The positive momentum that was generated for the program by the Ironmen of 1939 did not last long, as the nation geared up for World War II. Two factors hurt the Hawkeye football program in the 1940s. The first was the three-year absence of Coach Anderson. Anderson, a urologist, left the Iowa team to serve in a military hospital for the duration of the war. His departure left the Iowa team in the hands of two interim coaches: Slip Madigan in 1943 and 1944 and Clem Crowe in 1945.
