Gable left ISU over athletic tape?

[Lamoni]

I am a casual wrestling fan and would not consider myself an expect but I was listening to an interview with Dan Gable today and the interviewer made a reference to an athletic tape incident leading to his departure from ISU to Iowa. Gable confirmed this story was true but they didn't get into the details of the story during the interview. Does anyone know what happened here? I know I am 45 years behind on this but I still find Gable to be a fascinating figure.

Here is the link to the interview: (The story is referenced at the 17:30 mark)

https://www.moonlightgrahamshow.com...n-toughness-and-the-importance-of-his-parents

 

[BillyClone]

I am a casual wrestling fan and would not consider myself an expect but I was listening to an interview with Dan Gable today and the interviewer made a reference to an athletic tape incident leading to his departure from ISU to Iowa. Gable confirmed this story was true but they didn't get into the details of the story during the interview. Does anyone know what happened here? I know I am 45 years behind on this but I still find Gable to be a fascinating figure.

Here is the link to the interview: (The story is referenced at the 17:30 mark)

https://www.moonlightgrahamshow.com...n-toughness-and-the-importance-of-his-parents

I may not get all the details correct, but this is what I've heard:

The coach at Iowa, Kurdelmeier, had been thinking about offering Gable the assistant coaching position after the 1972 Olympics were over. He found out that Gable went through a lot of athletic tape as he needed to tape up his knee everyday while training for the olympics and Gable had to pay for it himself. So, Kurdelmeier donated a case of athletic tape to Gable. It was a gesture that Dan didn't forget about when he was deciding to accept the coaching position.

 

[Cyrocks]

Harold Nichols was not going anywhere, and even if he was his assistant Les Anderson was the heir apparent. I don't even think Iowa State was considering Gable for an assistant coach in 1976. Nichols hung around eight more years, and Iowa State went with Dan Gable lite in picking Jim Gibbons -- who did have a team win a national title. But by that time Gable built a powerhouse at Iowa. Gibbons, and the Iowa State program, never reached the same heights as what Gable guided Iowa to. Sanderson may have match Gable's accomplishments at Iowa State, but we will never know.

But Iowa State at that time when they could have had Gable did a lot of bone headed moves -- including making Gable pay for his own athletic tape and not recognizing Gable as head coach material and finding a place for him on the coaching staff

 

[CyHans]

If you watch the 100 years of wrestling at ISU on Cyclones tv it explains it. Nichols had a national program going on and Anderson was an assistant so they weren't going to be looking at making a change at the time Iowa offered. Gable is very gracious towards ISU and still wears his letter jacket so I don't think there is any conspiracy theory or really anything notable to talk about.

 

[kingcy]

ISU the premier program at the time and Iowa's program was bad. Gable built something great.

 

[stuclone]

Letting Gable slip away is a big reason Iowa State let Bobby go for Cael in the 2000s. Unfortunately, both ended up burning us

 

[Rural]

Harold Nichols was not going anywhere, and even if he was his assistant Les Anderson was the heir apparent. I don't even think Iowa State was considering Gable for an assistant coach in 1976. Nichols hung around eight more years, and Iowa State went with Dan Gable lite in picking Jim Gibbons -- who did have a team win a national title. But by that time Gable built a powerhouse at Iowa. Gibbons, and the Iowa State program, never reached the same heights as what Gable guided Iowa to. Sanderson may have match Gable's accomplishments at Iowa State, but we will never know.

But Iowa State at that time when they could have had Gable did a lot of bone headed moves -- including making Gable pay for his own athletic tape and not recognizing Gable as head coach material and finding a place for him on the coaching staff

Oh, we know.

The financial commitment had to come first though.

 

[kingcy]

Letting Gable slip away is a big reason Iowa State let Bobby go for Cael in the 2000s. Unfortunately, both ended up burning us

Its not like Bobby had this program in a great place. His teams were also not very aggressive on the mat.

