3 Worst head coach hires in Iowa football history

Iowa has had two coaches over the span of four decades. They have been fortunate to have such great coaches in that time. However, what about the coaches that came before them that weren't so successful?

Iowa Hawkeyes players hold hands as they get ready to swarm onto the field with the University of Iowa mascot.
Iowa Hawkeyes players hold hands as they get ready to swarm onto the field with the University of Iowa mascot. | Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen via
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Iowa has not had a new head coach since 1999. Kirk Ferentz has been coaching at Iowa for over 20 years, coaching over 300 games with 186 wins. Before that, the Hawkeyes had Hayden Fry who coached at Iowa from 1979 to 1998. The Hawkeyes have been fortunate to have good coaching in the last four decades.

However, before Fry and Ferentz, there was Ray Nagel, Frank Lauterbur, and Bob Commings. These three coaches took Iowa through some dark times during football season, none of them having and overall winning record.

So which one was the best of the worst and which one was the worst of the worst? Well, here is how I chose to rank these coaches.

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