Among college sports fans, uniforms often spark some of the greatest debate. Which threads are the best and which are total duds?
Fortunately for college football fans, legendary former Iowa head football coach Hayden Fry knew the program needed a fresh start with its image. When Fry arrived in December of 1978, the Hawkeyes had not enjoyed a winning season since 1961 and he represented the fourth head coach in nine years.
Fry enlisted the help of then-Iowa sports information director George Wine to spread the word that the Hawkeyes were in the market for a change and wanted a different, distinctive decal on their helmets. Wine reached out to Charles Edwards, whose firm Pepco Litho printed Iowa’s media guides at the time and worked with a lot of commercial artists.
Edwards then contacted Bill Colbert, the art director for Three Arts Advertising in Cedar Rapids. On a plane flight home from the Twin Cities, Colbert sketched out a rough design of a helmet decal with his pen on a paper napkin. After presenting the final design to Fry, the result was iconic. The Tigerhawk was met with rave reviews in the 1979 season and has become Iowa’s signature logo for all sports.
What did the Hawkeyes’ headgear look like before the Tigerhawk and what wrinkles have Iowa’s helmets seen over the years?