The North Texas and Iowa football programs have always been linked, even though they have never met on the field, through legendary head coach Hayden Fry.

Hayden Fry

Fry led UNT on one of the best runs in school history during the 1970s before leaving for Iowa, where he cemented his status as a College Football Hall of Fame shoe-in.

The schools secured a chance to celebrate that common legacy recently when they signed a contract to play a pair of nonconference games in 2015 and 2017. UNT will travel to Iowa for both games.

A UNT official said this week that a contract had been signed. Mark Abbott, Iowa’s associate athletic director for legal affairs who handles the Hawkeyes’ schedule, also confirmed that the contract is in place.

UNT has never faced a team from the Big Ten, but had an interest in how Iowa fared for 20 years while Fry coached the Hawkeyes.

Fry did not return a message left at his home seeking comment on two of the teams he coached facing off for the first time, but did talk about his time at UNT when the Mean Green renewed its series with SMU in 2006.

Fry coached at SMU before coming to UNT, where posted a 40-23-3 record from 1973-78

The Mean Green enjoyed some of its finest moments in the history of the football program during Fry’s tenure, including a 21-14 win over Tennessee in 1975. UNT went on to post a winning record in four straight seasons under Fry while playing as a Division I independent.

“I really enjoyed it at North Texas, but we went 10-1 and 9-2 and didn’t get to go to a bowl game,” Fry said in 2006.

Fry said his frustration with UNT failing to land a bowl bid in 1977 and 1978 was the reason he left for Iowa, which he led to three Rose Bowl appearances among 14 bowl games in 20 seasons. He posted a 143-89-6 with the Hawkeyes before retiring in 1998.

UNT fans have often wondered where the Mean Green might be today had Fry remained in Denton. UNT has had just 10 winning seasons since Fry left, nearly a third of them coming in a stretch from 2002-04 when the Mean Green completed a four-year run as Sun Belt Conference champions.

Fry was born on Feb. 18, 1929, and would be 86 when UNT and Iowa meet in 2015.

UNT has reduced the number of BCS conference opponents it has scheduled in the last few years, but still puts at least one high profile opponent on its schedule each year.

The Mean Green lost to LSU and Kansas State last year and will travel to Alabama on Sept. 19 to face the Crimson Tide in what will be its highest profile game of the 2009 season.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-395-3987. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .