Paul Rhoads on Murph and Andy right now...

**CloneState1028** · 11-24-2010, 02:49 PM

Rhoads has done literally everything we could ever hope for out of a coach in his first two seasons, yet the following still isn't where you'd expect it to be. It's time to put up or shut up as fans.

Also, Rhoads mentioned that he needs the new football office building. I hope we can get that done soon.

**d4nim4l** · 11-24-2010, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by jsb

I get the feeling that Rhoads wonders what in the hell he has to do to get that casual fan in the stands. I mean, good grief, he has won 12 games over 2 years. He's the first coach to do that ever at Iowa State. He has had several (I'd say 3) huge program-building type wins. He's shown that his brand of football is exciting and fun to watch.

12 wins in 2 years and is the first coach to do it? Maybe in his first two years as coach at ISU.

McCarney won 14 games in 2004-2005 (7 wins both seasons) and 16 games in 2000-2001 (9 wins in 2000, 7 wins in 2001).

**jsb** · 11-24-2010, 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by d4nim4l

12 wins in 2 years and is the first coach to do it? Maybe in his first two years as coach at ISU.

McCarney won 14 games in 2004-2005 (7 wins both seasons) and 16 games in 2000-2001 (9 wins in 2000, 7 wins in 2001).

Yes in his first two years.

**d4nim4l** · 11-24-2010, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by jsb

Yes in his first two years.

I'll give you that. He has done some very, very good things in his first two years ago. Especially comparing to prior coaches at ISU and to our neighbors to the east.

**Tornado man** · 11-24-2010, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by jsb

I get the feeling that Rhoads wonders what in the hell he has to do to get that casual fan in the stands. I mean, good grief, he has won 12 games over 2 years. He's the first coach to do that ever at Iowa State. He has had several (I'd say 3) huge program-building type wins. He's shown that his brand of football is exciting and fun to watch.

Well, let's talk about the "elephant in the room:" how about beating Iowa instead of being blown out by them? ISU will have more credibility with those "casual fans" when we are competitive with our biggest rival.
Next year at JTS would be a good start.

**Clone9** · 11-24-2010, 03:07 PM

It would be virtually impossible to do more than 12 wins in your first 2 years at ISU. We fired a coach, and then another one left after 5 wins in 2 years. We can argue about the talent these coaches left behind, but regardless, it is a tumultuous situation to inherit. Anything more than 12 wins would have been nothing short of miraculous. CPR clearly gets the most out of the guys in the situation he is in. No question about that.

I think that part of the problem this year, attendance-wise, were the 2 big losses to Utah and Oklahoma. I think these losses turned people off pretty bad, and they didn't come back, despite ISU playing some really great football in 2nd half of the season. If we eliminate the major blowout losses, I think the fans will respond.

But who knows....

**Clone9** · 11-24-2010, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by Tornado man

Well, let's talk about the "elephant in the room:" how about beating Iowa instead of being blown out by them? ISU will have more credibility with those "casual fans" when we are competitive with our biggest rival.
Next year at JTS would be a good start.

Yes, include Iowa in the list with Utah and Oklahoma.

We've been destroyed by them 2 years in a row now. CPR and crew need to find a way to beat these guys next year. Really, its the only thing they haven't done that we could reasonably expect.

**Tornado man** · 11-24-2010, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by Clone9

Yes, include Iowa in the list with Utah and Oklahoma.

We've been destroyed by them 2 years in a row now. CPR and crew need to find a way to beat these guys next year. Really, its the only thing they haven't done that we could reasonably expect.

To be clear, I did not expect ISU to really be competitive with Iowa in Rhoads' first two years - the talent difference has been dramatic. I was responding to the question "what do we do to get the casual fans on board?"
To get those fans to fill JTS, we have to beat the Hawks. Next year we have that chance.

**Cycsk** · 11-24-2010, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by jsb

I get the feeling that Rhoads wonders what in the hell he has to do to get that casual fan in the stands. I mean, good grief, he has won 12 games over 2 years. He's the first coach to do that ever at Iowa State. He has had several (I'd say 3) huge program-building type wins. He's shown that his brand of football is exciting and fun to watch.

Hey, I'm a huge CPR fan. But, if we are talking about the casual fan, it would help not to lose by about 120 points in two weeks just when excitement was starting to build. Also, not getting blown out by a bad Colorado team when we were poised for a bowl would have helped.

One more win and no utter embarrassments are the path to the casual fans. Now, whether they are really worth it or not is another story.

Those of us who know how hard (and well) these coaches build game plans know that sometimes it really works well and sometimes it doesn't, especially when the other teams have bye weeks and we don't. That really drives up my interest and support, but probably not for most casual fans.

