A question to you older fanatics: Donnie Duncan

[SCNCY]

What would the consolidation entail? Would ISU drop funding for athletics and basically be forced to move down to an FCS/MAC conference level? What would the effects be?

I would think it would be similar to the Wisconsin/California university system. There is one school that every refers to as Cal or Wisconsin as being the university and every one else is Wisconsin - (Insert town here). But I doubt this would ever happen, they would almost have to start with Northern Iowa but unlikely.

 

[Bobber]

That occurred about 20 years ago, and I don't remember the details. You're going to have to chug over to the ISU library and look up the details, because I don't think most of that stuff is online.

You might start here.
James Thomas Emmerson Papers, RS 13/13/18, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library

Really doubt it will happen since ISU is a Land Grant University. Should work the other way..

 

[SEIowaCyclone]

I have never heard this...Bruce had a great career at OSU. Im not saying he didnt im just wondering where you heard that.

Think about if he would have stayed...we might have at least kept pace with Iowa over the years.

Earle Bruce had three consecutive 8-3 seasons (76-77-78) and went to two bowl games. Iowa State would have been a powerhouse if he had stayed at ISU.

 

[SEIowaCyclone]

Duncan's first year(79?) he went 3-9 followed by records for 6-5(which turned to 7-4 after KU forfeited a win...ISU started 5-0 that year), 5-5-1(after another good start) and 4-6-1.

But the 80s weren't not friendly for football for ISU in general.

Duncan's first year in 1979 was an injury-riddled 3-8 season. As noted above ISU started 5-0 in 1980 and was ranked in the top 20, but lost 5 in a row after that. In 1981 ISU was ranked #11 at one point in the season but faded and still had a shot at the Independence Bowl if thay had beaten OK St. in the finale game. Duncan beat Iowa three years in a row (80-81-82) including Iowa's 1982 Rose Bowl team.

 

[Stormin]

good coach good asst's

Disagree with that assessment that Duncan was a good coach. Duncan took over after Earle Bruce. We had just won 8 games for the 3rd consecutive season. We had an abundance of talent. Earle had a recruiting class that had almost been totally redshirted in 1978 for development. Donnie Duncan left the program in 1982 in far worse shape than what he had inherited from Earle Bruce.

IMO, we blew it by hiring Donnie Duncan and should have hired John Cooper in 1979. Cooper was a member of the Dirty Thirty Team and a promising young coach who was at Tulsa. Instead Donnie Duncan, an assistant at Oklahoma was hired because they felt the Oklahoma success would transfer to Iowa State. Donnie Duncan put us on a slow ride downward which has set the stage for Iowa State football.

 

[SEIowaCyclone]

Disagree with that assessment that Duncan was a good coach. Duncan took over after Earle Bruce. We had just won 8 games for the 3rd consecutive season. We had an abundance of talent. Earle had a recruiting class that had almost been totally redshirted in 1978 for development. Donnie Duncan left the program in 1982 in far worse shape than what he had inherited from Earle Bruce.

IMO, we blew it by hiring Donnie Duncan and should have hired John Cooper in 1979. Cooper was a member of the Dirty Thirty Team and a promising young coach who was at Tulsa. Instead Donnie Duncan, an assistant at Oklahoma was hired because they felt the Oklahoma success would transfer to Iowa State. Donnie Duncan put us on a slow ride downward which has set the stage for Iowa State football.

If Earle Bruce had stayed at ISU, The Cyclones would have been a powerhouse. That said, Cooper would have been a good hire.

 

[DuckDynastyCy]

I heard him say it with my own ears when he was back here a couple years ago. Of course, he may have just been saying that because of his audience but who knows.

I think he also said it when OSU fired him and he got hired at UNI.

 

[Stormin]

There were fans that wanted Earle run out of town the entire time he was in Ames -- even during the winning years. Solid (not flashy) ground-based offenses and stingy defenses weren't enough for some folk.

