Posts Tagged ‘Paul Rhoads’
No. 81: Iowa State
By Paul Myerberg // Jun 14, 2012
How does Iowa State win games? As a whole, the program has brought in only 10 four-star recruits since the 2003 recruiting cycle, according to Rivals.com. In comparison, Texas, a team Iowa State beat on the road in 2010, signed 15 four-star recruits on this winter’s national signing day alone. The program has not finished better than second-to-last in the Big 12 team recruiting rankings since 2004. There’s little that would lead one to believe that Iowa State, with little in its corner, could hang with the programs to which life comes easy. But there’s coaching. Grit, perhaps? An underdog mentality tinged with a devil-may-care attitude, one that leads I.S.U. to engage its heavily-favored conference foes with guerrilla warfare, sneaking through the back door to win five, six, seven games. When the dust clears, the rest of the Big 12 asks the following question: How did Iowa State win six games? Sometimes, a team will ask: How did Iowa State beat us? If there was a way to bottle moxie, you’d see a picture of Paul Rhoads and the Cyclones on the label.
Tags: A.J. Klein, Aaron Horne, Big 12, Brayden Burris, Carter Bykowski, Cole Netten, Courtney Messingham, David Irving, Durrell Givens, Iowa State, Jacques Washington, Jake Knott, Jake McDonough, James White, Jansen Watson, Jared Barnett, Jeremy Reeves, Josh Lenz, Kirby Van Der Kamp, Paul Rhoads, Roosevelt Maggitt, Shontrelle Johnson, Steele Jantz, Tom Farniok, Tom Herman, Troy Douglas
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Tigers Go as Far as Fuente Takes Them
By Paul Myerberg // Apr 18, 2012
Memphis isn’t the only team looking to reverse a recent slide heading into 2012, and the Tigers certainly aren’t the only team that has attempted to do so over the last five years. Last fall, 13 teams lost 10 or more games; of the 13, seven made a coaching change either during last season or shortly thereafter. At least 10 teams have suffered double-digit losses in each of the last five years, including six – Memphis, U.N.L.V., New Mexico, North Texas, Washington State and Idaho – who have done so at least three times. So Justin Fuente and Memphis aren’t alone.
Tags: Brady Hoke, Dave Doeren, Iowa State, Jerry Kill, June Jones, Justin Fuente, Memphis, Northern Illinois, Paul Rhoads, S.M.U., San Diego State
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Starting With McGee, Branching Out
By Paul Myerberg // Apr 11, 2012
If Jeff Long was serious about starting Arkansas’ coaching search immediately after last night’s press conference, it stands to reason that the Razorbacks are in the market for a new head coach in time for this coming season. It’s not too late in the game for this to be a possibility, even if a new arrival wouldn’t step on campus until the summer, well after the team has concluded spring drills. On one side, such a rapid learning curve — for coach and team alike — might lead candidates who would otherwise be interested in the opportunity to think twice. However, it’s only so often that a head coach can inherit a team quite as talented as these Razorbacks.
Tags: Arkansas, Arkansas State, Bo Pelini, Bobby Petrino, Butch Davis, Garrick McGee, Gary Patterson, Gus Malzahn, Jeff Long, Kirby Smart, Mark Hudspeth, Mike London, Paul Rhoads, Skip Holtz, Taver Johnson, Tommy Tuberville
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The Year in Review: Iowa State (6-7, 3-6)
By Paul Myerberg // Feb 6, 2012
How does Iowa State win games? As a whole, the program has brought in only 10 four-star recruits since the 2003 recruiting cycle, according to Rivals.com. In comparison, Texas, a team Iowa State beat on the road in 2010, brought in 15 four-star recruits on last Wednesday’s national signing day alone. The program has not finished better than second-to-last in the Big 12 team recruiting rankings since 2004. Its two primary quarterbacks, Steele Jantz and Jared Barnett, combined for four scholarship offers when each entered the recruiting pool; half came from Iowa State, and for Jantz, it was the Cyclones or no one. Little talent, little production, little that would lead one to believe that Iowa State, with little in its corner, could hang with the programs to which life comes easy.
