The day Hayden Fry nearly fired McCarney, Ferentz

[Harry]

IOWA CITY, Ia. – Legend has it that Hayden Fry threatened to fire Dan McCarney and Kirk Ferentz one day at practice.

"True story," McCarney said. "I remember it like it was last week. Kirk and I still laugh about it. But we weren't laughing at the time."

It's a story that McCarney, now the head football coach at North Texas, and Ferentz, in his 17th season as Fry's successor at Iowa, might chat about when they shake hands before Saturday's 2:30 p.m. kickoff in Kinnick Stadium.

"Coach Fry was pretty fired up," Ferentz recalled.

It was 1981, Fry's third season at Iowa. McCarney was his defensive line coach. Ferentz was in his first season as the offensive line coach.

Fry believed that the best way to develop a team was to have the starters practice against reserves.

"I wanted the No. 1s to get used to winning," Fry said. "I did it from a psychological standpoint, to create a winner. I wanted them to feel good about themselves."

But McCarney and Ferentz got together and changed things up one day.

read more:  http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa/football-rick-brown/2015/09/23/brown-day-hayden-fry-nearly-fired-mccarney-ferentz/72626890/

 

[KingDL1]

Interesting I would go with Fry any day

[VideoEagle]

My instinct would be to put the 1s against the 1s. But I heard a news story on a study on success in sports and getting the mind set of winning, at least in pro golf, made a difference. Here is a link to a story from yesterday. Sorry for you in offices who can't turn up the sound!

 

http://www.npr.org/2015/09/24/443053693/the-hidden-brain-whats-the-source-of-success-in-sports

[greenminer]

I think Mac remembers everything like yesterday.
 

[greenjoe]

I don't remember our last win.

 

GO MEAN GREEN

[untjim1995]

I don't remember our last win.

 

GO MEAN GREEN

I do...it was a late November home game in front of about 12,000 fans when the starting QB was so ineffective that the head coach basically ordered every offensive play in the 4th quarter to be a run, just so the starter wouldn't throw another devastating interception against one of the worst FBS teams in the country.

Thank God the head coach decided to make serious changes at QB to avoid something like this happening again...oh wait...

[SilverEagle]

 

McCarney feels ones against ones is the best way to replicate real-time action.

"Good or bad, kids have got to understand somebody's got to win and somebody's got to lose," McCarney said. "In the end, you hope you're developing your players and getting a better grasp of where your team is at."

Fry had a different approach, and you can't argue with the results.

"He's in the College Football Hall of Fame," McCarney said. "And a lot of coaches aren't."

 

So there we have it. Even though McCarney worked with a hall of fame level coach. At a very young age he stubbornly held on to his own notions about how to practice. 

And there you have the main reason for his five year record here.

So we basically have a coach who has coached one year 33 or 34 times.

Edited September 25, 2015 by SilverEagle