Ray Nagel

Born 5/18/1927 and died on 1/15/2015 at the age of 87.

HEAD COACH SEASONS

1966-1967 Football
1967-1968 Football
1968-1969 Football
1969-1970 Football
1970-1971 Football

VIDEOS

BOOKS and MOVIES

FAMOUS QUOTES from Ray Nagel

The penalties killed us. Gosh, every time I looked up it seemed they were penalizing us. But I want to say right now that I'm not taking anything away from TCU. They probably deserved to win more than we did. Did they (TCU) make any mistakes in the second half? I don't think so. They were so quick, they could really move that ball.
...from Iowa vs. Texas Christian on 9/28/1968

We gave the game ball to John Strief, as fine a student manager as I have ever had.
...from Iowa vs. Illinois on 11/22/1969

Considering everything that happened to us this year, I guess we can't really complain about a 5-5 record. Of course, we are not satisfied. You can't be in this game. I suppose every coach has the impossible dream of an unbeaten season and national championships, but you still have to be practical. Remember we had the boycott last spring that cost us players and valuable time with the ones that returned.
...from Iowa vs. Illinois on 11/22/1969

We will find out if I can coach and if they want the 5 and 5 season.
...from Iowa vs. Michigan on 11/15/1969

I felt it coming. It's tough for a team to get up to peak after peak, and the players had really been up for the two previous games. I was afraid in midweek that we were going to have a letdown. we were as flat as a pancake. If you want to blame somebody, then fault me for not getting the team ready.
...from Iowa vs. Minnesota on 11/1/1969

This win pleases me as much as any win in my entire coaching career.
...from Iowa vs. Michigan State on 10/25/1969

Do you remember when there was a timeout with the score tied awaiting Al's extra point? Some clown behind me was yelling 'Go for two, Ray. Pour it on!"
...from Iowa vs. Michigan State on 10/25/1969

I'm tired of talking about officials calls. That holding penalty they called against us cost Penney a touchdown. It was an extremely peculiar call.
...from Iowa vs. Purdue on 10/18/1969

It seems I am always pleased with the job Ray does for us. He is one of our best.
About Ray Manning ...from Iowa vs. Arizona on 10/4/1969 - Nagel talking about Ray Manning and his big game against Arizona.

Two things. First I think the opening kickoff was the turning point, as it was last week. Also I forgot to put on my football shoes. It might be a long time before I wear them again if almost 700 yards offense and 36 first downs is the result.
...from Iowa vs. Washington State on 9/27/1969

You would have to say we are not a smart team. What can I say? You saw it the same as I did. We could not beat anyone the way we played today.
...from Iowa vs. Oregon State on 9/20/1969

in a way, I'm glad the season is over. It's good to end the year with a victory. Too many things happened this season and it would be a pleasant change just to be a football coach.
...from Iowa vs. Illinois on 11/21/1970

The players presented me with the game ball, and I'm going to keep it. I'm proud of this team, they're a bunch of thoroughbreds. They kept coming back and there wasn't a single quitter on the squad. I'm very glad to be associated with them.
...from Iowa vs. Illinois on 11/21/1970

Honest to God, I don't know what people like Ron Maly are thinking of. This may be the kind of sensationalism that must exist to sell papers, but if that is the case, I think it's very sad commentary. You can't fight the press. I know damn well you can't. It's like a spitting contest - but it's like spitting into the wind because you always come out second-best. Hell, I know I can't fight the press. I can't fight the Des Moines Register. But I'll tell you this - it sickens me right down to my stomach to read things like that...to put that kind of pressure on coaches and players. The sad thing is that most of the people in the state read The Des Moines Register and believe it as Gospel. I'll have to read the Register to find out what my situation is. Will somebody please print that?
...from Iowa vs. Illinois on 11/21/1970

Every time I looked up, it seemed we were fumbling the ball away. We practically gave them three touchdowns. But they were clearly the better team.
...from Iowa vs. Michigan on 11/14/1970

Why try to beat anyone worse? We had the game obviously won, and I was glad to give our reserves the chance to play. Besides, we didn't want to get any regulars hurt unnecessarily.
...from Iowa vs. Indiana on 11/7/1970

We just outslugged the Gophers. We haven't had any luck throwing the ball all year, so we decided to go with this strong rushing offense. Our offensive line came up with it's best game of the year. I think it's unfair to our team not to get a victory when you outplay the opposition like we did Minnesota. Actually, there wasn't anything coach Murray Warmath of Minnesota could do. We had the momentum in the fourth quarter and wouldn't be denied. We stopped ourselves early in the game with fumbles, interceptions and penalties. This wasn't the case in the fourth quarter. We played our best football of the year.
...from Iowa vs. Minnesota on 10/31/1970

Damn, if we could only pass a little better.
...from Iowa vs. Minnesota on 10/31/1970

The odds were in our favor to score again, because we had momentum going for use.
...from Iowa vs. Minnesota on 10/31/1970 - Nagel talking about his decision to not go for two late in the game against Minnesota.

It was a real slugfest, but in the final analysis I guess you'd just have to say the better team won.
...from Iowa vs. Purdue on 10/17/1970

That game was a lot tighter than 24-3, you take away that 90-yard interception and we were still in it till the last.
...from Iowa vs. Purdue on 10/17/1970

Boys, you can beat an egg and you can beat a rug, but you just can't beat a winner.
...from Iowa vs. Wisconsin on 10/10/1970

I have a hard time believing being called three or four times for having a guy line up offsides. Maybe it was just a first game mistake. One One official must be near sighted. If we didn't get six inches on the quarterback sneak.
...from Iowa vs. Oregon State on 9/19/1970