Iowa Football: Top 10 head coaches in program history

5. Dr. Eddie Anderson: 1939-1942, 1946-1949

Career Record: 35-33-2

Awards and Accomplishments: College Football Hall of Fame Class of 1971

The man who brought Iowa football out of their version of the Great Depression in the 1930’s was Dr. Eddie Anderson. Anderson, a graduate of Mason City High School in Mason City, Iowa, played his college football at Notre Dame under legendary coach Knute Rockne and was a teammate of the legendary George Gipp and was a consensus All-American his senior year in 1921, ironically the only loss of his career came against Iowa in 1921.

Following graduation, Anderson spent three seasons as head coach at Loras College while also playing for the NFL’s Chicago Cardinals at the same time. In 1925, he became the head coach of DePaul and spent six seasons coaching the Blue Demons until he was hired as head coach at Holy Cross in 1933. Anderson spent six years at Holy Cross, compiling a 47-7-4 overall record before coming to Iowa City in 1939.

In Anderson’s first season as head coach, he led the famed “Ironmen” team of the 1939 Hawkeyes to a 6-1-1 record and the most famous member of the group, Nile Kinnick, won the 1939 Heisman Trophy. Anderson continued to bring moderate success to Iowa until 1942, when he entered the U.S. Army Medical Corp during World War II. Anderson returned to the Hawkeyes in 1946, but his results began to slip and unrest in the Iowa fanbase forced Anderson to resign following the 1949 season.

After leaving Iowa, Anderson returned to Holy Cross and coached 15 more seasons, compiling a 82-60-4 record in his second stint with the Crusaders before retiring in 1964.