Why don't we blame the guy who created this mess?

[candg4ever]

What good is any of that if all the programs have gone to crap?

In the 5 years before Pollard, we had 4 bowl games and 3 BB tournament teams. In the 3+ years of Pollard, we've had no bowls, no tournaments, nothing.

The only reason football was somewhat successful was that BVD did nothing, so he couldn't have made things much worse, as he did every other time he made a decision. His mishandling of the LE situation scared away almost every legimate coaching candidate in the country. He couldn't even beg anyone to interview for the position, so he hired Wayne Morgan, who was in over his head. He alienated fans and donors almost immediately upon arrival, setting us back a decade or more in terms of the progression of our athletics. JP got the unenviable job of cleaning up his messes as well as getting us back on the right track, having to play catch-up from day one.

Nobody should fault Jamie for GC's lack of loyalty, honesty, whatever you want to call it. It's his job to find us the best coaching candidate for ISU who is available at the time. I've read some posts where people have said, "I told you so", about GC jumping ship to leave for greener pastures. That can be said about all but a handful of football programs. There aren't very many schools that don't have to worry about losing their head coach to someone, even if it's the pros.

If you remember, even USC, Texas, Penn St., all fell on hard times for awhile. Nobody is untouchable, and no AD in the country can bat 100%. When interviewing potentials, JP has to evaluate the candidates and their qualities as they pertain to our program. GC was either an excellent BSer, or he had a change of heart, either way, you shouldn't put all of that on JP's head. He's only trying to make us the best he can. I've never seen a lack of dedication to ISU from JP. That's what I'll hold him accountable for.

[copenhagen]

chased Mac out of town?

[MohawkCy88]

[quote=CycloneWanderer;782763]

Real Cyclone fans, please stand up

Thats great -- you're not a 'true cyclone fan' unless you cheer for the olympic sports? Pathetic!

[Swanson10]

chased Mac out of town?

No, his personality did. He is too nice of a guy to do what is needed to keep being successful. Changes needed to be made to keep money in the Athletic Dept. Had to be done, it was 2 years ago it's time to get over it.

[cy1225]

All of the programs have gone to crap? Give me a break! Dan McCarney would be getting destroyed by the current Big XII. His recruiting classes his last two years were not very good top to bottom. We're paying for it now because we started a zillion underclassmen this past season, and we got smoked. McCarney left us very few great linemen, and we got smoked in the trenches. You can't expect freshman linemen to step in and be ready to play college football less than a year removed from high school football. It doesn't work.

Wayne Morgan was a great recruiter, I will give him that, but he couldn't coach to save his life. We underachieved a LOT in his last season. The jury is out on McDermott, but he gets his 5 years to turn it all around.

Yeah McD gets 5 years and Morgan who went to the Final 4 of the NIT and the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament in his 2nd year gets 3 years. Something wrong with that reasoning.

[cy1225]

So hiring Gene Chizik was a bad thing by JP? It increased season tickets and added dollars for each ticket. No matter how bad Chizik treated ISU, his hire excited us to raise the budget $20M. That money is used to improve facilities so that future athletes want to come here, fans want to return, etc. So, yeah, money doesn't create wins immediately, but it does attract the coaches and recruits that do create wins.

Let's examine the Chizik hire by Pollard. He was the Turner Gill type of hire then, and he is now running one of the top football programs in the nation. So, did they hire him because JP was right and he was flat out a coach and CEO for football? Time will tell. If he was, then I think JP was probably right about hiring him. The program was showing improvement, and the right coach coming in can build from that. I'm sure you will point out that our team looked like it was going the wrong way, but that coach did fire 2 coaches and demote 2 others. He felt he knew what to do, and they were to blame for not recognizing the wins against Iowa, Kansas, Vegas, etc.

McD was a great choice at the time, and he will probably prove to all of us that he is the coach to make ISU a consistent winner. Time will tell.

Cael was a great hire.
Christy Johnson was a great hire.
Keeping Bill Fennely was a great job.

Who would you want as AD? BVD? Great with math, terrible with people. Gene Smith? Great with people, terrible with numbers. Max Ulrich, it seems to me that he was awful, although he went to Kansas State.

I'm not sure what you think it helps to tell all of us how bad everything is here. Personally I think that it would be better to say everything is wonderful so that the players that are contemplating leaving realize that they should stay here, or that potential recruits know why we still fill the stadium with a 2-10 team, or that coaches know that we will back them until they screw us.

JP does a great job of motivating people. He organizes and runs a great business. He understands problems and lays out plans that we can all recognize to achieve what we all want. He does a great job communicating in person, over conferences and if you have ever sent him an e-mail I bet he responded. If you can't tell that JP wants ISU to succeed you are nuts. What do you want from an AD? Wins only? Yeah, I do as well, but from what I can tell he has hired the coaches that should be able to win. Why haven't they? That's the question.
Of course that's just me, I'm sure you think I'm an idiot.

