Monday Musings: To be or not to be disappointed

[JakeBrend]

As Jimmy Rogers takes over in 2026, he gets to take over a program with a recent tradition of winning. That's something Matt Campbell couldn't say in 2016.

But as Andrew Harrington writes in this week's Monday Musings, comparison is the thief of joy. It's time to enjoy the ride.
https://cyclonefanatic.com/2026/06/monday-musings-to-be-or-not-to-be-disappointed/

 

[Kettes]

If you are starting with almost no players, are you really taking over "a program?"

 

[NorthCyd]

If you are starting with almost no players, are you really taking over "a program?"

Do you think tradition, fans, facilities, and administration count as part of the program?

 

[Clonehomer]

Do you think tradition, fans, facilities, and administration count as part of the program?

For a retiring coach, yes you take over that program. For a coach that takes a majority of the players with him, that program went to Pennsylvania.

We are left with a management group with no one that ran the day to day operations. Can’t expect a business to operate successfully that way, and you can’t expect a football team to either.

It’s gonna be a long year and we should celebrate the wins and not get worked up about the losses. Better days will come, but getting upset about this year is silly.

 

[Cyrocks]

Do you think tradition, fans, facilities, and administration count as part of the program?

Great facilities and fans do not always equal success. Look at Iowa, for example. They got rid of Dr. Tom and they went into the crapper after that -- and Dr. Tom didn't take any players with him and left the cupboard full.

 

[madguy30]

If the facilities are better than they were before CMC, it's the program imo.

That said a clean slate isn't all that bad.

 

[JM4CY]

Think about how much money we saved not building a Campbell statue. That could maybe get us a second string corner.

 

[NorthCyd]

For a retiring coach, yes you take over that program. For a coach that takes a majority of the players with him, that program went to Pennsylvania.

We are left with a management group with no one that ran the day to day operations. Can’t expect a business to operate successfully that way, and you can’t expect a football team to either.

It’s gonna be a long year and we should celebrate the wins and not get worked up about the losses. Better days will come, but getting upset about this year is silly.

Great facilities and fans do not always equal success. Look at Iowa, for example. They got rid of Dr. Tom and they went into the crapper after that -- and Dr. Tom didn't take any players with him and left the cupboard full.

Neither comment really addresses my point. The poster I was responding to arguing that there essentially isn't a "program" if there are no players left from the previous coach is basically like saying without the previous staffs players there is no differnce between taking over the Iowa State football program and the Drake football program. It's silly. Of course there is an Iowa State football program regardless of who the coach and players are and there are relative advantages and disadvantages depending on what other programs you are comparing.

 

[Clonehomer]

Neither comment really addresses my point. The poster I was responding to arguing that there essentially isn't a "program" if there are no players left from the previous coach is basically like saying without the previous staffs players there is no differnce between taking over the Iowa State football program and the Drake football program. It's silly. Of course there is an Iowa State football program regardless of who the coach and players are and there are relative advantages and disadvantages depending on what other programs you are comparing.

I guess it’s just quibbling of what is a program and what is structure of the department. To me, a program is the coaches on down. The facilities are part of the structural system that allows the program to succeed. That’s why it was typically referred to as Campbell’s program. But I also can see where you would include everything under the umbrella of the AD, including facilities and traditions, when referring to ISU’s football program.

 

[NorthCyd]

I guess it’s just quibbling of what is a program and what is structure of the department. To me, a program is the coaches on down. The facilities are part of the structural system that allows the program to succeed. That’s why it was typically referred to as Campbell’s program. But I also can see where you would include everything under the umbrella of the AD, including facilities and traditions, when referring to ISU’s football program.

I mean, I'm pretty sure by definition "the program" references football as it has existed throughout time at any given school. You wouldn't say "the Iowa State football organizational structure has had 34 coaches" would you? No, you'd say the Iowa State football program has had 34 head coaches.

I think what people are really arguing is did Matt Campbell elevate the program to the point you would expect an incoming coach to have immediate success even if none of his players are left. I think the answer is he has left it in a better place than he found it, but it's still a stretch to expect the next coach to have immediate success.

I think there is a debate if it is better to have a bunch of the players from a previous staff that were recruited under different coaches for a different system vs being able to free up that money and roster spots to bring in guys that fit the new system. Defensively the way it worked out is probably better. Offensively it's probably going to be a challenge.

 

[Clonehomer]

I mean, I'm pretty sure by definition "the program" references football as it has existed throughout time at any given school. You wouldn't say "the Iowa State football organizational structure has had 34 coaches" would you? No, you'd say the Iowa State football program has had 34 head coaches.

I think what people are really arguing is did Matt Campbell elevate the program to the point you would expect an incoming coach to have immediate success even if none of his players are left. I think the answer is he has left it in a better place than he found it, but it's still a stretch to expect the next coach to have immediate success.

I think there is a debate if it is better to have a bunch of the players from a previous staff that were recruited under different coaches for a different system vs being able to free up that money and roster spots to bring in guys that fit the new system. Defensively the way it worked out is probably better. Offensively it's probably going to be a challenge.

