If you want to vent....

[ozziecalcavecci]

Normally I'm just a lurker, but my level of frustration is just too much right now.

First, I'm not going to throw CMC under the bus, he has walked into a terrible situation.

Mr. Pollard however......I think we can all agree that CPR was a nice guy, but there were whisperings of him "losing" the team 2 years ago. He had been on a consistent downward trajectory since he started, and clearly his recruiting was not at a BXII level. JP kept this guy around at least 2 years too long when it was clear he could not handle the job, and was not growing the program. I understand the loyalty that comes with being an ISU fan in some abnormally prolonged dark times, however, I am tired of being asked to donate more, tired of being told to be "All In'. Tired of being sold on new suite tickets to watch a crappy team.

In JPs tenure:

1. We fire a coach that had a successful tenure here, only to make 2 more football coaching changes since, neither of which improved the program at all.
2. Our most famous wrestler turned coach of all time leaves for reasons that remain unexplained and the wrestling program has been average at best since.
3. Our most famous alumni of all time, falls into our lap, has a great run that energizes the fan base, but again leaves (although we know that there may not have been much JP could have done to stop this), and after this year, the cupboard is starting to look thin.
4. We have a cyclones.tv network that on gameday is about a reliable as my dial-up AOL account in the 90s.
5. We are constantly sold on hype without results. The biggest draw to football games in the last 5 years was an endzone addition and white helmets.

I'm tired of feeling that we are a second rate program, and that is all we can aspire to be. Enjoying the beer and sunshine on a Saturday afternoon is pretty much the only reason to attend games anymore. Hey, I get it, it's fun, and a lot of people have good memories there, which is why they keep coming back. But I work hard for my money, like most people do, and the expectation that we tolerate this and continue to give is getting old.

 

[Rick]

I get your frustration but disagree with a lot of your points.

1. DMAC had horrible OC and DC personnel. If he wanted to succeed he needed to do something about it and let it go. With that went the program and we have never got back to his good years. I lay this all on him. Chiz had the same problem and CPR never could get a good OC after Herman left. This year's OC isn't impressing, understatement of the year, and the DC better be spending a LOT of time on tackling drills.
2. Something wasn't right about this one I agree. Friction between Cael and JP? I don't know but I bet money was the biggest problem. PSU threw a bunch of money at him.
3. Fred was going to the pros at some time. He didn't like to recruit and it showed. I don't think JP could have ever changed that.

 

[ECIRT.KCAJ]

This is VERY concerning because the "football" program revenue is basically the "Andre The Giant's Slice Of The Pie" for I.S.U.'s Athletic Department $REVENUE$... and that CPR "secret" contract extension is why I have hypertension.
What is done is done and I know we can move forward from this non-ending quagmire of the most A$$BACWARD$ hiring and firing schemes of coaches in my Cyclone fanhood which spans the last 51 years, 3 months and 4 day tenure (which quite honestly, "football wise" ...SUCKED).
*NOTE* to Pollard and/or the next Athletic Director... "Quit Playing The Role Of Lucy in Peanuts" because Charlie Brown is about to kick "YOUR" balls without a holder if you set us up to fail one more time....... have a beautiful day.

 

[Bryce7]

Just when you think it cannot get worse, then along comes this year.

 

[bs1984]

Normally I'm just a lurker, but my level of frustration is just too much right now.

First, I'm not going to throw CMC under the bus, he has walked into a terrible situation.

Mr. Pollard however......I think we can all agree that CPR was a nice guy, but there were whisperings of him "losing" the team 2 years ago. He had been on a consistent downward trajectory since he started, and clearly his recruiting was not at a BXII level. JP kept this guy around at least 2 years too long when it was clear he could not handle the job, and was not growing the program. I understand the loyalty that comes with being an ISU fan in some abnormally prolonged dark times, however, I am tired of being asked to donate more, tired of being told to be "All In'. Tired of being sold on new suite tickets to watch a crappy team.

