Wesley Leonard "Cowboy" Fry (December 10, 1902 – November 11, 1970) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player, coach of football and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, and professional football executive. He served as the head football coach at

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and doctor ...

in 1933 and at

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

from 1935 to 1939, tallying a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coach mark of 26–22–6. Fry was also the head baseball coach at Kansas State from 1935 to 1938 and at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

from 1944 to 1946, compiling a career

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

record of 53–53–2. He later served as director of player personnel and then as general manager with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) from 1960 to 1963.

Playing career

Fry played college football at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

under legendary coach Howard Jones, excelling as a fullback. He was named to play in the first

East–West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

following his senior season in 1925. Fry then spent the 1926 and 1927 seasons playing professional football with

Red Grange Harold Edward "Red" Grange (June 13, 1903 – January 28, 1991), nicknamed "the Galloping Ghost" and "the Wheaton Iceman", was an American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and the short-lived New York Yankees ...

for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). At the same time, Fry attended

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

Coaching career

After earning his law degree, Fry quit playing professional football and sought to practice law in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, but he was quickly diverted onto the path of a football coach. He began his career coaching football at Classen High School in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

. In his five seasons at Classen, from 1928 to 1932, his football teams compiled a record of 44–9–1. At Classen, Fry also coached the

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

team. In 1933, Fry served at the head football coach at

, leading his squad to an 8–1 record. The following year, when future

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

coach

Pappy Waldorf Lynn Osbert "Pappy" Waldorf (October 3, 1902 – August 15, 1981) was an American college football player and coach. He received the first national collegiate football coach of the year award in 1935. Waldorf became known for his motivational coac ...

moved north from Oklahoma A&M to

, he hired Fry to be his lone assistant coach. Waldorf left Kansas State after one season, and Fry was hired as the new head coach in 1935. Fry held the head coaching position at Kansas State for five seasons, posting an 18–21–6 record. Fry also coached the baseball team at Kansas State during this time. Fry stepped aside following the 1939 season when his own assistant coach began politicking for the job of head football coach, but not before coaching the second-ever televised college football game. For the 1940 season, Fry rejoined Waldorf as an assistant coach at

. In 1947, Fry moved with Waldorf to the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

. 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 Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Administrative career and later life

In 1960, Fry joined the Oakland Raiders organization, which was commencing operations as a member of the

. He first served as director of player personnel, then as general manager of the franchise until 1963, when

Al Davis Allen Davis (July 4, 1929 – October 8, 2011) was an American football coach and executive. He was the principal owner and general manager of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) for 39 years, from 1972 until his death in ...

was hired as general manager and head coach. Fry died on November 11, 1970 at his home in

La Mesa, California La Mesa () is a city in San Diego County, located east of Downtown San Diego in Southern California. The population was 61,121 at the 2020 census, up from 57,065 at the 2010 census. Its civic motto is "the Jewel of the Hills." History La Me ...

Head coaching record

College football

References

Additional sources

* Fitzgerald, Tim (2001). ''Wildcat Gridiron Guide'' ()

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Wesley 1902 births 1970 deaths California Golden Bears football coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football players New York Yankees (NFL) players New York Yankees (AFL) players Kansas State Wildcats baseball coaches Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Northwestern Wildcats baseball coaches Northwestern Wildcats football coaches Oakland Raiders executives Oklahoma City Chiefs football coaches American Football League contributors High school football coaches in Oklahoma People from O'Brien County, Iowa Players of American football from Iowa