name 10 replacements for Mac

[Wesley]

Umm... I respectfully disagree, but what makes you put him at the #1?

He basically built up his team to the next tier (which we are still trying to do) so they are expected to win. He has a small recruiting base against schools that recruit Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana areas and he makes it work. He is a hard worker and is defintely positive to his players, but he also wins the big games when he needs them. That is what we lack. We win the little games and we lose the big games: Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, etc. He does not let the cupboard get bare. His team looked more discipline than ours. He would not cost an arm and a leg. He might even stay in Iowa awhile being from Waukon. He is self made. Need I say more? Recruiting - ah yes, he would have to have at least one or two good recruiters on his staff, like an Ex Cyclone who played in the pros. There are worst choices than Mark Farley.

 

[herbicide]

"I have to disagree with him being a bad coach, remember his short stint here netted the only great years of special teams play during McCarney era.

Had he been healthy at the time of Fry leaving, he would be the current coach at Iowa.

IMO The downfall of KSU had more to do with the erosion of talented players they recruited and landed."

Iowa was so happy to get rid of Bobby Elliot. The only reason he was kept around for so long was because Hayden was good friends with his dad Bump who was the old AD. Most Iowa fans would have lost it if Iowa gave Elliot the HC job.

When he was at ISU the defense back field was not that good had holes everywhere there were just good enough players it masked the bad sceem. the special teams were nothing to brag about the only good thing they did was Billups punt return in the insight bowl. Everyone I know was so happy to see him leave

At KSU he was Co-D coordinator with Bret Balema (sp?) and as soon as Balema went to Wisconsin KSU d went from top 10 to bottom of the NCAA. When Synder retired they didn't even interview him because they couldn't get rid of him fast enough. KSU fans down here in KC were scared to death of keeping him on as head coach.

Um, Elliot was a top national coaching candidate before his illness reared its ugly head. The heir apparent to a very good Iowa team at the time.

Also, remember that fans have short term memories (what have you done lately) so his association with Hayden's last teams gave people a sour taste in their mouth. Had Hayden gone out when he should of, Elliot would have been the heir at Iowa, if he wasn't head coach at some other school.

Do you remember the horrid kickoff and punt coverages on both sides of the ball before he showed up?
Night and day differences from the year before he showed up and his first season. If I recall we were one of the worst nationally ranked special teams before him, and while he was here we had some of the better ones in the big 12. We had troubles with the placekicker of course, but no more 50 yard punts and 40 yard returns, and kickoff returns to the 50.

How many of those players in his ISU secondaries are in the NFL besides Hobbs? I I thought the secondary was pretty good those years. All of my friends were very disappointed when he left for KSU, even though everyone knew he was a short-timer at ISU and offers would be flying from larger schools within short time.

He never should have went to KSU, as it was apparent that the ship was sinking there before he showed up. Once again, the "What have you done for me lately" (For KSU, you can leave the "lately" part out)

I am not saying I want him here as a head coach, because I don't think he would work out. I am saying that he did a hell of a job at Iowa, and at ISU. He had more than proven himself as a D and special teams coordinator, so I am trying to give credit where credit is due.

 

[BigBake]

I've bought season tickets for nearly 20 years ever since I was a student at ISU. I skipped a couple of seasons because I was living out of state. Here is a list of names.


6. Greg Schiano - Rutgers. Talk about a turnaround. He has Rutgers! ranked for the first time in my lifetime.

Ha...sorry I got a laugh out of that one cause it sounds just like Mac's resume to any other school who'd look at hiring him.

6. Dan McCarney - ISU. Talk about a turnaround. He had ISU! ranked for the first time in my lifetime.

 

[St8Grad]

I've bought season tickets for nearly 20 years ever since I was a student at ISU. I skipped a couple of seasons because I was living out of state. Here is a list of names.

1. Steve Loney - Ex ISU. Wants to be a head coach. Has NFL experience.
2. Jon Cooper - Alum of ISU and the Dirty Thirty. Won at Tulsa and ASU and OSU. Just couldn't beat Michigan. I would take his winning percentage over Mac any day.
3. Bo Pelini - Defensive coordinator. I would imagine he would enjoy the opportunity to coach in the Big Twelve.
4. Gary Patterson - TCU. His wife has Iowa ties. A step up to the Big Twelve would suit him fine. He would also bring recruiting ties to Texas.
5. Mike Price - UTEP. Might be an iffy pick given his 'incident' at Alabama. No one can question his coaching ability however.
6. Greg Schiano - Rutgers. Talk about a turnaround. He has Rutgers! ranked for the first time in my lifetime. Talk all you want about the Big East, he has brought a program back from the dead.
7. Dennis Erickson - Idaho. Proven winner with NFL coaching experience. Brings name recognition.
8. Bobby Elliot - Iowa ties. Downside here is his attachment to the University of Iowa. Been there done that.
9. Joe Glenn - Wyoming.
10. Jeff Tedford - California. Unlikely we could pull him away from Cal, but I can dream.