In JPs tenure:

1. We fire a coach that had a successful tenure here, only to make 2 more football coaching changes since, neither of which improved the program at all.
2. Our most famous wrestler turned coach of all time leaves for reasons that remain unexplained and the wrestling program has been average at best since.
3. Our most famous alumni of all time, falls into our lap, has a great run that energizes the fan base, but again leaves (although we know that there may not have been much JP could have done to stop this), and after this year, the cupboard is starting to look thin.
4. We have a cyclones.tv network that on gameday is about a reliable as my dial-up AOL account in the 90s.
5. We are constantly sold on hype without results. The biggest draw to football games in the last 5 years was an endzone addition and white helmets.

I'm tired of feeling that we are a second rate program, and that is all we can aspire to be. Enjoying the beer and sunshine on a Saturday afternoon is pretty much the only reason to attend games anymore. Hey, I get it, it's fun, and a lot of people have good memories there, which is why they keep coming back. But I work hard for my money, like most people do, and the expectation that we tolerate this and continue to give is getting old.

I agree with everything here but one thing.. Prism is doing one hell of job. Have you looked at the recruits he is getting? The cupboards won't be empty.

 

[NetflixAndClone]

I agree with everything here but one thing.. Prism is doing one hell of job. Have you looked at the recruits he is getting? The cupboards won't be empty.

I was going to say this too. It looks like we won't be thin in basketball. We have some great recruits coming in and Prohm has a record of getting kids to the NBA.

 

[allfourcy]

Well folks....nothing is ever as bad as it seems, nor as good as it seems. Gonna have to just live by that. Lets just say for hypothetical sake that Campbell has been a winner everywhere and will rebuild this program....would like to know the realists' view as to how many years it will truly take...2 more? 3? 5? Nut cup in place.

 

[JustRedman]

My main problem is our offensive identity (or lack thereof). We are in year 7 or 8 of the spread (can't remember if Chizik brought the spread) and for the life of me I don't know what we trying to do out there. Run to pass? Pass to run? Shotgun snaps from either goal line. Zone read. Zone read. Zone read.
We are on our 7th QB in this style (AA, SJ, JB, GR, SR, JL, JP) and I don't think any of them have performed well for more that a couple games. Why we continue to run a system that, when run poorly, throws the defense under the bus, is beyond me.

 

[norcalcy]

For a long time, ISU administration really didn't think football mattered. Football IQ within the athletic department was pretty low for very long stretches. The hiring and retention practices reflected it. I'm not just talking about keeping Rhoads around for too long. I can go back and trace terrible decisions hiring Duncan over Cooper. Jim Criner. Jim Walden. Really? This goes back decades. While peers like Iowa and K State were building programs, ISU allowed facilities to deteriorate and losses to pile up without really asking why the product just continued to suck year after year decade after decade. There were examples to look at and learn from, but ISU never did.

With this most recent hire, at least the right questions were asked. I feel like the President and AD at least sought some outside counsel and really put some thought into what best practices might be imported here to finally try and build a foundation for a decent program. It's amazing to me that people are throwing in the towel after two games. Even more amazing in light of the fact that a sizable portion of the fan base was willing to give Rhoads another year after the twin debacles of 2013 and 2014. Winning football takes commitment to a long term plan. It's clear Rhoads had no plan, just a lot of adrenaline. Are Campbell and his staff frauds? Maybe, but how the hell can you tell after TWO games?

 

[CyclonesForever]

I'm not ready to freak out yet, but I'll admit that I did not expect to see us this bad this season. I was expecting probably a 4-8 season. As it stands now, we've lost to UNI and had our 2nd worst loss to Iowa in history. I'd be surprised if we got more than 2 wins.

I agree Campbell and staff deserve a big portion of the blame for the results that we've seen the first 2 weeks of the season, but I will also acknowledge that he walked into a bad situation here. I will agree that some blame is to be put onto Pollard.

I like Pollard when it comes to finances, building facilities, etc. but I don't think he is that good at hiring, firing a coach when it needs to be done and pulling the trigger.

