"Paul Rhodes is a good football coach"

[mikem]

Dan McCarney punts on that 4th and 6 inches from our own 20 with five minutes left... EVERY TIME.

That alone is a coaching upgrade over the previous 10-15 year period. As much as he did for ISU, we were the most conservative team on Earth those years, conservative when it was just stupid at times.

Anyone who thinks this staff is a step back from Chiz's staff should have their head examined.

Actually the scary part about that call is how little faith he has in his defense.

This group plays weakly, and they still do not tackle well (that goes way back to Mac). As long as I never hear that they count on high school coaches to teach the fundamentals, I will believe that that will get better.

It is a process building a program. This group is not going to stop anyone this year, so it will be a frustrating year.

I just want to see evidence that they are being coached, I will be happy.

[bhutch65]

Are we sure he is getting better players than what we have now? This recruiting class makes me want to look away from my computer screen. Our player development will need to be off the charts good if he plans to keep recruiting players virtually no one else wants.

Again, sorry for the timing of this post but I heard it a lot today and I'm just thinking out loud.

Spooner = Hawk troll. He claims to be a Cyclone but is first a Hawk. Anybody who reads anything he posts is in danger of getting sucked into his hawkness. I would suggest not reading anything he posts, because he is hawk first and, therefore, smarter than you. If you do read, please ask he go back to his hawk boards. Thanks.

[ISUAlum2002]

Actually the scary part about that call is how little faith he has in his defense.

True, but the point is that CPR actually recognized that the defense wasn't stopping anyone yesterday and acted appropriately in response to it. Mac either never recognized it or never wanted to believe it, and his perpetual faith in his defense most assuredly cost us games along the way.

I trust the coaching staff, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The turnaround they made from 2008 to 2009 was amazing. This year, the progression of that rebuilding of the defense took a step back due to the losses from last year's defense, and our lack of depth at D-line and LB. If we can hold this staff together, I think they'll do good things. I just don't think it'll happen this year.

[Wesley]

Did you sleep through last season? This year we replace most of our defense and our two best OLmen. What's to figure out? Oh and we are in the same position we were last year. Beat first non-conference foe, blown out by Iowa and close loss to KSU and like last year. We will need to go 3-1 in non-conference, beat CU and KU and upset somebody again this year.

After watching Utah, they will be one tough hombre. We need to hope for rain and mud.

[Wesley]

Actually the scary part about that call is how little faith he has in his defense.

This group plays weakly, and they still do not tackle well (that goes way back to Mac). As long as I never hear that they count on high school coaches to teach the fundamentals, I will believe that that will get better.

It is a process building a program. This group is not going to stop anyone this year, so it will be a frustrating year.

I just want to see evidence that they are being coached, I will be happy.

Many of our tackling efforts see us bounce off bigger people and we do not wrap up. Sims is by far our most sure tackler.

[HFCS]

Actually the scary part about that call is how little faith he has in his defense.

Wrong... and symptomatic of the generally flawed tough-guy-defense-first attitude that is so common among all football fans of every team.

Punting and a 3-and-out costs you around two minutes of clock or timeouts to hopefully get the ball back exactly where you have it, possibly further back. Even a great defense could give up just 11 yards and one first down and cost you 3-4 minutes... almost the entire remaining game just from giving up 11 yards.

Sneaking the ball 6 inches behind a line that had been winning the battle for most of the day with a tank of a QB was the high % play in that situation even if we had the '85 Bears defense. Punting from that field position with 5 minutes left needing a TD was the much, much lower % play regardless of how well our defense was playing.

Dan's staffs never realized that and it was pretty stupid. It has nothing to do with "faith in your defense" and everything to due with percentages and clock management.

I prefer watching these teams so far because someone, who knows if it's Rhoads or Herman, understands these basic percentages rationally instead of reverting to some kind of pride-driven irrational faith in the defense giving them back the ball with one minute left instead of 5.

[mcblogerson]

Listen dumb-dumb Spooner. You asked the question "is Paul Rhodes (I'm assuming Rhoads) a good football coach?"

