And yet never could get enough ISU fans on board, let alone turn on him. Perhaps it is because he interviewed at MSU and TCU between 2000-2006? Or that he never had wins equal to OSU, 2010 Texas, 2009 NU? Heck, even Walden had 92 NU.
One Job Rhoads is interested in
- Thread starter CyDaMan
- Start date
And yet never could get enough ISU fans on board, let alone turn on him. Perhaps it is because he interviewed at MSU and TCU between 2000-2006? Or that he never had wins equal to OSU, 2010 Texas, 2009 NU? Heck, even Walden had 92 NU.
C
CyBer
Guest
Does anyone else kind of like having a coach we are worried about losing because we know how good he is?
My contention is that with that fan support comes pressure, the more support the more pressure. College football is a business and college coaches are businessmen!
Before I go on I want to make 1 thing clear, I don't want Paul Rhoads to leave. I hope he stays for 20 years and we win titles and bowl games and become the envy of the conference, state, midwest and nation.
But any time a person is paid more than a million dollars a year their job security is based solely on production. As you get closer to 2 million dollars(like I think Rhoads might) and give him mega-million dollar up grades like I think ISU will, the job becomes a pressure cooker. No one is safe, and U take opportunities as they come.
Last edited:
This!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you back on the CPR train? You've been quiet around here lately and I'm guessing it's because we are doing well.........
He peaked in 00\01. After that he failed to get anywhere near that, and despite an extremely weak big 12 north, couldnt capitalize. With the big 12's strength now, i doubt you see anywhere near that.
That 9 win season was in 00.
One of those 7 win seasons was after starting 6-1.
Another of those 7 win seasons the 7th win was the bowl win (6-5 season otherwise)
One of those we gave baylor their very first conference road win.
One of those we lost 4 conference games despite having a lead in all of them in the second half, 3 of them in the 4th quarter.
I agree with you that all fanbases expect that if you win once you better be able to win again, consistently. I would expect the fanbase to get to this point with CPR soon enough as well. Sooner or later just making it to a low end bowl game will not be enough. Fans will want those 8-9 win teams and the bowls that come along with them as well as some top 25 finishes etc.
The issue with DMAC was that he got to 7-9 win seasons but never really got us to the next step.
The best we could do in conference was tie for first (moral victory) because we didnt even get to play in the Conf champ game. Dont get me wrong DMAC did things for this program that are unprecedented but some would argue that the stars aligned in his good years because the rest of the B12 North was bad and we still couldnt take that step.
Also I think that you could say that ISU was fairly patient with DMAC. He took over a horrible situation but he was given 12 years to do what he did. He had 6 years to reach the first winning season and rightfully so, again due to the horrible situation when he took over. However I think that most schools would have fired a coach that wen 2-10 ( 0 fer in the conference) in year nine of his time. There is no excuse for that, NONE. That is all your players and coaches so you take the heat for a bad season in yr 9. He rebounds in yr 10-11 but then falls back to 4 wins in season 12. At what point is the right time to say " I just dont think this guy can get it done?" 15, 20 yrs?
ISU fans can turn in to a lynch mob just like other fanbases but I dont think that 12 years of average performance against less than average competition is what I would define as "Quick"
Ferentz has one of the highest paying jobs in the country and has zero to little pressure to improve the Hawkeye football team. Iowa fans are stupid giddy about getting to a BCS bowl once in a while. As long as Ferentz does that, he may feel a little heat every now and then, but 9-10 wins a season keeps EIU fans very happy. The tollerant fan base is exactly why Ferentz has not bolted for another opportunity.
McCarney would probably still be here if he didn't slip into apathy and let things slide backwards.
Iowans are very tollerant people and it doesn't take much to make us happy. The same can't be said for the fanbases of the premier jobs that expect National Championships.
Sure. But wouldn't it be better if every time someone had an urge to post about their worries CPR might leave, they sent $50 to the Gridiron Club instead?
Frankly it would help keep CPR here while keeping CF from sounding like a bunch of whiny *******.
Last edited:
I was probably as patient with McCarney as any logical fan could be.
I was patient his first 4 years when McCarney was pulling it out of the depths of Hades, especially in 1999 when fans were ready to toss him by the wayside.
I was patient after 2001 when we took a small step backward from the 9-3 2000 season.
I was patient after 2002 when we peaked at #9 in the polls with a 6-1 record, only to go on to lose 6 of our next 7 games because our opponents, including 1-2 years out of D I-AA UConn, figured us out and he did nothing to change the strategy of the team.
I was patient after 2003. 2-10. Enough said.
I was a lot more patient than most after 2004 when ISU blew its first shot at winning the North. I mean, after all, the previous season they went 2-10 and we were expected to do absolutely nothing, and yet we were playing winning football again, weren't we?
I began losing my patience after 2005, when we had one of the nation's best defenses and the North was one of the weakest divisions in in college football. When you look back at that season, we could have been as good as 12-0, realistically should have been 10-2, but yet somehow only managed to go 7-6.
