Does the Pollard story change the FB situation?

[rholtgraves]

I don't think Pollard will fire Rhoads unless he is forced to. Look at McDermott. Gregg coached for 5 years with not one winning record and didn't get fired.
This is only Rhoads 3rd straight year and I am sure Pollard will say that they are improved this year and will be better next year. Especially since they sold so many tickets this year.

 

[Havs]

Thankfully, you're not doing the hiring. JP was just what we needed during his tenure. A numbers guy that could take a woefully inadequate athletic department and spend the windfall we've recently had in a smart way (even if sometimes that seemed cheap ) to make us not look like a historically under performing and woefully inadequate athletic department.

Yes, some of his coaching choices haven't panned out, but can you really argue that his coaching choices were bad at the time? Chizik was supposed to be a star, Rhoads looked like a good fit, McD was getting interest from other power 5 programs.

I'm not saying that he's the second coming...if we don't make headway and he doesn't make a change, yeah, he'll have to go, but to say he should go BEFORE Paul? I don't think so. Where we were after Van DeVelde, I think Jamie has done great in everything except hindsight coaching choices and sometimes PR moves.

Hiring coaches, football in particular, is the most important job of an athletic director. Football runs the operation, and the goal should always be to get football wins. The rest is extra.

 

[Havs]

I don't think Pollard will fire Rhoads unless he is forced to. Look at McDermott. Gregg coached for 5 years with not one winning record and didn't get fired.
This is only Rhoads 3rd straight year and I am sure Pollard will say that they are improved this year and will be better next year. Especially since they sold so many tickets this year.

And the #LoyalForeverTrue crowd will be right behind King Jamie. Puke.

 

[Judoka]

Interesting. You move the goalposts with every post.
I clearly started this by talking about head coaches and never deviated from that. Congrats, though, on having your own little irrelevant diversion there.
Head coaching graveyard until proven otherwise. Someone can prove it, but they haven't been hired yet.

lol, whatever you say man. To show how wrong you are I'll even expand on McCarney's job post ISU

2006: "resigned" from ISU
2007: Assistant head coach at South Florida
2008-2010: Assistant head coach at Florida
2011-current: Head coach at North Texas

McCarney was an assistant head coach at a top tier school a mere year after leaving Iowa State, then took a head coaching job after doing that for a few years. Being at ISU definitely is not some albatross hanging around his neck.

And then Chizik
2008: Leaves Iowa State
2009-2012: Head coach at Auburn, a premier job in college football, wins a national title, coach of the year award, and then flames out. Being at ISU most certainly is not something holding him back. Being exposed as a bad head coach held him back and now he's back to being a defensive coordinator at UNC after taking a few years off of coaching.

And remember the reason Rhoads is on a 10 year contract with a huge buyout is because he was a hot commodity after a couple of 6 win seasons at Iowa State. As I said in my prior post, at worst one could say that time spent at Iowa State is time that could be better spent at another school. There is, perhaps, an opportunity cost at staying with ISU after 3 or so years where there is little more to gain as a coach if it is being used as a stepping stone. But Iowa State is not a coaching graveyard. Quite far from it.

 

[MrPeske]

Not at all. Coaching in Ames hasn't been a death sentence career wise for anyone. In fact, we have a terrible tendency to lose coaches who go on and become very successful elsewhere.

Thats because every coach has their worst win loss record here. Why not leave as soon as you can to keep your record from looking like CPR. Loyalty is not a strong suit for the best coaches we hope to attract. Jizek is the worst example of this. CRP is loyal as is ADJP and so was Coach Mac, its a terribly tough situation. Stay with loyalty and get the best assistant coaches we can seems like a decent option. Keeping fans okay with losing is not easy but neither is being a Cyclone football fan.

If the stands are full, we can recruit decent players (we have been), seem to be the lynch pins for Pollard and Rhoads.

Many want a change, yeah well many dont want gun control either. I guess we can classify both as insanities...

 

[klamath632]

My only hope is that Pollard doesn't fire Rhoads now. Everyone knows that when you hire a new athletic director, he brings in a new football coach. If we get a new football coach now, when Leath fires Pollard, the new AD won't be able to fire a just-hired football coach.

