***Official portal tracker thread***

[twincyties]

I mean this is the reality of college football now. He can be mad at Matt Campbell for pulling the rug out.

If you have a signed contract though you can say **** you or say pay me and I'll go away.

Went through the whole roller coaster of emotions. Two days after signing day he gets this news out of the blue. I think first response was "i'm out". Then slept on it and decided that he really liked CMC and his position coach, but also really liked ISU. Texted with Rogers over the weekend and expressed he wanted to see it out. Didn't think anything of it until Tuesday when he got a call from the new GM. Was shocked - especially as word was getting around that a lot of other guys would be leaving.

He'll end up being fine, but he's been really committed to ISU for awhile and cut off his recruitment from other schools his junior year for all intents and purposes. Graduated high school early so he could enroll early.

I get this "it's a business" thing, but that's a lot for a 17 year old kid to handle.

I don't think it even dawned on him he probably could have just said "no, I'm not signing $hit". But then again - do you really want to be on a team where you know you're not wanted?

I admittedly feel a certain way about this because I've known him since he was a little boy and took him to his first ISU game. Ran into him at a game this fall and he thanked for taking him down and said that weekend was what really got him thinking about ISU. My kids were so excited to see him play next year.

I know none of this matters and there are posters here that will be dicks about it, but yeah - there is a human side to all of this you hate to see.

 

[AlaCyclone]

Went through the whole roller coaster of emotions. Two days after signing day he gets this news out of the blue. I think first response was "i'm out". Then slept on it and decided that he really liked CMC and his position coach, but also really liked ISU. Texted with Rogers over the weekend and expressed he wanted to see it out. Didn't think anything of it until Tuesday when he got a call from the new GM. Was shocked - especially as word was getting around that a lot of other guys would be leaving.

He'll end up being fine, but he's been really committed to ISU for awhile and cut off his recruitment from other schools his junior year for all intents and purposes. Graduated high school early so he could enroll early.

I get this "it's a business" thing, but that's a lot for a 17 year old kid to handle.

I don't think it even dawned on him he probably could have just said "no, I'm not signing $hit". But then again - do you really want to be on a team where you know you're not wanted?

I admittedly feel a certain way about this because I've known him since he was a little boy and took him to his first ISU school game. Ran into him at a game this fall and he thanked for taking him down and said that weekend was what really got him thinking about ISU. My kids were so excited to see him play next year.

I know none of this matters and there are posters here that will be dicks about it, but yeah - there is a human side to all of this you hate to see.

I think it sux, as I consider it ISU not honoring a commitment. I sure hope he finds a nice soft landing spot.

 

[danvillecyclone]

Not so sure that's true. Matt was going to have the same $13M cap that's facing Jimmy Rogers. Culture is great, but if a player can make $500k somewhere else, his admiration for his coach won't matter.

After spurning offers for the last half decade, could be Campbell saw the writing on the wall. Money before culture.

It was proven that many of the top players this last season had higher offers and stayed. So, it was very likely that Key players that stayed last year, would finish at Iowa State.

Yes we would probably have lost 8-10 non starters as per usual.

But if Matt stayed, most…if not all…of the high profile players would stay too.

I blame Matt.

And of course there’s the discussion about his schtick of Culture and his leaving.

But as far as the players /transferring is concerned, I blame Matt.

 

[twincyties]

I think it sux, as I consider it ISU not honoring a commitment. I sure hope he finds a nice soft landing spot.

What really rubbed him and his family the wrong way was how blunt it was. No details, no "here are some things you should work on as a young player", no apology, nothing. Basically "we want to go a different direction and we'll email you the papers to sign".

I agree, not a great look.

 

[isucy86]

It was proven that many of the top players this last season had higher offers and stayed. So, it was very likely that Key players that stayed last year, would finish at Iowa State.

Yes we would probably have lost 8-10 non starters as per usual.

But if Matt stayed, most…if not all…of the high profile players would stay too.

I blame Matt.

And of course there’s the discussion about his schtick of Culture and his leaving.

But as far as the players /transferring is concerned, I blame Matt.

This off-season and last off-season are night & day regarding the money floating around.

I don't blame anyone. Matt took a promotion/ bigger paycheck. My bet is every professional on this board has left a company for more $.

And no reason for players to not do the same. If another school is going to pay a player tens to hundreds of thousands more than ISU, I can't blame a kid for leaving.

