Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Part two of our convo with former Hawkeye Matt Purdy on Iowa swimming and his Hayden Fry memories

Episode Date: August 3, 2021

We are joined by former Iowa Hawkeye offensive lineman Matt Purdy for part two of our conversation about Iowa swimming, Gary Barta, and his memories of Hayden Fry! Make sure to check out part one with Matt yesterday and go Hawks!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to a Tuesday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes Podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network. covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Sports Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and today's episode is brought to you by RockAuto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.

And on today's show, we are finishing up our conversation with former Iowa offensive lineman and advocate for the reversal of the decision to cut four varsity athletic programs for the University of Iowa. We have Matt Purdy joining the show to discuss with us a little bit more about the swim team and about his time playing under Hayden Fry. Again, really enjoyed this conversation. So if you are tuning in for the first time today, make sure to check out part one yesterday, part two is today, and we'll be back on tomorrow morning discussing some NBA draft talk. So appreciate you all tuning in.

Let's get into the conversation with Matt Purdy right now. You know, so the university talked about how they're going to support these kids, but at the same time, the university is not going to give me, not going to pay me back for a year and a half worth of uh his his career down here you know so that's just it just adds to my frustration you know as a parent and as a as a an alumni it just it just keeps it just keeps mounting and building and then you know i will put out a tweet about uh the the the swimming program and being the birthplace of the butterfly. They have no connect with this alumni base.

And it's just problem after problem, in my opinion. Yeah, it's sad. And honestly, it almost seems like, to a degree, the removal of these programs was almost premeditated and they were just looking for a way to get rid of them um in this and how they handle everything since the fact and in fact that a lot of these programs don't have a lot of scholarships i think people don't realize that but a lot of these programs that we're mentioning don't have a lot of scholarship available your son is a phenomenal swimmer and was on a 50% scholarship versus the football team that has 90 scholarships, full ride scholarships.

And granted the football team brings in a significant amount of money. And I think it's worth noting that the Iowa athletic program up into those past years, one of the few self-funding programs in the entire country is incapable of keeping around several sports that have been very important to the history of the University of Iowa. And it seems like they are continuing to add insult to misery as they go throughout this process and not seemingly caring about the student athletes they've heard. You answered a couple other questions I was going to ask you about.

What would Hayden Fry have thought of this? And had you talked to Kirk about it and stuff? And it seems like you've kind of gone through all those different pieces you've also mentioned the new leadership I'm curious do you feel like is this a fight that you're going to continue fighting for with the new president Barbara Wilson or are you at this point just waiting to see if Gary Barta eventually leaves the University of Iowa I mean I don't think he has, in my opinion, a significant amount of support across the board. Even if you look at how well Iowa has done this past year,

he did not hire Kirk Ferentz, right? He did not hire Lisa Bluter. He did not make a lot of these hires that are very instrumental to the success of Iowa. So what has Gary done? And I think it's worth looking at that very, very closely from Barbara Wilson's perspective. So I'm just curious, is this kind of the end of the road for you with Iowa until maybe she makes a

change or until Gary Barta leaves? You know what? I have no, no desire to right now to, to support, you know, Iowa athletics as a whole. I mean, I'm talking about the global approach. I mean, I will always, you know, Kirk has been nothing but amazing to me, you know, you know, I don't wish any ill will on anybody, you know, but I, I can't find myself to be Hawkeye right now. I can't, I can't, I can't, I'm not going to put on my,

my, you know, 1995, you know, Sun Bowl sweatshirt and walk around proudly with it. Like I had in the past on a, on a game day or something like that, you know, I'll still support them. You know, I'm still, I'll still reach out to Kirk and, you know, if he has a milestone or whatever, that's, that's, that's not, that's not what I want to do. I'm looking for change and approach in the athletic department. I would value the opportunity to talk to the new president. I would love to sit down and let her see all the negative effects that have taken place with just even just this past year. with just even just this past year and that would be something that I would like to do do I ever expect her to reach out to me there's probably one percent chance she's probably seen my name in enough tweets and stuff like that she's like no desire but you know maybe maybe I have a you

know I don't know her and that would be something for me you know but i i think about you know as you know i myself as as a football coach and as a athletic administration athletic administrator my current role so much of our role as leaders is connectivity with the kids before gary bardaarta taught these programs, my son had never seen Gary Barta. Didn't even really know who he was. And even on the day when he walked back in and had a meeting with the women's program on perhaps one of the worst weeks he could have done it because it was their taper week before Big Tens,

he disrupted some of the most important practices of these girls' week. He walked in, had no acknowledgement of the men, walked into a room, had a meeting with the women's program, got beat up pretty well verbally by the girls' program, and walked out. So he has no desire to connect with these athletes and i would suspect if you took a pool of of the the entire athletics programs how many people have ever seen him it would be small but i go back to when bob bullsby was there and bump ellie were there i would bet the vast majority because, oh, yeah, there goes Bump or there goes Bob Bowlesby. I don't think there's a connection from the top of the administration to the people they're leading.

