CycloneReport.com - Coach Search Blog: Rhoads is good fit

December 20, 2008

Paul Clark
CycloneReport.com Publisher

Paul Rhoads a Good Fit for ISU
Saturday, 11:30 AM

The story is from from over at CycloneReport.com as we'll be tracking the assistant coach search, the player retention effort and the recruiting sprint to the national signing day finish line. For the latest ISU football scoop, visit the ISU Confidential message board.

I don't know Paul Rhoads but I've never heard a bad thing about him from anyone who does. In fact, I've never even heard a neutral word about him. It's all been good. His reputation from his coaching tenure at Iowa State and his formative years in Ankeny is impeccable. For that alone, he's got my full support as he comes aboard as the new head coach at Iowa State.

The deal got done either early this morning or late last night. Rhoads phoned a friend around 7:30 this morning and that friend passed the information along to the Marty & Miller radio program on KXNO this morning, around 7:45 a.m. I was out helping my son deliver his morning papers when they commented on the apparent hire. The official press release was out a very short time later. Whatever additional interviews may have been planned were scuttled as Jamie Pollard decided there was no reason to go any farther - he was going to stake his position at Iowa State on the coaching ability of Paul Rhoads.

The future of Iowa State football is brighter today than it was a week ago, in my opinion. Paul Rhoads is every bit as qualified as Gene Chizik in a tangible way and likely more so. And he absolutely routs Chizik when it comes to the intangibles. But being better than Gene Chizik isn't exactly where the bar is set here. It's set at being good enough to build a winning football program at Iowa State. No one can say with certainty that Rhoads will or will not clear that bar. But he deserves the support of everyone in Cyclone Country as he begins his quest to get that.

While this news is the end of the road for the mainstream media covering the story, it's just the beginning for CycloneReport.com. Keep coming back for fresh news and information as we work to track Rhoads' effort in building a new staff, retaining current players, firming up 2009 verbal commitments and hitting the recruiting trail to finish up the ISU recruiting class of '09.

Proceed with caution
Friday, 5:00 PM

You can track the Iowa State football coaching search hour-by-hour, scoop-by-scoop on the ISU Confidential message board right here at CycloneReport.com

The confirmed information is extremely hard to come by as Friday comes to a close and the Iowa State football coach search heads into the weekend. There's been very little actually said by the news makers who may or may not be involved with ISU and its search. And, as we've established, it can't be believed anyway. So where are we?

Fresno State head coach Pat Hill said that he's not a candidate at Iowa State. Of course he said the same thing about the Washington job a few weeks ago and was in Seattle interviewing the very next day. The other nugget on the Hill front was that former ISU quarterback David Archer reportedly said on Atlanta sports radio that Hill, Mike Stoops and Phil Fulmer were the top three for the Cyclone job until Hill pulled out, supposedly leaving a final two.

Fulmer was first linked to the job Thursday morning by KXNO radio host Larry Cotlar and it makes sense that he'd be interested. We haven't heard much about him, but the fact that he's not tied down by a current job would give him a lot more flexibility in terms of talking with ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard, either in person or via an agent.

Stoops has been the most talked about candidate of the past couple of days and there's no doubt some validity to that. He said he's not talked to ISU and Arizona AD Jim Livengood said he has not been contacted for permission to talk to Stoops. And that could all be true. There's no reason Pollard couldn't work through Stoops' agent for now and then move to direct contact after Arizona's bowl game on Saturday.

Keep in mind Stoops could be angling for an extension from Arizona. The outcome of the Wildcats' bowl game with BYU could really turn the outcome of all of this. If Arizona wins, Livengood is probably more compelled to extend Stoops. If the Wildcats lose, he's free to tell Stoops to do whatever he wants. Doesn't meean ISU would hire Stoops but it does mean he'd have a lot less bargaining power along with perhaps more motivation to leave Tucson.

Other names flaring up the past 12 hours or so have included Glen Mason, Gary Barnett and Brent Venables. They all make sense on some levels and not on others.

