Newly hired athletic director Paul Belting needed to replace a legend, and after an attempt to lure Knute Rockne from Notre Dame failed, Belting quickly hired Burt Ingwersen, an assistant coach at Illinois. Many Iowa fans disliked Ingwersen, both because he was an Illini, and because he wasn't a famous coach like Rockne. Iowa performed very well in 1924, falling just one game short of another Big Ten title. But the detractors noted that the one league loss was to conference champion Illinois, Ingwersen's former school. Iowa soon struggled, and fan discontent with Ingwersen grew.