Earle inherited a team from Johnny Majors that had been to 2 consecutive Bowl games. Earle had 3 straight 4-7 seasons to start out with and the Naysayers were all saying to fire him. He could not get the job done. We needed to start over. We were getting worse instead of better. And on and on.

 

[DuckDynastyCy]

Ok. Now I am looking at a 1987 program (from the Iowa game) and the strength coach is Tom Wilson. Since that is Jim Waldens first year maybe he hired him away from Nebraska (since Jim had NU ties). Anyway, the thing I heard was when he got here he got rid of all the machines and only used free weights.

I can only speak about Fall 1987, but there were both machines and a few free weights in the football complex.

 

[SEIowaCyclone]

Earle inherited a team from Johnny Majors that had been to 2 consecutive Bowl games. Earle had 3 straight 4-7 seasons to start out with and the Naysayers were all saying to fire him. He could not get the job done. We needed to start over. We were getting worse instead of better. And on and on.

Then in 1976 Earle combined an attack style defense with the nations #2 offense to go 8-3 and ranked in the top 20.

 

[fwiw]

The 1976 team was probably the best team that Bruce had (in my opinion). Buddy Hardeman, Wayne Stanley, Luther Blue and Dexter Green were on that team. They beat #7 Missouri and #9 Nebraska, and played a close game against #3 OU.

They played for the Orange Bowl in their last game on the road at OK State, but lost ... and no bowl bid. Their non con wasn't very good (Drake, Air Force, Utah, Kent State), but they absolutely ripped them all. Different times.

By 1978 they were still good, but pretty predictable on offense ... lost to good aTm in a bowl in Birmingham, AL ... which might have been the worst stadium in the history of mankind.

 

[isucy86]

Criner Destroyed ISU FB

Duncan started the slide, but IMO Criner destoyed ISU's FB program for the next 10-12 years. The NCAA violations cost ISU scholarships and the embarassment created an environment in the Presidents and Athletic Directors office where they weren't willing to play in the gray area regarding prospective student athletes. By the time Walden was done in the mid-90's, our talent on defense was really bad.

 

[DuckDynastyCy]

Re: Criner Destroyed ISU FB

Duncan started the slide, but IMO Criner destoyed ISU's FB program for the next 10-12 years. The NCAA violations cost ISU scholarships and the embarassment created an environment in the Presidents and Athletic Directors office where they weren't willing to play in the gray area regarding prospective student athletes. By the time Walden was done in the mid-90's, our talent on defense was really bad.

This. Although, I'd say it was 20% DD, 30% Criner and 50% Admin support, or lack thereof. Double whammy at same time. Actually, the more I think about it they were all equally to blame.

 

[CTTB78]

There were fans that wanted Earle run out of town the entire time he was in Ames -- even during the winning years. Solid (not flashy) ground-based offenses and stingy defenses weren't enough for some folk.

While Earle's veer offense may not have been as flashy as today's spread, it was extremely effective. We finished second in the nation in total offense one year. Earle also did some innovating things like having Hardeman and Stanley both in the backfield at the same time. Both QBs went on to the NFL.

 

[Stormin]

While Earle's veer offense may not have been as flashy as today's spread, it was extremely effective. We finished second in the nation in total offense one year. Earle also did some innovating things like having Hardeman and Stanley both in the backfield at the same time. Both QBs went on to the NFL.

Earle Bruce should not get credit for that prolific offense since the QB, Wayne Stanley was a Johnny Majors recruit. I have learned on CF that a current head coach does not credit for winning with previous coaches' recruits.

Hardeman went to the pros as a RB. Where did Wayne Stanley play in the NFL?

 

[ljm4cy]

I believe the reason given back then was that it would be in the best financial interest of the state to have consolidation of programs among the regent schools. Pomerantz is in the grave, so he can't answer for his agenda. However, the other party to that agenda is still alive, and I hear he is planning to run for governor again. Perhaps you can ask him. KPMG (PMG back then) was the consultant who supposedly devised the consolidation plan, so the buck will probably just get passed to them...

