From an outsiders perspective, y'all need to end the Rhoads era and get a fresh start.
I think one of the keys to being a successful college football program is a passionate fan base who; shows up, creates an atmosphere that 18-22 year old kids want to be around and cares. I believe Iowa State has all of that. Sure, you can have success without it(Baylor and TCU) but its easier to build when you have buy-in from the fans even when you aren't good.
No one wants an outsider to hash through all the obstacles at their program so I'll skip over that part, but I think y'all seem to have a good grasp on what they are.
An identity. Something. And then that something to build off of. Something people can rely on for ISU to have established pretty much every year.
I had a much longer write up, but I'll just leave it at that, because I don't recall a time when it's happened.
This. Finding an identity is the key for a non-blue blood program. Just look around the Big 12;
KSU - Snyderball, take unheralded kids and teach them to maintain the highest levels of discipline.
Tech - Airraid, take less talented athletes and put them out in space to make plays.
Baylor - Trackball, take a bunch of track stars, put pads on them and just throw it deep every other play.
TCU - 4-2-5, take 3* athletes from the Texas Metroplex and put them on defense
A&M - Manziel, find one special player to turn it all around
Seemed like ISU was on the path to become a LB U with Knott and Klein which would have been an identity you could build a program around, but it just never came together like that.
As many have mentioned in this thread I think ISU's best bet is a Snyderball approach. Slow the game down, keep it simple, be the most disciplined team, find that one special player and build an identity.