leading. And as somebody in that profession of coaching and leading, that is one of the greatest things is where I can walk up to, and I know I'm at the high school level and it's considerably smaller, but I could walk up to our, our, our girls tennis player the next morning after she's had a great win and say, Hey, you know, Sally Smith, nice win last night. And to see that, great win and say hey you know sally smith nice win last night and to see that that glow on that athlete's face gary barda doesn't have that connection he can't do that you know he he could walk up to my son you know my son could have been the big 10 champ and he could have graduated my son would have who are you and and that's that that's sad for me. And, you know, even, even, uh, the Marcus Wilson, the assistant athletic director, who's in charge of swimming, these guys, I remember Ryan go, yeah, there was some, after he goes, yeah, there was some Marcus Wilson, the, it was a former

football player. Um, Ryan's like, yeah, there's some big guy here, but he didn't even talk to us, you know? So, you know, where's the connectivity connectivity between the athletic administration and the sports. And even if Gary, you can't, you know,

you can, maybe you can't expect Gary to connect with every athlete, but the administrator in charge should be, should, they should know who Marcus Wilson wilson is and in my opinion gary barge should sit down with every one of those teams privately at any given point and the day on august 21st when he cut them he should have spent an hour two hours with every one of those teams answering every question they had consoling them and making them feel somewhat at ease with the horrible thing,

but not two minutes. I mean, where's the compassion that was is black and white and it's business that that could have been, we're cutting your sports too bad. All right, I'm going to get out of here so I don't have to deal with you. And that's what happened. You know, that's ridiculous. Is that, is that that leadership and i've talked to a number of athletic administrators a number of business professionals you know i i spoke i i spoke with a a gentleman who's a billionaire runs a major corporation and i asked him this question i go when you've had to let people go, describe the meeting. And he goes, here's what I do. I bring him to my office. We discuss the situation. I sit there and I deal with the emotions. I deal with all their questions. If it takes an hour, it takes an hour. So that was a one-on-one, you know, so if you're talking, you know, someone who's a major CEO of a major company takes the time with one person, how is he, the Iowa athletic director who's cutting and destroying the lives of a hundred plus kids walk out of the room in less than two minutes to leave that shattered shell of emotions, you know, kids who are, you know,

walking into a COVID situation, haven't even been in someone, not even there haven't been into a classroom yet facing all that, that that's just, that's not leadership in my opinion. And that will never, my opinion of Gary Barta will never change because of how he handled August 21st. If I'm going to tell my backup offensive tackle that he's not the starter, I'm going to sit and meet with him and make sure he's comfortable with the decision in which I've made. Maybe he needs to go find a nice leadership book and spend some time reading it. But I'm not sure how you lead one of the most successful athletic programs in the country that way

and not know the people you're leading. I'm so soured on the whole situation. All right, y'all. We got to take one pause for segment one because we got to tell you about betonline.ag, the fastest and the easiest way to bet on all of your sports action. Baseball season is in full swing

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Experts. Yeah, and it honestly just feels like, you know, it's too late at this point, right? He could do as much as he could to try to learn how to be a good leader, but at this point, it's too late. Matt, I really appreciate your candidness on this entire situation. I think from the outside, I didn't understand it,

but I wasn't the one connected specifically to it. So it's tough to really completely get a full understanding. So I appreciate you walking through all that, and I'm really excited to see what your son accomplishes at Arizona. I know it sounds like he has big, big goals from a full understanding. So I appreciate you walking through all that. And I'm really excited to see what your, your son accomplishes in Arizona. I know it sounds like he has a big, big goals from a swimming perspective long-term, which is really exciting. I do want to, I do want to wrap up with just one quick thing about football. What,

