Schlabach: ISU heading in wrong direction

[Tre4ISU]

Coach Rhoads has done NOTHING to prove he is a top tier coach like the post I quoted said (the point I was trying to make...sorry..was in a hurry to post since I was leaving work and didn't specify). Top tier coach is something that is earned, and Coach Rhoads hasn't done anything to prove he is anything close to top tier. Average? Yes. Top tier? Not even remotely close.

I would agree with that but in terms of ISU, he has proven he's a top tier coach. No one has done what he's done here. There's a few things that make me believe that maybe if he can't get it done here, no one can.

First, it's his passion to be here. I believe that's contagious and I think we have seen it in the players. These guys love playing for him because he cares. I know every coach cares, but it just seems different. We get some crap because of his emotion. Nick Saban is a CEO. He is there for business. CPR is too, but he just shows all of this emotion and I think the players love that out of him. I think it's the type of thing you need to get a little edge on teams that have more talent than you.

Second, he was a coordinator for quite a while at a high level. I don't even really care all that much how good of a coordinator he was because he isn't doing that anymore. He is managing basically. He put Wally where he needs to be. Herman has yet to prove himself but I think the offense will come around. The guys knows the business.

Am I going to quit going to games or quit donating if he leaves? No, I will still find reason to be optimistic, but IMO, we will find capable guys who really want to be here about once in every 20 years.

 

[bluestarcyclone]

No one has done what he's done here.

I wouldnt say that. He's had a couple good games (NU09\UT10), but he hasnt gotten to the levels McCarney did yet (2 bowl wins, a 9 win season, 5 straight wins over iowa, and on the verge of the north title twice...even with us ******* that chance away and with a weak north, that's still better than what rhoads has done). You can also go farther back into the 70s and see Earle Bruce had 3 8-win seasons, (the equivalent of 9 win seasons today if you add another patsy team as most did when the schedule went to 12) and 2 bowl games when bowl games really meant something..

I love Rhoads, and really hope he can be the guy, but lets not start buying statues yet.

 

[FDCy83]

I wouldnt say that. He's had a couple good games (NU09\UT10), but he hasnt gotten to the levels McCarney did yet (2 bowl wins, a 9 win season, 5 straight wins over iowa, and on the verge of the north title twice...even with us ******* that chance away and with a weak north, that's still better than what rhoads has done). You can also go farther back into the 70s and see Earle Bruce had 3 8-win seasons, (the equivalent of 9 win seasons today if you add another patsy team as most did when the schedule went to 12) and 2 bowl games when bowl games really meant something..

I love Rhoads, and really hope he can be the guy, but lets not start buying statues yet.

I am not ready to buy a statue yet, but Rhoads is in year 3. He is 12-13. What was Mac's record after year 2 (5-17)? What about Bruces' record after year 2 (8-14)? To try and compare rhoads first 2 years with the best years of the other coaches is apples and oranges. I hope in years to come, we will have 9 win seasons or more under Rhoads.

 

[bluestarcyclone]

I am not ready to buy a statue yet, but Rhoads is in year 3. He is 12-13. What was Mac's record after year 2? What about Bruces' record after year 2. To try and compare rhoads first 2 years with the best years of the other coaches is apples and oranges. I hope in years to come, we will have 9 win seasons or more under Rhoads.

I'll grant you that, but he said 'no one has done what he's done here'. That is false.

Also, itd be a bit much to compare McCarney's first few years to Rhoads in terms of what they inherited. Things werent ideal for Rhoads but McCarney inherited a disaster. Bruce had 4-7 for the first 3 years... about equiv to 5-7s

 

[00clone]

I'll grant you that, but he said 'no one has done what he's done here'. That is false.

Also, itd be a bit much to compare McCarney's first few years to Rhoads in terms of what they inherited. Things werent ideal for Rhoads but McCarney inherited a disaster. Bruce had 4-7 for the first 3 years... about equiv to 5-7s

Well, now...did McCarney or Bruce ever get ranked #91 on CBSsports.com's countdown of the 2011 season's 100 most influential players, coaches, administrators, venues, or any other related things in college football?

I think not.

I think what gets me excited about CPR and current ISU football situation is: Bowl game first season, after a 2-10 season the year before, upgrades to the facilities, an undeniably passionate coach, and a few 'holy crap' wins.

Do I think it's all roses? Heck no, we got creamed a lot last year. We didn't make a bowl, even though we had several chances to get over the hump.

Have we 'arrived'? No, and I'm not completely sure we're on the road, that gets proven every year. Last year, we had some trips into the ditch. But I do feel more optimistic after year 2 of CPR than I did after year 2 of commemorative coin boy. But hey, he won a national championship...my point is that I think CPR might be the right coach for us right now.

 

[Tre4ISU]

I'll grant you that, but he said 'no one has done what he's done here'. That is false.

