How patient will you be?

LindenCy · 06-13-2008, 01:40 PM

I can be somewhat patient if we see improvement, but I don't think we will have to be too patient. I see bowl game by 2009.

ajk4st8 · 06-13-2008, 01:49 PM

Any coach who can take ISU to a bowl game is a stud.

I expect 3-4 wins next season with more good things to come.

Rogue52 · 06-13-2008, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by ajk4st8

Any coach who can take ISU to a bowl game is a stud.

I expect 3-4 wins next season with more good things to come.

Is 3-4 wins a good thing? With our schedule? I think 5 wins would be considered good, but definately not 3 even if it is only Chizik's second year.

cyclonenum1 · 06-14-2008, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by cy1225

Interesting...fans are okay with 5 wins....isn't 5-7 wins what Coach McCarney was accompishing over his last 6 years....why did the AD make the change if the fan base is content with 5 wins?

You cannot be serious?! I hope you do realize that there is a different set of expectations for a coach that takes over a struggling program in years 1-6 than there is in years 7-12. Fans are OK with 5 wins in year 2 but not 5 wins in year 11.

cyclonenum1 · 06-14-2008, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by chrishull14

I think we need to clearly define what the goal is. From the day Pollard was hired, he has tried to break away from the "same old-same old". We all want success. In the past, the problem was the way we tried to achieve it. We have always been a mediocre program that has tried a series of "get rich quick schemes" to reach the next level. Some of these band-aids and quick fixes worked for a year of two, but then, we were back to mediocre and trying to clean up a mess. We have to do things the right way and build a foundation that will provide constant success. I think Pollard has gotten ISU to stop buying lottery tickets, and instead is building a program that can become a renewable resource. Personally, I don't care how long it takes. As long as we continue to move forward. There will always be down years. You can't win them all, right? As long as the general inertia is toward better things.

I agree that Chizik was hired because of his pedigree of being associated with the elite winning programs...he brought an insider's knowledge that no one in the ISU FB family had.

I disagree that we have always been a mediocre program...please see the 1970s. I'm curious what you define as the "get rich quick schemes" and what years you think these "worked" and brought us to the "next level"?

I see the reference to "doing it the right way" often on this board. What do you mean by this?

Not caring "how long it takes" is a huge problem in my opinion. This is what leads to keeping a poor coach like McCarney for too long. A sense of urgency is very important...every year.

You are correct...success will vary from year to year but I want us to be a program where the "down years" are those that end with a 6-6 to 8-4 record. Right now, many have the perspective that a 6-6 to 8-4 record is the "good year". I can assure you that Chizik does not view 6-6 to 8-4 as a "good year" with the frame of reference that he has...good years are 10-2 to 12-0.

I expect to see continual progress with our FB program (just as I do with BB)...progress in recruiting, progress in on-the-field competitiveness, and progress in the win column.

Having said all that...I firmly believe we will win 7-9 games this upcoming season.

VIVA LA CHIZIK! Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!

CycloneErik · 06-14-2008, 10:49 AM

Any coach that can convince his team that they can play with Oklahoma the week after a 56-3 beatdown is a guy that can lead players somewhere special. They obviously respect him, and believe what he's selling.
Still not sure what happened with Kansas, but I assume the Jayhawks got tired of the idea that we could pick them off. (I read it somewhere as an upset pick, but I don't remember where.)

CyBobby · 06-14-2008, 11:21 AM

It all boils down to LACK OF MONEY .... Without the money for the best facilities and the best coaches its well...get used to mediocrity!!!!

Look around here...do you see division one facilities?....quoting Dan McCarney circa 1995

CyBobby · 06-14-2008, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by Stormin

Who are your sources? I have heard that there is a lot of money already lined up for bowling in the South endzone, two levels. In reality, had Mac stayed on, the finances were drying up. We won four games that year and how many were in overtime and last second wins? We should have won 5 games this last year at least. Sandvig and Meyer turnovers in the first two games against Kent State and UNI killed us. I was there. Nothing like the defense holding them and then have your punt returner fumble the ball a few times down toward the Red Zone. Nothing like moving the ball and then have your QB create turnovers and/or miss open receivers that would have resulted in TD's. Even the big pass play to Bates against Iowa wasn't a great pass. Bates had his man beaten so bad and then made a great play on the ball.

