Disclaimer: I've been 1000+ miles removed from Ames for the past four years, so my impressions have been gathered only sporadically. I was at the Iowa State-Army game in '05 when Jamie Pollard was announced as the new AD and I was certainly excited, impressed, and hopeful that he would ensure the 'clones could put together a Big XII North title. When McCarney was shown the door, my impression was that the "Cyclone nation" would be eternally grateful for Coach Dan's leading the program out of the wilderness and, especially in the absence of the previously-smothering Nebraska and Colorado programs, this new rising star would take us to the next level.
Chizik's lackluster first year was more than understandable. Unlike any other team in the Big XII North, we play Texas and Oklahoma (and TX Tech) on the same rotation. 2007's opponents were the hardest we would ever have, but the upside is the 2-year hiatus where we can strike the soft underbelly (?) of the south (with no disrespect to OKie State, who would have played in the conference championship or won any other conf. outright this year).
But we got worse.
Deep in the heart of SEC territory, the only game I was able to watch was the Iowa matchup. We held up well enough in the first half, but we didn't make a single clean tackle the whole game. I would have loved to see the 'yards gained after contact' stat, it probably accounted for 75% of Iowa's total offense.
I only heard about the close UNLV OT loss, gripping defeat from the jaws of a victory over Kansas, and the embarrassing meltdown against whipping-boy-no-more Baylor. I'm assuming this is the first time ever (I hope) that we've gone winless in the conference, and the "rising star but needs time" coach narrative isn't fitting very well.
When I heard Chizik was interviewing at Auburn, I told my roommate there's no way they'd hire him and all this will do is leave a bad taste in Cyclones' mouths, much worse than Tim Floyd. But the worst part is he'd still be our coach.
Now the news that he's gone (I bet Auburn's getting a helluva deal, Chizik might get paid in Applebees gift certificates), I'm not reading any Cyclone fans distraught about losing some great talent and waving goodbye to future success, I'm reading elation at a chance for a do-over. After this especially damning account, we should be thanking Auburn for giving us a fresh start *and* a $750K infusion into our athletic budget.
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Chizik will leave Iowa State as one of the most hated coaches in Ames history. All he could do was tell the press and his players about how "firmly entrenched" he was in Ames, and that turned out to be absolute crap. Pollard was in contact with him three times on Saturday. The first two Chizik confirmed he would stay. Then he wouldn't answer his phone or email for five hours. Next thing you know he's taken the Auburn job and is gone.
I'm not going to diss the man's coaching ability (at least three losses fall straight on him) but let's be honest - there doesn't exist a much better example of a lack of integrity. I'm glad Pollard described his departure as "hurtful."
I think Chizik was as entrenched as he said. I believe him when he said that. But his dream job (well #2 dream job, Texas is locked up now) opened up. We all knew he'd jump ship eventually, but he found an opening with a great program he wanted to coach at.
ISU will survive. More importantly, whomever comes in as HC will have a wealth of young talent with game experience. Sounds like a recipe for a decent year.
Here's hoping.
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