WILLIAMS: Analyzing Steve Prohm’s pending hire of James Kane

Matt Campbell is the guy who finally got this through my thick skull – that’s the importance of continuity and comfortability on a coaching staff. 

I truly believe that much of the reason for Iowa State’s almost instant football success under Campbell happened because of his staff’s comfort with one another. Highs and lows, recruiting or on the field, that group always seems to be on the same page. It’s almost as if Campbell’s staff can anticipate the direction he wants to go before the head man barks out the orders. Usually, those guys have a head start on the task because of that chemistry. 

Steve Prohm is rolling with this philosophy in the pending hiring of James Kane. 

Few people (if any) in the coaching business are as close to Prohm as Kane, who will likely be formally announced as Iowa State’s new assistant coach early next week. The pair first met on a recommendation from Anthony Grant, which landed Kane on Prohm’s first staff at Murray. 

What’s his strength? Kane is a great replacement to Neill Berry (who recently left for Texas) in the sense that he too is a spitting image of Prohm. Kane, a 2005 graduate of Florida, has a reputation of being a “player’s coach” who values relationships, which is his strength on the recruiting trail. That’s exactly how I would describe Berry to somebody who doesn’t know him.

We’ll have to wait and see where Kane spends the majority of his time recruiting for Iowa State. What we do know is that based off of his six years as an assistant coach at Murray and time with Anthony Grant at VCU and Alabama, Kane – like Prohm and assistant coach William Small – is comfortable down south. 

What will be interesting is to see how much the year in Dayton helped develop his Midwest ties, which is where Iowa State could use a boost geographically. Having said that, Prohm and Daniyal Robinson have done a great job getting into Chicago as of late so Kane serving the area too isn’t exactly a must. 

I’ve heard that Kane is a film guru, so expect him to be big when it comes to Iowa State’s game plans for next year.

Expect a formal announcement from Iowa State on Monday.