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yoteforever

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Dec 24, 2008
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One of the things I don't know about who posts on here is their age, profession, income, or if a student, the major they are pursuing. And we are as sure to argue about the pros and cons on Mac or JP much like we debated the election between Mccain and O'Bama.

As a business person, and a fairly significant donor to Iowa State athletics, I would like to express my thoughts to the current situation. For those people that post on here that graduated in 1980 or prior to, I think most will remember the FARM CRISIS of the early 80's. If you are a business student, or graduated post 1980, I am sure you heard enough stories about it to make you somewhat educated.

No matter what you did back in that era, if you were in the farm business, or related to the farm business, every move was wrong. Period. Times were bleak, there were troubles on the farm. People were jumping ship at an unbelievable rate. The facts were overwhelming as to why you should never ever get into agriculture, and if you could, you should jump ship now, and find a new industry. In my opinion, that's where we are with ISU mens basketball.

No matter what Pollard does, it's wrong. No matter what Mac does, it's wrong. No matter what steps would be taken now that is different then we were led to believe is going to happen, is going to be wrong. Right now, we are just plained SCREWED. Now, go back to the far era of the early 80's, what was the one underlying fact that kept people involved in agriculture? People had to eat. Period. It is that simple. Agriculture just had to figure out how to feed the world at a profitable position. The same goes for Iowa State basketball. Cyclone fans want to win, that hasn't changed. So now we have to analize what we have to do to make that happen.

In my opinion, getting rid of Pollard is quite frankly stupid. Right now he is your whipping boy because of the mens basketball situation. But just a few months ago, CPR, his hire for football, made him look like a genious. What a fantastic hire. When Mac was hired, the people in the basketball world thought it was a solid hire. The guy knows how to coach for the most part. I to have criticisms of Greg, and things I would like to see him change personally. The first, is I would like to see him coach with more passion. Period. I know his players would react positively to that. Secondly, I am not a fan when he pulls a player off the floor after hitting a couple of baskets. To me, that makes no sense. But when you look at the big picture, all coaches have shortcomings. I would advise JP to have a guy close to basketball coach Mac in some areas. Then, to feed the hunger pangs of fans that want to win and watch exciting basketball, I would recruit a different type kid than he is recruiting now. I fully believe HILTON thrives on a fast paced game. I would recruit kids to up tempo the game and get the crowd into it.

I think Coach Mac is salvageable, and can get the job done. But I also think Mac has to change some if he is going to win, and I would tell that to his face. He representts our school in the utmost of porfessional ways. With some "outside" coaching, I think he can get the job done on a consistent basis. To all those JP haters out there, I think you are shallow in those thoughts. He is an excellent sports businessman. He has done wonderful things for our school, and he represents us in the most porfessional way. Does he make mistakes? I think he does. Are they so bad that it requires termination? Not even close. On a scale, I guaranty you the scale tips highly in his favor.

I for one will continue to back Iowa State, Jamie Pollard, and if someone would work with Greg, I support him as well. If Greg doesn't want to be coached and helped, then I am not sure he can turn it around. Mac is a great guy, and I truly believe if he could get some assistance in enhancing his career, we have the right man at Iowa State. If he is stubborn, and doesn't want to change, then we need to change coaches.

Sorry for the long post, but I believe we have a good thing going at Iowa State, and as a donor, fan, and staunch fan of college sports, I want us to take the necessary steps to thrive.
 
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No way we should consider firing Pollard. He only has one struggling program, and he's the guy doing the long-needed growth of the AD budget, facility improvements, and all those things that need to be done to grow our department. It would take something incredible wild for me not to support him.

Mac does need to change something in his approach. Something isn't getting through somewhere.
 
yoteforever said:
Mac is a great guy, and I truly believe if he could get some assistance in enhancing his career, we have the right man at Iowa State. If he is stubborn, and doesn't want to change, then we need to change coaches.
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GM already stated in the presser that he only knows one way of doing this and "if you like what you see, you're going to see more of it". Yesterday after the Ham and Buck announcement he said he is focused on "moving forward". This does not sound like a man who is willing to consider any changes to his coaching.

