Hawkeyes Will Remove Tigerhawks To Honor Fry

Helmet decals will be absent for the Holiday Bowl.

Iowa will honor former coach Hayden Fry by removing to Tigerhawk logo from the helmets when the Hawkeyes play USC on Friday at the Holiday Bowl.

Fry, Iowa's coach from 1979-98, died last week at the age of 90. Fry introduced the Tigerhawk logo early in his career with the Hawkeyes.

It is the third time both Tigerhawks have been removed from the helmet for a football game. The first was Nov. 2, 1991, the day after six people were killed in a shooting on the Iowa campus. The second was the 1996 Alamo Bowl, when Diane Mitchell, the mother of Iowa linebacker Mark Mitchell, was killed in a car crash on the way to San Antonio, Texas.

Iowa's helmets will feature a decal honoring former athletics director Bump Elliott, who died on Dec. 7. Elliott was Iowa's AD from 1970-91.

“We have had two big losses in the past month, so we are going to recognize Coach Elliott with a sticker on the back of our helmet that will say 'Bump' on it," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "That was in the works a couple weeks ago. Then with Coach Fry passing last week, (we) talked to the family and I think we’re all in agreement that it will be a really nice thing to take the Tigerhawks off of the helmets on both sides. A precedent was set. He did that twice during his time and (the idea) was well received by his children. That is our plan right now."

Ferentz said a commemorative patch to honor Fry will be worn by the Hawkeyes next season.

Elliott and Fry are both members of the College Football Hall of Fame. Fry is a member of the Holiday Bowl Hall of Fame.