Wesley Fry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wes "Cowboy" Fry | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: | December 10, 1902 |
| Place of birth: | Hartley, Iowa, United States |
| Date of death: | 1970 |
| Career information | |
| Position(s): | Fullback |
| College: | Iowa |
| Organizations | |
| As administrator: | |
| 1960–1963 | Oakland Raiders |
| As player: | |
| 1926–1927 | New York Yankees |
| Stats at DatabaseFootball.com | |
Wesley Leonard "Cowboy" Fry (1902–1970) was an American football player and coach, as well as an early executive with the Oakland Raiders.
Fry played college football at the University of Iowa under legendary coach Howard Jones, excelling as a fullback. He was named to play in the first East-West Shrine Game following his senior season in 1925. Fry then spent the 1926 and 1927 seasons playing professional football with Red Grange for the New York Yankees.[1] At the same time, Fry was attending law school.
After earning his law degree Fry quit playing professional football and sought to practice law in Oklahoma, but he was quickly diverted onto the path of a football coach. He began his career coaching football at high schools and small colleges in Oklahoma. In 1934, when future Hall of Fame coach Pappy Waldorf moved north from Oklahoma State to Kansas State, he hired Fry to be his lone assistant coach at K-State. Then, when Waldorf left Kansas State after one season, Fry was hired as the new head coach at Kansas State in 1935.
Fry held the head coaching position at Kansas State for five seasons, posting an 18-21-6 record. Fry stepped aside following the 1939 season when his own assistant coach began politicking for the job. In the 1940 season, Fry rejoined Waldorf as an assistant coach at Northwestern University. In 1947, Fry moved with Waldorf to the University of California. Fry remained Waldorf's assistant coach at Cal through the end of Waldorf's term, in 1956, despite receiving offers of head coaching positions from Oregon State University and Arizona State University.
In 1960, Fry joined the Oakland Raiders organization, which was commencing operations as a member of the American Football League. Fry first served as director of player personnel, then as general manager of the franchise until 1963, when Al Davis was hired as general manager and head coach.
[edit] Major college coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Coaches# | AP° | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas State (Big Six Conference) (1935 – 1939) | |||||||||
| 1935 | Kansas State | 2-4-3 | 1-2-2 | 4th | |||||
| 1936 | Kansas State | 4-3-2 | 2-1-2 | 3rd | |||||
| 1937 | Kansas State | 4-5 | 1-4 | 5th (tie) | |||||
| 1938 | Kansas State | 4-4-1 | 1-3-1 | 5th | |||||
| 1939 | Kansas State | 4-5 | 1-4 | 4th (tie) | |||||
| Kansas State: | 18-21-6 | 6-14-5 | |||||||
| Total: | 18-21-6 | ||||||||
| #Rankings from final Coaches Poll of the season. °Rankings from final AP Poll of the season. |
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[edit] References
- Fitzgerald, Tim (2001). Wildcat Gridiron Guide (ISBN 0-9703458-0-1)
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Fry, Wesley Leonard |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Fry, Wes |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Football player & coach |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1902 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hartley, Iowa |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1970 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
