INTO THE LIONS DEN (The Hayden Fry & Jerry LeVias story)

what if I told you that the story you've never heard would be the one you'll always [Music] remember when you meet coach fry after 3 minutes you feel like you've known him 20 years to has a way of just making you feel comfortable making you feel at home he was the first coach that education Hayden fry was like the first Superstar of ir Hayden fry took the SMU job with the understanding that he could recruit black players when Jerry levas joined the SMU program he was met with isolation and racism then I asked him you know why did you do that you know why did you put your career on the line he paused for a little bit and he says you know I was no longer Afraid of the Dark he called me Levi when he loved me and he called me Jerry when I was in in trouble they really had a great player coach relationship they also had something similar to a father son relationship you would only have five to 10 black players on the team it's been well documented his story with Jerry leviath ATU coach I had made sure that I had all the exposure that any person would have there were some uh threats to Jerry as well as my dad [Music] you look at kenck how much it's evolved over the last 25 30 years it wouldn't be possible without Hayden [Music] fry what if I told you that the story you've never heard would be the one you'll always remember I'm Quinn early and this is one after turning around the north Texas program coach fry signed on to be the Iowa Hawkeyes head coach in 1979 he took a historically bad football program and instilled a culture of winning and new tradition in 1981 under fry the hawkey won a big 10 championship and earned a trip to the Rose Bowl Hayden fry was like the first Superstar of Iowa I mean he was a larger than life figure not that he sought the spotlight but he wasn't uncomfortable in the spotlight I can see why recruits fell in love with him in the University there was so much love for him in our state but equally there was so much love he had for our state from him you look at kennick uh how much it's evolved over the last 25 30 years it wouldn't be possible without Hayden fry in 1981 I met coach fry you know he's a very unique individual every guy on that staff that was that he had hired none of us had resumes none of us had you know impressive backgrounds but he saw something in each and every one of us I think that U you know he felt like he he could maybe develop and and maybe bring the best out of us and I think he did the same thing in recruiting with players when he hired Kirk fence and myself we were two of the youngest offensive and defensive line coaches in all of college football and it's sure as hell was because of resume we'd earned it we deserve it but he saw things in us that we didn't even see ourselves I hear on my Iowa City native love the place it's Mya modern I never got to be a part of a winning season or a bowl game as a player and here we own through all the successes as players now and coaches and doing as a football family under Hayden friy leadership the story has been you know told a little bit but my primary reason for coming here was because of Coach fry and because what he had done uh in the 1960s 6465 when he gave the first African-American care scholarship Jerry levice Jerry levice yep at about that time I had some 90 to 100 scholarships and none of the scholarships were from historical black University because they thought I was too small but then at the end of the recruiting period my high school coach called me and says I got one more person I want you to visit I know You' been you're tired of traveling but I'll be at your house uh at about 5:00 and so about 5:00 two car loads of white guys drove up and Chuck Curtis was one of the coaches and he was just a big tall Texas boy and he had on a big tall cowboy hat and so the coaches came into our living room in the home and undou Ros Ry had done his homework he came in and start having a discussion with the rest of us when we talked very little about football we talked about education and he says I want you to come to the school number one to come get an education and I want you to play football on my team well the other fascinating thing about uh Jerry levas is he never wanted to be a Trailblazer he never wanted to be seen or known as a Pioneer and he later said that if coach fry had come to him and said I want you to be the first black athlete in Southwest Conference football history Jerry levas said I wouldn't have gone I I wasn't interested in that Jerry levas was interested in getting a free education through football and Hayden fry made that the center of his recruiting pitch if you come to SMU you're going to get a great education and you're going to get a degree that you're going to be able to use going forward they really had a great player coach relationship they also had something similar to a fatherson relationship I know Jerry looked looked at my dad as a as a second father and he loved him as if he was his own son coach Ry had a way of making you feel that you can go out and you can conquer and do anything he Tau you more about the idea of not letting people thinking that that you were less than they were one of his favorite quotes to me and a lot of the other guys uh when he says he says I want you guys to move like the eastbound end of a westbound donkey and I'm going what is he talking about and they said coach says he wants you to move your ass so had to fight through some of the Texas colloquialisms and you know his saying you know what's Mama think about the job well you know I'm 25 coach I don't don't need to get my mom's permission for this but I figured out what that meant and some of his other lingo I remember this queue he said ma it's not that complex coaching that defensive line you either tell him to go straight ahead right or left that's all you got to tell him and then when it's time and then when you got to rush that quarterback you just get out and you putting him in a in a in a three-point stance put their butts up in the air and tell them to see red and smell horse crap and go get that quarterback Hayden fry had a way of bringing out the best in his coaches and players most importantly he taught them how to be successful not just in football but in every aspect of their lives Hayden fry was born and raised in Texas he started off his career as an Allstate honors quarterback before joining the Marine Corps in 1951 he would quarterback for the quanico Marines until he returned to Odessa Texas in 1955 he would go on to work as a new assistant coach at Baylor University finishing the year with a one-point loss to Florida in the Gator Bowl but it would be his work on the field with Bear Bryant that would have SMU take notice of fry and his coaching abilities it