Pollards Hires
Chizik- Hot name good hire at the time, some felt he was a steel. Didnt win but left a lot of good young talent behind that he brought to Ames. Left the program in better shape talentwise than he found it. Was a cocky ******* though.
GMac- Another hot name at the time. Had the resume from UNI. A nobrainer hire. Rumors are the BB program was in a mess when he took over and still trying to recover from that. Pollard did miss the fact that Mac didnt understand what it would take to win in the Big 12, from the outside that looks to be changing.
Cael- Another homerun hire. Who would have ever thought he would leave. This is why you have to be carefull when your own hire former great athletes.
Rhoades-Not such a hot name but a guy that will work to get it done right. Jury still out.
Hell yes I am pissed about the whole deal but we need to take a step back and look at what is going on.
In his first two years, Jamie spent over $4 million replacing these coaching staffs:
football
men's basketball
wrestling
gymnastics
soccer
cross country
track & field
women's golf
tennis
softball
He's certainly a polarizing figure.
I like the facts that he's willing to try new things, raised the athletic budget, made facility improvements, runs a transparent budget and athletic program, and is very approachable.
I don't like that the mens football and basketball teams has gotten worse under his reign. I maintain however that much of the reason for that is left over baggage from past coaches and A.D.'s.
For those of you who are spouting so much venom on this site, I think it would be healthy for you to give Jamie a call and have a visit.
FTR, I do not believe Pollard is a bad AD. But I do not believe him to be the perfect AD I once believed him to be or that many still think he is.
If Brackins leaves, that is 4 consecutive years of losing your best player when they could have come back. We are not Duke or Carolina and do not have McDonald's all-americans riding the pine waiting for the chance. Stinson leaving was the only one you could pin on McDermott, Taylor-didn't do what was asked of him, Johnson-poor advice from a relative, Brackins-if he leaves- the chance to earn more money in one year than most will their entire life.I do agree with most of this, but MBB has had enough time to at least show progress on the court - that has not happened. How long do these programs get a pass that gets blamed on previous guys that were here?
FTR, I do not believe Pollard is a bad AD. But I do not believe him to be the perfect AD I once believed him to be or that many still think he is.
I just want to know what has Pollard done for Iowa State in comparison to what Iowa State has done for him
Jamie is a "scorched earth" A.D. He wants only his hires in place. I doubt you can find a 3-4 year period in the history of ISU athletics with the amount of coaching turnover we have seen. The gamble was to take us to the next level. Jamie is not screwing up little day to day decisions. His big, program changing decisions are not producing results. Jamie does not have much time for loyalty and he can't figure out why he is having loyalty issues. Mens BB and football are "the program" and Jamie is responsible for the lackluster performance in these two areas. Jamie gambled big time and he has lost. We have set football and basketball back several years and I doubt Jamie is going to have much success making promises of success and raising more money. The man is no longer credible and that is a problem for his position.
So Chizik was simply a bad hire. If you can't hire a guy with a committment to stay long enough to turn the program around, you should not be making the hire--we aren't flipping hamburgers...
So Chizik was simply a bad hire. If you can't hire a guy with a committment to stay long enough to turn the program around, you should not be making the hire--we aren't flipping hamburgers...
So Chizik was simply a bad hire.
Here's my own scorecard on JP:
1.I wouldn't blame JP on Chizik's departure. We knew that GC might treat us as a stepping stone, however no one expected him to bolt for Auburn that early.
2. I don't like how JP handle Mac's issues. Yes, Mac needs to go,. However, compared to his treatment to Chizik, JP should've done better with Mac. JP gave Chizik I believe the 2nd highest salary pool for his assistant (while we know the OC and DC didn't have necessary qualifications) while Mac always pleads to get his assistants taken care of (which apparently went unhearded / ignored).
3. I won't blame JP until I know what happened with Cael's departure. Unfortunately, we won't know at all/
4. Basketball: I blame JP for quickly pulled a trigger on Wayne Morgan. I think he should've given him a chance and told him what he didn't like so Morgan can fix things. Remember, Morgan was thrusted to be a HC after we failed to find someone who wanted to coach here.
5. Other hires: Track & Field. Anyone knows ?
6. Gymnastic: I think JP could've done better
7. Volleyball: good hire.
I'm still 50-50 in judging Pollard. I don't know how he interacts with student athletes, coaches, fans, boosters, etc. It'll be interesting to get a first hand feedbacks instead of "I heard", "I know someone who is..."
Pollard did not hire the Volleyball Coach the previous AD did.