Culture & money can coexist. It's call professionalism

 

[Die4Cy]

Not so sure that's true. Matt was going to have the same $13M cap that's facing Jimmy Rogers. Culture is great, but if a player can make $500k somewhere else, his admiration for his coach won't matter.

After spurning offers for the last half decade, could be Campbell saw the writing on the wall. Money before culture.

I mean, you don't have to spend all kinds of effort selling the recruit on culture when you have 2x the NIL to spend and can start the discussion there!

 

[83Clone]

I think it sux, as I consider it ISU not honoring a commitment. I sure hope he finds a nice soft landing spot.

Can't have it both ways. If someone committed to ISU/Campbell, played here two years and then want to leave because Campbell left-cool.

But by the same token if a kid is committed to ISU/Campbell and never played here, and the new coach doesn't want him-you have to trust the new coach and let him go.

In the immortal word of Bob Sugar in Jerry Maguire "It's not Show Friends, it's Show Business"

 

[BadBoi]

What really rubbed him and his family the wrong way was how blunt it was. No details, no "here are some things you should work on as a young player", no apology, nothing. Basically "we want to go a different direction and we'll email you the papers to sign".

I agree, not a great look.

Reading that made my skin crawl. We're better than this. And our recruiting class is better than the 75th ranked recruiting class he wants to bring in. Burn it all down.

 

[12191987]

How many guys in the last 5 years have actually contributed at a P5 level after entering the portal?

Tyler Onyedim, Datrone Young, and Isheem Young are the only ones I could come up with. Isheem fizzled out rather quickly.

Could maybe argue Eli Sanders, Deshawn Hanika, or Tayvonn Kyle but other than that, ISU transfers go down a level or rarely see the field at their next stop.

That is probably a testament to Campbell’s program and its ability to keep the best players from leaving.

 

[BadBoi]

Can't have it both ways. If someone committed to ISU/Campbell, played here two years and then want to leave because Campbell left-cool.

But by the same token if a kid is committed to ISU/Campbell and never played here, and the new coach doesn't want him-you have to trust the new coach and let him go.

In the immortal word of Bob Sugar in Jerry Maguire "It's not Show Friends, it's Show Business"

I don't think that's what happened here. He's pulling the rugs out from under recruits feet before they step on campus. Recruits who commit early don't typically accumulate offers after their commitment. Basically throwing a kid out into the streets like that is wrong.

 

[isucy86]

I mean, you don't have to spend all kinds of effort selling the recruit on culture when you have 2x the NIL to spend and can start the discussion there!

Culture might be more important when you have a team of 18-22 year olds making $30M.

Having players who are grounded will be critical. We see it in professional, where free agents get paid and let it go to their head.

But yes, $30M is a good problem. But he better be the Dodgers and not the Mets.

 

[Die4Cy]

What really rubbed him and his family the wrong way was how blunt it was. No details, no "here are some things you should work on as a young player", no apology, nothing. Basically "we want to go a different direction and we'll email you the papers to sign".

I agree, not a great look.

I get that, but being a pro about being cut is part of it too, now. I know it is uncharted territory and given how it was done before it seems wrong, but that is probably exactly how a situation like that is handled when a practice squad guy in the NFL or pro ballplayer out of call-ups to the Major League get dealt with as well.

I don't like any of this but it is going to have to get substantially worse before it gets better I am afraid.

 

[AlaCyclone]

Can't have it both ways. If someone committed to ISU/Campbell, played here two years and then want to leave because Campbell left-cool.

But by the same token if a kid is committed to ISU/Campbell and never played here, and the new coach doesn't want him-you have to trust the new coach and let him go.

In the immortal word of Bob Sugar in Jerry Maguire "It's not Show Friends, it's Show Business"

I don't want it both ways. I want ISU to honor the commitments they made and the players to honor their commitment they made to ISU. However, given the choice, I think ISU honoring their commitment is more important, because it is what ISU is doing. Just not a good look.

 

[Cymark86]

See I don't get that line of thinking. If my coach bailed on me I'd be pissed at him. No way in hell I'd want to follow him after he proved himself to be a hypocrite.

Coach didn’t “bail” on anyone. Took a much better, high profile job thst pays much better at an institution that is a top 10-15 national program.