was there that he would meet fellow Texan Jerry levas I uh was born in Bulma Texas and my father and my mother uh were from small towns in East Texas and we were in church every Sunday because grandma lived next door and she said so the thing that really sealed the deal for Jerry levas to go to SMU was that Hayden fry found out that Lev's grandmother lived next door that uh like most families the grandmother has a lot of sway coach frag talked to her and they were over there talking about religion and talking about uh God and everything else and my grandmother liked coach fry and that really sold the whole family on on Coach fry and SMU and when Hayden fry eventually became a coach he could not understand why he was not allowed to coach black players and once he started to get into those coaching positions he said if I have an opportunity uh to coach black players and to get black players uh into some of these games and into these environments he was going to do everything he could to do that I had the pleasure of sitting down with Hayden Fry's children to find out more about what it was like growing up in the fry home Randy myself Kelly and Abe and of course Robin we didn't see our dad when we were growing up the hours were tremendous he did a great job in his career but we never saw him our mother raised us dad had two families he had his family at home and he had his family at the office and the football players and the coaching staff that's the life of coaching right yeah tell me a little bit about Hayden fry the Marine you know Dad was one of those that he felt like you respect your fellow men no matter what and you treat people the way you want to be treated and dad always inferred that with all of us and I think a lot of that was was Marine Corps upbringing as well regardless of what caused us to be beaten we still weren't good enough to overcome it and that's what championships are all about so you didn't play that corly you played with great enthusiasm you play your heart if it doesn't hurt you to lose you shouldn't be on this ball Club but you did yourself proud you hustled your tail off and that's all I've ever ask of you and all the coaching we love every one of them we played for the marbles and we lost you're great people we'll win it next year he would tell you that his experience in the Marines was key key factor for him to be a successful football coach he learned a lot about the importance of self-discipline and organizational skills as well as yeah no man Left Behind it's a team it's a team playing for him in north Texas I couldn't help but notice everything he did for the football program he was always organized Hayden accepted his first head football coaching job at SMU and when Hayden fry was looking into the SMU job he basically made SMU promise that if he took the job he'd be able to recruit black players well that was true and you know they had decided that they wanted to recruit my dad and first black player to enter the Southwest Conference SMU was not eager to have black players at that time but they did want Hayden Fran so they basically told coach fry you can recruit black players on one condition they have to be able to score at least 1,000 on the SAT academic entrance exams the white players only needed to score a 750 so the bar was much much higher for black players and SMU basically thought there's no way that coach fry is going to be able to find a quality black player who can meet those kinds of stringent academic standards he spent a couple of years searching for the right candidate uh until he found Jerry levias and then I asked him you know why why did you do that you know for Jerry Levi you know I'm just curious you know why did you put your career on the line why did you you know why was that important for you to do that and I'll never forget it and he he paused for a little bit and he says you know I was no longer afraid of the dart Jerry was everything that they were looking for he was a tremendous athlete and he was an excellent student with upstanding character there's a story about a Bible character in the Old Testament named Daniel and Daniel was a captive in Babylonia and a law was passed that disallowed any public praying to anyone except the king well Daniel had a strong faith in God and despite the pressure not to do so he continued to pray publicly and he ended up being thrown into the lion's den but he survived by God's grace what jerice reminds me of Daniel and despite the pressure not to do so Jerry signed and accepted the offer to play in the Southwoods conference and and like Daniel Jerry he overcame pressure the criticisms and the threats to become one of the greatest players in the history of the Southwest Conference racism isolation even threats of harm were just some of the obstacles that both men had to navigate through during their time at SMU a task that each man faced and took head-on well what people don't really appreciate about when Jerry levas came to SMU is that it was even more difficult than it would have typically been because freshmen were ineligible at that time so Jerry levas came to SMU in the fall of 1965 uh here's Jerry levas on a predominantly white campus he really lived that first year in sort of an isolated situation he went to class he went to practice and then he went home he didn't have much of a social life he roomed alone his English Professor would talk about how black people had smaller brains than white people levas had to accept being in class and being insulted in that way and it was a really trying year for Jerry levas on the football field it was worse I I was very confident in what I could do but then when they did tackle me one young man as I was getting up jumped in my back with his knees uh cracked two ribs and wedged a vertebrae and that was my first experience of having players of your own team uh do that to you and it was a rude awakening and it was a really trying year for Jerry levas but what's interesting is one of the things that really helped levas that first year was his freshman year SMU had a guest speaker on campus and it was Dr Martin Luther King Jr Jerry levas was able to meet Dr King and shake hands with them and Martin Luther King Jr actually gave Jerry levice a couple of pieces of advice as he was starting his football career he said it takes more courage not to fight than to fight and obviously Jerry levias in the next few years as a varsity football player he faced a number of situations where it would have been a natural reaction to want to fight and to want to get into a confrontation Jerry lise's sophomore year in 1966 SMU was in a position to finish first place in the Southwest Conference but they had to beat TCU if SM wins the game they win in the championship about a day or two before that game my father is