1998

Hayden Fry handed off the head coaching job to Kirk Ferentz at the end of the season.

In the first year of the Bowl Championship Series, forged by the Big Ten, Pac-10, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast, Big East, and Big 12 conferences—plus Notre Dame—Iowa fans didn’t have to worry about the complicated math necessary to determine a national football champion. Ending the season with three wins and seven losses, the Hawkeyes and their followers would have to stay home over the holidays.

The season nonetheless had its share of drama, when longtime Hawkeye head coach Hayden Fry announced his retirement.

December 3
Ten days after Fry’s announcement, Iowa officials introduced Kirk Ferentz, a former Hawkeye assistant to Fry, as Iowa’s new head football coach. Then an assistant head coach and offensive line coach for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, Ferentz heard the “Iowa Fight Song” blaring over the intercom at the press conference and said, “It’s great to hear that song again. I can’t tell you what a thrill it is to be back.”

Copyright © 2005, University of Iowa Alumni Association Team names, logos, and uniform designs are registered trademarks of the teams indicated. No logos, photographs, videos, or graphics on this site may be reproduced without written permission.