To the Rhoads coaching point: Hiring Mangino was the official end of the Paul Rhoads era. Not having a o-coord coach who was a pound the ball B10/SEC pro-style guy with a little spread thrown in from the get go was his fatal flaw. He didn't build relationships of mutual respect and get along with his Offensive coaches along the way, or at least not good ones that would follow him to ISU. There was always visible discord with ALL of his offensive coordinators, usually seen on game day rants or weekly press day firings. That includes Hermann, who would dish it back. Not a good way to build a team.
On point two, I don't care. And the stats suggest it doesn't matter. They will get the same level of talent, regardless.
I leave one exception: When Harbaugh interviewed for the job and was "dropping F bombs duriing the interview" and likely using ISU to get a better deal elsewhere, Pollard should have called him out on it and said the following:
"It sure looks to me like you're trying to not get hired and are using me to get yourself more money where you think you want to go."
Regardless of Harbuaghs' BS response he immediately slides a contract to Harbaugh and says: So you have the job. Do you accept?
When he says he has to look it over and stalls, he says: "How much? Just put in the figure your agent says you're going to get at the other school and add a little more - but only if you sign it now."
When he balks and get up to walk out of the room, "You underestimate the value of having an ISU turnaround on your coaching resume. If Gene Chizik can go 5-17 and then get hired to win a national championship without the abiltiy to coach, imagine what it would do for you. And you underestimate you drawing power - or you fear the challenge."
And with that, Replace the Stanford rise to ISU, but probably lower level of success, like 9 win seasons. That is the biggest failure is recent ISU athletics. To have a bona fide coaching whale on campus interviewing and to not seal the deal.