I lost all patience after 2006. We were picked to be in a two-team race with Nebraska to win a still weak North, and somehow we managed to only win 4 games that season.
Quite honestly, McCarney is looked at in two ways. The people who think that McCarney shouldn't have been fired (and quite possibly should still be here) are the ones with the "We are Iowa State" mentality. They think that, because ISU shares the state with U of Iowa and play in an extremely difficult conference with Texas and Oklahoma schools that ISU fans should never expect to win more than 7 games in a season and are outright crazy if we ever expect such. In fact, they think, under ideal circumstances, if ISU wins 7 games in a season it's an extreme accomplishment.
Then there are those that think you can't hang around .500 forever - you have to take the next step. That was something McCarney could never do - he could never get us to 8-9 wins consistently. Nobody was asking for conference championships and BCS appearances, although it would have been nice. We were just looking for the next step to be taken.
To be clear, CPR can't hang around .500 forever, either. Yeah, his overall record here is ~.500, but there are two differences, the first being he's recovering the team from the disastrous Chizik era, and the second is his schedule has been SIGNIFICANTLY more difficult than McCarney's has ever been, particularly this season, when we have arguably the nation's most difficult schedule with some of the "worst" talent in the Big 12, yet ISU is bowl eligible for the second time in CPR's first three years. Not to mention he has historic wins in his resume. We as fans want more wins, but he has at least bought himself time.
I was patient his first 4 years when McCarney was pulling it out of the depths of Hades, especially in 1999 when fans were ready to toss him by the wayside.
I was patient after 2001 when we took a small step backward from the 9-3 2000 season.
I was patient after 2002 when we peaked at #9 in the polls with a 6-1 record, only to go on to lose 6 of our next 7 games because our opponents, including 1-2 years out of D I-AA UConn, figured us out and he did nothing to change the strategy of the team.
I was patient after 2003. 2-10. Enough said.
I was a lot more patient than most after 2004 when ISU blew its first shot at winning the North. I mean, after all, the previous season they went 2-10 and we were expected to do absolutely nothing, and yet we were playing winning football again, weren't we?
I began losing my patience after 2005, when we had one of the nation's best defenses and the North was one of the weakest divisions in in college football. When you look back at that season, we could have been as good as 12-0, realistically should have been 10-2, but yet somehow only managed to go 7-6.
I lost all patience after 2006. We were picked to be in a two-team race with Nebraska to win a still weak North, and somehow we managed to only win 4 games that season.
Quite honestly, McCarney is looked at in two ways. The people who think that McCarney shouldn't have been fired (and quite possibly should still be here) are the ones with the "We are Iowa State" mentality. They think that, because ISU shares the state with U of Iowa and play in an extremely difficult conference with Texas and Oklahoma schools that ISU fans should never expect to win more than 7 games in a season and are outright crazy if we ever expect such. In fact, they think, under ideal circumstances, if ISU wins 7 games in a season it's an extreme accomplishment.
Then there are those that think you can't hang around .500 forever - you have to take the next step. That was something McCarney could never do - he could never get us to 8-9 wins consistently. Nobody was asking for conference championships and BCS appearances, although it would have been nice. We were just looking for the next step to be taken.
To be clear, CPR can't hang around .500 forever, either. Yeah, his overall record here is ~.500, but there are two differences, the first being he's recovering the team from the disastrous Chizik era, and the second is his schedule has been SIGNIFICANTLY more difficult than McCarney's has ever been, particularly this season, when we have arguably the nation's most difficult schedule with some of the "worst" talent in the Big 12, yet ISU is bowl eligible for the second time in CPR's first three years. Not to mention he has historic wins in his resume. We as fans want more wins, but he has at least bought himself time.
There you go.......trying to pick a fight again. I love CPR. Never said otherwise. What's not to like?
Agree, after 2005 when we wasted what I thought was/should have been a dominant defense. I lost patience.
I agree with this. Perhaps CPR wants to improve the facilities, stadium expansion, w/ever, The atmosphere and appearance of the athletic facilities is a great recruiting tool! CPR probably knows the "raise" is imminent, and has denied more money once already... Usually means the coach is here for the long haul, and trying to build a dynasty. I'm all in!
I didn't want to make this about DMac. My example with Mac was from the time he started winning to the time he was fired was fairly short and every year the stakes rise with rising salaries and improved facilities. If coach Rhoads gets a great offer to go somewhere else and compete for national titles he is not gambling any more on his career than if he stays here and risks not producing more wins and better bowl games. ISU is a great place there is no denying that, and I'm sure Johnny Majors and Earl Bruce love coming back to Ames and telling people here they loved ISU and wished they had never left. I also bet they love their memories of coaching huge games in Pitt, Tennessee and Ohio State and in HUGE bowl games, things they most likely wouldn't have accomplished at ISU.
