Has the Rot Started to Set In?

[CYdTracked]

Too early to go down this path. Yeah we had a disappointing season last year but it's not like we are getting our asses handed to in these losses like we were during the end of the previous coaching tenures. So we did get our ass kicked by TCU at the end of last year but they also were a playoff team. Outside of that our other losses:

Lost to #7 Baylor 31-24 (7 points)
Lost at Kansas 14-11 (3) when KU was on a hot streak
Lost 10-9 (1) to KSU
Lost 24-21 (3) at #22 Texas
Lost 20-14 (6) at OSU
Lost 14-10 (4) to TT

If we had a halfway competent offense last year those were all winnable games. 2021 our worst loss was by 10 to Iowa and the other 4 were all by 7 or less points. If you go back and look through Rhoads last 3 seasons we had several ugly losses in those seasons.

Campbell and his staff has put together a program where our defense has been really good the past few years and kept us in nearly every game but we can't get over the hump with the offense and had many special teams blunders too. Hoping the special teams issue are getting cleaned up now we actually hired a ST coordinator but gotta get something corrected with the stagnet offense. Doesn't help we lost some starters we were counting on coming into this season but at some point we need to start winning within the margins like CMC preaches instead of consistently losing in the margins. I don't think we are close to the point of seeing a downward spiral like we did when things went bad with Rhoads but we've been too talented to not be winning more games either. Hoping the staff keeps working on it and can get over that hump of losing winnable games but I've seen enough bad football over the years at ISU to know things aren't as bad as some may think they are.

 

[Statefan10]

My god. Has rot set in after losing to Iowa in week two with a young roster? Smfh.

Once these young guys start doing well, the narrative will be "well it's pretty concerning they couldn't do this all year".

 

[cayin]

One more thought on my last post. Missing a bowl back to back years with a top 10-15 defense is even worse

building a defense like this in college football is the hardest thing to do. I feel like we are wasting an opportunity. But, we have to give the changes Matt made in the offseason time to work. If we were not so young I would be worried about having a bad season this year and it's long term effect on recruiting, program momentum. Plus we have a hard schedule this year. Next year, we better be ready to rock, we should have a lot of experience back and hopefully the staff can utilize the portal to shore up some areas.

 

[brett108]

JFC. We had a bummer year last season. Win the next three and we’ll be worried about Campbell going to Ohio State again. It’s never as good or as bad as it seems.

Its a Gunner thread. Hes always been a fan who tends to stay quiet unless things aren't going great. Some people love to be miserable.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

The Iowa game seems to set the tone for expectations of the year and the way we lost didn't do CMC any favors from a fan's perspective. However, based on his past, he usually gets the best our of his teams in October and beyond. Last year was admittedly ugly, but it is the outlier so far:

(excluding bowl games)
2016 - 2 wins, 6 losses (first year)
2017 - 5 wins, 3 losses
2018 - 7 wins, 1 loss
2019 - 5 wins, 3 losses
2020 - 7 wins, 2 losses
2021 - 5 wins, 3 losses
2022 - 1 win, 7 losses

Like others, I think we need to see what he can do to turn things around this year. If he doesn't make changes offensively and we continue to lose games by 7-10 points while having the same offensive problems, then it becomes a more serious discussion.

 

[madguy30]

No, we wouldn't. TJ would be the first Cyclone coach ever to go to two Sweet 16s.

For football, yeah, it is what it is, which probably isn't pretty or anything folks will admit to yet.

I'd like to see what they do if TJ gets like a 3rd place conference finish but gets bounced early.

Basketball season is going to be wild.

 

[MyNameEhJeff]

One more thought on my last post. Missing a bowl back to back years with a top 10-15 defense is even worse

We still have 10 more games to play. TEN! To already jump to the narrative that we’re not going to make a bowl game this year is beyond asinine.

 

[RagingCloner]

I’ve been around for a few coaches and I’m definitely getting that feeling. McDermott, McCarney, Rhoads, Prohm. Not going to include guys like Morgan, Fred, or Chizik as those were different/very short term situations. Obviously Larry was a unique situation as well.

I’ve had this feeling before and while we’re not totally rotted out (there’s a chance CMC could bounce back a la Kirk Ferentz), I think the “rot” has definitely started to sneak in, if only just a little bit, especially with the gambling issue and it’s direct contradiction to the “5-Star Culture” mantra.

Man you are all over the place. Didnt you also start the ISU/Ohio thread and say you had 100% confidence in us to win @ Ohio? If you felt this "rot", why even say that? Or are you just so bored you want to create countless pointless CF threads?

