Originally Posted by cyclone#1 
...how critically important it is to hire the right
FB coach!
Leavitt was hired in 1996 by USF. They fielded their first team in 1997. Their first year playing D-I was 2001. Today (2007) they are a BCS bowl contender (even after the loss last night). Leavitt has won over 60% of the games he has coached at USF during his time there.
ISU hired a new coach in 1995 (roughly the same time as USF did). Our football program has been around for a 100 years and we have been a member of a major conference for nearly that entire time. Today we are generally recognized as being one of the worst teams in D-I and have never sniffed at the BCS. The coach we hired in 95 lost over 60% of the games he coached for
ISU during his time here.
I submit to you that the right coach makes all the difference in the world. Anyone who thinks it can't be done in Ames should look at USF (and not just because of McCarney) and see what they have done in a very short period of time with far less resources than
ISU has. Or look at what happened at K-State in the early 90s where they had far more to overcome than
ISU does right now.
I sincerely hope that Chizik is the man to put us on the CFB map! GO CYCLONES!!
I guess to me you kind of have conflicting points here...sure Leavitt has won 60% of his games, but only 50% of those have been at the D1 level...so it's kind of hard to compare the two situations.