 

[xboxfever]

Thats because every coach has their worst win loss record here. Why not leave as soon as you can to keep your record from looking like CPR. Loyalty is not a strong suit for the best coaches we hope to attract. Jizek is the worst example of this. CRP is loyal as is ADJP and so was Coach Mac, its a terribly tough situation. Stay with loyalty and get the best assistant coaches we can seems like a decent option. Keeping fans okay with losing is not easy but neither is being a Cyclone football fan.

If the stands are full, we can recruit decent players (we have been), seem to be the lynch pins for Pollard and Rhoads.

Many want a change, yeah well many dont want gun control either. I guess we can classify both as insanities...

This post is full of fail.

 

[fsanford]

What story?

 

[Kurttr]

I love how some on here blame Pollard for all the bad and won't credit him with any of the good re: coaches. Revisionist history is a favorite attempt as well.

Chizik and McDermott were hot commodities when he hired them. No one complained a bit when they were hired.

Rhoads was more of an unknown but had good DC coaching experience and had ties to the program and to Iowa. Seemed like an OK hire. Few complained about the contract extension at the time.

Freddie was by far the biggest risk of the group, and he panned out pretty well. Yet, he's the one that drew the most complaints when hired. Still, some have determined that Jamie can have no credit for having the guts to take this risk. Interesting.

I think the real issue is that he doesn't want to fire coaches that he thinks are a good fit - McDermott, Rhoads. I'm OK with a guy who errs a year or two on that side - sometimes these things do work out. Having said that, at the end of the year, I expect Jamie will be letting Rhoads go, and hiring a new FB coach. I hope the team wins 5+ games and proves me wrong.

 

[CYKOFAN]

I love how some on here blame Pollard for all the bad and won't credit him with any of the good re: coaches. Revisionist history is a favorite attempt as well.

Chizik and McDermott were hot commodities when he hired them. No one complained a bit when they were hired.

Rhoads was more of an unknown but had good DC coaching experience and had ties to the program and to Iowa. Seemed like an OK hire. Few complained about the contract extension at the time.

Freddie was by far the biggest risk of the group, and he panned out pretty well. Yet, he's the one that drew the most complaints when hired. Still, some have determined that Jamie can have no credit for having the guts to take this risk. Interesting.

I think the real issue is that he doesn't want to fire coaches that he thinks are a good fit - McDermott, Rhoads. I'm OK with a guy who errs a year or two on that side - sometimes these things do work out. Having said that, at the end of the year, I expect Jamie will be letting Rhoads go, and hiring a new FB coach. I hope the team wins 5+ games and proves me wrong.

I guess revisionist history is in the eyes of the beholder. Many on here were wanting and expecting Brian Kelly to be our next coach (and apparently he was too). For some of us older fans the Chiz hire was very much like the Donnie Duncan hire, a d-coordinator from a powerhouse program used to working with elite athletes. Once a coach is hired you won't hear much complaining on here, but before the Chiz hire a lot of us were clamoring for Kelly. GMac had two strikes against him in that his style didn't at all fit the players he would be inheriting, and the incident at UNI left bad blood between him and our current players. Of course many players left and that should have been forseen, so I don't see how the Gmac hire was good at all. And my revisionist history recalls a lot of fans on here calling the Fred hire a no-brainer, especially under the circumstances when we had no chance of getting a decent name coach to consider the job with the disaster GMac left.

 

[Kurttr]

I guess revisionist history is in the eyes of the beholder. Many on here were wanting and expecting Brian Kelly to be our next coach (and apparently he was too). For some of us older fans the Chiz hire was very much like the Donnie Duncan hire, a d-coordinator from a powerhouse program used to working with elite athletes. Once a coach is hired you won't hear much complaining on here, but before the Chiz hire a lot of us were clamoring for Kelly. GMac had two strikes against him in that his style didn't at all fit the players he would be inheriting, and the incident at UNI left bad blood between him and our current players. Of course many players left and that should have been forseen, so I don't see how the Gmac hire was good at all. And my revisionist history recalls a lot of fans on here calling the Fred hire a no-brainer, especially under the circumstances when we had no chance of getting a decent name coach to consider the job with the disaster GMac left.

