I always think CPR's last season would have gone differently with Todd Sturdy as the full season OC. We really seemed to start playing a style that worked for us starting with the Texas game. Ignoring the complete meltdown at KSU since we forgot we could kneel the ball and win.I trust CMC a lot more than CPR.
Rhoads made a desperation hire to bring in Jabba the Hut as OC, and from all accounts the culture inside that staff was pretty toxic. CPR was great at motivation, but wasn't any better at managing a coaching staff than Chizik.
I don't get anything close to that read from CMC and this coaching staff. He just did a near-complete refresh of this coaching staff, and so far, I like what I see (save for the results of the OL). At least, I like it enough to believe they deserve a ticket to try to rebuild this thing over the next couple of seasons.
One thing that Iowa State can have as a competitive advantage is continuity with this staff. I don't think Iowa State will win anything if we are in a cycle of hiring a new coach every 3-5 years.
Plus, I think if we were hiring a new coach, quite frankly I'd hope we get someone pretty much just like Matt Campbell. Therefore, I think our best course of action is to ride or die with Matt until he decides to leave on his own.
I also agree that the culture was probably pretty toxic. I remember espn even posting tweets from Iowa State players being shocked and even upset that Mark Magino was fired. Makes you wonder what the whole program was dealing with even outside of the staff.