Bob Commings Bob Commings ( December 24 , 1932 – February 20 , 1992 ) was a college football player and coach at the University of Iowa . He was also a high school football coach for 24 years in the state of Ohio . Early life and playing career . Commings was born on Christmas Eve at the height of the Great Depression . He grew up in Ohio and played high school football at Youngstown ' s East High School . After graduating from high school in 1952 , he enrolled at the University of Iowa . Commings spent his first two years at Iowa , lettering as a sophomore in 1953 . That season , Coach Forest Evashevski ' s Hawkeyes finished the year ranked ninth in the nation in the final AP Poll . With the Korean War raging abroad , Commings signed up with the Marine Corps , serving for two years before returning to Iowa . He played his junior season in 1956 on the offensive and defensive lines . That Iowa team won the Big Ten Conference title , and Commings started in the 1957 Rose Bowl for the Hawkeyes , helping Iowa to a 35 – 19 victory . As a senior in 1957 , Commings helped Iowa to a 7 – 1 – 1 record and a number six ranking in the final AP Poll . He was good friends with fellow lineman Alex Karras , who later had success as a professional athlete and actor . Though Karras won the 1957 Outland Trophy , it was Bob Commings at the end of the year that was voted as Iowa ' s 1957 MVP . In his three years at Iowa , Commings helped the Hawkeyes to a 21 – 5 – 1 record , and Iowa finished the year ranked in the top ten of the AP poll in each of his three years as a Hawkeye player . Early coaching career . Commings was an assistant coach at Iowa for two seasons in 1958 and 1959 before leaving to become a high school coach in Ohio . He coached Struthers High School in Struthers , Ohio , for seven seasons from 1962 – 1968 , compiling a 50 – 16 – 4 record . Commings then took over at Massillon Washington High School in Massillon , Ohio . In five seasons from 1969 – 1973 , Commings ' teams had a combined 43 – 6 – 2 record . His 1970 Massillon team had an undefeated 10 – 0 record , outscoring their opponents 412 – 29 and winning a state poll championship . His 1971 team lost two games by one point each but outscored their other eight opponents 287 – 18 . His 1972 team took a 10 – 0 record to the first Ohio state playoffs before losing . His 1973 team was unbeaten before dropping their season finale . The 21 – 0 loss in that game was his worst loss in five years at Massillon . Iowa coaching career . In 1974 , Iowa football was in the midst of an extended slump , having not had a winning season since 1961 . The school had just fired their previous coach , Frank Lauterbur , for having a 4 – 28 – 1 record over three years , and Iowa was gaining a reputation as a coaching graveyard , and many wondered if any coach could win at Iowa . Commings let it be known that he wanted the job badly , and he even came to Iowa to campaign for it . At one of these rallies , Commings told reporters , " I feel I can win at Iowa . Obviously , it ' s going to take football players , but I don ' t feel anybody has a better rapport with the high school players than me . We have always had a very sophisticated football program at Massillon . My coaching staff ( nine men ) is larger than at most colleges . " Commings appealed to Iowa fans , because he had a Hawkeye background as a player and assistant coach during the Rose Bowl years . Though he had never coached at the college level , he had had tremendous success coaching high school football in Ohio , a state known as a hotbed for football talent . Finally , his enthusiasm for the job was evident . Commings stated that the Iowa job was the only college job he would ever want , and he offered to work with a one - year contract if necessary . If he did not deliver on his promise to win at Iowa , he could be let go after just one year . Commings said , " All I want is the job . If they had told me I had to pick corn in the off - season to get the job , I ' d have done it . " Iowa athletic director Bump Elliott took Bob Commings up on his challenge , making him the 23rd head coach in the history of Iowa football by signing him to a one - year contract for the 1974 season . He was the third Iowa graduate to take the reins as Iowa ' s head football coach , joining John G . Griffith in 1909 and Leonard Raffensperger in 1950 – 1951 . Unfortunately , Iowa was riding a school - record 11 game losing