I'm proceeding with caution on this and not reporting anything that I can't get from independent corroborating sources. I've heard A LOT of things once but I have heard very few things TWICE. Rumor and hearsay tend to have substance if they come from different and disconnected directions yet all line up. That's what I am really seeking now as a reporter and it just hasn't happened. Breaking the story really isn't the carrot here. Keeping Cyclone fans informed in a responsible and measured way is and that's what I am doing on the ISU Confidential premium message board. If you haven't joined us there yet, please do, you'll be glad you did.

Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
Thursday, 8:45 PM

You can track the Iowa State football coaching search hour-by-hour, scoop-by-scoop on the ISU Confidential message board right here at CycloneReport.com

Can I have my Thursday back? It was a wasted day chasing imaginary dragons. Even Don Quixote would have said, "you guys are idiots." The you guys are the central Iowa media, trying to find an impending breaking story where one never existed while doing absolutely nothing else all day. So apologies to my subscribers: I didn't write a dang thing today.

Is Arizona head coach Mike Stoops a legitimate candidate for Iowa State? He sure could be. But an impending deal doesn't exist. Of course a deal is going to get done with someone sooner rather than later in a regular world context. But in the context of a coaching search, sooner would have been Tuesday, Wednesday or perhaps today. With Friday, we venture into the middle of what would be the realistic time frame for this search to be expected to last. By the start of next week, we move into later.

The best realistic candidate remains Troy Calhoun at Air Force who would seem to offer everything Iowa State is looking for in its next head coach. But there is no evidence to this point that he's a candidate at all.

Who am I not falling asleep on right now? Stoops, of course. Pat Hill at Fresno State. The Todd Graham and Gus Malzahn combo at Tulsa, although they are slipping. A couple of others to consider that I've not talked a lot about before: former Minnesota and Kansas head coach (and ISU assistant) Glen Mason and Western Michigan head coach Bill Cubit. Also, I do believe Larry Cotlar's tip from this morning on KXNO that former Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer has interested in the Iowa State job. But Fulmer getting the job or even getting an interview doesn't seem very plausible right now.

I've kept Jay Norvell on my list because I'm sure Iowa State will include an African-American candidate at the interview level. Also keep in mind Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong, who ironically is Dan McCarney's current immediate boss. Strong is overdue for a head coaching job, but if Iowa State is focused on an offensive minded experienced head coach like we have heard, Strong wouldn't fit the bill.

Friday might be a good day to do something else than hang on the edge of your whatever waiting for a big story to break. I have my doubts that we're looking at anything in the next handful of days. The only quasi slam dunk out there that could have gotten done in a day or two was Turner Gill and it did not.

Jamie Pollard reportedly flew back into Des Moines today - commercial - from Atlanta, meaning he may have been there since Tuesday. Or maybe not. He certainly could have jetted somewhere else and back in the interim. Atlanta is the home city, of course, of the Baker Parker search firm that assists ISU with its major coaching searches.

Get some sleep tonight, I'm certainly planning to myself.

Smoke or no Smoke?
Wednesday, 7:30 PM

You can track the Iowa State football coaching search hour-by-hour, scoop-by-scoop on the ISU Confidential message board right here at CycloneReport.com

The old saying goes: where there's smoke there's fire. Even though Jamie Pollard managed to keep Gene Chizik a secret until the morning of his arrival in Ames, that didn't mean most of the other smoke wasn't valid.

There was smoke around Brian Kelly and he was plenty valid, more valid than most Cyclone fans will ever know. There was smoke around Jim Harbaugh and he interviewed. There was smoke around Jay Norvell and he interviewed. When it gets right down to it, the old saying IS right: where there's smoke, there's fire. Usually, anyway.

So where's the smoke right now as Pollard wraps up day four of the latest ISU coaching search? Here's a look at the names being tossed around the most by media and Cyclone fans and my take on whether there's smoke or not around these coaching prospects.

