The story of Iowa football contains several great chapters, but 1985 owns a special and cherished place in Hawkeye history. The 1980s were a great decade for Iowa sports in many ways, but as is the case at USC, football is king. Iowa football enjoyed a number of once-in-a-lifetime highlights in the 1985 season. Part of that year’s immortal identity in Iowa City is connected to the coaches of that Hawkeye roster.
In 1985, Iowa head coach Hayden Fry assembled what many college football experts and historians still think is the greatest college football coaching staff of all time. Nearly 40 years later, the star power on this staff is widely appreciated and recognized in ways which might not have fully applied 20 years ago.
Bill Snyder, architect of Kansas State football’s rise from nothing, was on that staff. Barry Alvarez, the godfather of Wisconsin football, was on that staff. Bob Stoops, a national champion head coach at Oklahoma, was on that staff.
Current Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was on that staff, as was successful Iowa State coach Dan McCarney.
A few other men on that staff never gained Division I coaching jobs but were very good at what they did, especially elite defensive coordinator Bill Brashier.
Learn more about the 1985 Iowa football staff from Hawkeyes Wire editor Josh Helmer, who joined us on yet another episode of our USC Big Ten Tour summer podcast series:
[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=696092235]