Whoa...BVD hired Johnson and Cael and Fennelly were allready on campus. Lets be accurate.

[Aclone]

Yeah McD gets 5 years and Morgan who went to the Final 4 of the NIT and the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament in his 2nd year gets 3 years. Something wrong with that reasoning.

Why? How many of Eustachy's recruits bailed on Morgan?

[Tornado man]

His mishandling of the LE situation scared away almost every legimate coaching candidate in the country.

Yes, BVD should have picked up the coeds that were sitting in LE's lap, taken the beers out of his hand, and even driven him from his house to work and then back home again so he could be a faithful husband and good father.

[tgoedken]

When Dan McCarney was fired there were a LOT of potential candidates we could have gotten. We grabbed the first guy with a successful resume -- as a coordinator -- we could. From day one everyone knew he saw ISU as a stepping stone and it was pretty clear that he never really wanted to be here. A good hire? Not really. And who brought him here? Jamie Pollard.

The basketball had a coaching change and has had 3 years of not sniffing any postseason play. Who made that coaching change? Jamie Pollard.

Fans are staying away partly because of ticket prices and partly because of a flawed seat donation/season ticket scheme that rewards NOT buying season tickets. Who put together that scheme? Jamie Pollard.

Now we're conducting a coaching search with the promise that it will be confidential and secretive. And on day one, we have the humiliation of being told publicly that a guy coaching at a MAC school would rather stay there then take our job in the Big 12 at 4 to 5 times the salary. What does that say to the rest of the college football world, including all other potential candidates? And who promised us this confidentiality? Jamie Pollard.

I have heard multiple radio shows with hosts and callers expressing sympathy for the tough situation Jamie is now in regarding the football program and the state of ISU athletics in general. What a crock. There is no reason to feel sorry for Jamie Pollard for cleaning up a mess -- he created the mess in the first place. Gene lied to him? Gene is a snake oil salesman, you say? Give me a break. If Chizik is a snake oil salesman, then Pollard must be the most gullible dupe in the history of snake oil sales. We are not going to see better performance on the field or court until we get better performance from our athletic director.

You don't have the slightest clue about what you're talking about!!!

[leg4cy]

Yes, BVD should have picked up the coeds that were sitting in LE's lap, taken the beers out of his hand, and even driven him from his house to work and then back home again so he could be a faithful husband and good father.

BVD waited for the media to break the story and do his dirty work for him because he couldn't stand up to LE himself. How hard is it for you, Monty, copenhagen, et el to understand? I've never seen so much damn complaining in my life. There can't be a frickin thing in this world other than Dan McCarney that pleases you.

[zach]

If it is really that bad of a situation here at ISU and you are that miserable, find another team to follow. Good luck on finding one that satisfies you.

Thread, please die.......

Z

[Tornado man]

BVD waited for the media to break the story and do his dirty work for him because he couldn't stand up to LE himself.

No, you're wrong. BVD had the pictures from Mizzou well ahead of when the Regsiter published them. He went to LE, who lied and said they were taken at a restauarant when Mizzou fans approached him. The real story then came out later.
It's comical to me how you can blame BVD for LE's lifestyle...

[bfross]

When Dan McCarney was fired there were a LOT of potential candidates we could have gotten. We grabbed the first guy with a successful resume -- as a coordinator -- we could. From day one everyone knew he saw ISU as a stepping stone and it was pretty clear that he never really wanted to be here. A good hire? Not really. And who brought him here? Jamie Pollard.

Jamie wouldn't have had to hire a replacement for Dan if the fans liked what they were seeing on the field. Who should we blame for that? Can we be fired?

Gene didn't work out so that means Jamie didn't work out? Does that mean we should blame Geoffry? I mean he is the one who brought Jamie in and there is not a bigger hire for a university president (sorry acadamia) than your AD. I guess Geoffry should be on the hot seat then.

I am not saying that Jamie is golden every time, but after about 6 months into his tenure I made the post that said that this guy is either going to save ISU athletics or bury it, but I didn't like all the times over the last few decades where it felt like we were dying a slow death, so I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt still.

[Balls]

So let's penalize or be upset at the leader who is willing to take the necessary level of risk to enable us to break away from our less than average winning tradition?

There is no return with no risk. I am glad we have a leader willing to take a calculated risk... without it, there is no chance to get better.

[capitalcityguy]

I'm not going to read any posts beyond the first two on this thread. I'm afraid if I do, my IQ will be lowered by several points.

This thread deserves to be blown up.

No...I'd rather blame the person who started this thread for the fact that I feel I must now bang my head against the wall as I deal with the clueless faction of Cyclone Nation.