The players, loyal to said coach, seemingly may cash in as well. So the kid grew up in Iowa? Not sure that means anything. Coach left for greater opportunity. Players are as well. We’ll see how it all ends, but financially both player and coach will do better at Penn State. Good for them. They have the $$$ we don’t. Time to start understanding where we are in the big scheme of things. That’s the harsh reality.

 

[CYdTracked]

I hate reading through the comments here. You know current players, recruits, and portal prospects likely are reading things here. Let's keep things as positive as we can.

I already accepted the minute Campbell took the PSU job we'd lose players and recruits from this class whether they follow him to PSU or look at other schools. The reality is a lot of players probably go to a school for the coaching staff they have a relationship with. Coach Rogers brought in 70 new players to WSU last season so he's not new to this process and that should hopefully be a sign that he is able to navigate through the current college FB environment.

We probably will get some of the WSU players that follow him and their fans will not like it either. The portal taketh and the portal giveth. We should be familiar with this concept by now. The fan in me hopes there are guys that love playing for ISU regardless of the coach or Coach Rogers sells them to stay but I've already moved on knowing if guys leave their heart would not be in it next season if they did stay.

I have no expectations right now. Will likely need a roster in front of me week 1 to know who is on the roster. If Rogers can pull off a 6-6 season with a completely new roster I will call that a successful year 1.

 

[BadBoi]

I get that, but being a pro about being cut is part of it too, now. I know it is uncharted territory and given how it was done before it seems wrong, but that is probably exactly how a situation like that is handled when a practice squad guy in the NFL or pro ballplayer out of call-ups to the Major League get dealt with as well.

I don't like any of this but it is going to have to get substantially worse before it gets better I am afraid.

That's not how CMC ran his program. It was built on doing things the right way. All Pollard had to do was hire Mouser and the wheels wouldn't have fallen off.

 

[83Clone]

That's not how CMC ran his program. It was built on doing things the right way. All Pollard had to do was hire Mouser and the wheels wouldn't have fallen off.

Mouser is nowhere near ready for that job. It would have been the Wayne Morgan approach. How did that work?

 

[BadBoi]

I hate reading through the comments here. You know current players, recruits, and portal prospects likely are reading things here. Let's keep things as positive as we can.

I already accepted the minute Campbell took the PSU job we'd lose players and recruits from this class whether they follow him to PSU or look at other schools. The reality is a lot of players probably go to a school for the coaching staff they have a relationship with. Coach Rogers brought in 70 new players to WSU last season so he's not new to this process and that should hopefully be a sign that he is able to navigate through the current college FB environment.

We probably will get some of the WSU players that follow him and their fans will not like it either. The portal taketh and the portal giveth. We should be familiar with this concept by now. The fan in me hopes there are guys that love playing for ISU regardless of the coach or Coach Rogers sells them to stay but I've already moved on knowing if guys leave their heart would not be in it next season if they did stay.

I have no expectations right now. Will likely need a roster in front of me week 1 to know who is on the roster. If Rogers can pull off a 6-6 season with a completely new roster I will call that a successful year 1.

Just calling balls and strikes. Would like to see Chris or someone do a deep dive into what's going on.

 

[danvillecyclone]

This off-season and last off-season are night & day regarding the money floating around.

I don't blame anyone. Matt took a promotion/ bigger paycheck. My bet is every professional on this board has left a company for more $.

And no reason for players to not do the same. If another school is going to pay a player tens to hundreds of thousands more than ISU, I can't blame a kid for leaving.

Culture & money can coexist. It's call professionalism

Night and Day? I’m talking upper classmen.

I would bet Rocco Becht and Caleb Bacon would be Cyclones in 2026 if Matt Campbell was the coach.

But we will never know.

 

[12191987]

I know for a fact that at least one of the incoming recruits was. He didn't want to reopen his recruitment, but was "asked" to cancel his letter of intent and give up your scholarship and NIL deal you signed. Kid is out hundreds of thousands.

I use the term "asked" loosely because how are you going to respond as a 17 year old when the new GM you've never met calls you out of the blue to say this. You're not going to stick around to play for someone that doesn't want you.

**** that.

I’m not naive to the reality of college football today, but this is just classless behavior.

I hope kids are sharing these stories far and wide and the programs doing a lot of this ******* crater and the staff end up out on their asses.

If that’s ISU, so be it.