His system does not work. He has had 4 years to implement his system. More time just means dragging out his inevitable departure as the men's BB coach at ISU.
 
Why is a 4 year coach of a big 12 school "salvageable", shoudn't he already be a leader and know what to do? He is in charge and should not need some "outside coaching". He is a failure and it is time to move on.
 
Long posts usually drone on and on and lose attention, but that was a good read.

However I'll summarize what I got out of it: you think Mac needs coaching on how to coach. I find that utterly ridiculous. He is who he is as a coach. We just need a better one, not a coach to coach him how to coach better.
 
pulse said:
Long posts usually drone on and on and lose attention, but that was a good read.

However I'll summarize what I got out of it: you think Mac needs coaching on how to coach. I find that utterly ridiculous. He is who he is as a coach. We just need a better one, not a coach to coach him how to coach better.
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Dude, is that Blaze Bryant in your avatar?
 
Ah yeah, that is Blaise! I saw the pic when I was looking through the Cyclones All-Americans guide this morning while reading the "all time D-line" thread. That pic was too awesome not to use! :smile:
 
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You are entitled to your position, and I respect that, but even the GREAT college coaches of today have either a coach on the sideline that is designated to challenge or change the head coach, or they have a consultant to help them with situations that are sometimes confusing.

What I am saying is that I think Mac knows how to coach the mechanics of the game. Maybe he needs some advice on player relationships, or the phychology of coaching.

I understand that hundreds of you will say that my comment is BS, but I will tell you that all great CEO's or business people (who in reality coach employees in the business world) have board of directors to guide them. I personally think Mac needs a shove here, or a shove there. To me, it's easy to say get rid of him. But how many of us posting on here would be where we are today if we had critics post about all our shortcomings. No disrespect to you inetended.
 
clone34 said:
Why is a 4 year coach of a big 12 school "salvageable", shoudn't he already be a leader and know what to do? He is in charge and should not need some "outside coaching". He is a failure and it is time to move on.
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I agree.......a college Head Coach who just completed his 15th season as college Head Coach, and is making a base salary of over $800,000 per year should not have to be "salvageable" at this point.......he should be way beyond that. If he cannot succeed at this level......which he has shown he cannot.......then it is time to move on to something else. To me, GMac has simply gone beyond his level of competence. It's really that simple.

As far as JP goes, I really don't really think he is as great as some make him out to be. To me, he has mostly done what an AD is supposed to do. He has increased the budget by about 50%, but I think many would ask, and are asking.......and what has that gotten ISU? He has hired some good coaches, and some not so good coaches. He has also let good coaches get away.......in the case of women's gymnastics and wrestling. He has done some questionable financial things....such as the take-over of Hilton....no one seems to know if that is working for the University or the Athletic Department in a positive or negative financial way. Although, I'm pretty confident that if it were positive, we would hear something about it by now. Kind of like season ticket sales in some sports. We don't seem to hear much about them any more do we? Wonder why? The contract that he gave GMac was absolutely laughable. A $50,000 guaranteed raise every year, no matter what success the coach has or does not have? Incentive raises built in for limited success, and once awarded become a permanent part of the base salary? Buyout terms that essentially guarantee that the coach cannot be fired? Are you serious? This is what a $400,000 salary for an AD gets you?

My own personal belief is that athletics at ISU right now are not in a very good condition, despite some limited success in some sports.
 
URBCLONE said:
GM already stated in the presser that he only knows one way of doing this and "if you like what you see, you're going to see more of it". .
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This right there is indefensible.

Mac you've finished in the bottom of the Big 12 for 4 years. You've failed to developer players. You've failed miserably to retain players.
 
yoteforever said:
You are entitled to your position, and I respect that, but even the GREAT college coaches of today have either a coach on the sideline that is designated to challenge or change the head coach, or they have a consultant to help them with situations that are sometimes confusing.

What I am saying is that I think Mac knows how to coach the mechanics of the game. Maybe he needs some advice on player relationships, or the phychology of coaching.
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I think Steve Alford brought in an assistant who he had known earlier in his career and he had a lot of authority to challenge SA during games and they had more success...just an example of your point that comes to mind.
 