Good picks. I'd go with...

1. John Cooper (played for ISU, very successful coach at BIG programs)
2. Gary Patterson (knows state of Iowa fairly well, has proven he can recruit & win as 'non-major' TX school)
3. Greg Schiano (Rutgers reminds me of ISU football, & if he can do it there...he can do it here)
4. Steve Loney (ISU ties with excellent football smarts & NFL experience)
5. Bo Pellini (well-respected asst coach who knows how to WIN & would love to jump to Big 12 as head coach)

 

[darts180]

I see a lot of..."this team looks good this year so lets hire their coach".

Head coaches are not the only individual that composes a team. It takes assistants, players, misc, personnel, etc.

So you just can't say, "well Rutgers looks good, lets get that guy!"

Fortunately for Cyclone fans, Pollard is not that foolish and simple-minded.

So why has Mac never been a candidate for another BCS job???
I guess the other AD's arent that short sighted either

 

[darts180]

This is the best post in this thread. I think we need to be realistic about who would come and coach here. A coordinator from a national power (Texas, LSU, etc) is not going to come to Ames to coach ISU. Dan came from Wisconsin, which was at the time pretty high on the pecking order, but did it only because of his Iowa ties. I think if we were to get an assistant from a major BCS school it'd have to be someone who flew under the radar a bit (Ken O'Keefe or someone of that nature) or someone who has strong Iowa ties. Aside from that we're going to have to dig a bit to find a diamond in the rough. The bottom line is that we don't have enough money to pay a huge salary to outweigh the fact that we've got the smallest budget in the Big 12, and on top of that we don't pay our assistants all that well, which means any coach will have a hard time hiring and retaining quality assistants, which is where success is really built.

Well then let's just stay mediocre, one step above awful, because that is what we have now.
I just don't get it, does anybody honestly think that if Dan had EVER won a big game and got people excited that the money wouldn't be there???
I mean 2000 paid for the indoor practice facility, and had Dan been able to capitalize on that and continue to win, instead of this nonsense that we have seen. There would be all kinds of money.
Unfortunately, what we have seen is all of the casual fans, the ones that have built Iowa up, saw 2003 and turned away.
We are currently paying a small-time 7 win football coach 1.4 million. WE CAN AFFORD A BIG TIME COACH, the money is there.

 

[darts180]

I am sure that the list would be long and impressive.

1. Some coach who most of the other more prestigious schools aren't looking at, who wants to "turn around" an already successful program with a mediocre budget, and fans who ran out their old coach after said turn around.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
If I hadn't spent my life bleeding cardinal and gold, and was a die hard fan, and didn't know the truth, that ******** response would make me think that this is all that Iowa State is.
Dan/Margie/Mrs. McCarney, I appreciate that you are trying to save the job, but why don't you try winning some games instead of making excuses.

 

[arganbright2]

McCarney will never be considered for a serious position. Are you kidding me. His career has topped out and the fact that he reached the Big 12 is beyond me. He will be replaced within two years by a coach from either the West coast or the south who will recruit athletes, maybe not the best position players, but athletes, who will make a solid team. Coach Mac, i appreciate your contributions to our clones, but you are as good as gone. Hopefully, u can get a job as a coordinator at a mid major program and i wish u the best.

 

[Torks_Pub]

Mr. Apathy

Here are ten that I came up with, and without much thought:

Mike Price- UTEP
Gary Patterson- TCU
Steve Kragthorpe- Tulsa
Mark Farley- UNI
George O' Leary- C. Florida
Steve Loney- AZ Cardinals
Bobby Elliott- San Diego
Jay Norvell- Nebraska
Paul Johnson- Navy
Bronco Mendenhall- BYU

I would take Price in a second. If he can win at Washington State and UTEP, he can win at ISU.

 

[Cyclonepride]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
If I hadn't spent my life bleeding cardinal and gold, and was a die hard fan, and didn't know the truth, that ******** response would make me think that this is all that Iowa State is.
Dan/Margie/Mrs. McCarney, I appreciate that you are trying to save the job, but why don't you try winning some games instead of making excuses.