**jsb** · 11-24-2010, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by Tornado man

Well, let's talk about the "elephant in the room:" how about beating Iowa instead of being blown out by them? ISU will have more credibility with those "casual fans" when we are competitive with our biggest rival.
Next year at JTS would be a good start.

Anyone who is withholding support because of a couple of losses to Iowa is an idiot. It is clear we have plenty of idiot fans. I have a feeling that there are people in the Jake that would share that view.

So would a win against Iowa and 8 losses get you to support this team? Or do they have to go 12-0?

Sure there were some bad games this year, but EVERY team has bad games. Iowa lost to Northwestern and Arizona. Texas lost to us. Nebraska lost to Texas.

If someone feels they need their idea of perfection out of this football program they will never be happy and it will NEVER happen.

**alarson** · 11-24-2010, 03:25 PM

I love some on here who are going after the fans on here. Lets face it, 90% of the fans that CPR is talking about are not the fans who come to CF. So save your 'you all need to step it up' posts.

Its the casual fan. Tornado Man makes a good point about iowa blowing us out, but its more than that. Iowa has had a solid season last year, and had a lot of hype going into this year. Since 2002, assuming they finish there this year, they will have finished in the AP top 25 6 times out of 9, 4 of those being top 10 finishes. When you've got that just a couple hours to the east, while getting 12 wins in his first 2 seasons is a good accomplishment, when you compare that to what's going on over there, the expectation gets raised by the casual fan.

It certainly doesnt help to get absolutely embarrassed by teams like iowa (here or there, gets plenty of local audience) and Utah at home. Even when iowa's lost the last couple years, theyve lost by slim margins (a TD or less). Thats a lot less demoralizing to a fanbase than a team coming in and blasting you for 40-50+.

Now, granted, im not blaming this all on Rhoads, this is a lot due to the situation he walked in to. But at the same time, it needs to be understood that the situation with casual fans will take more than just 5-6 wins, especially if the losses include embarrassments like OU\Utah\Iowa. Losses like those destroy any momentum gained among the 'non-fanatic' fanbase gained through the wins.

**weR138** · 11-24-2010, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by jsb

I get the feeling that Rhoads wonders what in the hell he has to do to get that casual fan in the stands. I mean, good grief, he has won 12 games over 2 years. He's the first coach to do that ever at Iowa State. He has had several (I'd say 3) huge program-building type wins. He's shown that his brand of football is exciting and fun to watch.

Sadly, I think we're going to have to contend for the B12 title for casual fans get off the Iowa bandwagon or at least spend some meaningful time on ours.

I think CPR's recognition of the hole we're in as a program is great for ISU. We needed a coach to come out and say "we're not where we need to be" a long time ago. Good by ISU standards isn't good enough to build our program; we have to be good by Big 12 standards and he's basically telling people this.

**Tornado man** · 11-24-2010, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by alarson

I love some on here who are going after the fans on here. Lets face it, 90% of the fans that CPR is talking about are not the fans who come to CF. So save your 'you all need to step it up' posts.

Amen. The casual fan's attention span is not as long-lasting or durable as the Cyclone fans on here; they are mobilized to to act (and buy JTS tickets) only when their excitement level reaches a certain point. For many, many of them, we need to beat Iowa to get to that level.
Why is that such a hard concept to swallow?

**mustangcy** · 11-24-2010, 03:45 PM

Originally Posted by weR138

Sadly, I think we're going to have to contend for the B12 title for casual fans get off the Iowa bandwagon or at least spend some meaningful time on ours.

I think CPR's recognition of the hole we're in as a program is great for ISU. We needed a coach to come out and say "we're not where we need to be" a long time ago. Good by ISU standards isn't good enough to build our program; we have to be good by Big 12 standards and he's basically telling people this.

Well, Iowa has built their fanbase by contending for Big 10 titles...so guess what? ISU has got to contend for Big 12 titles before you start to see the stadium full every single game.

Count me as one that gets a little tired of the 'bash the fan' approach. I've said on here countless times that the key to ISU's fanbase is turning every ISU student into ISU fans. Frankly those of us that went to ISU probably could count on all of our fingers and toes the amount of ISU alums you know with Iowa flags flying in their yard. There are more Iowa born kids at ISU than Iowa...we've got to start capitalizing on that. I think/hope JP is but until we convert a few more generations of Iowa fans over to ISU's side simply because they go ISU we will not have the fanbase we all hope and dream for.

**3GenClone** · 11-24-2010, 03:46 PM

ISU needs to figure out how to get more people from Des Moines to Ames on Saturdays. The Hawks have the Quad Cities and Cedar Rapids, yet Des Moines is split between the Hawks, Cyclones and a handful of Drake fans. Play more basketball games at Wells Fargo, hold an open football practice at Valley Stadium, etc. Get more exposure in Des Moines and ISU should see more butts in the seats.