My recollection is that most seemed pretty happy with it being either Chizik or Kelly, and especially not Norvell or Brewster (!). But, if you were much more on the Kelly bandwagon than Chizik's, kudos.

GMac - I'm definitely not suggesting he was successful, and I'm thankful Creighton came calling. I'm talking about the feeling at the time he was hired -- I'd say most fans saw it as a good hire - a guy who was well regarded, had just been offered the K State job, and seemed to be a shoo-in for a likely opening in Iowa City the next year. It's my recollection that there was much more what-has-Jamie done noise about Freddie's hire than GMac's. I certainly recall feeling it was a big risk that took a lot of guts but worth taking. GMac's seemed like an obvious choice, and that's how I thought most saw it. Again, I'm not stating that he worked out - clearly he didn't; and, I questioned why he was going to be brought back for that next year. Thank goodness for Dana Altman...

 

[heitclone]

This right here. Even if we lose out and go 1-11, I could totally see JP trying to keep Rhoads and being a spin doctor about the season.

He definitely doesn't want to have to fire the man, W/L's have very little to do with JP's perspective. I like JP, anyone doubting his ability must have become an ISU fan in the last few years and not remember the half full, concrete eyesore that was JTS. That said, the CPR extension was an absolutely awful idea (his worst move at ISU), at some point, JP should have to be held accountable for that. IMO that's a big factor in him wanting to keep CPR around, the buyout it will take to replace him will only emphasize how poor and short sighted that extension was.

Hopefully he comes around though, at this point the only thing CPR is brining is attendance (which is a big deal) but knowing ISU fans, we'll show up regardless of who is coaching. JP has to realize that at some point.

 

[Spam]

I love how some on here blame Pollard for all the bad and won't credit him with any of the good re: coaches. Revisionist history is a favorite attempt as well.

Chizik and McDermott were hot commodities when he hired them. No one complained a bit when they were hired.

Rhoads was more of an unknown but had good DC coaching experience and had ties to the program and to Iowa. Seemed like an OK hire. Few complained about the contract extension at the time.

Freddie was by far the biggest risk of the group, and he panned out pretty well. Yet, he's the one that drew the most complaints when hired. Still, some have determined that Jamie can have no credit for having the guts to take this risk. Interesting.

I think the real issue is that he doesn't want to fire coaches that he thinks are a good fit - McDermott, Rhoads. I'm OK with a guy who errs a year or two on that side - sometimes these things do work out. Having said that, at the end of the year, I expect Jamie will be letting Rhoads go, and hiring a new FB coach. I hope the team wins 5+ games and proves me wrong.

Rhoads is a good fit? How so from Pollard's point of view?

 

[Stormin]

I guess revisionist history is in the eyes of the beholder. Many on here were wanting and expecting Brian Kelly to be our next coach (and apparently he was too). For some of us older fans the Chiz hire was very much like the Donnie Duncan hire, a d-coordinator from a powerhouse program used to working with elite athletes. Once a coach is hired you won't hear much complaining on here, but before the Chiz hire a lot of us were clamoring for Kelly. GMac had two strikes against him in that his style didn't at all fit the players he would be inheriting, and the incident at UNI left bad blood between him and our current players. Of course many players left and that should have been forseen, so I don't see how the Gmac hire was good at all. And my revisionist history recalls a lot of fans on here calling the Fred hire a no-brainer, especially under the circumstances when we had no chance of getting a decent name coach to consider the job with the disaster GMac left.

Interesting thing about Brian Kelly. Brian Kelly was also seeking the Michigan State job as well as the Iowa State job. Ironically, the hiring for BOTH jobs took place on the same day.......November 27, 2006. Rumor has it that Brian Kelly actually preferred the Michigan State job. Supposedly Brian Kelly was balking and wanting to wait and see if Michigan State chose him. Not sure if Pollard wanted Kelly and then because of that went with Gene Chizik. But it is ironic that Brian Kelly's name was associated with being the choice at Iowa State. And that Michigan State and Iowa State made coaching hires on the exact same day.

 

[usedcarguy]

If you look at every coach we've had here for the last many years, you'll find that each coach's performance has been directly correlated to the quality of their staff. McCarney's best years were with Loney, worst were without. Cheez Whiz never had a good staff. We have arguably the best staff we've had in decades after wandering in the weeds for a few years. Our troubles have been purely offensive and a few key guys whom we had to boot from defense.

