Tradition and recognition are fine when you are the Alabamas, Penn States, and Notre Dames of the college football world. I think Rhoads needs to come to terms with the obstacles that are there for ISU and be willing to pull out all of the tricks in the book to get recruits here and for the average viewer to stop for a moment to watch an ISU game.
Because when I am flipping through games and I come across a Duke vs Wake Forest game, I am probably going to keep flipping. If one of them has a unique uniform though, I may pause for a bit to watch the game to see it better. And that team is also going to stick in my mind.
While I respect his stance, ISU doesn't have the luxury of having that stance.