Iowa State is a great school with a subpar budget when you look at the programs that have similar records over the last several years. Nebraska was a national joke as they dumped Solich and then got refusal after refusal from all the hot names. In fact, the name Callahan is very seldom mentioned without a reference to the fact that they fired a 9-3 coach to hire him. Also, you might want to analyze the term die hard fan. That would usually mean that you are with the team through thick AND thin. Bandwagon jumper might be better:yes4lo:

 

[Wesley]

So why has Mac never been a candidate for another BCS job???
I guess the other AD's arent that short sighted either

I suspect you have to win the Insight Bowel more than once in 12 years.

 

[Wesley]

Iowa State is a great school with a subpar budget when you look at the programs that have similar records over the last several years. Nebraska was a national joke as they dumped Solich and then got refusal after refusal from all the hot names. In fact, the name Callahan is very seldom mentioned without a reference to the fact that they fired a 9-3 coach to hire him. Also, you might want to analyze the term die hard fan. That would usually mean that you are with the team through thick AND thin. Bandwagon jumper might be better:yes4lo:

Not only are we last in Big 12 budgets, I believe we would be last in Big Ten. Probably a reflection of not enough major donors in the end. If you just look at budgets, Ames is doing pretty good. Iowa City budget is 2.5 times greater than ours and we win the HY VEE CUP routinely. And they pay their football coach 2.2 times more.

 

[melt]

Well then let's just stay mediocre, one step above awful, because that is what we have now.
I just don't get it, does anybody honestly think that if Dan had EVER won a big game and got people excited that the money wouldn't be there???
I mean 2000 paid for the indoor practice facility, and had Dan been able to capitalize on that and continue to win, instead of this nonsense that we have seen. There would be all kinds of money.
Unfortunately, what we have seen is all of the casual fans, the ones that have built Iowa up, saw 2003 and turned away.
We are currently paying a small-time 7 win football coach 1.4 million. WE CAN AFFORD A BIG TIME COACH, the money is there.

No, we can't afford a "BIG TIME COACH." Our coaches are getting paid in the bottom half of the Big 12. KU's coach makes more money than McCarney. Look around, the big time coaches are getting paid almost double what we pay McCarney. Aside from that, big time coaches like to go to big time schools with big time budgets and big time facilities, none of which ISU has.

 

[Wesley]

Says a lot about our program when the Big 12 Dean of Football after 12 years resides quietly in the bottom of pay scales. I know we could afford Mark Farley and Chris Petersen, but not much else.

 

[ZJohnson]

Anyone with recruiting ties to Texas sounds good to me. I mean there is a Texas vs. The Rest of the Nation HS game this year. You have got to have top players to play at the top level; I mean am I wrong here? Having the best or ok from Iowa isn't going to cut it in the BIG XII or the nation. As for a certain person, I have no clear cut top 10. Right now anything looks better than the coaching staff we have now.

 

[mattclemon]

If not Mac then who?

I am coming to the realization of the possibility of coach McCarney not being here next year. At first alot of you might think this would be a good thing, but who could ISU attract and would he be better. I've thought of some coaches, Greg Schiano of Rutgers, Gary Patterson of TCU, Chris Peterson of Boise State and Steve Loney of the Arizona Cardinals. These guys are great coaches but can ISU get them. Maybe Pollard has some one in mind. Pollard and us as ISU fans have to realize that we are Iowa State and every coach in america does not want to coach here and the grass isn't always greener on the other side. I guess what I'm asking if you want McCarney gone, who will replace him, can ISU get him, and will he be better?

 

[JCloned]

Re: If not Mac then who?

Didn't we have this thread last week???

btw I really want Mac to surprise us and turn this around in a big way.

 

[Blandboy]

Re: If not Mac then who?

Not Loney...thought he might be a good one, too, but sitting here watching the Cardinals beat the Bears, it's obvious he calls plays like Cotton Eye Barney. Twice the Cards recovered fumbles deep within the Bear's end of the field only to come away with field goals. Loney (or whoever calls the Arizona plays) runs the ball 5 of the 8 downs...essentially setting up field goals. Not one toss into the end zone (sound familar?)! Both Joe Thiesman and Charles Barkley (who was a guest to the broadcast booth) ripped on Arizona's conservative play. "Go for the jugular," Barkley says. That for me was a lighthouse moment...I'm starting my Sir Charles for coach lobbying effort tomorrow! And if he just says no, we go after Thiesman. Don't want no stink'n conservative coaches! Go for the jugular.

 

[ISUFan22]

Re: If not Mac then who?

This is the song that never ends.
And it goes on and on my friend.
Some people, started singing it not knowing what it was.
Then they, kept on singing it because, because, because,

This is the song that never ends...

 

[herbicide]

Re: If not Mac then who?

Didn't we have this thread last week???

btw I really want Mac to surprise us and turn this around in a big way.

Could not agree more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!