Coaches / Head coach / Hayden Fry
Career
79
not coaching now
Rating—recent
Peak77best 5 yrs
Career79whole career
confidence
Hayden Fry
Head coach, 1962–1998
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
—
index in development
Seasons here—
Programs3
Stints3
Career path
Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
As head coach
Rating—Peak77Career79
1962–1998 · 37 seasonsRecord 230-180National titles 0Great seasons 0 (top ~7% of all teams that year)
- Rating 77: his whole career, recent seasons weighted most, measured as how far his teams stood above their era, crediting him with half of what each program already was when he arrived (about the share that, historically, follows a coach to his next job), fading as the program becomes his own.
- Peak 77: best five-season stretch, 1983–1987 at Iowa (46-15), taking over an average program.
- Career 79 (#67 since 1936): total accomplishment over 37 seasons (230-180), 0 national titles, 0 elite seasons; full credit for the program he inherited.
- Won big at one of his 3 programs (Iowa).
Rating = who he is: his whole head-coaching career (since 1936), weighted toward recent years — how far his teams stood above their contemporaries, how much he lifted programs, his great seasons and titles. Form = the last two seasons. Career = the all-time ranking number.
| Season | Team | Record | Season rank | vs contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Iowa | 3-8 | #72 | -0.38 SD |
| 1997 | Iowa | 7-5 | #16 | +1.10 SD |
| 1996 | Iowa | 9-3 | #17 | +1.05 SD |
| 1995 | Iowa | 8-4 | #14 | +1.08 SD |
| 1994 | Iowa | 5-5-1 | #33 | +0.49 SD |
| 1993 | Iowa | 6-6 | #64 | -0.22 SD |
| 1992 | Iowa | 5-7 | #43 | +0.22 SD |
| 1991 | Iowa | 10-1-1 | #17 | +0.91 SD |
| 1990 | Iowa | 8-4 | #17 | +1.08 SD |
| 1989 | Iowa | 5-6 | #69 | -0.37 SD |
| 1988 | Iowa | 6-4-3 | #31 | +0.55 SD |
| 1987 | Iowa | 10-3 | #22 | +0.82 SD |
| 1986 | Iowa | 9-3 | #23 | +0.75 SD |
| 1985 | Iowa | 10-2 | #11 | +1.38 SD |
| 1984 | Iowa | 8-4-1 | #13 | +1.11 SD |
| 1983 | Iowa | 9-3 | #11 | +1.20 SD |
| 1982 | Iowa | 8-4 | #38 | +0.40 SD |
| 1981 | Iowa | 8-4 | #30 | +0.72 SD |
| 1980 | Iowa | 4-7 | #69 | -0.18 SD |
| 1979 | Iowa | 5-6 | #38 | +0.53 SD |
| 1978 | North Texas | 9-2 | #37 | +0.52 SD |
| 1977 | North Texas | 9-2 | #26 | +0.81 SD |
| 1976 | North Texas | 6-5 | #50 | +0.23 SD |
| 1975 | North Texas | 7-4 | #67 | -0.17 SD |
| 1974 | North Texas | 2-7-2 | #102 | -1.29 SD |
| 1973 | North Texas | 5-5-1 | #102 | -1.43 SD |
| 1972 | SMU | 7-4 | #22 | +0.83 SD |
| 1971 | SMU | 4-7 | #76 | -0.45 SD |
| 1970 | SMU | 5-6 | #44 | +0.21 SD |
| 1969 | SMU | 3-7 | #44 | +0.15 SD |
| 1968 | SMU | 8-3 | #18 | +1.06 SD |
| 1967 | SMU | 3-7 | #74 | -0.38 SD |
| 1966 | SMU | 8-3 | #18 | +0.95 SD |
| 1965 | SMU | 4-5-1 | #34 | +0.50 SD |
| 1964 | SMU | 1-9 | #78 | -0.50 SD |
| 1963 | SMU | 4-7 | #32 | +0.68 SD |
| 1962 | SMU | 2-8 | #56 | +0.11 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).