“It’s almost a military operation at that point,” Riggan said. “That’s something that Hayden [a former marine] brought with him.”
Riggan also said, “At each home game, we park our truck outside the stadium and have a tailgate out of it. A lot of the old players stop by and say, ‘Hi.’ ”
Although the vehicle usually isn’t completely filled for away games, “for bowl games, we have a full load,” he said.
Iowa, which finished the regular season with a 7-5 record, lost to Oklahoma, 31-14, at the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.
The hand-painted Hawk Hauler has been updated several times.
“We’re on our fourth trailer and our fifth tractor,” Riggan said. “The truck is all Hawk. It has close to 300 chicken lights — that’s an industry term. It really glows: I’m guessing a satellite could see it from space. It does look good.”
Riggan said the truck is used for carrying only football gear — with three charitable exceptions.