By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Hayden Fry will forever be remembered for rebuilding the Iowa football program at a time when it seemed almost beyond repair, and for doing it with a certain flair and flamboyance, on and off the field.

In leading Iowa to the Rose Bowl following his third season in 1981, Fry finally broke the stranglehold that Michigan and Ohio State had on the conference throughout the entire 1970s.

Fry also led the charge in changing the Big Ten’s long-standing three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust mentality by installing an aggressive and creative downfield passing offense that would help Chuck Long become the Big Ten’s first 10,000-yard career passer.

Fry liked to think outside the box as a play caller, sometimes using plays that he called “exotics” to rattle a defense.

But even with all of his moxie, imagination and nerve, Fry could also be predictable, safe, and some might even say boring, if that’s what it took to win a football game.

Fry had a number of catch phrases that he used to describe his coaching philosophies, including “scratch where it itches,” which meant to take what a defense gives you, and to keep attacking their weaknesses.

Fry did a lot of scratching during a 21-7 win against Michigan State on Oct. 7, 1995 in East Lansing, Michigan.

That was the day Fry called 42 running plays for Sedrick Shaw, who turned those 42 running plays into 250 rushing yards in what was an incredible display of endurance, durability and toughness.

Everyone in the stadium that day knew that Shaw was getting the ball, and yet, it didn’t matter as he and his blockers chewed up the Spartan defense; four, five and six yards at a time.

There were no exotics on that day, unless you consider handing off to the same running back 42 times exotic.

Current Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz has been accused of being boring, predictable, and sometimes even stubborn, in his approach to coaching offense.

However, it’s hard to recall Ferentz ever being as predictable on offense as Fry was against the Spartans in 1995 – and that’s a tribute to Shaw’s greatness.

By that time in his career, Shaw as a redshirt junior, had earned Fry’s faith and trust as a running back, and as a competitor.

Fry believed that running Shaw between the tackles over and over was the best path to victory, and Fry was right.

Fry also called Shaw’s number 41 times in a 33-20 victory at Wisconsin in 1995; and Shaw responded with 214 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Shaw will return to Iowa City this weekend to serve as Iowa’s honorary captain for the season opener against Northern Illinois on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

The Austin, Texas native is also part of the 2026 Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame class, a well-deserved and long overdue honor for Iowa’s all-time leading rusher with 4,156 yards.

Shaw is the only player in program history to rush for over 4,000 yards. He also scored 33 touchdowns and averaged 5.0 yards per carry.

Iowa had a number of star players on offense in 1995 in addition to Shaw, most notably receiver Tim Dwight and running back Tavian Banks.

But against Michigan State in the 1995 Big Ten opener, Fry relied on his fellow Texas native to lead the way to victory.

Iowa stayed ahead of the chains, one carry at a time.

It wasn’t very exciting, but it was highly effective.