BREAKING: McCarney out at ISU

Ah yes, '98. I graduated from Wartburg that spring and was watching the game with my dad at home. I had to walk away with tears in my eyes when they lost. That marked the end of Hayden's era at Iowa.

 

Jamie Pollard pulls a quick trigger. Not surprising, this program was going down before it was going to go up again.

Pollard wants money for better facilities. You don't get that with apathy toward the football program, and that's what this was drifting toward.

He had two chances to win the Big 12 North (for the right to get stomped in the conference title game) and they gagged both times.

He did all that he could there. And yet I'm not sure anyone will do any better.

 

Not to mention Nebraska can grab several Iowa kids every year if it wants them.

 

Dark horse candidate: Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst.

 

Former Cyclone assistant and current Arizona Cardinals O-Line coach Steve Loney, some Denver Bronco position coach to mention a few...

One person thinks that is a weak-ass list: http://www.wesleyvaclav.blogspot.com/

 

Iowa State isn't going to find another coach who will stay there 12 years. Any good coach is going to see what happened to McCartney -- at a program that isn't built for consistent conference championships -- and leave after the first good season. I honestly don't think Iowa State can do better than McCartney as a long-term solution. But they sure can do worse.

 

McCarney wasn't rocking boats, was doing well given the short deck he's constantly dealt and hasn't just rolled over and played dead. Ames isn't the end-all, be-all of the football world. On top of that, another coach who comes in and wins right off the bat is springboarding somewhere else knowing the situation and also seeing that McCarney got the hook.

Pollard killed the stability, and unless ISU has some hot-sh_t alum itching to take the job, he won't get the money for the type of facilities he thinks he can get to take on the football factories.

They lost stability, they lost a man that really wanted to be there and their arrogance will hurt them in the long run. Now to watch the long, slow toilet flush over the next few years ...

 

I think Pollard is trying to recreate the Pat Richter playbook at Wisconsin. Get a football coach to turn the program into a perennial Top 25 program, upgrade facilities, etc, etc.

But they are several key differences between Iowa State and Wisky. The Badgers pretty much get their pick of in-state players and are the top university in the state going away. The program always had the potential to be as good as it is today; it just needed the right coach. Iowa State has to fend off Iowa and Nebraska for recruits, often settling for second-tier recruits and will always be in Iowa's shadow. As far as fund-raising, as a state Wisconsin is dominated by UW alums and the university has a pretty extensive national alumni base that were re-awakened when Alvarez started taking them back to bowls. Iowa State has a much smaller alumni base that is much more regional in nature and will always be second-fiddle to Iowa. Pollard is trying to force a square peg through a round hole.

 

Pope, Sam, I don't Bill McCartney coached in Ames. It was McCarney.

 

My bad.

 

Oops. :-[

 

Pollard's reported short list should strike fear in the hearts of Cyclones fans everywhere. ISU is on the fast track to becoming America's Homecoming Opponent.