This one's for Evy...

by WaterlooChazz on Nov 1, 2009 1:08 AM CDT

As you may have heard, Forest Evashevski passed away on Friday night.

http://hawkcentral.press-citizen.com/article/20091031/HAWKS0104/91031006/1053

I did not hear about this until the local news on Saturday night.

It seems fitting that the Hawks had their huge comeback win today. Because Evy basically brought Iowa football back from the mediocrity or sometimes bad football that followed after the Nile Kinnick era.

It is probably not an exaggeration to say that an argument can be made that Evy's was Iowa's most successful era. They won two Rose Bowls (Iowa's only "BCS" bowl victories), and had many great players who won or contended for national awards. Cal Jones, Alex Karras, Randy Duncan, Kenny Ploen, Jim Gibbons, and Larry Ferguson are some of these players.

While Evy's legacy has its sore spots (conflicts with players, and a less-than-ceremonious ending to his time as Iowa athletic director), it should also be noted that he led Iowa's only national championship football team to the 1960 FWAA Grantland Rice Award, a national title bestowed after bowls were finished.

Evy won two Big Ten championships, and a share of a third. His career record at Iowa was 52-27-4 (a .658 winning percentage). He was also a head coach at Washington State for two years, with a total career record of 63-33-6. If you are wondering, Ferentz has a 79-53 record at Iowa (a .598 winning percentage), with two Big Ten titles. Fry had an Iowa record of 143-89-6 (a .642 winning percentage), with three Big Ten titles.

At Iowa, Evy was 4-4 against Ohio State. He was 4-4-1 against Notre Dame. He was 5-4 against Wisconsin. He was 6-3 against Minnesota. He was 1-4-1 against Michigan, his alma mater.

Many of his players remember him as a tough man who often got his players to perform excellently.

At Michigan, he was moved from center to quarterback, became a three time All-Big Ten player, and was senior class president.

To Forest Evashevski. we Hawkeye fans salute you! Go Hawks and God Bless!

(Most of the info for this article also came from Evy's wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Evashevski )

Unless otherwise expressly indicated by BHGP editors, this FanPost is strictly the viewpoint of the author and is not endorsed by BHGP in any way.

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Yeah, I found out like 20 minutes after leaving the stadium...

…and realized that all of that crazy shit was the ghost of Evy calling the team a “bunch of pussies” one last time, and giving us all a scare before granting everyones’ wishes. The way that Sash INT bounced around was Angels In The Outfield worthy (Yay, we’re gonna win the pennant and Dad will finally come back home!).
Evy will be missed. He was a good (albeit slightly crotchety and misunderstood) man. One of the greatest ever.

by Eyeheartfreedumb on Nov 2, 2009 9:50 AM CST reply actions

Cheers, Evy!

When was the last time you heard of a center moving to quarterback? Different times, but still amazing.

From what I hear about him, Evy sounded uncompromising. Great men aren’t always easy to get along with. Maybe the university just didn’t handle his personality well. He could have coached for a lot longer there if they did.

But what do we know, most of us weren’t even alive in the 60s.

by Duez I say on Nov 2, 2009 10:28 AM CST reply actions

"Maybe the university just didn’t handle his personality well. He could have coached for a lot longer there if they did."

It’s so, so, so much more complicated than that.

I got more rhymes than Wade Lookingbill's got dunks

by Adam Jacobi on Nov 2, 2009 10:12 PM CST up reply actions

Evy was one of a kind!

I meet Evy on several occasions as a young man, as my father was friends with him and several of the coaches at Iowa over the years. When you were with Evy you knew he was a winner but also a my way or the high way sort of guy. That’s fine when you’re the coach of a football team but does not work in personal relationships.

He was a tremendous football coach and a molder of men and brought pride back to a floundering football program.

A little bit of trivia, his wife Ruth is the daughter of a long time US Senator from Michigan, U.S. Senator Prentiss Brown.

by Hawkeye66 on Nov 4, 2009 11:52 AM CST reply actions