My hopes for the Chizik regime!!

**wesley_w** · 08-25-2007, 11:47 AM

Just for a little background...since 1973 I've seen every ISU home football game, several road games, and before that at least one game each year starting in 1964 (courtesy of my grandfather).

The most excited I've been till now about a new coach was at the hiring of Donnie Duncan. At that time, he was the asst head coach to Switzer at Oklahoma, and he brought some assistants with him. Earle Bruce had left us arguably his best recruiting class that year and there was talent on campus. For whatever reasons, things just didn't work out, we started each year strong but faltered at the end.

With Chizik, I have a real good feeling about what's to come. It's not just his association with top caliber teams, but the way he's prepared for this job. It seems since he was young he has studied all the things that make a team a champion. Attention to every detail. He knows exactly what he wants to accomplish and has a plan to get there.

Sorry to be so longwinded, but if you're still reading here is what I want out of our program. Play MEANINGFUL games in NOVEMBER!!
And by meaningful I don't mean trying to get to .500 to get bowl eligible. I want us to play games late in the year that will decide the North championship. We don't have to win them all the time or even often. Just be in them in with a chance to win in the fourth quarter. I think this man can get us there!!

**hursts** · 08-25-2007, 12:06 PM

I would agree. Chizik is the man the take us to the top. I would expect him to have us challenging for the North title every year and be a consistent top 25 team. One has to think that if he can't win consistently at ISU, it simply can't be done.

**cyclonelifer** · 08-25-2007, 12:09 PM

To play with swagger. Not to be cocky - but to have the attitude of a winner. To do it means;

1. Never lose at home
2. Never lose to an underdog
3. Never get blown out
4. Have an upset (or two) every year

Then all of a sudden - your swagger is the mark of a champion and people are trying to knock you off.

1970 OU came to Clyde Williams field and were lucky to avoid a major upset, winning in the last two minutes 29-28. That day, ISU (and its fans) found swagger and it would last for most of the 70s.

**ketelmeister** · 08-26-2007, 08:21 AM

Donnie Duncan had no personality..he was blaugh and couldn't motivate players. He abondoned what had made Bruce successful and tried to make Iowa State into an Oklahoma. Bruce won by playing field position football. Very conservative, force mistakes by the opponent. He was able to win games with inferior talent.Our punter was our most valuable weapon. Duncan couldn't do that. He was used to superior talent at Oklahoma and could not make the adjustment. He went down in flames. Let's hope Chizik can adjust. I believe he can.

**CyBobby** · 08-26-2007, 09:22 AM

Originally Posted by hursts

I would agree. Chizik is the man the take us to the top. I would expect him to have us challenging for the North title every year and be a consistent top 25 team. One has to think that if he can't win consistently at ISU, it simply can't be done.

I AGREE hurst, if Chizik can't get it done, FORGETABOUTIT...it can't be done by anyone!!

**Oldgeezer** · 08-26-2007, 09:34 AM

The last 5+ years of McCarney have nearly destroyed my optomism regarding Cyclone football. Every year we would hear about a great recruiting class and outstanding practice sessions, only to fall flat once the season started. I had a friend tell me yesterday, Chizik sounds just like McCarney. No proven running back and no experience in the O-line should equal 2-3 wins. Every thing else is gravy.

**clones_jer** · 08-26-2007, 09:45 AM

I hope Chizik gets the opportunity to build. I just read a piece about the Rutgers coach that won only 2 games in his first two years - but parlayed that into the recent success the team has seen.

**gwoodclone** · 08-26-2007, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by clones_jer

I hope Chizik gets the opportunity to build. I just read a piece about the Rutgers coach that won only 2 games in his first two years - but parlayed that into the recent success the team has seen.

I read that too and my first thought was "In a few years, that will be us." I hope(and think)that Chizik is the right guy and big things are in ISU's future.

**darts180** · 08-26-2007, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by CyBobby

I AGREE hurst, if Chizik can't get it done, FORGETABOUTIT...it can't be done by anyone!!

You can't give up, ever. I think Gene will get it going, but if somehow it doesn't happen, then we have to believe that the next coach will get it done, or the next coach, or the next coach........whatever it takes.

**gwoodclone** · 08-26-2007, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by darts180

You can't give up, ever. I think Gene will get it going, but if somehow it doesn't happen, then we have to believe that the next coach will get it done, or the next coach, or the next coach........whatever it takes.

Darts, I agree with you on this one. This is Chizik's first head coaching job, so we really have no idea what he will do.

**darts180** · 08-26-2007, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by gwoodclone

Darts, I agree with you on this one. This is Chizik's first head coaching job, so we really have no idea what he will do.

The difference is that we knew what we had with the previous coach, and that the results were pretty predictable. It came time where people allowed themselves to figure out that, in spite of what we were told REPEATEDLY, that there is no reason that you shouldn't be able to win here.

But it is Gene's first job, and there will be some growing pains. He isn't going to be Knute Rockne out of the chute, and he will make mistakes. My hope is that he will learn from them, and after he loses a game due to a bad decision, he won't make the same mistake again (unlike you know who).

See it was never the w/l record that turned me against Dan McCarney, it was the way the he lost games, and continued to make the same mistakes over and over.

**gwoodclone** · 08-26-2007, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by darts180

See it was never the w/l record that turned me against Dan McCarney, it was the way the he lost games, and continued to make the same mistakes over and over.

Yup. That was the same way with me. As an Iowa State fan, he was the only coach I had ever known, so I think I was a little too accepting of his mistakes and faults. Once he was gone, I realized just how badly ISU needed a change.

**SouthCyder** · 08-26-2007, 02:59 PM

It may take Chizik a few years to get it going, just like Greg Schiano at Rutgers, but I have a feeling he's going to get us moving in the right direction in a hurry. That's not say it will show in the win/loss columns, but it will certainly start to show.

35,000+ season tickets is one thing right there. The hiring of Chizik can be directly correlated to that, otherwise we would have sold more last year. Money is coming into the school in all areas, so thats good too.

I don't think Chizik's first few years will be as bad as Schiano's. There is a lot of potential in these players that other coaches may not have been able to bring out. With Gene's style and philosophy's I really think the sky is the limit for our team in the future. It all starts Thursday, so sit back, relax and strap it down! It's gonna be fun.