June 11, 2010
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IOWA CITY, IA – The University of Iowa announced Friday it will rename a street near Kinnick Stadium in honor of the contributions made by Forest Evashevski, the UI’s head football coach from 1952-60. Stadium Drive, the street that begins at the Hawkins Drive intersection near the northeast corner of Kinnick Stadium, bends around the north and west grandstands of Kinnick Stadium and the adjacent parking lot, and ends when the street intersects with Melrose Avenue immediately west of the Krause Family Plaza, will be renamed Evashevski Drive.
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“Coach Evashevski made a tremendous impact on the athletic department, the University of Iowa and especially those student-athletes that enjoyed the privilege of playing for him.”
Les Steenlage, Executive Director of the UI Varsity Club
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Evashevski took over the Iowa football program in 1952 and guided the Hawkeyes to victories in the 1957 and 1959 Rose Bowl games. His squads won the 1956 and 1958 Big Ten Conference championships and tied Minnesota for the 1960 title, Evashevski’s final season as head coach. Evashevski compiled a 52-27-4 record. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000 and the National Varsity Club UI Athletics Hall of Fame in 1989.
“The National Iowa Varsity Club is very pleased and excited about the decision to honor Forest Evashevski,” said Les Steenlage, Executive Director of the UI Varsity Club. “Coach Evashevski made a tremendous impact on the athletic department, the University of Iowa and especially those student-athletes that enjoyed the privilege of playing for him. This recognition is an honor well deserved and we’re thankful his family will be able to join us at the official dedication.”
Evashevski Drive will be officially dedicated Friday, Sept. 3, at 9 a.m. The dedication will be the first official event of FRYfest 2010. Held annually each Friday before the first home football weekend, FRYfest is the ultimate “Celebration of all that is Hawkeye.”
The Evashevski Drive dedication will complement Varsity Club Weekend and the reunion of the 1960 and 1985 football teams as Iowa hosts Eastern Illinois Sept. 4 to open the season. The 1960 UI football team was the last coached by Evashevski.
The UI will celebrate the “Evashevski Era” with the staging of its second “Throwback Game” on Saturday, Sept. 25, when the Hawkeyes close the non-conference portion of their schedule against Ball State. For that game, Iowa’s student-athletes will wear a uniform modeled after Evashevski’s 1958 Hawkeye squad, which posted an 8-1-1 overall record that included a 38-12 victory over California in the 1959 Rose Bowl. Evashevski also served as the UI’s director of athletics from 1960-70. He passed away Oct. 30, 2009 in his long-time home of Petoskey, MI, at the age of 91.