Also, itd be a bit much to compare McCarney's first few years to Rhoads in terms of what they inherited. Things werent ideal for Rhoads but McCarney inherited a disaster. Bruce had 4-7 for the first 3 years... about equiv to 5-7s

I meant in his first two years compared to everyone else's first two years. Of course he hasn't gotten to where McCarney had us at one point.

 

[cyclone87]

The direction the program is going is all relative to the period of time you are considering, if you are looking over the past 5-8 years then yes the program has been trending downward, however i think it would be hard for anyone to argue that Rhoads doesn't have the program headed in a positive direction since he took over. How many Iowa State head coaches have won 7 games in their first season?

 

[CloneState1028]

I think those 5 classifications are kind of stupid. You can't have had recent success and be trending upward? Or not have had recent success and be trending upward? Not sure I get that.

 

[TheCaptain]

Tough crowd.Thats why I dont post much but I feel I need to say some things about this.
I've been IN the program for almost 20 years now.I played through some of the worst ever....yet still come back to help whenever possible.
Sure ...there have been lots of ups and downs(mostly downs) but you need to look at the big picture.
When talking about the general direction of a program you cant just look at wins-losses or # of stars on recruits.
I'm not gonna claim that CPR is the greatest coach in college football.He's not.I've been around hundreds. But you know what? CPR is pretty damn good and a perfect fit for ISU.
The direction of the program is definitely moving upwards. Not as fast as most would like but this is a tough business.You gotta walk before you can run.Baby steps, that is what is going on.
The overall team speed has vastly improved.The best I've seen in the last 20 years.
The overall team(program) depth of quality athlete(player) has drastically improved from 3-4 years ago.
Most importantly...the attitude within the program is at an all-time high.
That is from the top,CPR, all the way down to the walk-ons,trainers,ect.

Take it from someone who has been around. The football program IS on the way up.
It may not be as fast as some of you like. Hang in there.

 

[Istate]

Tough crowd.Thats why I dont post much but I feel I need to say some things about this.
I've been IN the program for almost 20 years now.I played through some of the worst ever....yet still come back to help whenever possible.
Sure ...there have been lots of ups and downs(mostly downs) but you need to look at the big picture.
When talking about the general direction of a program you cant just look at wins-losses or # of stars on recruits.
I'm not gonna claim that CPR is the greatest coach in college football.He's not.I've been around hundreds. But you know what? CPR is pretty damn good and a perfect fit for ISU.
The direction of the program is definitely moving upwards. Not as fast as most would like but this is a tough business.You gotta walk before you can run.Baby steps, that is what is going on.
The overall team speed has vastly improved.The best I've seen in the last 20 years.
The overall team(program) depth of quality athlete(player) has drastically improved from 3-4 years ago.
Most importantly...the attitude within the program is at an all-time high.
That is from the top,CPR, all the way down to the walk-ons,trainers,ect.

Take it from someone who has been around. The football program IS on the way up.
It may not be as fast as some of you like. Hang in there.

I too think we're on the way up. I think this year will tell us a lot about if that feeling is accurate or not. We have a good combination of talent that Chizik brought in and what coach Rhoads has brought in. We have a darn good oline and as much talent in the lb'ing crew as we've had in a long time. I think the biggest concern most of us have is that making progress as a program might be seen in the product on the field, but it gets more challenging to see that improvement in the win column when looking at the talented teams we face week in and out on our schedule. This year is very important to hit that 5, maybe 6, win mark to validate what CPR has done the first two years.

 

[Yes13]

Tough crowd.Thats why I dont post much but I feel I need to say some things about this.
I've been IN the program for almost 20 years now.I played through some of the worst ever....yet still come back to help whenever possible.
Sure ...there have been lots of ups and downs(mostly downs) but you need to look at the big picture.
When talking about the general direction of a program you cant just look at wins-losses or # of stars on recruits.
I'm not gonna claim that CPR is the greatest coach in college football.He's not.I've been around hundreds. But you know what? CPR is pretty damn good and a perfect fit for ISU.
The direction of the program is definitely moving upwards. Not as fast as most would like but this is a tough business.You gotta walk before you can run.Baby steps, that is what is going on.
The overall team speed has vastly improved.The best I've seen in the last 20 years.
The overall team(program) depth of quality athlete(player) has drastically improved from 3-4 years ago.
Most importantly...the attitude within the program is at an all-time high.
That is from the top,CPR, all the way down to the walk-ons,trainers,ect.

Take it from someone who has been around. The football program IS on the way up.
It may not be as fast as some of you like. Hang in there.

We need more of this from the fans (I think there is a lot of positive vibes, but as seen in this thread it needs to improve). As long as there's a defeatist attitude in the fan base the harder it is to improve the team.

 

[00clone]

The direction of the program is definitely moving upwards. Not as fast as most would like but this is a tough business.You gotta walk before you can run.Baby steps, that is what is going on.