The answer is, it's too early to tell but what we know is he took a team that a nationally respected now coach Chizik could only win 5 games with in 2 years, and he won 7 including a bowl win.

Yeah the Nebraska win was lucky, but it is still a win. Yeah we got rocked by Iowa (who's really good despite losing on the road to a ranked team). He had a solid game plan against an equal opponent on the rode (oops, I mean road) and it didn't come up ISU at the end.

The fact is this team is young on defense, has a running qb, and no deep threat receiver. Give it a couple more years, and ask the question.

So to wrap up, the answer to your question is, YOU ASK DUMB QUESTIONS

[mikem]

Wrong... and symptomatic of the generally flawed tough-guy-defense-first attitude that is so common among all football fans of every team.

Punting and a 3-and-out costs you around two minutes of clock or timeouts to hopefully get the ball back exactly where you have it, possibly further back. Even a great defense could give up just 11 yards and one first down and cost you 3-4 minutes... almost the entire remaining game just from giving up 11 yards.

Sneaking the ball 6 inches behind a line that had been winning the battle for most of the day with a tank of a QB was the high % play in that situation even if we had the '85 Bears defense. Punting from that field position with 5 minutes left needing a TD was the much, much lower % play regardless of how well our defense was playing.

Dan's staffs never realized that and it was pretty stupid. It has nothing to do with "faith in your defense" and everything to due with percentages and clock management.

I prefer watching these teams so far because someone, who knows if it's Rhoads or Herman, understands these basic percentages rationally instead of reverting to some kind of pride-driven irrational faith in the defense giving them back the ball with one minute left instead of 5.

The fact that he felt he had no choice with that much time left, and three timeouts is pretty much admitting that I know that I won't get the ball back.

If they build a good defense here in 2-4 years, I would venture a guess that you will never see that decision again.

I agree with your premise on Mac, he stood there praying for the clock to run out before the other team scored enough points to over take us. I think that it all stemmed from the beatings that he took the first 5 years, he reverted back to survival mode.

[Tre4ISU]

The fact that he felt he had no choice with that much time left, and three timeouts is pretty much admitting that I know that I won't get the ball back.

If they build a good defense here in 2-4 years, I would venture a guess that you will never see that decision again.

I agree with your premise on Mac, he stood there praying for the clock to run out before the other team scored enough points to over take us. I think that it all stemmed from the beatings that he took the first 5 years, he reverted back to survival mode.

You don't punt from there with only 6 inches and a 230 lb QB in that situation. That is a 90% success rate. I don't care how good your defense is.

[yoteforever]

You don't punt from there with only 6 inches and a 230 lb QB in that situation. That is a 90% success rate. I don't care how good your defense is.

Once again I am amazed at the lack of "depth" Iowa State fans for the Cyclones. They have lost (2) games and the vast majority of you are ready to throw Coach Rhoads under the bus. You all make me sick to my stomach.

Counting Coach Chizik's era, this is only the 4th year removed from Coach Mac. I have to tell you and admit to you that I loved Coach Mac from this perspective. #1, he was a Cyclone through and through. He was maybe the greatest ambassador this school ever had. #2, Mac had intenisity that I feel could only be matched by a select few. When his jaw was set, he was THE MAN. Now as much as I loved him, his teams eroded and eroded fast. I believe AD Pollard had no choice but to replace him. So now we get Coach Chizik, and if we are candid with one another, he appeared to be a great hire. No one could possibly know he would be a sellout, and I guaranty you no one could have predicted Auburn take a 5-19 coach away from us. But they did, and the reason they did was because Chizik is a good coach. Period.

Now enter Coach Rhoads. He LOVES Iowa State from the tips of his toes to the end of his nose. He reminds me of Mac in that regard. He is an awesome ambassador, everyone loves him, and he comes here with great credentials. But there is one fact you can't change, and that is the pool of talent available to this staff is extremely limited. EXTREMELY. Coach Chiz got a few quality kids, and Coach Rhoads is working on it, but the reality of it is Mac left the cupboard bare and we haven't had time o replenish it yet. CPR goes 6-6 last year, takes us to a bowl, and we get a win on top of it. Quality bowl? Not really, but a bowl nonetheless. And a frickin WIN on top of it.