informed that there's a death threat on Jerry there was always death threats or some kind of threat that someone didn't want me out there but this was the first time that the FBI and the police had received the message that if I played in the game that they would they would have a sniper in the stance that would kill me so right before the game coach fry came in and says Levi there's been a threat on your life we've never had one like this before but the FBI and Fort Worth Police and everybody else is involved and we will do what we can to protect you despite hearing the threat of being killed Jerry decides he still wants to play in the game well the game was played and Jerry caught a touchdown pass and SMU ended up winning the game as well as a conference champion ship in all my life I'm not proud of that touchdown that I ran back I did it out of hate and I've never really hated before all the spitting all the name calling all the late hits I've never hated I I had never felt what it like to hate and I've not very proud of that but it also taught me a lesson it does not hurt the other person it hurts you and I never have wanted that feeling in my life again i' that was the first time I mean I've disliked people but when you had a taste of hate you really don't want that fortunately nothing happened to Jerry during that game I can't help but believe that God had his hand of protection on Jerry that day you know I had to go through therapy because I couldn't I couldn't let them win I still can't let them win I always held everything in you know they they they spit on me you know I'd smile coach fry he said if you don't want him to get your goat don't let him know where he head and that's from his philosophy of Achilles and he says you got to stay with what BR you stay with God it wasn't like he was doing it to make me play he was doing it because he loved me as a person despite the challenges that both men faced fry and levas developed a bond that transcended the coach player relationship it was as if they were destined to become and stay connected some would say that family are those we love and keep in our hearts until the end of time from day one it was a sad moment to graduate and not have Coach fry around every day it took a lot of adjustments to go from to uh college to professional football and at the same time I had to live up to my size and my reputation so he just said just play like you always play and do what you always do in 1972 despite having a 7-2 record Hayden fry was fired from SMU he would soon be hired as the head coach and athletic director at North Texas State University after great success fry became the 24th head football coach at Iowa in 1979 during his 20 years there FR Hawkeye program had a record of 143 wins 89 losses and six ties changing the landscape of college football in the state of Iowa coach fry turned the Iowa Hawkeye football program into into a perennial Big 10 Powerhouse the Hawkeyes had only been to two bowl games in the history of the program in 20 Seasons the College Football Hall of Famer would lead the program to 14 more including three Rose Bowl appearances his Innovative passing attack and standup tight ends were revolutionary to the game at the age of 90 Hayden fry lost his battle with cancer everything he did was geared towards winning when he arrived in Iowa City he designed a new logo and changed the uniforms to emulate the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers he instantly became a part of the Iowa culture fry embraced the farmers of Iowa and created the American needs Farmers sticker that still proudly displayed on the players helmets to this day his love for the players coaches and fans culminates the Larger than Life man who was Hayden fry when you meet coach fry after 3 minutes you feel like you've known him 20 years it's just he has a way of just making you feel comfortable making you feel at home Fry's ability to recognize coaching Talent was also something to behold coaches on his staff included Barry Alvarez Kirk fence Bob Stoops Bill Snider and Dan McCarney just to name a few Hayden Fry's overall coaching record was 232 178 and 10 he was a three-time big 10 coach of the year and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 200 three all of us are going to die someday we're all trying to delay it as long as we can Q let's put it off as long as we can it's inevitable we're all going to die but that everybody really lives what does that mean people that really live ha and Fry really live he injected this confidence and belief and trust and excitement and energy and every one of us with the opportunity that he gave all of us as players and coaches and because of that we've really got to live and we've tried to pass it on to many many people in our families and with friends and players and coaches that we've tried to be around and tried to affect and thank God we all started at the same time and same place at the University of Iowa with Coach haen fry more than any of his statistics Hayden fry will forever be remembered for the lives that he touched along the way Jerry levas is at the top of that list until he passed coach fry and I talked at least once or twice every month I just I just we all will know exactly how dad felt about Jerry he was part of the family definitely I was part of the family yeah and it wasn't just because I was a star football player but that's because of what their dad thought about me and they got to know me and what they thought about me and that meant more to me than anything until this day it is the same way I'm part of the family you know what's amazing to me is in 2019 when I went to coach's funeral and you were all there and listening to Jerry speak about your father in the Bible it says some trees produce good fruit some trees produce bad fruit but that tree is known by the fruit that it produces coach fry was a great man he produced great coaches he produced great friends he produced great families and you're wondering why I'm here with Coach fry he and I had a great understanding Levi he called me when he loved me and when I was in trouble he called me Jerry he said Levi always keep your Derber up it mean keep a positive attitude even when they spit on your car all your names and he was uh such a great man I know we know him as a coach but I knew him as a coach and a father figure and to him I'd like to say I cannot see the wind at all I cannot see a f when it blows a tree a sways a flower or a bush God is like that you can't see him you can't touch him but you know he's there because you see his wonderful works and his goodness everywhere and Coach fry is a great man and he was one of God's greatest gifts to to a lot of us may he rest in peace in his new place and God bless him and I love him [Music] forever [Music]