Iowa Hawkeyes football


The Iowa Hawkeyes football program represents the University of Iowa in college football. The Hawkeyes compete in the Big Ten Conference. Iowa joined the Conference in 1899 and played their first Conference football season in 1900. They are a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The Hawkeyes play their home games in Iowa City, Iowa, at Kinnick Stadium, with a capacity of 69,250. The Hawkeyes are coached by Kirk Ferentz, who is in his 27th season as the head coach and is the longest current tenured head coach in NCAA Division I FBS. The Hawkeyes have won 13 conference championships. Iowa has been ranked #1 in the AP and Coaches Poll 15 times.

History of the team

Early history

Football was first played as a club sport at Iowa in 1872, with intramural games against other colleges played as early as 1882, but it was not until 1889 that the University of Iowa first officially recognized a varsity football team. Beginning in 1892, Iowa played for six seasons as a member of the Western Interstate University Football Association against three other Midwestern flagship state universities. In 1899, again playing as an independent, Iowa completed its first undefeated football season, which led to an invitation to join the Western Conference, now known as the Big Ten Conference. In 1900, the Hawkeyes finished another undefeated season and won a share of the Western Conference title in their first year of conference play. In 1907, Iowa helped form the new Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association with the other three university members of the former WIUFA and participated in football in the new league, while retaining its existing membership in the Western Conference. Iowa tied for the league championship in the first season of competition, but would leave the conference soon thereafter to return to sole competition in the Western Conference.

Howard Jones era and 1920s

Iowa claimed consecutive Big Ten titles in 1921 and 1922, and were recognized as national champions in those years. The Hawkeyes won 20 straight games in the early 1920s under the guidance of Hall of Fame coach Howard Jones. But Jones soon left Iowa and established a powerhouse at Southern California, and the Hawkeyes were abysmal for most of the 1930s.

1929 Big Ten suspension

Iowa was expelled from the Big Ten on May 25, 1929. The reasons were officially unstated and university president Walter Jessup professed not to know why the faculty committee voted to expel the university. Suspicions of player compensation and Iowa's inaction to address alleged ethics violations appear to have been the main cause. Following the 1929 season, the Big Ten faculty committee unanimously voted to reinstate Iowa to the conference on February 1, 1930. On December 11, 1929, Iowa had disqualified 27 players, presumably due to compensation issues, and was advised not to seek reinstatement of any of those players.

Eddie Anderson era (1939–1942, 1946–1949)

Little was expected of Iowa's 1939 team based upon its overall record in the decade, but led by their new coach Eddie Anderson the team exceeded expectations and had a glorious run. Nicknamed the "Ironmen" because a small number of players shouldered the brunt of the time played, the 1939 Hawkeyes scored several upset victories and vaulted into the national rankings. Though Iowa fell a game short of winning the Big Ten title, team MVP Nile Kinnick won almost every major national award, including the 1939 Heisman Trophy.

Forest Evashevski era (1952–1960)

was hired as Iowa's head coach in 1952. He lured Calvin Jones to Iowa, where Jones became the first Hawkeye – and the first African-American – to win the Outland Trophy in 1955. From 1956 to 1960, Evashevski led Iowa to four finishes in the top five of the national rankings, three Big Ten Conference titles, two Rose Bowl victories, and the 1958 FWAA national championship. After the 1960 season, Evashevski left coaching to become Iowa's athletic director.

The Forgotten Season

In 1960 the Hawkeyes held on to the No. 1 ranking for much of the season. The Hawkeyes defeated No. 8 Ohio State, No. 15 Michigan State, and No. 10 Purdue. Iowa lost to rival No. 3 Minnesota. The game was the only loss of the year for the 1960 Hawkeyes and they shared the Big Ten title with Minnesota. However, at that time, the Big Ten did not allow their teams to go to any bowl except for the Rose Bowl. As such, Minnesota was picked over Iowa to go to Pasadena and Iowa was left out, despite a No. 2 ranking in the Coaches' Poll and a No. 3 ranking in the AP. Minnesota went on to win the National Championship, as the final AP poll was conducted before their Rose Bowl loss to Washington. This season is known as the "Forgotten Season", for despite ending the season with a No. 2/3 ranking and a share of the Big Ten title, the Hawks were left out of January play.

