Candidates to Replace LE back in 2003

Hmm, very good post OP. I am one that has advocated for getting rid of McD and bringing in a new regime, but this has put things in perspective a bit. I think we may over-estimate who would want to come to Iowa State, and the state of Iowa State basketball was certianly better after LE then it is now.

Can't be negative. McD hasn't made post season ever. What's the worst that can happen with a new coach??????
 
Can't be negative. McD hasn't made post season ever. What's the worst that can happen with a new coach??????

It could set us back even further. We lost players, we lose recruits, ect. I'm not saying we should keep McD, I am just saying we should be cautious about thinking we will magically be relevant again with a new coach. It could set us back another 5 years...
 
This is/was a pathetic list. Being a few years removed from back to back championships, a rapid fanbase, decent tradition....coming off a scandal or no scandal this list is pathetic and should have included some real up and coming names and maybe a few quality established coach. I mean you telling me we could land Johnny Orr a few years from a championship game in the early 80's but we couldn't land someone of his caliber after what LE and Floyd AND Orr accomplished? BVD himself is who set us back 10 years.

Losing LE didn't set us back 10 years....not going out and finding a quality 'long haul' coach did.


We really didn't lure Orr here. It was about dumb luck and timing. The only reason here came here was b/c he decided it. Nothing to do with admin or anything else.
 
So while we are at it, does anyone want to put together a list of coaches we looked at before we hired McD? Maybe this is a trend, maybe Iowa State isn't as marketable as we like to think.
 
We really didn't lure Orr here. It was about dumb luck and timing. The only reason here came here was b/c he decided it. Nothing to do with admin or anything else.

Making him the highest paid coach in the NCAA was dumb luck? Dumb luck to find that he had any interest, but not dumb luck to lure him here.
 
ddisu is correct on Orr, we called michigan to talk to one of his assistants. We then told him how much we were going to offer is assistant and his assistant would be making more at ISU then he was at Michigan. Also, before we even talked to Orr, if anyone read the pregame notes before the Duke game on cyclones.com, we tried to get coach K as well, but he decided on going to Duke.
 
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How long was BVDV the AD at ISU?

Long enough to do costly damage to ISU athletics, particularly if you were a fan of baseball. He was a status-quo kind of guy, except when it came to fixing budget shortfalls (which he would have more often than not), he would go at it with a hacksaw instead of a scalpel. While success on the field and court hasn't been as much as we would like it, the athletic department is in much better shape now compared to when he took it over, especially financially.
 
Clonefan 32 is correct on Orr, we called michigan to talk to one of his assistants. We then told him how much we were going to offer is assistant and his assistant would be making more at ISU then he was at Michigan. Also, before we even talked to Orr, if anyone read the pregame notes before the Duke game on cyclones.com, we tried to get coach K as well, but he decided on going to Duke.


I think you meant me. It was told to me that ISU was consulting w/Orr on finding a new coach.

Orr: How much are you going to pay him? ISU: This much. Orr: Really. Hell for that much I will come coach the Cyclones.

So, I guess we were willing to offer a big salary but we weren't fishing for Orr.
 
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Yeah, my bad. I dont know the whole story, but i have always been told that we were asking about one of his assistants. At the time, pressure was on him for winning more then he already was and when we were offering our next coach more then him, he took the job.
 
Yeah, my bad. I dont know the whole story, but i have always been told that we were asking about one of his assistants. At the time, pressure was on him for winning more then he already was and when we were offering our next coach more then him, he took the job.


You could be correct on the assistant thing too. I know it was "accidental" that we got him. At least the AD was talking to the right people.
 
We called Orr to ask about Bill Frieder. It is my understanding at the time of first contact with Orr ISU didn't know what they were paying but Orr was interested to hearing more about ISU. ISU didn't know the dollar amount at the time of the first call and that was that. Orr was just as much won over by his visit to Ames as the high salary.
 
You could be correct on the assistant thing too. I know it was "accidental" that we got him. At least the AD was talking to the right people.

It wasn't accidental that we got him, it was accidental that we found he had any interest at all. It wasn't like ISU offered him the highest salary at the time in the NCAA by accident. They had to go get him after hearing about his interest.
 
So while we are at it, does anyone want to put together a list of coaches we looked at before we hired McD? Maybe this is a trend, maybe Iowa State isn't as marketable as we like to think.

I think McD was the only candidate. It only took JP 4 days after he fired WM to hire McD
 
Can't be negative. McD hasn't made post season ever. What's the worst that can happen with a new coach??????

See Iowa after the Tom Davis Debacle. Though I do think Lick will turn it around there, it has been a decade of pure trash there that makes our team/program look like Roses.
 
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It wasn't accidental that we got him, it was accidental that we found he had any interest at all. It wasn't like ISU offered him the highest salary at the time in the NCAA by accident. They had to go get him after hearing about his interest.


I think we are just spliting hairs here. I agree with you. By "accidental", I mean he wasn't really on our radar. He initiated the interest and ISU did a great job by not dropping the ball and getting Orr to Ames.
 
Lopes was a great option at the time. He was a Kelvin Sampson Protege. Then he got fired in 2005 for recruiting violations. he basically proved he was as slimey as Sampson. We actually got lucky we did not get who we wanted.
 
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I think we are just spliting hairs here. I agree with you. By "accidental", I mean he wasn't really on our radar. He initiated the interest and ISU did a great job by not dropping the ball and getting Orr to Ames.

I do miss Johnny!!!
 

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