2004: Altman to ISU?

**cycloneworld** · 03-27-2007, 07:42 AM

I know some people hate rehashing the past but I heard something VERY interesting while flipping through the dial on the way home from work yesterday. I caught about 5 minutes of Marty & Miller (side note: my head didn't explode and I actually enjoyed listening to them...I'll probably give them another shot. That is until I can't stand Marty's voice anymore) and they were talking about the Iowa coaching search and Dana Altman.

Miller said that he KNEW FOR A FACT that Dana Altman expressed interest in and would have taken the Iowa State job "in a second" had it been offered back in 2004...and Wayne actually got the job.

He also said that because there was a search committee, BVDV did not even give Altman a real look.

Why was this? I know a bunch of people wanted Altman back then and it sounds like he would have accepted the job but wasn't even seriously considered.

**brianhos** · 03-27-2007, 07:44 AM

BVDV was a horrible AD, but Marty sets the bar for horrible radio host. Who can believe anything he has to say, he always has a "source" and has never been correct on any of his "sure things."

Take anything he says as exactly the opposite of what will happen.

**pulse** · 03-27-2007, 07:51 AM

So what. I was ecstatic that we didn't hire Altman. It was worth going through the Wayne years. Altman would have been like Alford, done okay enough to hang on, and then 8 years later we'd be saying 'enough we just wasted 8 years!' Instead we bit the bullet for only a few years.

**cycloneworld** · 03-27-2007, 08:03 AM

Originally Posted by brianhos

BVDV was a horrible AD, but Marty sets the bar for horrible radio host. Who can believe anything he has to say, he always has a "source" and has never been correct on any of his "sure things."

Take anything he says as exactly the opposite of what will happen.

It was Ken Miller who said this. And he said he "knew it went down" like that.

**cycloneworld** · 03-27-2007, 08:05 AM

Originally Posted by pulse

So what. I was ecstatic that we didn't hire Altman. It was worth going through the Wayne years. Altman would have been like Alford, done okay enough to hang on, and then 8 years later we'd be saying 'enough we just wasted 8 years!' Instead we bit the bullet for only a few years.

No offense but how do you know that?

**Cybone** · 03-27-2007, 08:14 AM

I was under the impression that Morgan got the job due to pressure from the players we had at that time and the recruiting class we had coming in. Didn't several players threaten or at least hint they were going to walk if Morgan didn't get the job?

I maybe, or even probably, wrong......but that is my recollection.

**Cyclone62** · 03-27-2007, 08:16 AM

Originally Posted by Cybone

I was under the impression that Morgan got the job due to pressure from the players we had at that time and the recruiting class we had coming in. Didn't several players threaten or at least hint they were going to walk if Morgan didn't get the job?

I maybe, or even probably, wrong......but that is my recollection.

Actually, I think you hit the nail on the head.

**ISUFan22** · 03-27-2007, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by Cybone

I was under the impression that Morgan got the job due to pressure from the players we had at that time and the recruiting class we had coming in. Didn't several players threaten or at least hint they were going to walk if Morgan didn't get the job?

I maybe, or even probably, wrong......but that is my recollection.

Right, that's how I understand it as well. BVD let the players decide the future of the program by first trying to hire a coach with the stipulation that Wayne Morgan had to stay. That clearly failed, so Wayne got the job.

Also, I swear I recall Altman making some sort of release that he wasn't interested in the ISU job. From what I understand he was contacted and such - yet didn't like the fact a member of his staff would be force on him - much like any other coach ISU went after.

M&M could be right, yet my recollection of history is much different than theirs.

**psycln11** · 03-27-2007, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by Cybone

I was under the impression that Morgan got the job due to pressure from the players we had at that time and the recruiting class we had coming in. Didn't several players threaten or at least hint they were going to walk if Morgan didn't get the job?

I maybe, or even probably, wrong......but that is my recollection.

Those same players didn't save Wayne's job 3 years later. Instead, they announced that they were going to bail on him and turn pro the day before Wayne got fired.

**pulse** · 03-27-2007, 08:34 AM

Originally Posted by cycloneworld

No offense but how do you know that?

I know everything. I'm sure you've seen me on TV.

**cycloneworld** · 03-27-2007, 08:41 AM

Originally Posted by pulse

I know everything. I'm sure you've seen me on TV.

That makes sense then.

**DaddyMac** · 03-27-2007, 08:42 AM

I think Jon Miller had it a little more accurate on Friday. There's a belief that Altman was interested in the job at ISU (and most likely the iowa job as well). But he's the hot commodity at the time and isn't going to damage that by taking the chance of being turned down. So he floats it quietly that he has interest, BVD goes the "search process" route and Altman bails. I think Jon was under the impression that it'll be the same drill this time around. Either interview and offer almost immediately, or Altman stays put at Creighton.

He's probably right. But if iowa can't lure Altman, this could get a little ugly for them ala the Morgan hiring. His article over the weekend laid it out near perfect, the troubles they could be in for. iowa has a track record of running off successful coaches, and being unbearable to coaches who aren't up to playing under-par. A proven coach has to ask himself "why go there and risk that, when I have it good here". That means Bruce Pearl, in particular.

BTW, I don't think in the end Wayne got hired because of the demands of the players, but rather that we got turned down a half a dozen other times. One of those reasons - reportedly - was that there was a stipulation that the new coach retain Morgan. But it's not quite right to say he was hired because of the players. More accurate to say he's all that was left, quite possibly because of the players and BVD.....

**cycloneworld** · 03-27-2007, 08:44 AM

Originally Posted by ISUFan22

Right, that's how I understand it as well. BVD let the players decide the future of the program by first trying to hire a coach with the stipulation that Wayne Morgan had to stay. That clearly failed, so Wayne got the job.

Also, I swear I recall Altman making some sort of release that he wasn't interested in the ISU job. From what I understand he was contacted and such - yet didn't like the fact a member of his staff would be force on him - much like any other coach ISU went after.

M&M could be right, yet my recollection of history is much different than theirs.

Did Bruce do ANYTHING right in that search? I mean seriously...he publicly let 2 or 3 different mid-major coaches turn us down in the media. He let the players make demands...wow, just wow.

Coaches make those "I'm not interested" releases when they know they aren't getting the job...see the Jeter situation. He wanted the job, wasn't going to get it, so he saves face by saying he wasn't interested.

That being said, I don't know how Miller knows this (if he actually does), but he sounded so confident and not just grasping at straws.

**JRE1975** · 03-27-2007, 08:45 AM

I recall with players leaving, recruits not coming in, and the time of year you were limited on the number of recruits you could bring in each year. I remember some of the dicussions centered around that it could take a coach coming in up to 4 years to build a full roster of players based on where everything was at at the time if players and recruits left. The NCAA did change this old 5/3 rule or something.

That had a lot to do with the lack of interest and the need to keep Wayne around even as an assistant.