1960s and 70s

Evashevski's departure from the sidelines began a two-decade downturn in Iowa's fortunes. Jerry Burns coached from 1961 though 1965. He had a 16–27–2 record. His first team finished 5–4, which would be Iowa's last winning record for 20 years. Ray Nagel followed from 1966 to 1970 with a 16–32–2 record. A 3-3-2 record in 1963 and consecutive 5–5 records in 1968 and 1969 would be the Hawks' only non-losing records from 1962 to 1980. Frank Lauterbur followed, coaching from 1971 to 1973 with a 4–28–1 record, with a 0–11 record in 1973. Bob Commings coached the Hawkeyes from 1974 to 1978. His record was 18 wins and 37 losses.

Hayden Fry era (1979–1998)

Hall of Fame coach Hayden Fry was hired after the 1978 season to reverse Iowa's fortunes. Considering the awful state of the program upon his arrival, Fry didn't take long to return the Hawkeyes to respectability. In his third year, Fry led the Hawkeyes to their first winning season in 21 years, a share of the Big Ten title, and a berth in the Rose Bowl–only the third bowl appearance in school history. He had vowed to resign if he didn't get the Hawkeyes to a bowl within four years.
Fry would go on to lead the Hawkeyes to three Big Ten titles and 14 bowl games. His best team was the 1985 unit, which won a then school-record 10 games and garnered Iowa's first outright Big Ten title in 27 years. That team spent most of October ranked No. 1 in both major polls, the highest they had been ranked that far into the season in two decades. Among the legacies that Fry left behind is the now iconic Tiger Hawk logo and a widely reviled pink visitors' locker room. Fry retired in 1998, turning the program over to his former assistant Kirk Ferentz.

Kirk Ferentz era (1999–present)

Ferentz led Iowa to three consecutive top-10 finishes from 2002 to 2004 and two Big Ten titles. The Hawkeyes have been invited to 21 bowl games in the past 23 seasons, and in 35 bowl games over the last 42 seasons. Kirk Ferentz has been the head coach since Hayden Fry's retirement after the 1998 season, and has led the team to a number of Bowl appearances, including two Orange Bowls and the 2016 Rose Bowl. Iowa has cracked the Top 25 at the end of the season twelve times during the Kirk Ferentz era – No. 8 in 2002, 2003, and 2004, No. 20 in 2008, No. 7 in 2009, No. 9 in 2015, No. 25 in 2018, No. 15 in 2019, No.16 in 2020, No. 23 in 2021. No. 24 in 2023 and No. 17 in 2025. Under Ferentz, Iowa won the Big Ten West division three times.

Conference affiliations

National championships

Iowa has been selected national champion five times by NCAA-designated major selectors, in 1921, 1922, 1956, 1958, and 1960. Iowa claims national championships for all five seasons.
Iowa finished the 1958 regular season with a 7–1–1 record and a No. 2 ranking in the major wire-service polls—the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll—and won the 1959 Rose Bowl convincingly over No. 16 and 7–3 California, 38–12, setting or tying six Rose Bowl records. The AP and Coaches' Polls had named 10–0 Louisiana State as national champions as well as 37 other selectors The Football Writers Association of America awarded the Grantland Rice Trophy and their national championship to Iowa after the bowl games were played.
1921Howard JonesBillingsley, Parke Davis7–0––
1922Howard JonesBillingsley7–0––
1956Forest EvashevskiFootball Research9–1No. 3No. 3
1958Forest EvashevskiFootball Writers8–1–1No. 2No. 2
1960Forest EvashevskiBerryman, Boand, Litkenhous, Sagarin, Sagarin 8–1No. 3No. 2

Conference championships

Iowa has won 13 conference championships in school history, eight shared and five outright, winning 11 with the Big Ten and 2 in other conferences.
1896Alfred E. BullWestern Interstate University Football Association3–0–17–1–1
1900†Alden KnipeBig Ten Conference2–0–17–0–1
1907†Mark Catlin Sr.Big Eight Conference/Missouri Valley Conference‡1–03–2
1921Howard JonesBig Ten Conference5–07–0
1922†Howard JonesBig Ten Conference5–07–0
1956Forest EvashevskiBig Ten Conference5–19–1
1958Forest EvashevskiBig Ten Conference5–18–1–1
1960†Forest EvashevskiBig Ten Conference5–18–1
1981†Hayden FryBig Ten Conference6–28–4
1985Hayden FryBig Ten Conference7–110–2
1990†Hayden FryBig Ten Conference6–28–4
2002†Kirk FerentzBig Ten Conference8–011–2
2004†Kirk FerentzBig Ten Conference7–110–2

† Co-champions
‡ Iowa was a member of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1907 to 1911 in addition to their membership in the Big Ten. In 1928, the MVIAA split in two: the Big Six and the Missouri Valley Conference. Since both leagues claim the same history from 1907 until the 1928 split, conference champions during that time are listed as conference champions of the respective leagues.