***OFFICIAL FIRE MESSINGHAM THREAD***
- Thread starter boone7247
- Start date
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DistrictCyclone
Guest
I'm still not sure who you think was the right choice for OC. Tom Herman wasn't great at ISU and he teared it up this year at Ohio State. A guy like Tony Franklin might have made sense, although for that to happen he also would have needed to want to come and run the system Rhoads is comfortable with, and by that I don't just mean a spread, but small systematic things that only football people understand. Rhoads also had to think about the culture and recruiting. He had to find a guy that new how to recruit for Iowa State and what we are up against going against superior talent every week in the Big 12. Obviously he though Mess fit those credentials the best.
That is also what is wrong with our playbook. The rushing effort was meek and mild. The passing attack was one big play.
I am still not sure what of Mess's resume suggests there are not dozens of better candidates. He had no previous experience running this type of offense, and his only time in this offense was over the previous poor 3 seasons under Herman. He had little, if any, as being an OC at an FBS level. Hell, he had relatively little experience calling plays period.
Save your Herman at OSU fallacy. First, Herman is Urban's towel boy. Second, if you need Ohio State talent to avoiding being bad, you have the wrong scheme. This offense does not minimize or hide talent disparity at ISU, it magnifies it. Herman's offense at ISU was not a good fit (without superior talent it is average at best), but at least he was familiar with his own offense.
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Mess's experience with the offense though is the experience he had the last three years with it. All of the coaches on each side of the ball work with that system and help in the game planning. As far as Iowa State was concerned he understood Iowa State better than any outside hire would have. And once again, it is hard to hire top coaches at Iowa State. Any other candidate would have been either a mid major coordinator, a failed BCS conference coordinator, or a non coordinator at a BCS school that also has no experience or little experience calling plays.
No false authority- it does not take a 7 figure salary as a D1 coach to realize that the output on offense was not good enough and has been better.
1.)This was not a huge red-flag? If Herman struggled with his own offense at ISU, why would a journeyman, lower-tier position coach be better at calling it?
2.) Not true, and even then you are failing to realize just how poor Mess's resume was. He is barely above Iowa Conference level at OC. He makes McFarland's hire look like a home run.
Herman struggled because it is a program that is building. And once again, Mess's resume was somewhat expected of a coach at Iowa State. Rhoads was dedicated to an in house hire, which left the likes of Mess, Bleil, Pope, and Wells. Out of those he obviously though Mess was the best hire.
Like I alluded to, being dedicated to an in-house hire was a mistake if true. And no, Mess's resume was not somewhat expected of an OC at Iowa State.
I disagree with you, plain and simple. Mess was the hire I expected and frankly for a school like Iowa State the only other name that really excited me was Tony Franklin. Rhoads needed a guy that understood the culture of Iowa State along with the offense, that guy was Mess.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Underwhelming at the time, very underwhelming hire now.
If we aren't questioning Bliel's employment as the OL coach, we really aren't thinking right. He has to be in the discussion.
For a school like Iowa State? Your low opinion of ISU is not a rebuttal. ISU is in the Big 12 and can offer a competitive salary for the right guy. Mess was jumping around between FCS and the Iowa Conference AND had no experience leading this type of offense. We can do much, much better.
Rhoads did needed a guy that was an expert in his offense, whatever that may be, in order to be competent on offense. By the way, Mess's implementation of Herman's offense does not fit your "culture of ISU" argument.
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Offense is and has been the problem since Rhoads was hired. Fix it coach! Don't be Lovie Smith.
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