But here we are 3 games into the season, and the threads have already started about whether Coach Rhoads is a good coach? 3 months ago, he would have won the governorship if only Ames voted, now he is crap? For Gods sake, pull your heads out of your a$$es. CPR is in my opinion a good coach, but if you want to watch Magic, go to Vegas. This man and his staff needs time. Thet are not deep in talent. They are recruiting well, better than we've had before, but freshman and sophomores don't win games.

You also may not like AA for QB, and quite frankly I never have been impressed totally, but I am not a QB coach, so I know that he is our QB and we have to win with him. When the fan base turns on a player, they feel it, and the cofidence level drops. When a player feels like the fans have faith, most generally they respond accordingly.

My guess is that the vasy majority of posters on here that are negative and fair weather have not played alot of organized sports in their past. They have no clue what price you have to pay to succeed. They have no clue what price you pay in the off season to succeed. They just sit and cry and blame others.

I said it this summer and I will say it again. The majority of ISU fans don't deserve a winner, but the athletes do. And those same athletes deserve our appreciation and support to back them no matter what. And the same can be said of Coach Rhoads. He deserves our support.

Wake the hell up and have a dose of reality. My guess is by November 28th you will also be asking for Coach Hoibergs head as well.

[Bigguns]

Maybe I should start putting people on my ignore list more often.

Is there really an ignore list? If so, how do you use it?

[Cyclonefarmer]

Once again I am amazed at the lack of "depth" Iowa State fans for the Cyclones. They have lost (2) games and the vast majority of you are ready to throw Coach Rhoads under the bus. You all make me sick to my stomach.

Counting Coach Chizik's era, this is only the 4th year removed from Coach Mac. I have to tell you and admit to you that I loved Coach Mac from this perspective. #1, he was a Cyclone through and through. He was maybe the greatest ambassador this school ever had. #2, Mac had intenisity that I feel could only be matched by a select few. When his jaw was set, he was THE MAN. Now as much as I loved him, his teams eroded and eroded fast. I believe AD Pollard had no choice but to replace him. So now we get Coach Chizik, and if we are candid with one another, he appeared to be a great hire. No one could possibly know he would be a sellout, and I guaranty you no one could have predicted Auburn take a 5-19 coach away from us. But they did, and the reason they did was because Chizik is a good coach. Period.

Now enter Coach Rhoads. He LOVES Iowa State from the tips of his toes to the end of his nose. He reminds me of Mac in that regard. He is an awesome ambassador, everyone loves him, and he comes here with great credentials. But there is one fact you can't change, and that is the pool of talent available to this staff is extremely limited. EXTREMELY. Coach Chiz got a few quality kids, and Coach Rhoads is working on it, but the reality of it is Mac left the cupboard bare and we haven't had time o replenish it yet. CPR goes 6-6 last year, takes us to a bowl, and we get a win on top of it. Quality bowl? Not really, but a bowl nonetheless. And a frickin WIN on top of it.

But here we are 3 games into the season, and the threads have already started about whether Coach Rhoads is a good coach? 3 months ago, he would have won the governorship if only Ames voted, now he is crap? For Gods sake, pull your heads out of your a$$es. CPR is in my opinion a good coach, but if you want to watch Magic, go to Vegas. This man and his staff needs time. Thet are not deep in talent. They are recruiting well, better than we've had before, but freshman and sophomores don't win games.

You also may not like AA for QB, and quite frankly I never have been impressed totally, but I am not a QB coach, so I know that he is our QB and we have to win with him. When the fan base turns on a player, they feel it, and the cofidence level drops. When a player feels like the fans have faith, most generally they respond accordingly.

My guess is that the vasy majority of posters on here that are negative and fair weather have not played alot of organized sports in their past. They have no clue what price you have to pay to succeed. They have no clue what price you pay in the off season to succeed. They just sit and cry and blame others.

I said it this summer and I will say it again. The majority of ISU fans don't deserve a winner, but the athletes do. And those same athletes deserve our appreciation and support to back them no matter what. And the same can be said of Coach Rhoads. He deserves our support.

