First off i'm not sure how the Gene Chizik situation went down so i apologize if i reopen any wounds. I was just wondering what the fans of ISU thought of him? Was he a good coach that needed more time or where you all glad to see him go? He hired a former Arkansas OC and youll know him better than anyone. So what kind of success do you'll think he will have at Auburn?
I was the biggest Gene Chizik cheerleader I knew of. I hoped that he would change the culture (of accepting losing, caring about what Iowa was doing, crappy attendance etc.)
Gene did indeed upgrade the talent IMO but what I began to wise up about (a little later than some of my Cyclone brothers) was that great talent like you find at Texas and Auburn can mask not so great coaching. Also, after I had initially given the assistants he brought in the benefit of the doubt, it became clear in the second half of last season that we had some real issues with the DC.
Gene will get talent at Auburn and has already upgraded his assistants but I think for the most part he is outmatched as a head coach in the SEC. I see him failing miserably against Saban and Nutt (close to home) not mention the other awesome HC's in the SEC.
I have a relative who is an Auburn grad and booster. He's convinced that we got the better end of the deal by getting Rhoads.
RIP Janice
b. April 2012 d. April 2012
9 posts
May perpetual light shine upon him.
I like to think of the Chizik situation last fall as a breakup. In this case, Chizik is like the new, hot girl in town. You get with her, but she comes with some baggage. Horrible personality, halitosis, and irritable bowel syndrome. Oh yeah, and you rarely, rarely sleep together (sex=winning football games).
You stay together because even with this laundry list of problems, you see potential in the relationship and hey, look how hot this girl is. Then one day, out of the blue, she dumps you for wealthy Johnny War Eagle down the street. Oh, and the kicker? She leaves you with an STD.
Wait, what was my point again? Oh yeah, Gene Chizik has herpes.
+1 for making me fall out of my chair laughing.
Things were bumpy with Chizik. There were some games we were in that had no business being in (Oklahoma 2 years ago, to a lesser extent, Kansas this year), and there were games that made you want to explode (Texas 2 years ago, Colorado this year, Kent State, UNI, etc.) There seemed to be some personal things going on, but he was doing well recruiting. The way he left (without telling his players) was completely classless.
As for his tenure at Auburn, I think he'll have some moderate success. The talent he'll be able to reel in there will result in winning seasons, but eventually, it won't be enough for the Auburn faithful (see: Tommy Tuberville)
He learned a valuable lesson at ISU, you don't hire your buddies as OC or DC.
Our defense was the worst I have ever seen. It was very painfull to watch ISU Football last year. If Chizik would have returned, things in Ames would have gotten rough with another losing season. The novelty of Chizik was starting to wear off, but he appeared to be a good recruiter.
With all that said, I'm glad he is gone. He might be good at Auburn because he has hired proven Co-ordinators. I really hopes he sucks at Auburn. I doubt that they will have the patience that ISU had.
I don't hate GC for leaving, it was an amazing opportunity for a guy who had done nothing as a head coach. Clearly the guy knew how to recruit the guys that ISU needs to get off of the bottom of the Big 12. His assistant coaches were not good and he came to the realization himself this year, and demoted them. I agree with others that in the end ISU may be better off without him if they can keep the better players that he recruited.
So how good was the O.C. that Chizik pirated from you folks?
He left a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths when he left us. He'd talked a good talk and said he'd turn things around, but then seemed to skip out of town the first chance he got.
Not much loyalty on his part and because of that almost no respect left for him from the fan base. At least he didn't seem to cheat or give us NCAA violations.
People around here like to cut down Chizik now, yet before he left most thought he was a great coach and would be successful here. I still believe he would have won here in time. He made HUGE mistakes when he complied his first staff and was going to fix that following the season. Had he done that, I think things would have changed. It's no accident he's put together a great staff at Auburn. He learned from his mistakes, like all rookie coaches do. He also brought in a good recruiting class (for ISU standards) in 2008.
I find it amusing that people claim Chizik is garbage now, yet had anyone said that last November you would have been accused of being a hater and not knowing anything about football.
People around here like to cut down Chizik now, yet before he left most thought he was a great coach and would be successful here. I still believe he would have won here in time. He made HUGE mistakes when he complied his first staff and was going to fix that following the season. Had he done that, I think things would have changed. It's no accident he's put together a great staff at Auburn. He learned from his mistakes, like all rookie coaches do. He also brought in a good recruiting class (for ISU standards) in 2008.
I find it amusing that people claim Chizik is garbage now, yet had anyone said that last November you would have been accused of being a hater and not knowing anything about football.
GC did recruit fairly well, but the game day coach for him and his staff was weak at best. I agree that he probably would have done okay at ISU, especially if he had replaced his cooridinators.
Being a Iowa born, northwest Arkansas transplant for 13 years and then going to ISU for college, I keep tabs on both Arkansas and ISU. As for Chizik, I think the rest of the posts on this site sum up the general sentiment. As for Arkansas, I think they are primed for a good (bowl game good, but not great) season. As mentioned on another post, there are a lot of good freshmen and they also have a college proven coach. They will see sucess this next year.
a couple of big hits that they saw over the past several years were the loss of Gus Malzon (OC), loss of Houston Nutt (however, it was his time to go), and loss of Mitch Mustain (QB who went to USC). I think they will struggle at the QB position this year. However, I have never been so happy as to see Casey Dick finally finish his college career.
As ISU goes, I think they have a coach that will see success (hopefully a bowl this year, but that may be a touch optimistic) in the next couple of years. He cares about the team and really wants to be here which is something we didn't see in CheeseDick.
From my perspective, Arkansas and ISU are both on the way up (in all sports). I am excited to see the next years football and basketball teams.
I like to think of the Chizik situation last fall as a breakup. In this case, Chizik is like the new, hot girl in town. You get with her, but she comes with some baggage. Horrible personality, halitosis, and irritable bowel syndrome. Oh yeah, and you rarely, rarely sleep together (sex=winning football games).
You stay together because even with this laundry list of problems, you see potential in the relationship and hey, look how hot this girl is. Then one day, out of the blue, she dumps you for wealthy Johnny War Eagle down the street. Oh, and the kicker? She leaves you with an STD.
+1 to you, that was awesome.
Wait, what was my point again? Oh yeah, Gene Chizik has herpes.
Chizik would have eventually pulled ISU out of the gutter. Unfortunately his 2 years here proved little more than an opportunity for him to learn from his mistakes. And that he has done. From all accounts, he's hired a fantastic staff at Auburn. We know he can recruit. I think he will have success there.
As for us, we're looking forward to our new coach's debut this fall. We don't like to look back on the stain the last two seasons have left, other than to be happy with the talent Chizik brought in. :)
I'm really happy about the guys GC brought in, but I think many of you are forgetting that both of his recruiting classes still ranked last or next to last in the big 12.
I also do want to give him the benefit of the doubt on why he left and how he left.... I was a big fan of his until the day he was gone.... but I can't because of the way he disrespected the place and fans who made him an instant millionaire.
You know he feels guilty about it, he couldn't even hold a press conference. I really feel that karma will bite him back.
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Originally Posted by Hogfan1991 
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