 

[stuclone]

Its not like Bobby had this program in a great place. His teams were also not very aggressive on the mat.

Oh I agree 100%. Hiring Cael was absolutely the right move. If the whole Big 12 fiasco wasn't happening around the time he bailed, we may have had the resources to have kept him. That being said, I'm happy Dresser is our coach now!

 

[Lamoni]

Thanks for the info, guys. I love the job Dresser is doing now. It would be great if the clones could get back to competing for national titles every year.

 

[bustamoveisu]

Its not like Bobby had this program in a great place. His teams were also not very aggressive on the mat.

To his credit, he brought us the best collegiate wrestler ever.

 

[theshadow]

Letting Gable slip away is a big reason Iowa State let Bobby go for Cael in the 2000s. Unfortunately, both ended up burning us

Cael for Bobby was also a result of both Iowa and Ohio State having coaching vacancies at the same time.

 

[theshadow]

But Iowa State at that time when they could have had Gable did a lot of bone headed moves -- including making Gable pay for his own athletic tape and not recognizing Gable as head coach material and finding a place for him on the coaching staff

We're talking about the '70s, not 2019. There was not a space available on the coaching staff without firing Les Anderson -- who was a part of a staff that from 1965-73 went 1-2-3-2-1-1-2-1-1 at NCAAs. There were no volunteer coaches. There were no RTCs where you could stash a guy as a "coach". There were no made-up AD positions (like Bruce did for Cael in the run-up to Athens).

 

[ForbinsAscynt]

Interesting. Since we are sharing I heard this little tidbit the other day. Cael left not for money but solely due to his differences with Jaime. According to this source the money offered wasn’t even a raise. Maybe this is common knowledge, I don’t follow that closely.

 

[stuclone]

Interesting. Since we are sharing I heard this little tidbit the other day. Cael left not for money but solely due to his differences with Jaime. According to this source the money offered wasn’t even a raise. Maybe this is common knowledge, I don’t follow that closely.

I think this is probably accurate. But I’m guessing a lot of the differences came from Jamie not wanting to invest in wrestling during the time Cael was here

 

[jdoggivjc]

I think this is probably accurate. But I’m guessing a lot of the differences came from Jamie not wanting to invest in wrestling during the time Cael was here

Not just Jamie wasn't wanting to invest in wrestling, but Penn St was pouring big time money into their wrestling program and used that fact to show Cael they were committed to succeeding.

 

[ca4cy]

Not just Jamie wasn't wanting to invest in wrestling, but Penn St was pouring big time money into their wrestling program and used that fact to show Cael they were committed to succeeding.

And the fact that they sit smack in the middle of the best recruiting area in the country.

 

[theshadow]

I think this is probably accurate. But I’m guessing a lot of the differences came from Jamie not wanting to invest in wrestling during the time Cael was here

"Not wanting to" and "not being able to" are different things. The huge influx of TV money hadn't happened yet.

 

[stuclone]

"Not wanting to" and "not being able to" are different things. The huge influx of TV money hadn't happened yet.

Poor wording on my part. The money definitely wasn’t there at the time, and Penn State had B1G money they could invest in wrestling

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

Cael would never had been as successful if he stayed at ISU as he has been at Penn. St. What I heard was Cael wanted ISU to make a major investment into the wrestling program. Jamie just did not have the money to invest in wrestling, while trying to get the football programing turned around and investing in Jack Trice.

Penn St. had the money to invest, they could make Cael the highest paid coach in the sport, a new state of the art wrestling room, and the best recruiting area in the country. For Cael, this was a no brainer. How many times did he bust his ass on instate recruit, and in the end, the kid went to Iowa? Cael does not have that problem at Penn St., since he has been there Iowa has won one title, Cael's first year there, since then he has won what 6?

Cael has become Iowa's worst enemy, they laughed at ISU when he left, now they are regretting that he ever left ISU. they could control him at ISU, now at Penn St, they are slipping more and more each year.