Coach record book

Hayden Fry's Top 25 Games

The defining games from Hayden Fry's unambiguous full-season assignments, with the coached team identified for every result.

Games: 25
Top score: 82/100
Overtime: 0

Teams coached in this list

National ranking

The top 25 of 420 attributable games

25 of these games include at least one AP-ranked team at kickoff. Open a supported game for its box score and statistics.

1985Week 8
Michigan at Iowa
Michigan 10, Iowa 12
W · Coached Iowa vs. Michigan
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 1 Iowa · 2-point margin
Ranking 49/50 · Closeness 28/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
82
Game score
1983Week 5
Ohio State at Iowa
Ohio State 14, Iowa 20
W · Coached Iowa vs. Ohio State
No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Iowa · 6-point margin
Ranking 40/50 · Closeness 24/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
69
Game score
1981Week 7
Iowa at Michigan
Iowa 9, Michigan 7
W · Coached Iowa vs. Michigan
No. 12 Iowa vs. No. 5 Michigan · 2-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 28/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
68
Game score
1985Week 10
Iowa at Ohio State
Iowa 13, Ohio State 22
L · Coached Iowa vs. Ohio State
No. 1 Iowa vs. No. 8 Ohio State · 9-point margin
Ranking 43/50 · Closeness 21/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
64
Game score
1986Week 8
Iowa at Michigan
Iowa 17, Michigan 20
L · Coached Iowa vs. Michigan
No. 11 Iowa vs. No. 4 Michigan · 3-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 27/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
64
Game score
1997Week 9
Iowa at Michigan
Iowa 24, Michigan 28
L · Coached Iowa vs. Michigan
No. 15 Iowa vs. No. 5 Michigan · 4-point margin
Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 26/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
58
Game score
1984Week 4
Penn State at Iowa
Penn State 20, Iowa 17
L · Coached Iowa vs. Penn State
No. 7 Penn State vs. No. 14 Iowa · 3-point margin
Ranking 31/50 · Closeness 27/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
58
Game score
1991Week 10
Iowa at Ohio State
Iowa 16, Ohio State 9
W · Coached Iowa vs. Ohio State
No. 11 Iowa vs. No. 13 Ohio State · 7-point margin
Ranking 28/50 · Closeness 23/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
56
Game score
1985Week 6
Michigan State at Iowa
Michigan State 31, Iowa 35
W · Coached Iowa vs. Michigan State
Unranked Michigan State vs. No. 1 Iowa · 4-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 26/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
56
Game score
1991Week 8
Illinois at Iowa
Illinois 21, Iowa 24
W · Coached Iowa vs. Illinois
No. 13 Illinois vs. No. 15 Iowa · 3-point margin
Ranking 24/50 · Closeness 27/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
56
Game score
1968PostseasonNeutral site
Oklahoma vs. SMU
Oklahoma 27, SMU 28
W · Coached SMU vs. Oklahoma
No. 10 Oklahoma vs. No. 20 SMU · 1-point margin
Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 29/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
56
Game score
1983Week 9
Iowa at Michigan
Iowa 13, Michigan 16
L · Coached Iowa vs. Michigan
No. 17 Iowa vs. No. 8 Michigan · 3-point margin
Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 27/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
54
Game score
1966PostseasonNeutral site
Georgia vs. SMU
Georgia 24, SMU 9
L · Coached SMU vs. Georgia
No. 4 Georgia vs. No. 10 SMU · 15-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 15/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
53
Game score
1983PostseasonNeutral site
Iowa vs. Florida
Iowa 6, Florida 14
L · Coached Iowa vs. Florida
No. 10 Iowa vs. No. 11 Florida · 8-point margin
Ranking 31/50 · Closeness 22/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
53
Game score
1985Week 12
Iowa at Purdue
Iowa 27, Purdue 24
W · Coached Iowa vs. Purdue
No. 5 Iowa vs. Unranked Purdue · 3-point margin
Ranking 21/50 · Closeness 27/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
53
Game score
1991PostseasonNeutral site
BYU vs. Iowa
BYU 13, Iowa 13
T · Coached Iowa vs. BYU
No. 23 BYU vs. No. 7 Iowa · 0-point margin
Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 30/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
52
Game score
1981Week 2
Nebraska at Iowa
Nebraska 7, Iowa 10
W · Coached Iowa vs. Nebraska
No. 7 Nebraska vs. Unranked Iowa · 3-point margin
Ranking 19/50 · Closeness 27/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
51
Game score
1990Week 9
Iowa at Michigan
Iowa 24, Michigan 23
W · Coached Iowa vs. Michigan
No. 15 Iowa vs. No. 20 Michigan · 1-point margin
Ranking 17/50 · Closeness 29/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
51
Game score
1963Week 8
Texas at SMU
Texas 17, SMU 12
L · Coached SMU vs. Texas
No. 1 Texas vs. Unranked SMU · 5-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 25/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
50
Game score
1985Week 7
Iowa at Wisconsin
Iowa 23, Wisconsin 13
W · Coached Iowa vs. Wisconsin
No. 1 Iowa vs. Unranked Wisconsin · 10-point margin
Ranking 25/50 · Closeness 20/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
50
Game score
1965Week 4
SMU at Purdue
SMU 14, Purdue 14
T · Coached SMU vs. Purdue
Unranked SMU vs. No. 6 Purdue · 0-point margin
Ranking 20/50 · Closeness 30/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
50
Game score
1996Week 9
Iowa at Penn State
Iowa 21, Penn State 20
W · Coached Iowa vs. Penn State
Unranked Iowa vs. No. 10 Penn State · 1-point margin
Ranking 16/50 · Closeness 29/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
50
Game score
1985PostseasonNeutral site
Iowa vs. UCLA
Iowa 28, UCLA 45
L · Coached Iowa vs. UCLA
No. 4 Iowa vs. No. 13 UCLA · 17-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 13/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
48
Game score
1997Week 7
Iowa at Ohio State
Iowa 7, Ohio State 23
L · Coached Iowa vs. Ohio State
No. 11 Iowa vs. No. 7 Ohio State · 16-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 14/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
48
Game score
1996Week 10
Ohio State at Iowa
Ohio State 38, Iowa 26
L · Coached Iowa vs. Ohio State
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 20 Iowa · 12-point margin
Ranking 30/50 · Closeness 18/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
48
Game score

Methodology

How coach games are attributed and scored

Attribution: a team-season counts only when one coach owns the full schedule, or exactly one listed coach covers every completed game. Ambiguous split and interim seasons are excluded.

AP ranking, 50: both teams earn points from their AP rank at game time.

Closeness and overtime, 45: close finals earn up to 30 points and overtime earns up to 15.

Result, 5: a win by the coached team earns five points.

Regular-season rankings use the AP poll for the game's week. Postseason games use the final regular-season AP poll before bowl and playoff results. Historical poll, line-score, and video coverage varies.