I would say that Campbell elevated the program’s perception to make it easier for Rogers to build a successful team here. But that doesn’t mean it happens year 1 because the cupboard is bare.

But to that point, Chizik elevated the program to make it easier for Rhoads to win and left some pieces in the cupboard to make it happen immediately. Rhoads then did the same for Campbell. This is the first time in a while that we’ll have a coach that didn’t leave better players in place than they received. To discount that isn’t fair to Rogers.

 

[Klubber]

For a retiring coach, yes you take over that program. For a coach that takes a majority of the players with him, that program went to Pennsylvania.

We are left with a management group with no one that ran the day to day operations. Can’t expect a business to operate successfully that way, and you can’t expect a football team to either.

It’s gonna be a long year and we should celebrate the wins and not get worked up about the losses. Better days will come, but getting upset about this year is silly.

Businesses don't have the transfer portal. The years long rebuilds are a thing of the past.

TJ's 1st year is a great example of this and there are plenty of others in hoops and football alike.

JR has shown himself to be a good evaluator of talent. He put together a really solid team at Wazzou under similar trying circumstances to this ISU team. That Wazzou team was somewhat limited by a lot of injuries and a sputtering offense, but they still played almost everyone tough, including some really good P-4 teams. And I would say their season overall was successful despite the setbacks mentioned above.

I'm not sure why the doom-and-gloomers are so down on this team. I think we'll surprise people if we stay relatively healthy. The schedule isn't really that tough this year either.

And I'll say that I'm glad a lot of the guys from last year's team left. That team was full of underachievers and was a disappointment IMO. Games like vs Cincy, BYU, CU, and ASU were debacles where we were completely out coached if we're being honest here.
Throw in near losses to Arky St, Iowa, and KSU, and you're looking at what nearly was a really bad season. We were lacking in fundamentals the entire season as well.

 

[Clonehomer]

Businesses don't have the transfer portal. The years long rebuilds are a thing of the past.

TJ's 1st year is a great example of this and there are plenty of others in hoops and football alike.

JR has shown himself to be a good evaluator of talent. He put together a really solid team at Wazzou under similar trying circumstances to this ISU team. That Wazzou team was somewhat limited by a lot of injuries and a sputtering offense, but they still played almost everyone tough, including some really good P-4 teams. And I would say their season overall was successful despite the setbacks mentioned above.

I'm not sure why the doom-and-gloomers are so down on this team. I think we'll surprise people if we stay relatively healthy. The schedule isn't really that tough this year either.

And I'll say that I'm glad a lot of the guys from last year's team left. That team was full of underachievers and was a disappointment IMO. Games like vs Cincy, BYU, CU, and ASU were debacles where we were completely out coached if we're being honest here.
Throw in near losses to Arky St, Iowa, and KSU, and you're looking at what nearly was a really bad season. We were lacking in fundamentals the entire season as well.

I’m not going full doom and gloom. I’m just going in with zero expectations. I’d really like wins of course. I just am not going to get upset if they lose games. I want to be fair to the team and staff to give them a chance to build a team. And I hope that there’s not a complete meltdown when we do lose games here.

 

[cycloneworld]

I’m excited to see how much of our success was Matt Campbell and how much is everything else - administration, fans, etc.

Campbell was awesome but also had a lot of faults/frustrations too. Will be fun to sit back and watch Rogers build his own thing. It’s possible he does it even better than Campbell.

 

[dafarmer]

A team that plays hard and doesn’t make stupid, avoidable mistakes is what I hope for. Wins might be scarce but I have patience.

 

[mkadl]

I believe this is the first year of the full NIL impact at ISU. This year will be interesting to say the least.

 

[Erik4Cy]

A team that plays hard and doesn’t make stupid, avoidable mistakes is what I hope for.

This is what I want to see. Smart, hard nosed, mistake averse football.

If we run up against a team with just too big of a talent gap on us and lose? So be it.

I just don't want to see us running into each other causing ourselves to fumble. Lining up offsides on 3rd and 4. False start when we have 4th & 1. Throw pick 6 because someone ran the wrong route.

I'd like to see us keep a few swing games close and give Raynor or Konrardy a chance late to make it interesting. Who knows if we happen to pull off more of those than we fall short in?

I would consider 6 wins/bowling a great success for Year 1 of Rogers.

However, Campbell went 3-9 Year 1. I have patience and do understand these things take time to get rolling so a losing record season is possible.

By Year 2 or 3, Rogers will need to have his "we've arrived" moment like Campbell did beating OU in Norman.

 

[Rural]

Essentially starting from scratch is not usually a football thing.

 

[cyclone82]

Essentially starting from scratch is not usually a football thing.

Exactly…. Campbell gutted the program. Not much of a “program “left . Hope jimmy can get us relevant again soon…

 

[flycy]

Great facilities and fans do not always equal success. Look at Iowa, for example. They got rid of Dr. Tom and they went into the crapper after that -- and Dr. Tom didn't take any players with him and left the cupboard full.

Average to just below averaged facilities. Listen they are great and certainly good enough and light years better than they once were, but compared to the college football landscape they could hardly be described as great.