I sensed a lot of enthusiasm for the program at the last event I was at. People are cautiously optimistic. I didn't get that same sense of enthusiasm during Coach Mac's last year. In fact, I got the sense that people were thinking that our talent level and quality of coaching staff would continue to decline.

According to jamie pollard on kma radio...old jamie is still looking for a donor or donors with big money to proceed with the bowling in of the south stands.

After the 1976 season earle bruce told me eyeball to eyeball that isu was gonna bowl in the football stadium.

Well boys its 2008 and old bob is still waiting to see the weitz co start construction of said bowling in of the south stands!!

cyclonenum1 · 06-14-2008, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by CyBobby

According to jamie pollard on kma radio...old jamie is still looking for a donor or donors with big money to proceed with the bowling in of the south stands.

After the 1976 season earle bruce told me eyeball to eyeball that isu was gonna bowl in the football stadium.

Well boys its 2008 and old bob is still waiting to see the weitz co start construction of said bowling in of the south stands!!

It is my understanding that plans were moving forward back then to do this and that Earle leaving after the 78 season was part of the reason they did not continue to move forward. Obviously, we all know what transpired under Duncan, Criner, Walden, and McCarney. I wonder if we could have kept Bruce had we bowled the south endzone in while he was still here?

Stormin · 06-14-2008, 02:28 PM

Originally Posted by cyclonenum1

It is my understanding that plans were moving forward back then to do this and that Earle leaving after the 78 season was part of the reason they did not continue to move forward. Obviously, we all know what transpired under Duncan, Criner, Walden, and McCarney. I wonder if we could have kept Bruce had we bowled the south endzone in while he was still here?

Earle Bruce said the biggest mistake he ever made was leaving ISU. He had redshirted the entire class of his last recruitment. The cupboard was full. Three straight 8-3 regular seasons. We were outrecruiting Ohio State in Ohio. And then Woody Hayes punched that Clemson kid and changed the history and destiny of ISU football.

Aclone · 06-14-2008, 02:36 PM

Funny, all of the people here saying they'll be patient--but after one bad game where something happens that people don't like, they'll be on here venting, running down people and calling for coaches to be fired. It's a fact.

I've been a fan for thirty years now. I'll be patient. But that doesn't mean I don't think that Chizik might squeeze out an 8-4 season. It's possible.

Cyclone42 · 06-14-2008, 03:01 PM

It would be interesting to examine the differences in how patient people are willing to be for the football program vs. the basketball program. I think a lot of people would be willing to cut the football program some slack, knowing that it takes a long time to build a good football program, who would not be as patient concerning the basketball program.

There have been many examples of basketball programs that have been turned around with one good recruiting class, while that is simply not possible with football. (The 25-scholarship limit means that it takes a minimum of four years to rebuild a football team) Also, we have tasted real success in our basketball program, so there shouldn't be nearly as many excuses about recruiting here for basketball.

MontyBurns · 06-14-2008, 03:48 PM

Fans' patience isn't what's important because the fans can't change anything. Pollard's patience is what matters. And he can afford to be patient with the basketball program, he can't with football. After all, his plans call for spending money....lots and lots of money. And the only source for that money is the football program. If Chizik doesn't have winning seasons, bowl games, or whatever is required to keep selling record numbers of tickets with continually rising prices in 2009 or 2010, Pollard won't be able to afford to be patient.

Tornado man · 06-14-2008, 03:53 PM

Show me a fan base that is really "patient" and I'll show you a stadium that's half-full. Patience to me means apathy.

Aclone · 06-14-2008, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by MontyBurns

And he can afford to be patient with the basketball program, he can't with football.

Not true. The basketball program pays for itself--and then some. It also needs to generate enough revenue to support building the new practice arena.

If Hilton were as empty as Carver-Hawkeye was last season, that would be bad. Very bad.