 

[JustRedman]

@norcalcy. This has the feeling of Chizik all over. Simply terrible execution, coaching blunders etc. CCampbell has done nothing the last two Saturdays to make me believe. Its 2 games, but frustration has been mounting for years and through 2 he hasn't exactly helped himself. That being said, the talent level is low...but ******* UNI??? UNI??? I lost interest in the 3rd quarter of that game. Glad Cy and TC were entertaining in the south endzone.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I thought Festivus was later in the year.

 

[Rods79]

Call it...friendo

 

[norcalcy]

@norcalcy. This has the feeling of Chizik all over. Simply terrible execution, coaching blunders etc. CCampbell has done nothing the last two Saturdays to make me believe. Its 2 games, but frustration has been mounting for years and through 2 he hasn't exactly helped himself. That being said, the talent level is low...but ******* UNI??? UNI??? I lost interest in the 3rd quarter of that game. Glad Cy and TC were entertaining in the south endzone.

Look, I was cursing a little bit last night too. I get the frustration. Campbell and crew own the results of these first two games. They don't own the frustration that has been mounting for years. If it still looks like absolute crap around game 8 or 9, I might start worrying a little about Chizik 2.0 myself.

 

[weR138]

Dan deserved to be dismissed and the Chizik hire was applauded nationally. JP couldn't have and shouldn't have expected to get Chizzed.

 

[Mtowncyclone13]

This is VERY concerning because the "football" program revenue is basically the "Andre The Giant's Slice Of The Pie" for I.S.U.'s Athletic Department $REVENUE$... and that CPR "secret" contract extension is why I have hypertension.
What is done is done and I know we can move forward from this non-ending quagmire of the most A$$BACWARD$ hiring and firing schemes of coaches in my Cyclone fanhood which spans the last 51 years, 3 months and 4 day tenure (which quite honestly, "football wise" ...SUCKED).
*NOTE* to Pollard and/or the next Athletic Director... "Quit Playing The Role Of Lucy in Peanuts" because Charlie Brown is about to kick "YOUR" balls without a holder if you set us up to fail one more time....... have a beautiful day.

Was this on infowars.com?

 

[JustRedman]

Dan deserved to be dismissed and the Chizik hire was applauded nationally. JP couldn't have and shouldn't have expected to get Chizzed.

I am the type that supports coaches too long (sans McDoormat). The Chizik hire was great. Every moment from hire to 5-19 was awful. Then he left.
Campbell had better turn it around because selling us hope through Chizik and Rhoads bought time for ISU and JP, but we can only endure so much. These first two weeks have been an embarrassment on par with 77-7 defeats. We may go winless if the team mentally checks out, as I suspect they will at some point this year.

 

[CycloneWanderer]

Remember that 10 game losing streak Hoiberg had in his first season as coach for us? I remember us sitting at 1-12 in conference play at some point during that season. I remember losing to UNI and Nebraska. I know it's a different sport, but there are some things that can be compared. Not all good coaches can step into a place that has struggled and look amazing right away.

 

[Nycclone]

I think coach maccarney took us from the pits of hell to extremely mediocre. At that point, Pollard had a chance to make a great hire. Instead he hiredChizik who ran away after two years. Rhoads then took over and was able to take us back to mediocre with Chiz recruits. But he couldn't recruit at all and the football program went into free fall (like we did under Walden) but Pollard pulled the plug before we could hit rock bottom (year 7 instead of 8). Now Campbell is stuck trying to rebuild. The question for me is what he will do with it: mediocre, respectable (like it was with Earle Bruce) or great (never happened before but we can all dream.)

 

[NWICY]

Remember that 10 game losing streak Hoiberg had in his first season as coach for us? I remember us sitting at 1-12 in conference play at some point during that season. I remember losing to UNI and Nebraska. I know it's a different sport, but there are some things that can be compared. Not all good coaches can step into a place that has struggled and look amazing right away.

We were losing games that year, but at least we were losing games more competitively, that last year of McD ball we were just losing badly. I do agree we need step back from the ledge and wait for improvement hopefully later this season, but probably next year.