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Poll: Who was the best hire in Hawkeye sports history?
Mar. 31, 2010 10:12 am
This poll isn't about who is Iowa's best-ever coach. It's hard to argue with wrestling legend Dan Gable and his 15 national titles. This poll is about whose hire made the greatest impact on Iowa sports.
Here's a list of six modern-day Iowa Hawkeyes' sports figures with impressive resumes whose legacies reshaped or refined Iowa athletics in the last 40 years.
Hayden Fry coached Iowa's football program for 20 years, garnered 143 wins and led the Hawkeyes to at least a share of two Big Ten titles. But he revitalized a dormant program, taking Iowa to the 1982 Rose Bowl after the school suffered through 20 consecutive losing seasons.
Dan Gable left in-state rival to first coach Iowa as an assistant and later as head wrestling coach. In 21 years, he won 15 national titles. Iowa won the Big Ten title every year he coached.
Bump Elliott was named athletics director in 1970 and stayed at Iowa until his retirement in 1991. He hired Fry, Gable, Olson, Davis, C. Vivian Stringer and George Raveling. The school won 41 Big Ten titles, 11 NCAA titles, advanced to three Rose Bowls and a Final Four under his tutelage.
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Tom Davis is the school's all-time record holder in basketball wins. He took Iowa to nine NCAA Tournaments in 13 seasons, including three Sweet 16 berths.
Lute Olson revived Iowa's basketball program in the mid-1970s. He coached the Hawkeyes for nine seasons before leaving for Arizona. The Hall of Fame coach took Iowa to five straight NCAA Tournaments, including the Final Four in 1980.
Kirk Ferentz is a three-time Big Ten Coach of the Year winner. He revived the school's football program after taking over in 1998, advancing twice to the Orange Bowl and twice tying for the Big Ten title. His teams have been bowl eligible the last nine seasons.
Former Iowa football coach Hayden Fry talks during a news conference with former athletics director Bump Elliott in the background. (The Gazette)

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