Arizona Head Coach Mike Stoops: SMOKE

Oklahoma Co-Offensive Coordinator Jay Norvell: SMOKE

Tulsa Head Coach Todd Graham OR Tulsa OC Gus Malzahn: SMOKE

Fresno State Head Coach Pat Hill: SMOKE

St. Louis Rams OL Coach Steve Loney: NO Smoke

Air Force Head Coach Troy Calhoun NO Smoke

TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson: NO Smoke

Quick Takes on a Lot of Names
Wednesday, 12:30 PM

You have to give Jamie Pollard credit as he's kept the lid locked down tighter on information so far in this coach search. We're not seeing as much leak out on the candidates' end. Pollard doesn't like it when coaches and their agents talk to the media about being involved in the search and seems to be getting that point across.

With little to go on from the coaches' ends, the search is probably in less focus now than it was a couple of days ago when everybody could easily agree that Turner Gill was the no. 1 coach to go after. Gill decided not to risk another interview process and got an extension from Buffalo to stay there for at least one more year. Don't hold onto hopes that something is still percolating there. Gill gave his word to his players that he's staying for 2009 and Gill is a man whose word actually means something. He's staying at UB.

Here's my quick take on several candidates who are legitimate enough possibilities to keep in the discussion right now. But none can be called bona fide candidates of mutual interest at this time with a basis in fact.

Troy Calhoun
Air Force Head Coach
Best realistic candidate as of right now. Realistic in that Iowa State would represent a significant pay raise for him, he's interviewed for another job (Clemson) already, he's a head coach who's already done it and there are some ISU ties, albeit loose ones. Should be interviewed if he's interested.

Jay Norvell
Oklahoma Co-Offensive Coordinator
Norvell was one of four known interviews last time. He and Pollard don't have a direct background with one another, but there is some intertwining between them and between Norvell and ISU and the Big 12. Minority candidate (think BCA report card). Probably will have to be pursued, he's not going to come asking for the job again. Will probably be interviewed if he's interested.

Mike Stoops
Arizona Head Coach
Apparently has some level of desire to return to the midwest as a head coach. Got Arizona to its first bowl game in 10 years this season but apparently, Wildcat fans expected more. Was hanging by a thread in Tucson before this year, so may want to get out while the gettin' is good. You have to interview him if he's interested.

Pat Hill
Fresno State Head Coach
Appears to be itching to make a move up to a BCS school. But no apparent reason beyond that to think he'd want to relocate to the midwest and take on the ISU challenge. There's one small Iowa State connection for Hill: his assistant head coach John Baxter was a Cyclone graduate assistant while earning an ISU masters degree in the mid 80s. If Hill initiates contact or a trial balloon is floated west and comes back with a favorable reply, absolutely he's an interview guy.

Todd Graham
Tulsa Head Coach
A hot name because of the high-powered offense and winning ways of the Hurricane the past couple of years. But Tulsa was good when he got there; that's how Steve Kragthorpe landed the Louisville gig. Graham also stiffed Rice after just one season, not a good precedent. The last thing ISU can afford is to get Chizzed on again. Just doesn't seem like a good idea.

Steve Loney
St. Louis Rams Offensive Line Coach
Deserves an interview and it's a mistake if he doesn't get one. Should he be hired? Won't say that, that's what the interview process is for. He's an ISU alum and former Cyclone coach and he's been in the game a long time at the both the major college and NFL levels. I'm predisposed to favor a current winning, more-with-less college coach. But Loney's pros might outweigh the con that he isn't one of those.

Gill Staying Put at UB
Tuesday, 4:30 PM

Update: The University of Buffalo has announced that Turner Gill will sign a contract extension to remain head coach off the Bulls.

Is Turner Gill staying put as head coach at Buffalo? According to his agent, yes. As CycloneReport.com reported during the noon hour today - exclusively on the ISU Confidential premium message board - Gill's agent Steve Mooney said that Gill had decided to decline any more overtures regarding head coaching positions this year to focus on preparing Buffalo for its bowl game. Mooney said that Iowa State had initiated contact with Gill but that it had not advanced past that stage.

Gill is supposed to address the local media Tuesday following Buffalo's afternoon bowl practice.

