I know there is already a “Grant Mahoney†thread on this issue but to me I see the issue as way bigger than Grant Mahoney. From the Dan McCarney era to present, we have never been able to field a reliable/consistent kicker. I know all these kids are giving their best effort, so I am sorry to criticize the kids - heck Grant Mahoney is possibly the best kicker we have had during this timeframe.
As a fan, it is just unbelievably frustrating that since the early 1990’s field goal kicking has been a complete adventure for ISU. Put it this way – when the play by play announcer Saturday night called the field goal kick inside the red zone a “chip shotâ€, my wife’s comment was, “well this guy has apparently never seen us play before…….â€
I know there are different schools of thought on this issue, but to me Iowa State is many times going to have to scrap and claw against the tough competition in the Big 12 and many times it will come down to a long field goal to stay in the game. My thinking is that ISU needs to put a high degree of priority on recruiting/developing an excellent kicker(s). I personally wish the coaching staff would put field goal kicking as a VERY high priority position.
The other school of thought is why burn scholarships on kickers, which I think was Dan McCarney’s philosophy (which gave us Shaggy and we all know how well that worked out). If this philosophy is used, then you sure as heck don’t attempt long field goals and you instead play field position football and let your defense try to get the ball back. You also throw in a lot more fake field goals and you go for it a whole lot more on fourth down when you are inside the fifty yard line.
I guess what frustrates me is that it seems to me that ISU has employed some hybrid of these two philosophies where we don’t put much priority on recruiting/developing good kickers yet we still roll them out there and ask them to make field goals that they haven’t shown that they are able to make consistently. I guess I would like to know what CPR’s philosophy on this is, going forward. Sorry, I am just a shell shocked fan with no degree of confidence that we will make any field goal from any spot on the field given our recent history.
As a fan, it is just unbelievably frustrating that since the early 1990’s field goal kicking has been a complete adventure for ISU. Put it this way – when the play by play announcer Saturday night called the field goal kick inside the red zone a “chip shotâ€, my wife’s comment was, “well this guy has apparently never seen us play before…….â€
I know there are different schools of thought on this issue, but to me Iowa State is many times going to have to scrap and claw against the tough competition in the Big 12 and many times it will come down to a long field goal to stay in the game. My thinking is that ISU needs to put a high degree of priority on recruiting/developing an excellent kicker(s). I personally wish the coaching staff would put field goal kicking as a VERY high priority position.
The other school of thought is why burn scholarships on kickers, which I think was Dan McCarney’s philosophy (which gave us Shaggy and we all know how well that worked out). If this philosophy is used, then you sure as heck don’t attempt long field goals and you instead play field position football and let your defense try to get the ball back. You also throw in a lot more fake field goals and you go for it a whole lot more on fourth down when you are inside the fifty yard line.
I guess what frustrates me is that it seems to me that ISU has employed some hybrid of these two philosophies where we don’t put much priority on recruiting/developing good kickers yet we still roll them out there and ask them to make field goals that they haven’t shown that they are able to make consistently. I guess I would like to know what CPR’s philosophy on this is, going forward. Sorry, I am just a shell shocked fan with no degree of confidence that we will make any field goal from any spot on the field given our recent history.
