Hayden Fry holds court (updated with videos)

Former Iowa football coach Hayden Fry returned to the Iowa City/Coralville area this week and held court on another press conference.

Fry, 80, was in town for Fry Fest, a festival in Coralville that celebrates his life. He talked about his time at Iowa - "I enjoyed every part of my time at the University of Iowa except some of the presidents."

Fry began his Iowa career in 1979 and led the Hawkeyes for 20 seasons before stepping down in 1998. He had a 143-89-6 record at Iowa is the school's all-time winningest coach.

Fry said he chose Iowa over two other schools, mainly because of the fans' passion.

"Every time the University of Iowa would make a first down, the crowd would just erupt," Fry joked. "And I thought, what in the word would they do if they ever scored a touchdown?"

Fry also talked about becoming the first coach to integrate the defunct Southwest Conference, when he coached Jerry LeVias at SMU. He called current Iowa head coach coach Kirk Ferentz a "rascal" for lying to him about his age and experience when Fry hired Ferentz to coach Iowa's offensive line in 1981.

He also provided a few Haydenisms, like saying wakes up every morning and thanks God "that I'm still on the right side of the grass." He also laughed when he saw the media, saying, "I don't think there's anybody in here that I owe money to."