We will start winning eventually. This team is light years better than last years. Unless we lose key guys on the staff, there's no reason yet to cut ties.

 

[CYKOFAN]

Interesting thing about Brian Kelly. Brian Kelly was also seeking the Michigan State job as well as the Iowa State job. Ironically, the hiring for BOTH jobs took place on the same day.......November 27, 2006. Rumor has it that Brian Kelly actually preferred the Michigan State job. Supposedly Brian Kelly was balking and wanting to wait and see if Michigan State chose him. Not sure if Pollard wanted Kelly and then because of that went with Gene Chizik. But it is ironic that Brian Kelly's name was associated with being the choice at Iowa State. And that Michigan State and Iowa State made coaching hires on the exact same day.

That's what I read and heard and it makes sense. Not surprising Kelly or anybody would put the MSU job ahead of us, and especially when it's in the state he was already coaching in. I also don't know if JP preferred Chiz over Kelly, but if not, just a little more patience may have paid off as it was being reported in central Iowa and at central Michigan that Kelly would be named our next coach.

 

[majorcyfan]

Had you been at the Thursday Cyclone lunch where Pollard decapitated every accusation in the newspaper article, you would know it was a hatchet job on Pollard and Hoiberg. Ames tribune is guilty from the newspaper Editor down to the scrub reporter Hines, who cherrypicked his facts, which he got wrong and wrote an article totally offbase. I have seen this type of thinking before where salespeople, who weren't aware of the facts behind a decision, went off half cocked with assumptions, which finally confronted with the true facts were like Hines, totally wrong. He got info from some idiots making assumptions about decisions that they were never involved with but had their wrong assumptions to keep them warm and fuzzy. Pollard explained the facts and reasons, which were easily accepted as true by the crowd, especially since Fred had already contacted Pollard and told Pollard to let him, Fred tell KXNO that the whole bubbub was totally wrong and that he had no problem with Pollard.

Hines needs to report only on cooking shows for the tribune, where only recipes can be be screwed up. Jamie was most distressed by the black eye ISU has been given by the national press picking up and printing the totally incorrect facts in the story.

 

[Yellow Snow]

He definitely doesn't want to have to fire the man, W/L's have very little to do with JP's perspective. I like JP, anyone doubting his ability must have become an ISU fan in the last few years and not remember the half full, concrete eyesore that was JTS. That said, the CPR extension was an absolutely awful idea (his worst move at ISU), at some point, JP should have to be held accountable for that. IMO that's a big factor in him wanting to keep CPR around, the buyout it will take to replace him will only emphasize how poor and short sighted that extension was.

Hopefully he comes around though, at this point the only thing CPR is brining is attendance (which is a big deal) but knowing ISU fans, we'll show up regardless of who is coaching. JP has to realize that at some point.

The problem with the bolded part is that at the time we were all clamoring for Pollard to lock Rhoads up for the long term so we could keep him.

Remember all the hand wringing on here when Rhoads wouldn't completely commit to saying he was going to retire here? We as a fan base were very happy at the time when the extension was announced.

http://cyclonefanatic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136234&highlight=Rhoads+contract

 

[CYKOFAN]

The problem with the bolded part is that at the time we were all clamoring for Pollard to lock Rhoads up for the long term so we could keep him.

Remember all the hand wringing on here when Rhoads wouldn't completely commit to saying he was going to retire here? We as a fan base were very happy at the time when the extension was announced.

http://cyclonefanatic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136234&highlight=Rhoads+contract

Reading over some of those posts after the big contract extension was signed shows why A.D's are paid big bucks to be smarter than the average fan. I agree the fan base wanted to see CPR get an extension, but 10 years after such a short track record as a head coach without a lot of his own recruits was a bit excessive both then and in retrospect. It's not like he was having anything remotely close to Hoiberg type success and over the first 3 years Fred's program was rising while CPR's was regressing.

 

[CyDude16]

This right here. Even if we lose out and go 1-11, I could totally see JP trying to keep Rhoads and being a spin doctor about the season.

False.