History absolutely means something. 2021 was, without a doubt, one of the most successful seasons in the history of Cyclone football. Did it turn out how I would have liked? Nope. Am I ok with it based on how the program historically has performed? Well, it sure beat the disasters of 0-3 win season that have happened frequently in my lifetime. Losing to Iowa was extremely disappointing because that team was good enough to defend JTS. It's really hard to consistently win on the road and that team struggled mightily with that. It's also really hard to be the hunted when you aren't clearly more talented than everyone else like say Oklahoma.
And Kansas doesn't work as an example in this case. They did so when they dodged the OU/TX/TTU part of the schedule. You can't hide from that anymore.
10 win seasons since the round robin:
OSU 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021
KSU 2011, 2012
BU 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021
OU 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
TCU 2014, 2015, 2017, 2022
WVU 2016
TX 2018
Missing
KU
ISU (<- gets there in 2020 with a normal non-conference schedule...10-4)
TTU
So 30% of our conference hasn't reached 10 wins during that time period.
History is what makes someone appreciate the success Matt Campbell has had here. If you don't keep in mind history the best thing to ever happen to ISU football by any reasonable measure is on the hot seat for going 4-8 this season. Yes there are always new coaches to hire but very few coaching hires have worked out well for Iowa State. This one has earned a shot to turn it around after having the best 7 years in the history of the program. The number of people saying he should be dismissed is astounding and reflective of the "what have you done for me lately?" culture.
"We have nice facilities!" - No, we're just keeping up with the rest of the country in that department as it relates to student-athlete space.
"We have great fan support!" - In attendance? Maybe. When it comes to funding? No way. Read between the lines on what Blum says about the NIL prospectus at ISU.
In the new age of college athletics where the money is out in the open now ISU has a significant hill to climb compared to our peers. Have we improved immensely compared to where we were? Certainly, but so has everyone else. If our fan base isn't willing to step up we are going to become a feeder program for schools with effective collectives. At that point it won't really matter who is on the sidelines.