Before the hire I really didn't think he was ready for the job. But once the hire was announced, all the doubt went away and I was excited about the hire.
Monday Musings: Four-year anniversary (share your story)
- Thread starter ChrisMWilliams
- Start date
It's amazing to think what Hoiberg has done with this program considering after all the defections/attrition when he first took the job. We had 3 scholarship players on campus at one point that spring (Christopherson, Vanderbeken, & Garrett)
I remember listening to his press conf. via radio while in my car and being so overcome with emotion. That day was a great day for cyclone athletics.
Yeah, I remember when the "dust settled" if you will....that was my thought too...I thought "well, you can't expect much as the cupboard is BARE."
My thought was I hope this works or this will end very very bad! Just thinking ISU's golden boy could end up being ran off and ruin his already great legacy.
My initial reaction was "this is horrible; we hired a school legend that has zero experience. If he ****s up, we can't possibly fire him, and we're reduced to being a coach training school".
I warmed up pretty quick, but my initial reaction was dead wrong.
I warmed up pretty quick, but my initial reaction was dead wrong.
First reaction was he was pulling a McDermott and getting out of Minnesota before the Timberwolves canned him. Thought it was a risky/bad hire going after someone with no experience that everyone has an attachment to and legacy potentially being destroyed.
Of course the first thing I thought about was the fact he had 0 coaching experience, but had reached a point where I didn't see how he could do any worse than McDermott who never made it over .500 in 4 gruelingly long years. So I suppose you could say I was rather neutral to the hiring. Made it through the first season of watching Hoiball, and even though it was a 16-16 last place in the Big 12 kind of season, the team was infinitely more fun to watch and he had already made a handful of free agent acquisitions with White, Babb, Allen and Booker, so my negative feelings subsided quickly.
What is Billy Clyde up to nowadays, anyway? People actually wanted to hire him and though Fred was the wrong hire.
Looking back on the McDermott years, my memory of a lot what went on is fuzzy. I remember Brackins and Garrett, but beyond that I think I had reached a point in McDermott's tenure where I eventually had absolutely zero expectations of the program. Always felt like McDermott lost more scholarships faster than he could hand them out, made it really hard to keep up with what was going on.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
I remember my wife thinking it was a "sexy" hire. Although in favor I was a little more sanguine, and wanted to see him coach. I was converted the first year, when even though we were struggling we knew there were better days ahead. Basketball was fun to watch again.
I think I was really surprised by the hire. I was excited because I knew Fred loved Iowa State, but I was worried because Fred didn't have any coaching experience.
Fred had a plan and he had a unique feel for what would work at Iowa State. He has been truly amazing considering he had no prior coaching experience and considering where our program was 4 years ago.
Fred had a plan and he had a unique feel for what would work at Iowa State. He has been truly amazing considering he had no prior coaching experience and considering where our program was 4 years ago.
This was my initial reaction as well. I think it didnt help that people behind the scenes were leaking that we were getting all sorts of major interest for this job, and then we went out and hired a guy with no experience. We needed this hire to go well, and this was a huge risk when the program was in such a terrible place. Obviously it paid off.
I think most people warmed up pretty quickly though. After his speech and the reactions you heard from players, you knew this had a chance of actually being something good.
