49er head coach Bill Walsh had a "Standard of Performance" he implemented into the organization when he took over in 1979. It started with how the secretaries were instructed to answered the phone,what the expectations for the custodians were. The principles worked up through every level of the organization to players and coaches. That level of attention to detail is reminiscent of Snyder's 16 goals for success IMO. Snyder is truly one of the greatest coaches in football history.
It's interesting how many head coaches just don't have or get "it". However with the size of the roster, staff, etc its got to be incredibly tough as a HC trying to manage all that.
I had a discussion with a KSU fan on twitter. He didn't get why ISU fans were so salty after beating KSU. We discussed the length of the losing streak vs KSU, and how many games were close. He posted an odd comment that implied that ISU was not a good team most years, as if that's not reason to be frustrated over close losses to KSU.
Beating KSU would have moved ISU up the ladder in standings, but I don't believe it would have changed much during the Rhoads era. However, even Rhoads best teams faced incredible challenges just to get to bowl games. It would have made a big difference to ISU fans in terms of our own perception(IMO) to go 7-5 in 2011/2012.