what was it like playing under Hayden Fry for you? And what was one of your most fond memories of of being on the Iowa Hawkeye football team playing for Hayden is like playing for the most compassionate caring and loving parents you've ever connected with and you're you're talking about the the ultimate father figure you know the guy who would get you in trouble in the back of a huddle. I still remember my, you know, my junior, my redshirt junior year, I was a starter and we're, we're, we're, we're out, we're watching the twos, you know, run practice and Hayden's back at the,

you know, we're sitting there watching, he's back there BSing with us. And I still remember I'm leaning on my helmet you know i'm on you know my on my one knee and he kicks my helmet out and just giggles at me and laughs and walks away and i remember frank verducci turning around to us and goes purdy do you know what that play was and obviously i didn't because i'm talking to hayden and he's just giggling and and he walks away from us we're getting in, but it was so much fun. And to sit there and to watch him coach us and to connect with him. And he had such passion about us.

And you never wanted to disappoint him. I was fortunate enough where I had so many amazing memories. You know, obviously, maybe the one I'm most well known for is carrying him off the field after his 200th win. And we were going to, we had different plans. We were going to douse him with the Gatorade cooler. And Sheriff Ron, you know, who was with Hayden almost his entire career, you know, we were getting the Gatorade cooler and he goes, you guys can't do that. You'll give the old man a heart attack. Exactly what he said to us.

We quickly diverted and we carried him off the field and, and to, to be a part of that. I mean, that that, that's history. That's Iowa history. And that is just so awesome. And I have that photo in my basement signed by him, and it says to Matt Purdy, one of my all-time favorite players. And I look at that every time I go to my basement. And if you Google Hayden Frye good chance that that photo

is one of the you know probably the top five photos are going to pop up and you know I I've had you know KCRG came out and did a story drove out from Cedar Rapids and did a story on that you know the a few months after Hayden died I mean for, for Cedar Rapids Station to come to Chicago and interview me was so cool. So I think about that. I think about handing him a game ball after winning Wisconsin, carrying him off the field after the Sun Bowl my senior year, carrying the Sun Bowl trophy myself.

You know, those just – it's nonstop. And then you think about my teammates and you know Hal Mady and I I was the Pac-12 championships are in Seattle and I reached out to him about a week ago I'm like hey you're in Seattle right he goes well yeah temporarily he goes I'm moving to Chicago and I'm like oh my god and you know Hal and i haven't seen each other in so many years i know we text and we call but just all those teammates and we're all circling back as we're getting older and finding time to to see each other and and i i just i'll wrap up with this you know know, Mike Goff, who went on to have an amazing pro career and I was coaching, it was in October this past year

after the teams were cut. And he calls me. He was coaching out at Western Kentucky. And this was a Saturday, like at 5 o'clock. And he calls me up and he goes, Perds, what are you doing? He goes, you want to FaceTime? Guys don't FaceTime. It's just kind of an odd thing to do.

I'm like, yeah. I go, FaceTime me. He goes, I'm in Kentucky. You're in Chicago. We need to have a beer together. I've been thinking about you and I'm worried about you. Well, Mike and I sat on FaceTime in my backyard. He's on his porch.

We had a couple, three beers together on FaceTime in my backyard. He's on his porch. We had a couple, three beers together on FaceTime. And we sold, we told Iowa stories for, for probably about two hours. And I just think about that. And to me, that's Hayden Fry. Those are the things he instilled in us and that family and, and Gary Barta has destroyed that family for me. And, and, and I've always envisioned, you know, walking back, you know, into Kenick, you know, and being introduced at halftime, you know, whatever anniversary of the, you know, the 95 Sun Bowl, the 30th, 40th, whatever it is,

you know, Gary pulled that away from me. And, you know, even if I got invited, if, if I have to face Gary Barta as I walk by, I don't show up because it's just not the person I want to see leading a program that has been made me so proud yet now is so tarnished. made me so proud yet now is so tarnished. And, you know, so you think about all the great memories that, you know, Gary kind of snatched away and think about the great memories that I thought my son was going to have there. You know, he had goals of being big 10 champ and, you know, all that stuff.

And for me to, to, to walk on that pool deck on his, you know, during his senior day and to see him maybe – to see him introduced at a football game as a Big Ten champ or something and to have that role reversed, those are things I look forward to. When people want to tell me to get over it, I hope anybody in this world doesn't have to go through that heartbreak that as an athletic parent – I know there's understand there's a thousand worse things that can happen.

But to have that pulled away and to hear that phone call on August 21st. That has has tarnished my view of the black and gold and especially the leadership. and especially the leadership. So Iowa's meant so much to me, and hopefully someday there'll be maybe a reconnection, but right now there's just not there for me, and I find myself being an Arizona Bearcat and look forward to what could be a very, very bright future for my son. All right, y'all.

