and get in those guys' heads all the time and I I think it was that game was a Michigan game and uh our punter it wasn't Reggie at the time it was afterwards and it our punter was struggling and and Bo made a comment to him about you know he'd go up and say Hey you know hey Bo can let me you got any more gum and he he'd hand him the pack to take you know and he thought he he' put the package in his pocket you know what I mean he'd steal B's gum and then he and then Bo would make a comment about the fact that our punter isn't punting very well and Hayden would just look at him and says yeah we're not planning on putting very much today anyway so that's a quintessential Hayden fry he jumps in your head and he just he just rattles around in there you know what I mean so whether good bad or indifferent but he it was uh uh it was one of those things where you always were very appreciative and proud to have him on your side so that's what I remember most about Coach fry there there's too many games to uh you know recite or recall but I can tell you uh playing in front of you guys in kennick stadium as a player made our hair stand up and on our arms and even when I go back to watch it um guys talked about the Swarm uh Back in Black um I still get goosebumps um and that's largely because of the fan support uh and what we represent here at the University of Iowa I do remember one game and this this will tell you a little bit about Coach fry and it was more about foot football we were um we were down at the Alam and uh the Mitchell family had a tragic tragic accident where we lost his mom and uh you know you could you could take that a few different ways but he got the team and he's like you know what we're going to we're going to strip it we're going to strip our helmets down we're going to play for the Mitchell family and and that's when you know it's more about football and that's what coach Bry was about great story great story it's impossible to pick out a game it really is there just too many too many memories too un believe but who will ever forget U I mentioned it earlier but who will ever forget after two decades of losing bud sule and sup's flowers great family friend of ours he anticipated that Ohio state was going to beat Michigan's ass up in an arbor and he went ahead and ordered out dozens and dozens and dozens or roses so that if that happened which was an upset when Arch sester scored the touchdown and went ahead and father Bob announced it on the on the microphone in kidding stadium that all we had to do was finish the deal and win that game and we're going to Pasadena and late in a game I'll never forget looking up you're trying to still coach a game and finish it out and here comes all the roses from the Press Box to the fans it was something I'll never ever forget ever and when hat mentioned that number one and number two we're talking about Iowa City Iowa we're not talking about Alabama we're not talking about uh at at USC we're not talking about at Penn State we're not talking about at Texas we're talking about Iowa City Iowa that Rose to those Heights that the entire country is watching number one Iowa against number two Michigan and to win that game the way that we did um it was incred it was incred those were two phenomenal defenses that day that was one of the most violent games I ever watched from the sidelines Donnie that day just watching the Hits and The collisions who will ever forget that and then one other one I'll mention because it meant so much to coach Ry when we went and played in that freedom Bowl um coach was such a great psychologist he kept the pressure off the players don't even though Donnie knew as better as much or better than I did cuz he came with him from Texas and Donnie did such a great job of recalling that he wanted to win so bad he wanted to beat him so bad but he kept the pressure off the players he just let us know make sure your players are ready to go or somebody will be in I'll be interviewing somebody for your job on Monday and Chuck came out and thre six touchdown passes I think we forced five turnovers on defense in the driving Reign and that was one of the classic great victories that I was ever a part of cuz he beat Texas and to see him dance in that locker room afterwards I don't know his feet were ever that high off the ground ever those were some great victories for [Applause] us yeah it's it's hard to argue the number one versus number two in fact Up Until the End Hayden fry always maintained that big crowd of players on the field he said I was under it because a lot of times I was always near there and I was uh in in the end zone no I wasn't under it I guarantee you that all I was in the end zone to catch Chuck long when we beat Michigan State uh on that uh touchdown right at the end but uh one of my favorites and maybe it wasn't the most important uh was that uh last minute touchdown pass to Marv cook at Columbus Ohio and uh it just was a game special because you don't win very often in Columbus you don't win very often in an arbor quite frankly and uh Hayden did both of those he won in both plac places and uh probably more than any of the other uh coaches around and uh it it's very special that we had Hayden you know he was in the right place at the right time you know CU I think I was had some I personally thought Bob Cummings was a pretty darn good coach I thought his players would have run through a wall for him but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time but Hayden fry was in the right place at the right time and we're lucky we got got him you know people have asked me a lot Through The Years what's the best play calling that Hayden ever did what one play stands out in your mind and truthfully it's not an offensive play it's a play involved in the kicking game and I'll go back and tell you about it now we had a lot of trouble with Illinois defense back in the early 90s late 80s early 90s great defense led by Lou Cher and later in life I coached with ler at the University of Buffalo he was a great coach no doubt about it we're getting ready to play Illinois the next fall we having trouble with them so what do you think we're doing in March of the previous spring we're working on Illinois in March for a game it's going to be in October or maybe November I can't recall anyway I'll take you back to the game I believe it's 1990 we're playing ad Illinois it was a showdown for the Big 10 title and that day we went on the in the three weeks previous they had given up one touchdown in 42 possessions they covered three games one touchdown in three games that day we scored four touchdowns on the first four possessions some of you remember that they had a good offense too I think at the time we had 28 to 14 I think don't quot me on the score I do know we had 28 so now in our fifth position we're driving down the field again and Illinois stops US and now we got fourth down and now we sent our place kicker on the field for a fake field roll for another touchdown Matt Whitaker Jim Hy to Matt Whitaker we beat him but it was a struggle it was 54 to 35 or something so we had to keep scoring he didn't knew that 28 is not nearly enough let's pass on so we and go for six we went like 3 minutes long and I I don't think anybody's complaining please one more time a round of applause for this incredible panel remembering hay and cry for those of you that want to share this conversation we've actually been live streaming it on the Iowa news now YouTube channel so send that link out I'm sure plenty of Hawkeye fans would like to hear these stories it'll also be a special eye on the Hawks podcast if you're familiar with that we've been doing that for the last year or so uh if you just search I letter I on the Hawks wherever you listen your podcast get your podcast you'll be able to download that probably by the end of the weekend otherwise head to our YouTube channel and enjoy these conversations get out there keep enjoying fryfest get out and enjoy kinck tomorrow it shouldn't be sweltering like it was last year and keep uh Hayden Fry's memory alive go Hawks really good the