Comparing ISU Offensive Coordinators (Big 12 era)

[The Mook]

The Cyclones have had seven different offensive coordinators during the Big 12 era. I decided to go a little stat geek and compare them by the numbers. I created some spreadsheets, but only my friend Kirk Haaland can get away with posting those. (BTW, if you don't follow @khaal53 on Twitter and regularly visit www.encyclonepedia.com - you should)

Below you will find them ranked both by the raw numbers (average per season) and based on their ranking nationally (which takes into consideration how much college football has changed in the last 20 years) ... I hope you enjoy and I look forward to hearing if your conclusions are similar to mine, which I will share later.

Scoring Offense (points per game)
1. Steve Loney 25.3
2. Courtney Messingham 25.2
3. Barney Cotton 22.5
4. Robert McFarland 21.8
5. Steve Brickey 21.7
6. Tom Herman 21.6
7. Pete Hoener 21.3

Scoring Offense (average national ranking)
1. Steve Loney 59 (7th in conference)
2. Barney Cotton 80 (9th in conference)
3. Courtney Messingham 81 (9th in conference)
4. Steve Brickey 81 (10th in conference)
5. Pete Hoener 84 (10th in conference)
6. Robert McFarland 85 (11th in conference)
7. Tom Herman 87 (11th in conference)

Total Offense (yards per game)
1. Steve Loney 374.2
2. Courtney Messingham 372.2
3. Robert McFarland 356.9
4. Tom Herman 356.2
5. Pete Hoener 355.1
6. Steve Brickey 339.4
7. Barney Cotton 332.4

Total Offense (average national ranking)
1. Steve Loney 55 (7th in conference)
2. Pete Hoener 65 (7th in conference)
3. Robert McFarland 73 (11th in conference)
4. Tom Herman 77 (9th in conference)
5. Steve Brickey 80 (10th in conference)
6. Barney Cotton 83 (8th in conference)
7. Courtney Messingham 87 (9th in conference)

Rushing Offense (yards per game)
1. Steve Loney 190.2
2. Tom Herman 165.8
3. Pete Hoener 164.7
4. Courtney Messingham 154.4
5. Steve Brickey 132.9
6. Robert McFarland 131.1
7. Barney Cotton 118.1

Rushing Offense (average national ranking)
1. Steve Loney 35 (5th in the conference)
2. Tom Herman 49 (6th in the conference)
3. Pete Hoener 50 (6th in the conference)
4. Courtney Messingham 64 (8th in the conference)
5. Steve Brickey 76 (8th in the conference)
6. Robert McFarland 81 (9th in the conference)
7. Barney Cotton 89 (9th in the conference)

Passing Offense (yards per game)
1. Robert McFarland 225.8
2. Courtney Messingham 217.8
3. Barney Cotton 214.4
4. Steve Brickey 206.6
t5. Tom Herman 190.4
t5. Pete Hoener 190.4
7. Steve Loney 184.0

Passing Offense (average national ranking)
1. Barney Cotton 53 (5th in the conference)
2. Robert McFarland 55 (9th in the conference)
3. Steve Brickey 69 (7th in the conference)
4. Steve Loney 72 (5th in the conference)
5. Pete Hoener 72 (6th in the conference)
6. Courtney Messingham 78 (8th in the conference)
7. Tom Herman 87 (9th in the conference)

 

[scyclonekid]

So what you are saying is bring back Loney?

 

[Dryburn]

So what you are saying is bring back Loney?

I was going to ask that. He's about 60 now.....would fit well with Wally. He is just the Assistant Offensive Line coach with the Buccaneers now...so......

 

[jdoggivjc]

What this tells me is Iowa State hasn't had a great offense since, like, ever.

 

[The Mook]

What this tells me is Iowa State hasn't had a great offense since, like, ever.

I guess it depends on what you consider "great" and what you consider "like, ever" :smile:

1976 Cyclones rushed for 270 yards per game, and 440 yards of total offense, while scoring 33.5 points per game.

 

[Omaha Cy]

What really sticks out is how Messignham (in only 1 year albeit) ranks 2nd in total/scoring offense among that group, but pales in comparison by today's national averages.

The landscape of the college game (especially the Big 12) is more offensive driven than when most of these guys coached here, and Messignham really falls off nationally. Mess is basically tied with Loney for the highest scoring offense at ISU, but his national rank is 22 places lower.

With a down Big 12 north back in 04/05, I guess Mess would have been lighting it up.

 

[CysRage]

Bring back McFarland!

 

[Luth4Cy]

Thanks for posting. Although some of those stats have Mess ranked very low, others have him ranked high enough that he certainly deserves another year.

 

[alarson]

How about points per possession?

 

[bostrem00]

I was going to ask that. He's about 60 now.....would fit well with Wally. He is just the Assistant Offensive Line coach with the Buccaneers now...so......

Call him up!

 

[swarthmoreCY]

What this tells me is Iowa State hasn't had a great offense since, like, ever.

Screw the SEZ, time to open up the wallet on an OC. Minus Loney, have any of the ISU OCs done anything, after (or before) ISU? I know Cotton is cashing in on the home team/alum discount at NU.

Also, points/gm stats are nice, but we need a more efficient offense. Points per game is distorted with style of play and defense. The numbers to look at are percentage of possessions we score on, 3rd down %, etc.

 

[dualthreat]

Loney was here which years?

'99-'02?

 

[swarthmoreCY]

Loney was here which years?

'99-'02?

1995-97, 2000-01...and 1974 as a GA

 

[Clonefan94]

10 points against Tulsa, that's all I need to know. You had a month to prepare for this team and 10 points is what you bring to the table. That's not going to cut it in Conference USA, let alone the Big 12.

 

[im4cyclones]

I am all for Loney. If nothing else, he should improve o-line play. His years in the NFL should help!

 

[besserheimerphat]

How about points per possession?

I agree this is important, but I know that most "per play" stats don't exist publicly before 2005 simply because there wasn't enough play-by-play data available. Even if you could find the data for ISU, you'd have a hard time getting it for the rest of the major conference teams.

 

[pulse]

The first thing I thought of when I saw that was that AA had 3 of them. I feel bad for him, great player that never got the coaching consistency.

Oh and I just read Loney was a member of the 1972 Liberty Bowl team, did not know that.

 

[driegner]

These numbers make me think that turnovers are THE issue. How much of that is on Mess, and how much is on the players and position coaches? I don't know.