Wake the hell up and have a dose of reality. My guess is by November 28th you will also be asking for Coach Hoibergs head as well.

You summed up my reaction almost perfectly.

[Yes13]

Once again I am amazed at the lack of "depth" Iowa State fans for the Cyclones. They have lost (2) games and the vast majority of you are ready to throw Coach Rhoads under the bus. You all make me sick to my stomach.

Counting Coach Chizik's era, this is only the 4th year removed from Coach Mac. I have to tell you and admit to you that I loved Coach Mac from this perspective. #1, he was a Cyclone through and through. He was maybe the greatest ambassador this school ever had. #2, Mac had intenisity that I feel could only be matched by a select few. When his jaw was set, he was THE MAN. Now as much as I loved him, his teams eroded and eroded fast. I believe AD Pollard had no choice but to replace him. So now we get Coach Chizik, and if we are candid with one another, he appeared to be a great hire. No one could possibly know he would be a sellout, and I guaranty you no one could have predicted Auburn take a 5-19 coach away from us. But they did, and the reason they did was because Chizik is a good coach. Period.

Now enter Coach Rhoads. He LOVES Iowa State from the tips of his toes to the end of his nose. He reminds me of Mac in that regard. He is an awesome ambassador, everyone loves him, and he comes here with great credentials. But there is one fact you can't change, and that is the pool of talent available to this staff is extremely limited. EXTREMELY. Coach Chiz got a few quality kids, and Coach Rhoads is working on it, but the reality of it is Mac left the cupboard bare and we haven't had time o replenish it yet. CPR goes 6-6 last year, takes us to a bowl, and we get a win on top of it. Quality bowl? Not really, but a bowl nonetheless. And a frickin WIN on top of it.

But here we are 3 games into the season, and the threads have already started about whether Coach Rhoads is a good coach? 3 months ago, he would have won the governorship if only Ames voted, now he is crap? For Gods sake, pull your heads out of your a$$es. CPR is in my opinion a good coach, but if you want to watch Magic, go to Vegas. This man and his staff needs time. Thet are not deep in talent. They are recruiting well, better than we've had before, but freshman and sophomores don't win games.

You also may not like AA for QB, and quite frankly I never have been impressed totally, but I am not a QB coach, so I know that he is our QB and we have to win with him. When the fan base turns on a player, they feel it, and the cofidence level drops. When a player feels like the fans have faith, most generally they respond accordingly.

My guess is that the vasy majority of posters on here that are negative and fair weather have not played alot of organized sports in their past. They have no clue what price you have to pay to succeed. They have no clue what price you pay in the off season to succeed. They just sit and cry and blame others.

I said it this summer and I will say it again. The majority of ISU fans don't deserve a winner, but the athletes do. And those same athletes deserve our appreciation and support to back them no matter what. And the same can be said of Coach Rhoads. He deserves our support.

Wake the hell up and have a dose of reality. My guess is by November 28th you will also be asking for Coach Hoibergs head as well.

You should read this thread over. Only one person has turned on Rhoads. 1 person is not a vast majority. I guarantee you Rhoads has a 99.9999% approval rating, the other .0001% like to lose.

This whole thread was basically telling the OP how dumb he/this thread is. I hope the OP was just playing Devil's Advocate. Then it turned into an interesting Rhoads/McCarney similarities/differences thread.

You should send that reply to anyone that turns on Rhoads this or next year.

[temperflare]

This is year freaking 2! No, its the START of year freaking 2!

Teams like Michigan, Nebraska, etc. all have TALENT FAR SUPERIOR TO OURS and if they go from being year-in/year-out ranked and bowl teams to not even being bowl eligible their fans actually have something to ***** about given the talent they have when new coaches take over. It's taken Michigan 3 years just to get to where they look like they might have a clue. It took Nebraska getting a new head coach and about 5 years of a non-typical W/L record. We don't have the tradition, the finances, the facilities, nor the fan support those two schools have.

We will get there and it will probably take more time to do so.

Just shut up already.

[Clonegrad07]

I'm disappointed in you guys.... our leader has two bad games in a row and you're talking about how he's not the right guy? Come on....