“I will recruit a quarterback when I can look his mama in the eye and guarantee his survival.”
– An anecdotal quote attributed to Hayden Fry, coaching icon and folk hero, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 90
For anyone who grew up in Iowa, or who follows college football, Hayden Fry is a household name. “Scratch where it itches,” Fry’s approach to coaching, may be the phrase for which most Iowa fans remember him. The quote above is attributed as Coach Fry’s response to a booster, who asked “When are we gonna get a great QB?” It might be urban legend, but it’s not difficult to imagine Fry’s slow, Southern drawl sounding out those words.
A Man of Many Talents
He was an exceptional coach. The University of Iowa had endured 17 consecutive losing seasons before Fry arrived from Texas. He recruited big linemen (to protect the quarterbacks he’d bring in a bit later, among them Heisman Trophy runner-up Chuck Long), started throwing the ball in the famously “three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust” Big Ten conference (“scratching where it itched”), ran trick plays and lined up in “funky” sets, among them the now almost trademarked “standing-twin-tight-ends” formation.
He was a marketing genius. The University of Iowa’s Tiger Hawk logo? Hayden Fry’s creation. The “ANF” (America Needs Farmers) sticker on the Hawkeyes’ helmets? Hayden Fry’s creation. (Today, it would be appropriate to remember it as “America Needed Fry…”) The “Swarm,” Iowa’s manner of coming onto the field as a single unit, holding hands, closely, side-by-side? You guessed it. Hayden Fry’s creation.
He was a master psychologist. Fry had the visitor’s locker room at Iowa painted pink. If there’s a Sherwin-Williams name for the color it should be “Passive Pink.” The visitor’s locker room remains passively pink to this day under Fry’s successor, Kirk Ferentz, and Iowa remains one of the most difficult places in the nation for opposing teams to play.
A Man of Conviction
He was a civil rights role model. He became the first coach in the old Southwest Conference to start an African-American football player by putting Jerry LeVias in the lineup, not because he was black, but because he earned the role. The fact that he was on the roster at all in 1966 earned Fry death-threats, but he remained silent, understanding with great empathy that LeVias’ treatment was far worse than his own. He did the right thing, and society ultimately started to catch up.
He refused to hire assistant coaches who didn’t aspire to be head coaches themselves. Which is why…
An Extraordinary Developer of Talent
No fewer than 15 NCAA Head Football Coaches are or have been from direct branches on Fry’s coaching “tree.” The number climbs when you consider the legacy handed down by those 15.
It’s this fact about Coach Fry that means the most to me, not as an Iowan, but as a business leader and difference-maker. Second only to his recruitment and support of Jerry LeVias, Fry’s successors (and their success!) are the truest measure of the public man.
Editor’s Note: That link is to a column on Coach Fry by the best sportswriter in the USA.
Why Does That Matter?
As leaders, we ought to measure our accomplishments over the duration of our careers by the growth, development, and accomplishments of those we are charged with leading. And that brings me to a second tribute to another Iowa / Big Ten legend who passed just over a week ago, Chalmers William “Bump” Elliott. Guess who hired Hayden Fry at Iowa? “Bump” Elliott. Elliott also hired Dan Gable, Lute Olson, C. Vivian Stringer, and Dr. Tom Davis. This blog would become a novel if we dove further into that coaching and mentorship tree.
As an Iowan, a sports fan, and a leader, Elliott and Fry had an immense impact on who I am, who I aspire to be and how I want to be measured someday when I move on.
The DD is about Difference Makers. In the world of sports, I challenge you to find two so closely connected who combined to make a bigger difference.
A Last Sip of Perspective
Bourbon was invented 399 years ago Thursday. Besides my Faith, my family and my teams, a sip of superior Bourbon is right up there on my list of favorite things. Bourbon gets a line-and-a-half today. Coach Fry and “Bump” Elliott get the rest of the blog.
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