Tags: A.J. Klein, Big 12, Hayworth Hicks, Iowa State, Jake Knott, Jared Barnett, Kelechi Osmele, Oklahoma State, Paul Rhoads, Steele Jantz
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Pittsburgh’s Four-Point Plan for the Future
By Paul Myerberg // Dec 16, 2011
Pittsburgh’s four-part plan for solidifying the future of its football program begins with the most painful step, but I suggest that the Panthers adhere to the old adage and tackle the endeavor like a Band-Aid – you know, just rip it right off.
1. Hire a new athletic director. Or, if your glass is half-empty, fire Steve Pederson. A quick rundown of the last 21 months of Pederson’s tenure reveals a baffling array of personnel moves, beginning with the contract extension he handed out to Dave Wannstedt last March. If anyone in Pittsburgh’s recent history rivals Pederson for pure inconsistency – overachieving at times, underachieving at others, rarely in between – it’s likely Wannstedt, though he looks just like the steady hand the program could use at this critical time.
Tags: Dave Wannstedt, Mike Haywood, Paul Rhoads, Pittsburgh, Steve Pederson, Todd Graham
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Ten Themes for Saturday: Week 9
By Paul Myerberg // Oct 29, 2011
Ten teams, themes, players and games to watch on Saturday. Pretty straightforward. Here we go:
Par for the course This is pretty typical for the Pac-12 in 2011: all 12 teams are in action, but only one game, Stanford at U.S.C., pits two teams with a winning record. The rest is a minefield of potentially unwatchable football. Washington State, 3-4, heads to Oregon, 6-1, and the results will be ugly — nice for Oregon, disastrous for the Cougars. Colorado, 1-7, heads to Arizona State, 5-2, and the same said of Washington State can be said of the Buffaloes. Then there’s 4-3 California at 3-4 U.C.L.A.; the latter is a train wreck. Oregon State’s playing better football, but at 2-5, the Beavers — who visit 3-4 Utah — are facing an uphill climb to bowl eligibility. This is just another weekend in the Pac-12, where the great teams are really great but the bad teams… well, they’re pretty bad.
Tags: Ball State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Houston, Iowa State, Jared Barnett, Maryland, Michigan State, Navy, Nebraska, Pac-12, Paul Rhoads, Pete Lembo, S.M.U., Steele Jantz, Tulsa
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Good, Bad, Otherwise: You’re Fired
By Paul Myerberg // Sep 8, 2011
Lane Kiffin has one. Of course. So does Dabo Swinney. And Paul Rhoads, strangely enough. Mike Riley has one! And you know Ron Zook is represented. Kirk Ferentz might have one, had Iowa not jumped in ahead of the curve. I’m talking about www.fire_____.com, the ubiquitous coach-unfriendly Web site typically purchased by an intrepid, capitalistic fan in the days following a coach’s hiring and either maintained or left to languish depending on the ensuing results. Careful research — spanning several minutes surfing the Internet — has yielded the following conclusion: bad coaches get them, good coaches get them, nice coaches get them and mean coaches get them. So there’s little rhyme or reason to the whole thing.
Tags: Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops, Butch Jones, Chip Kelly, Dabo Swinney, Danny Hope, Frank Beamer, Gene Chizik, Houston Nutt, Joker Phillips, Kirk Ferentz, Lane Kiffin, Les Miles, Mark Richt, Mike Riley, Paul Johnson, Paul Rhoads, Ron Zook, Turner Gill
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No. 88: Iowa State
By Paul Myerberg // Jun 3, 2011
The stars aligned in 2009 but faded in 2010, and the magic seemed to leave the building down the stretch. It won’t work every season, but one thing is clear: Paul Rhoads will have Iowa State playing Dan McCarney-style football on a yearly basis, by which I mean his Cyclones will not quit, will not be intimidated and will not lose games on paper despite the lopsided odds placed against them. Rhoads is that kind of coach, a 180-degree emotional turn from his predecessor, he-who-shall-not-be-named, and he makes Iowa State fun, likeable and easy to root for. One only hopes that the McCarney similarities remain on the field — if Iowa State mistakes successive losing seasons as a sign Rhoads can’t get it done, I fully expect the fan base to rise up in full-throated protest.
Tags: A.J. Klein, Big 12, Darius Danks, Iowa State, Jake Knott, Jerome Tiller, Leonard Johnson, Paul Rhoads, Shontrelle Johnson, Steele Jantz, Stephen Ruempolhamer
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