I fear for ISU and UNI in the current efficiency program of the Regents. The Project Manager is Mark Braun, Chief of Staff and Vice President of External Relations for the University of Iowa. Braun has his B.A. and MBA from Iowa. The press release from the Regents stated he "will remain on the University of Iowa payroll." I'd think this is a clear conflict of interest and if the Regents gave a damn they would have hired an independent Project Manager.

 

[mikedp]

Great analysis...indeed Bruce had it going at Iowa State. I believe Duncan started 5-0 and we were top 15, then lost the rest. Not too many realize how strong Iowa State had become in the late 70s under Majors and 80s with Earle Bruce. we were a top 20 program.

Little off on his starting 5-0

1979: 3-8-0
Coach:	Donnie Duncan

W/L​ Date​ PF​ Opponent​ PA​ Location​ Notes​ W​ 09-15-1979​ 38​ Bowling Green (OH)​ 10​ Ames, IA​ ​ L​ 09-22-1979​ 9​ Texas​ 17​ Austin, TX​ ​ L​ 09-29-1979​ 14​ Iowa​ 30​ Iowa City, IA​ ​ L​ 10-06-1979​ 7​ Pacific (CA)​ 24​ Ames, IA​ ​ W​ 10-13-1979​ 7​ Kansas St.​ 3​ Manhattan, KS​ ​ L​ 10-20-1979​ 7​ Kansas​ 24​ Ames, IA​ ​ L​ 10-27-1979​ 9​ Oklahoma​ 38​ Norman, OK​ ​ W​ 11-03-1979​ 24​ Colorado​ 10​ Ames, IA​ ​ L​ 11-10-1979​ 9​ Missouri​ 18​ Ames, IA​ ​ L​ 11-17-1979​ 3​ Nebraska​ 34​ Lincoln, NE​ ​ L​ 11-24-1979​ 10​ Oklahoma St.​ 13​ Ames, IA​

 

[SEIowaCyclone]

Donnie Duncan - 1979

 

[SEIowaCyclone]

Little off on his starting 5-0

1979: 3-8-0
Coach:	Donnie Duncan

W/L​ Date​ PF​ Opponent​ PA​ Location​ Notes​ W​ 09-15-1979​ 38​ Bowling Green (OH)​ 10​ Ames, IA​ L​ 09-22-1979​ 9​ Texas​ 17​ Austin, TX​ L​ 09-29-1979​ 14​ Iowa​ 30​ Iowa City, IA​ L​ 10-06-1979​ 7​ Pacific (CA)​ 24​ Ames, IA​ W​ 10-13-1979​ 7​ Kansas St.​ 3​ Manhattan, KS​ L​ 10-20-1979​ 7​ Kansas​ 24​ Ames, IA​ L​ 10-27-1979​ 9​ Oklahoma​ 38​ Norman, OK​ W​ 11-03-1979​ 24​ Colorado​ 10​ Ames, IA​ L​ 11-10-1979​ 9​ Missouri​ 18​ Ames, IA​ L​ 11-17-1979​ 3​ Nebraska​ 34​ Lincoln, NE​ L​ 11-24-1979​ 10​ Oklahoma St.​ 13​ Ames, IA​

Duncan started 5-0 in 1980 and and achieved a #19 ranking. ISU ended with a winning season at 6-5.

 

[ruxCYtable]

My recollection is that Bruce said Ohio State (his alma mater) was the only job he would leave ISU for. I don't remember if he said that before or after the job opened up, but I too remember watching the Ohio State-Clemson bowl game with some fellow ISU fans, and getting sick when Woody punched the Clemson player. Re Johnny, I'm 99% sure he was forced out. I love Johnny but he acted like a 2 year old during the A.D search, no doubt because he wanted the job. He told the media that he could find better a.d candidates by opening up any page in the phone book (or something very close to that). A friend sat next to the ISU president (I believe it was Eaton) at the Big 8 tournament and was told Johnny would very likely not be back.

I remember that happening like it was yesterday. Was watching with my dad and he muttered something like,"I hope they don't come steal our coach." I had no idea what he was talking about at the time but I remember it to this day.