ISU Football History in One Chart

[RonBurgundy]

Interesting chart on ESPN+ regarding ISU football history.

We are living in historical times! Love to hear the thoughts of old-timers that have been a fan through these periods.



1- ISU was at an all-time low when Johnny Majors arrived in 1968. He had them in their first bowl just three years later.

2 - When Majors left for Pitt (where he'd win a national title), Earle Bruce took things even further, producing three eight-win seasons and ISU's first ranked finish.

3 - ISU wasn't very memorable in the 1980s and 1990s, but the Davis brothers were. Troy rushed for 4,195 yards in 1995-96, then Darren rushed for 3,559 from 1997 to '99.

4 - After winning 13 games in his first five years, Dan McCarney engineered a 9-3 season in 2000, then nearly won Big 12 North titles in 2004-05. Then everything collapsed again.

5 - The Cyclones' current trajectory is almost unprecedented. ISU hasn't won a conference title since 1912, and there might never be a better chance to end that incredible streak.

 

[WalkingCY]

Interesting.

Hiring the right coach is paramount. Yes, McCarney helped fix the 80's and 90's disaster, (due to poor AD leadership), but it really has taken ISU 40 years to finally hire the RIGHT coach.

I hope Campbell is here until he retires. But if he doesn't, the blueprint for success in hiring is there. Poach an entire coaching staff from somewhere that is budding/showing success, and get them ALL to Ames. Hiring random Asst. Coaches and then they scramble to find coordinators has NOT worked for ISU. No continuity there.

 

[CascadeClone]

Hiring the right coach is paramount.

If you have a good coach, you will have a good program. If you don't, you won't. Its real simple.

Wins and losses may vary season to season based on QB play, luck, schedule, etc. But a good coach will keep the overall program successful.

 

[SCNCY]

What is SP+?

 

[usedcarguy]

If you have a good coach(es), you will have a good program. If you don't, you won't. Its real simple.

Wins and losses may vary season to season based on QB play, luck, schedule, etc. But a good coach will keep the overall program successful.

FIFY. Rhoads and McCarney could both coach. Their downfall was the inability to maintain a good continuity of quality assistants. If you look at both of their tenures, they were as good as their staffs were. This seems to be one area that Campbell has figured out.

 

[RonBurgundy]

What is SP+?

From EPSN -

What is SP+? In a single sentence, it's a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. The system was created at Football Outsiders in 2008.

More than ever, it's important to note that SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing. It is not a résumé ranking that gives credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling -- no good predictive system is. It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.

They calculate SP+ ratings for offense, defense and ST and then an overall rating. For reference, ISU finished 2019 with the #24 overall SP+ rating. Improved to #11 overall rating in 2020.

Pre-season 2021 SP+ rating for ISU is #9 in the country.

 

[JM4CY]

The trajectory of the CMC era on that chart has a similar effect to my man region when thinking about the upcoming season.

 

[RonBurgundy]

FIFY. Rhoads and McCarney could both coach. Their downfall was the inability to maintain a good continuity of quality assistants.

Agree. Mac's loss of Loney/Hoener/Loney was never overcome.

 

[cyclonelifer]

The '71 Cyclones always seem to be forgotten. They were the first ISU team to finish the season ranked. 17th in the Coaches Poll

 

[cayin]

FIFY. Rhoads and McCarney could both coach. Their downfall was the inability to maintain a good continuity of quality assistants. If you look at both of their tenures, they were as good as their staffs were. This seems to be one area that Campbell has figured out.

I wish Steve Loney would have stayed with Mac. That guy could really coach.

 

[Sigmapolis]

Agree. Mac's loss of Loney/Hoener/Loney was never overcome.

McCarney never seemed to have the offense and defense chugging at the same time.

Always one or the other. See 2005.

Rhoads and Wally put together some good defenses, but the offense went from "meh" under Happy Ending Tom to abysmal under his various successors. Mangino was the final nail in the coffin.

 

[2122]

Jim Criner stunk the joint up.

 

[VeloClone]

What is SP+?

I just assumed it had something to do with the S&P 500.

 

[somecyguy]

FIFY. Rhoads and McCarney could both coach. Their downfall was the inability to maintain a good continuity of quality assistants. If you look at both of their tenures, they were as good as their staffs were. This seems to be one area that Campbell has figured out.

Rhoads ceiling was DC. He doesn't understand offense and meddled too much in it as head coach, in addition to not hiring good assistants. If he had come to ISU as a DC under a decent HC, I think he would have thrived.

 

[DSMCy]

FIFY. Rhoads and McCarney could both coach. Their downfall was the inability to maintain a good continuity of quality assistants. If you look at both of their tenures, they were as good as their staffs were. This seems to be one area that Campbell has figured out.

I agree with this but want to add that what Campbell and his staff have done to build depth in the trenches is something I never thought I'd see.
Those McCarney, and especially Rhoads teams, were 1 injury away from sending an undersized RS Freshmen out there.
Now we're debating on which of the 8 OL will start and they are doing a shift change on the DL every game.

 

[JM4CY]

I agree with this but want to add that what Campbell and his staff have done to build depth in the trenches is something I never thought I'd see.
Those McCarney, and especially Rhoads teams, were 1 injury away from sending an undersized RS Freshmen out there.
Now we're debating on which of the 8 OL will start and they are doing a shift change on the DL every game.

Agreed. Also, if you’ve seen our D lineman through the years, and then you seen Enyi in person, you realize times are a changin’. That dude is half man, half Greek God and not put together like lineman of the past.

 

[Yellow Snow]

Agreed. Also, if you’ve seen our D lineman through the years, and then you seen Enyi in person, you realize times are a changin’. That dude is half man, half Greek God and not put together like lineman of the past.

I know... right? You stand next to a guy like him or Lee... It's hard to imagine them not killing people on the field by accident.

 

[Carnegie]

Earl Bruce leaving ISU for Ohio State was maybe the greatest setback for our program. I feel if Bruce had decided to stay, it would have us a long term winner.

 

[mkadl]

Jim Criner stunk the joint up.

WHAT!!!

 

[jdoggivjc]

McCarney never seemed to have the offense and defense chugging at the same time.

Always one or the other. See 2005.

Rhoads and Wally put together some good defenses, but the offense went from "meh" under Happy Ending Tom to abysmal under his various successors. Mangino was the final nail in the coffin.

While I would tend to agree that McCarney could never get the offense and defense linked up, I think 2005 is a bad example. I would call 2005 a lack of killer instinct on offense. 2005 was a result of playing not to lose instead of playing to rip the soul out of our opponents when we had the chance.