Jamie Pollard flew to Atlanta from Des Moines this morning, presumably for meetings at the Baker Parker search firm office. This information was also reported hours ago on ISU Confidential (see a pattern?) Baker Parker is the search firm that ISU uses as a university for its major job searches. The company provides extensive background investigations and consulting services.

Several members of Gene Chizik's fractured ISU coaching staff are apparently still on the job working on behalf of Cyclone football. Jeff Koonz was in Georgia this morning to meet with ISU verbal commitment Taylor Martin and Robert McFarland secured the commitment of JUCO tackle Zack Spears on Sunday night.

Updated Hot Board
Monday, 4:30 PM

I've posted an updated hot board under the Coaching Search Confidential subject line on the ISU Confidential message board. It includes information on tips I've received regarding three coaches who have reportedly had contact with or from Iowa State. The information is not confirmed and it's not being reported as fact. But it's what we have right now in this calm before the storm phase of what should be a rapidly moving ISU football coaching search.

Also earlier today, I talked with Turner Gill's agent and the on-the-record information from the exclusive conversation is available now on ISU Confidential. Sometimes agents will be straight with you and sometimes they won't and sometimes they will say nothing at all. Jamie Pollard gave bonus points to candidates last time around who didn't let information leak out about their communications with ISU, either directly or via an agent or spokesperson. So expect the camps of various coaching candidates to play it pretty close to the vest if Pollard instructs them to do so again this time around.

Des Moines radio station personality Marty Tirrell is reporting on his web site that Gill and Pollard will talk on Monday night. No source is given.

None of the Iowa State verbal commitments we've talked to so far have indicated they consider themselves de-committed from ISU. Most are taking a wait and see attitude but one of the best of them, three-star linebacker Ryan Mosby, said it's of no concern to him that Gene Chizik has left. He's still as solid as ever to the Cyclones. It's ironic that no ISU commitments are bailing due to Chizik leaving but Auburn commitments are bailing due to Chizik arriving there.

Brady Hoke off the Board
Sunday, 7:15 PM

Ball State head coach Brady Hoke is off the board for Iowa State apparently with news coming out that he will move on to San Diego State. That's not to say he was ever officially on ISU's board but he was certainly a coaching prospect who deserved a look. But he has to be filed away as a non-factor at this point.

Nothing has emerged yet in terms of real candidates for the Iowa State job, real as in we know they have contacted ISU or vice versa. I do have a phone number for the agent of one coach who will likely be on Iowa State's list and I plan to speak with that agent on Monday morning. I also have a mutual acquaintance with another potential candidate who is trying to set up a direct conversation between me and that coach as well in the next day or two.

What have you heard? I am offering free premium subscription time for tips and leads that turn out to have validity. If you are already a subscriber, I'll give you some free time tacked on to your current term and if you are not a subscriber, I will give you a comp subscription for the duration of the coaching search and through National Signing Day 2009. Again, I only want valid info. Don't make something up. But if you heard it from someone who you think might know what they are talking about, please send it my way at paulclark@usa.com.

I will have a new candidates hot board set up and ready to launch sometime on Monday if all goes according to plan.

Getting it Right This Time
Sunday, 9:00 AM

When you get to the meat of the matter, the last football coach search was a failure. Bad execution led to a bad coach. Sorry, that's the reality. I could try to spin it more favorably and save some hurt feelings, but the flameout of Gene Chizik has once and for all liberated me from the last of my worries about stepping on toes at Iowa State. If someone doesn't like it, tough. ISU is my school and I've pulled my last punch. As everyone read yesterday, I had some things built up, and that's probably not healthy.