streak , and Iowa ' s first four games in 1974 were against teams ranked in the top 20 of the AP Poll . After a road loss at Michigan , Commings coached his first home game in Iowa City against # 12 UCLA . He told his team , a two touchdown underdog , before the game , " You are unique . In addition to being ridiculed for last season , you have the nation ' s toughest schedule . Now you have a chance to show people all over America what desire and determination can prove . It may be that you are the chosen children . " The Hawkeyes shocked the country , and most of its fans , by pulling a 21 – 10 upset . Iowa fans sported " Chosen Children " badges , and Commings ' contract was extended to three years . The Hawks also defeated Northwestern to snap a nine game conference losing streak in 1974 and ended the year with a 3 – 8 record . Iowa had another 3 – 8 record in 1975 , but three of the losses were by four points or less . The Hawkeyes were competitive again , and Commings ' contract was extended through 1979 . In 1976 , the Hawkeyes , nicknamed the " Wild Bunch " , stunned Penn State , the number 11 ranked team in the nation , in Happy Valley for Iowa ' s first non - conference road win in 11 years . Iowa finished the 1976 season with a 5 – 6 record , agonizingly close to a winning record . The 1977 season was highlighted by Iowa ' s first game with Iowa State in 34 years . The first meeting between the two schools after such a long suspension in the series was met with great anticipation across the state . Seemingly , the only person unexcited about the game was Coach Commings , who said , " I ' d rather be playing Utah . " Before the game , Iowa State coach Earle Bruce had Iowa State change into special jerseys emblazoned with the phrase " Beat Iowa " across the chest above the numbers . Iowa defeated the Cyclones , 12 – 10 , in a defensive struggle . Although Commings was not a big fan of the rivalry , that win probably earned him another year after a disappointing season in 1977 . Iowa had a record of 4 – 7 , although some sources note that UCLA was forced to forfeit their win against Iowa due to an ineligible player and list Iowa ' s record that season as 5 – 6 . Whether it was 4 – 7 or 5 – 6 , the fact remained that Iowa had posted its 16th consecutive non - winning season , which was now the longest streak in the nation . The feeling among fans seemed to be that Commings , in his fifth year , needed to deliver a winning season in 1978 . Iowa ' s starting quarterback in 1978 was Bob Commings , Jr . He performed well , but the team did not . After winning the opening game , the 1978 Hawkeyes lost their next eight games and ended the year with a 2 – 9 record . Commings , who had one year left on his contract , said that he thought the school had a " moral and legal " obligation to allow him to coach in 1979 . Bump Elliott disagreed , and Bob Commings was relieved of his duties after the 1978 season . Bob Commings had accepted the Iowa football head coaching job with glee . Later , he admitted , " It ' s a tougher job than I figured . No one outside of coaching has a concept of what it takes . I guess the answer still is that it takes time . There are so many things involved . " His Iowa ties and the fact that he considered the Hawkeye coaching position as his dream job made his firing especially painful . But while he delivered several shocking wins , the overall record was poor . Commings was the tenth man to coach Iowa for at least five years , and his record of 17 – 38 was the poorest among the ten . Commings was replaced by Hayden Fry , who would coach the Hawkeyes for 20 years and have the most wins of any coach in Iowa football history . Return to high school ranks . Commings turned down an offer from the university to take another job within the athletic department . He remained in Iowa City for several months as a representative of an insurance agency . During the 1979 season , he was a color commentator for Iowa football games . But coaching was always in his blood . In 1980 , Commings took a job at GlenOak High School in Canton , Ohio . He coached there for 12 seasons , compiling a 76 – 44 – 1 record . Bob Commings was diagnosed with cancer in 1991 and turned his football team over to his son , Bob Commings , Jr . He died within six months , survived by his wife , Sharon , and another son , Don . In 24 seasons as a high school coach in Ohio , Commings had a 169 – 66 – 7 record .