Take it from someone who has been around. The football program IS on the way up.
It may not be as fast as some of you like. Hang in there.

Cut the quote down for brevity, but I agree with this. I'm optimistic, but not head in the clouds. "Hang in there", I think, is the most important part. I wasn't ready for McCarney to go yet, I think he had more good he could have done. Although, at the time, I understood that once the media is calling for it, it almost has to happen. I considered it a down year, but I think he could have kept building. Obviously, some disagree, but I think once we start walking, some start to expect world record 100 meter times too soon. I don't want to lose CPR after one bad year for the next Chizik. Don't take that the wrong way, I'm not okay with losing seasons, and we shouldn't be, but that doesn't mean we should always fire the coach, that's over reacting. "Well, we had 7 wins last year, if we don't have 9, we're not progressing" is expecting too much too soon with our program. We're not playing with the easy picks, recruiting wise. We have to find diamonds in the rough. Those won't always shine.

 

[CrossCyed]

Cyclone Gridiron Club.

Boom.

 

[Rhoadhoused]

After watching the insane amount switching coaches hurts your program, I would absolutely rather ride it out with CPR even if we weren't advancing as quickly as expected. That is better than taking another 5 years to rebuild.

That being said I think we are moving forward at a great pace and am confident the program is heading in the right direction. Our teams are getting better overall every year and we are building the depth that Big 12 teams should have and need to have to be successful.

 

[cyclones500]

I agree with some fans that categories (1) and (2) probably fit (uncomfortably) more than (3).

But it's difficult to set up a ranking system like this and have it cover gray areas.

(2) would be descriptive if it were actually two different categories -- recent success but headed up or down. I don't see ISU headed down – maybe sideways.

(1) seems to describe ISU on a historic basis, but "with little success in past or future" makes no sense. It should say "isolated success in the past and few signs of changing that in the near future."

That's probably a little too long for a descriptor. But I can't agree with (1) in its entirety.

 

[cyclones500]

OK, I just checked the link, and I call B******* on this whole thing, based on one entry:

Baylor.

Baylor got a (3).

7-6 in 2010 and a stud QB.

Only winning season prior to that: 1995.

And it can't be based on a gradual climb from nothingness to mediocrity, either. The Bears have varied between 3 and 5 wins, both up and down, since 2000.

 

[Tornado man]

We need more of this from the fans (I think there is a lot of positive vibes, but as seen in this thread it needs to improve). As long as there's a defeatist attitude in the fan base the harder it is to improve the team.

Huh? It's irrelevant what the fans think. Dont elevate our importance. What matters is what's going on within the team - on the practice field, in the weight room, at coaches' meetings, on the recruiting trail, etc.
Look at Stanford - they have perhaps the most apathetic, skeptical fan base around. But they had Harbaugh.

 

[CyDude16]

Huh? It's irrelevant what the fans think. Dont elevate our importance. What matters is what's going on within the team - on the practice field, in the weight room, at coaches' meetings, on the recruiting trail, etc.
Look at Stanford - they have perhaps the most apathetic, skeptical fan base around. But they had Harbaugh.

And how was the vibe and what was going on with the team in 2006 Tornado man?

 

[Tornado man]

The attitude at the end of last season was not a positive one at all. It was one of embarrassment. Maybe it is just my perception and only mine...but after that CU game I came away from that season depressed! I had always argued we had a very difficult schedule...but we had our chances in the end and got thumped! Looked like we were not ready to play in what was our biggest game of the season because we were playing for a bowl game.

Sobering but true. This is a huge year to see where our program is heading.

 

[Tedcyclone]

Tough crowd.Thats why I dont post much but I feel I need to say some things about this.
I've been IN the program for almost 20 years now.I played through some of the worst ever....yet still come back to help whenever possible.
Sure ...there have been lots of ups and downs(mostly downs) but you need to look at the big picture.
When talking about the general direction of a program you cant just look at wins-losses or # of stars on recruits.
I'm not gonna claim that CPR is the greatest coach in college football.He's not.I've been around hundreds. But you know what? CPR is pretty damn good and a perfect fit for ISU.
The direction of the program is definitely moving upwards. Not as fast as most would like but this is a tough business.You gotta walk before you can run.Baby steps, that is what is going on.
The overall team speed has vastly improved.The best I've seen in the last 20 years.
The overall team(program) depth of quality athlete(player) has drastically improved from 3-4 years ago.
Most importantly...the attitude within the program is at an all-time high.
That is from the top,CPR, all the way down to the walk-ons,trainers,ect.

Take it from someone who has been around. The football program IS on the way up.
It may not be as fast as some of you like. Hang in there.

I think most love Rhoads and know he is doing the right things... its a tough post because i posted on the past to present not the future. Most wont argue we have sucked, since 1980, but most will also say they still have hope with Rhoads. I love ISU now because of CPR and CFH.... and CBF... win or lose... either way