We are going to take one more pause before we finish up segment three and have the last part of our show, our conversation with Matt Purdy. Again, if you are enjoying this episode as much as I have, please make sure to subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at. I do want to tell you about our sponsor of the show today, though, and that is rockauto.com. With the ever-increasing numbers of makes and models, it is now impossible for your local chain auto parts store to stock all the parts you need. Why endure often pointless or seemingly intimidating questioning and wait while the person behind the counter orders the parts on their computer,

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Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need, rockauto.com. auto.com. Yeah. I mean, uh, I, I kind of find the words to kind of summarize that. I think the big thing there is it's tough, right? It's incredibly painful. Um, the wounds are still incredibly fresh. Uh, you know, you just had to move your son into Arizona, which is something you did not think you were going to ever have to do. And all of this kind of happened in spite of all the amazing things other Iowa Hawkeye leaders have done previously, but definitely enjoyed the stories, you know, the story about Hayden Frye kicking the helmet. I actually, when I was doing some research prior to the show, even literally the first like six pictures that pop up when I type in Matt Purdy, Iowa football is you carrying Hayden Fry. It's that's what pops up every single time, which I think is just what an amazing photo.

And so awesome that he was able to sign that for you. Matt, I've taken up a good chunk of your time when you're down in Arizona with your wife and your family. So I really appreciate it. Is there anything else you want to say before we wrap up the show no I appreciate the time you know and I appreciate and love the Iowa Iowa fan structure and know how much the athletes value that support you know even as alumni you know to you know you're standing down here in arizona and you you know you're in the pool and somebody i have they have it said i have a tiger

hawk on your back and somebody approaches you and goes wait you went to iowa and and to then you tell them their name and they recognize you that just tells you how special that is yep and so you know to the people who support who support every one of those programs, keep up the amazing work because those athletes need you there, need you being vocal about what goes on on that campus. And I hope more Iowa Hawkeye fans voice their opinion about the leadership and the negativity that has come through over the years under Barta's tenure. It's time for change.

It's time for fresh leadership. It's time to bring Iowa back to the greatness that it always has been. I appreciate anybody who supported me during this process. There are a lot of people who have been somewhat negative and told me to get over it. But, you know, I got a longstanding, you know, connection there. And, you know, it just – it hurts. But, you know, the Iowa fans are honestly second to none

and look forward to great things for them. Absolutely. I love it, man. Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip down in Arizona and we'll be, we'll be supporting you here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast and we'll be supporting Ryan as he tries to conquer all of his goals down in Arizona. And thank you again for, for chatting. Where can folks find you? I know you're very active on Twitter.

What is your Twitter handle? So folks can find you if they aren't already following you. It's Matt Purdy, O-L-C. It stands for O-Line Coach. So Matt Purdy, O-L-C is where I live on the Twitter world. Sometimes I get myself in trouble. As we all do. It's an opportunity for me to express my opinion. And sometimes I wish I'm a guy. Maybe I shouldn't say that, but I'm passionate about, you know, what's taking place in our lives. Twitter is a dangerous place, but a place that we all want to be at. Yeah, exactly.

I've been told I'm – Twitter is, you know, for old people, what some of my players tell me, but that's just where I feel safe there. I don't need to branch out and do too much Instagram and Snapchat. That's just scary for me. I don't, nobody needs to see my face that often anyways. I love it, man. Well, Matt, I have definitely enjoyed, again, the candidness and the transparency. And like I said, we'll be supporting you and hopefully talk to you in the future when things,

maybe things will get better from an Iowa Hawkeye athletic community perspective. Well, I appreciate your time. Feel free to reach out anytime. I love talking about, you know, all the stuff, you know, my past and present with connection. So we'll always love to talk and you know, thanks. And, you know, I said, hopefully we can connect again with, you know, you know, maybe a PAC 12 championship for Ryan here in the near future. That would be amazing.

Thank you, Matt. Take care. Appreciate it. All right, y'all. And that does do it for our Part 2 conversation with Matt Purdy. Again, if you enjoyed Part 2, please make sure you check out Part 1, which aired yesterday. We are going to be back tomorrow as we are back every single Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, right here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Again, I appreciate you all tuning in.

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wherever you get your podcasts at. And again, thank you all for tuning in. Have a fantastic Tuesday. And as always, Hawkeye Nation, let's go Hawks.