This is a very thoughtful and good assessment of the situation. Firing Pollard would be silly and you have identified the root cause of the problem correctly and offered an elegant solution. (It is very similar to a solution I offered a few weeks ago so it has to be good.)

However, URBCLONE is correct the coach made that statement at his presser and I have heard him repeatedly make the assertion in public that he is what he is and he is not going to change. My impression looking at this from the outside is that stubborn appears be an accurate way to describe his attitude.

In my business my policy is to help my employees improve and I have learned the hard way that if they don't want to improve then it is my responsibility to the organization to help those individuals find new opportunities elsewhere.

Based on the public statements of the coach I suspect Pollard is faced with a situation that that his employee does not want to do the things that are necessary to change or is just resisting change.
 
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Dryburn said:
I agree.......a college Head Coach who just completed his 15th season as college Head Coach, and is making a base salary of over $800,000 per year should not have to be "salvageable" at this point.......he should be way beyond that. If he cannot succeed at this level......which he has shown he cannot.......then it is time to move on to something else. To me, GMac has simply gone beyond his level of competence. It's really that simple.

As far as JP goes, I really don't really think he is as great as some make him out to be. To me, he has mostly done what an AD is supposed to do. He has increased the budget by about 50%, but I think many would ask, and are asking.......and what has that gotten ISU? He has hired some good coaches, and some not so good coaches. He has also let good coaches get away.......in the case of women's gymnastics and wrestling. He has done some questionable financial things....such as the take-over of Hilton....no one seems to know if that is working for the University or the Athletic Department in a positive or negative financial way. Although, I'm pretty confident that if it were positive, we would hear something about it by now. Kind of like season ticket sales in some sports. We don't seem to hear much about them any more do we? Wonder why? The contract that he gave GMac was absolutely laughable. A $50,000 guaranteed raise every year, no matter what success the coach has or does not have? Incentive raises built in for limited success, and once awarded become a permanent part of the base salary? Buyout terms that essentially guarantee that the coach cannot be fired? Are you serious? This is what a $400,000 salary for an AD gets you?

My own personal belief is that athletics at ISU right now are not in a very good condition, despite some limited success in some sports.
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Great post. I know JP has his advisers and staff members, but to me, he should be a financial adviser in charge of bringing in donations, not someone who is in charge of the Athletics Department. We need someone who can better evaluate potential coaching hires, contract negotiator, and who can be a better public relations person.
 
I like the things Pollard has been able to accomplish at ISU and really think he is the right man for the job. I don't agree with keeping GMAC, however I don't blame JP for hiring him. Greg was the "girl with the curl" when we were looking to replace Wayne, he was right in our backyard, and other Big 12 schools were interested as well.
Sometimes for what ever reason things just aren't a good fit, this is one of those times. The longer we keep Greg, the longer we prolong our misery.
 
However, URBCLONE is correct the coach made that statement at his presser and I have heard him repeatedly make the assertion in public that he is what he is and he is not going to change. My impression looking at this from the outside is that stubborn appears be an accurate way to describe his attitude.

I was dismayed when I read this as well, but I'm hoping that what McD means by this is that he is going to keep coaching with "integrity" and by doing the right things, not by recruiting kids with questionable character or by getting in bed with scummy street agents and hustlers.

That's one possible interpretation of it, and I really hope that's what he was talking about. Obviously the finished product on the floor isn't and shouldn't be acceptable to anyone.
 
Do people really care about having a squeeky clean program? The kids at K-State had questionable AAU coaches but are not thugs on the court. Sometimes it is the people around the kids and not the kids themselves.
 
Do people really care about having a squeeky clean program?

I would like our athletes to graduate at a good rate, stay academically eligible, and keep themselves out of trouble. If that is "squeaky clean" than so be it. On those criteria, McD has been successful. We all know about the lack of success on the court.

I remember one of the names mentioned when we were looking to replace Wayne Morgan was Tom Moore, who was at that time the associate head coach of UCONN and who is now the head coach at Quinnipiac. I was not in favor of pursuing him at the time due to UCONN's horrendous graduation rate.
 
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