Back to the subject at hand: it's imperative that Iowa State fix the problems in its process last time to get better results this time. To go at it any other way would be a big mistake. Here are a few ways that Jamie Pollard & Co. can do it better and do it right this time:

1. It's Not a Game ? while it's important to keep the process as confidential as necessary, it's not important to make it a cat-and-mouse game with the media and the public. Pollard seemed as intent on making a secret hire as he did on making the right hire and he was pleased as punch that Chizik was not one of the known interviews last time around. Splash and wow seemed to have value last time but in the end, did they really? The "gotcha!" wasn't really worth it. Whether or not someone is on all of the media "watch lists" (and Chizik was on my early ones, by the by) is immaterial. Protect the candidates' privacy to the level they want and need? Absolutely. But if the whole world knows the right guy has interviewed, don't hire someone else to make it a bigger surprise and a seemingly bigger coup. That's fool's gold. This was the biggest fatal flaw in the last search and it would be disastrous for Pollard to repeat the mistake.

2. Eye on the Price ? related to number one is this: don't consider it a negative if a guy lets or even puts his name out as a candidate. Who cares? Neither Brian Kelly or Jim Harbaugh were shy at all about letting their agents or friends or whoever leak information to the media related to the ISU search. Pollard stated, or at the very least inferred, that Chizik moved up the ladder because he wasn't doing that. What does it matter? Kelly and Harbaugh were both much better candidates. They had proven head coaching track records before the hire and they've both been better head coaches at their new stops since that ill-fated search two years ago. The fact that Chizik parlayed his own aloofness into a veil of secrecy about his interview and the like should have been immaterial. He doesn't like to talk to people. And? That's no plus in his profession, it's actually a negative, and it sure doesn't win football games.

3. The Iowa State Family ? Steve Loney is an Iowa State alum and a former ISU coach who is the only qualified candidate that's ever muttered the words "It's my dream job." He has a major college and NFL resume that certainly holds water pretty tightly. Most of all, he's family. To not even give him a phone call last time, let alone and interview, was inexplicable. All in the interest of exorcising the ghost of Dan McCarney from the Jacobsen Building as quickly as possible. Just because Loney is a friend and former colleague of McCarney's doesn't mean he should be kept behind the ropes. You don't interview someone JUST because they are an alum and you certainly don't hire them on that basis. But after being jilted by a wham bam, thank you ma'am coach who took you for $2 million plus and delivered nothing in return, it makes all the sense in the world to place extra value on someone who sees Iowa State as a destination, not a rest stop. Loney is qualified; interview the man.

4. You Work for ISU, not the BCA ? sources close the coach search last time told me that satisfying the Black Coaches Association (BCA) and getting an A on that organization's report card were of paramount importance to Pollard. Why? I appreciate the purpose and the intent and the mission of the BCA as it works to advance the careers of quality coaches of color. But its report card is flawed and the hoops it has arbitrarily said schools must jump through to get a high grade are just that: arbitrary. They decided what was important and said, here are the rules you must play by. No school should be obligated to play along. There need to be more head coaches of color in college football (and basketball) as well as assistant coaches. The current disparity and imbalance is not right. But at the end of the day, spending too much time worrying about the BCA report card could end up costing Iowa State the right hire. And I say that while unabashedly calling Turner Gill the absolute and clearly top pre-interviews candidate out there for ISU. He happens to be African-American, so what? This is Iowa and this is Iowa State. We're not perfect when it comes to matters of race, but you won't find a more color blind state or university in the union. Get the best person ? white, black or purple ? and do it as quickly as possible.

5. Park the Hype Bus ? the smoke and the pep band and inflatable helmet got you two conference wins in two years. The time and energy and money spent on throwing together Chizikpalooza was a ridiculous waste and Pollard needs to be a better steward of the resources than that. Doing more with less should be the unofficial mission statement of the athletic department and the Iowa State community wants its money spent pragmatically and conservatively on things that matter. It's the cloth we're cut from. A press conference in the atrium of the Jacobson Building with media and players and significant "friends of the program" on hand is more than enough hullabaloo for announcing the hiring of a new coach. The Iowa State fan base is now immune to the nonsense. It bought in, it signed up, it bought tickets. And it got a big ol' camel slap to the forehead as thanks. Don't insult the intelligence of the fan base by trying to sell the next head coach as a rock star. They aren't buying any more. They want a competent football coach, thank you, and nothing else.

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