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

If we miss a bowl game 2 years in a row I'll definitely be heading in the time to move on direction unless there is just tremendous growth as the season goes along and we looked really good the last few games (idk how this happens without making a bowl). I know we don't have a ton of history but missing a bowl game 2 years in a row for a power conference school in this day and age of bowls is bad. I'm fine with missing one every few years because we are going to be a developmental program but back to back years this far into a coach's tenure would seem real bad for program momentum

Last year was always going to be a "it is what it is" type season with Dekkers cutting his teeth. His whole gambling deal absolutely f*cked this team. Ideally he would have made big improvements and led the team this year while Kohl learns the ropes. I don't think you can overstate how much his selfishness hurt this team.

 

[RagingCloner]

Its a Gunner thread. Hes always been a fan who tends to stay quiet unless things aren't going great. Some people love to be miserable.

Can we buy him a puzzle or something? Seems like he just needs something to do

 

[Statefan10]

Last year was always going to be a "it is what it is" type season with Dekkers cutting his teeth. His whole gambling deal absolutely f*cked this team. Ideally he would have made big improvements and led the team this year while Kohl learns the ropes. I don't think you can overstate how much his selfishness hurt this team.

Yep, it 100% set us behind the 8 ball. He needed to clean up his turnover issues and develop more into a leader, but he still would've been our starter this year.

 

[awd4cy]

Doesn't Matt Campbell have a lot of firsts? Lol like most of the firsts? I disagree that there won't be fans complaining if TJ doesn't hit their unreal expectations this year.

Matt Campbell made the right moves this offseason and anyone overreacting here wants immediate success following those changes but that's entirely unrealistic and unreasonable. I can guarantee you if we go out and win 6 games this year, these same people complaining at this moment will wonder how the hell we didn't win 8-9 games.

Did he thought? He promoted an inexperienced OC within, without opening up to someone with experience and fresh new ideas. I don’t think it’s surprising we are seeing more of the same.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Yep, it 100% set us behind the 8 ball. He needed to clean up his turnover issues and develop more into a leader, but he still would've been our starter this year.

Yep and those things were all attainable as well!

 

[Clark]

Am I disappointed with the last 18 months? Absolutely.

Do I feel we've lost some critical momentum? Absolutely.

But there is a long ways down from a coaching respectability and belief to get to anything considered "rot". Not to mention, rot implies things are beyond repair. I don't think they are. I think some mindsets need to change - at the top, and I think we need to hit the Portal hard this offseason, but hope isn't lost. We've neglected the WR and OL development for so many years that it's put us in a bit of a hole. We will hopefully see continued progress and development as this season goes along, especially given our youth.

It's become pretty obvious that coaches who ignore the portal are going to have a hard time competing. The days of playing a bunch of freshman and having them develop into a special team in four years is over. It doesn't work like that. Even Georgia lost a stud off their defensive line who went to USC.

Some of this might not be in Campbell's control. He doesn't control how much money is available to bring in transfers. The key is to not get yourself in a situation where juniors are leaving and being replaced by freshmen every year. That seems like it happened to ISU this year (and then a double whammy with the gambling investigation)

 

[CloniesForLife]

We still have 10 more games to play. TEN! To already jump to the narrative that we’re not going to make a bowl game this year is beyond asinine.

If you read my other post I'm saying IF that happens then I'll start having the conversation. I still fully expect the offense to improve and us to get to 6 wins

 

[RagingCloner]

Did he thought? He promoted an inexperienced OC within, without opening up to someone with experience and fresh new ideas. I don’t think it’s surprising we are seeing more of the same.

He promoted an inexperienced OC because if he didnt, NS would have been an OC somewhere else

 

[Stormin]

Last year was always going to be a "it is what it is" type season with Dekkers cutting his teeth. His whole gambling deal absolutely f*cked this team. Ideally he would have made big improvements and led the team this year while Kohl learns the ropes. I don't think you can overstate how much his selfishness hurt this team.

Possible that his poor judgement and selfishness last year led to our poor results of last year.

 

[Statefan10]

Did he thought? He promoted an inexperienced OC within, without opening up to someone with experience and fresh new ideas. I don’t think it’s surprising we are seeing more of the same.

I'm saying he made the changes that needed to be made. Obviously we're going to have to see whether those individual changes work out. Yes, Nate is inexperienced at OC but did people think Matt was going to get a guy that was going to come in and run a full spread offense or something?

 

[CloniesForLife]

Last year was always going to be a "it is what it is" type season with Dekkers cutting his teeth. His whole gambling deal absolutely f*cked this team. Ideally he would have made big improvements and led the team this year while Kohl learns the ropes. I don't think you can overstate how much his selfishness hurt this team.

I don't think Rocco was all that bad outside the pick 6. Honestly I think he might end up being better for this team.

 

[Farnsworth]

Why not include Fred? Tourney semi-success (Niang foot) and Big 12 Tourney success? Those were some fun ass years.