Hayden Fry passed away

[LA_Mustang]

earlier today at 90.

[soccermom]

I’m sad to see this. May he RIP and prayers for his family.

[ponyboy]

That is huge. He was a legend.

[Arkpony]

I hate to hear this. I remember those years very well at SMU. A great man. Mrydel has some wonderful Hayden Fry stories. Rest in peace and God bless.

[BUS]

A legend, great coach and loved by mustangs.
God's peace be with you.

[mrydel]

The man did almost as much for me as my own father. Great man, great coach. Left SMU under pressure but at the right time to launch himself into a level of greatness achieved by only few in the business. Great coaching tree, and leader of young men. I will miss you coach and thank you for being there for me.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Truly a sad day for the SMU family.

[peruna81]

My hope is that SMU will choose to acknowledge and honor him Saturday on their uniforms...

He was a leader...defined as "follow me". Courage to bring in LeVias against opposition internally and externally was a hallmark achievement, as was leading SMU to exciting football again.

Rest well, sir.

[ponyte]

RIP. He did have exciting teams without the talent of other SWC tams. DId great at NTSU even beating SMU at Texas Stadium in '77. And was great at Iowa. But his greatest was bring Jerry Lives in.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

My hope is that SMU will choose to acknowledge and honor him Saturday on their uniforms...

One of my first thoughts as well.

It will be a shame if we don't at least have a helmet sticker.

[EastStang]

Great coach, followed by one of our worst. He committed the cardinal sin of losing to Virginia Tech (back then VA Tech was not what they are today), and running a passing offense in a world of the wishbone. We got a wishbone coach and then descended into the bottom of the SWC.

[Stallion]

The best demonstration of the love that his players had for him was his team's walking entrance to the field at the final game of the season against TCU in Ft. Worth. SMU finished 7-4 and probably would have gotten a bowl if Fry hadn't already been fired. It was quite impressive to watch the SMU team walk hand-n-hand onto the field

[Donnell88]

I was a student at SMU in 1972 when, under Coach Fry, the Mustangs beat Florida, Arkansas and TCU on the road. We also clobbered Wake Forest and New Mexico State at Texas Stadium. We were close to upsetting Texas in Austin. Hayden had a lot of success in recruiting skill-position players like Jerry Levias but also Chuck Hixson,Gary Hammond, Alvin Maxson and Oscar Roan.

He also signed Louis Kelcher, an All-SWC defensive tackle, later a second-round draft choice of San Diego Chargers, who enjoyed a lengthy NFL career. He eventually won a Super Bowl ring with San Francisco 49ers. (I apologize to those I've overlooked).

Under pressure from the alumni, the administration fired Hayden. They presumed a new coach would do better - they were wrong. Look what he did at Iowa.

[PoconoPony]

Great coach, followed by one of our worst. He committed the cardinal sin of losing to Virginia Tech (back then VA Tech was not what they are today), and running a passing offense in a world of the wishbone. We got a wishbone coach and then descended into the bottom of the SWC.

You observations are a bit ironic. When Frye first became the SMU head coach we had a passing tradition with the likes of Don Meredith and Ray Berry in the late 50s and Jerry Rhome, a sophomore and 4th leading passer in the nation, as his QB. Frye immediately announced that SMU would become a running team causing Rhome to transfer to Tulsa where became an All America QB leading the nation in passing and would go on to have a successful NFL career. Shortly he would end up with passing QBs Mike Livingston, who had a long career with the KC Chiefs, Hixon, and Hammond. Frye should be given credit for being fairly flexible and adept to adjust to his available talent and allow them to perform. Yep, the wishbone attack was brutal as it ate up the clock, killed defenses and left passing attacks almost no margin for error or failure.

[Bergermeister]

Hayden Fry