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The Good, The Bad, The Ugly...

ISUclones33

ISUclones33

Well-Known Member
Nov 26, 2006
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I just thought i may soothe some nerve, or possibly aggrivate them some more. I was out with the players last night and i just kinda wanted to let you guys know what they are thinking, what they are saying, what they are feeling. Because right now the players are worried about the fans. Nearly 57,000 fans watched ISU stumble and die to a D2 school. These players all want the fans to hold on. they all say how they want to give the fans something to be proud of, something to cheer for. They want the fans to believe in them and to keep coming. I got to talk to a whole lot of the team.

Alvin is really upset and really wants to get a win. I was with Alvin and Troy Davis for awhile which was a very special treat to get to meet a back to back 2000 yard rusher. Anyhow people were saying to Ace how its ok, he is going to make it into the NFL.... he responded with, i dont care about the NFL right now, Right now its about ISU, its about getting these fans a win, about getting things going in the right direction. Ofcouse he follows the obvious when asked what went wrong, ISU didnt capitalize, neither side of the ball made big plays and things have to be fixed, he also mentioned that he thinks the Offensive line needs to find and identity and go with it.

Jon Banks was also in the mix and he is also a very optimistic guy. Fred Garrin was the same way. The feeling among these guys is all about the same. They are humble, they appriciate the fans and they want to give the fans something. The other noteable conversations i got to have.. I had a nice talk with the man himself Austen Arnaud. And i could not be any more impressed with this guy in the way he presented himself in his first ever game, Poise. Thats the only word. When i was talking with Austen i was also talking with Wallace Franklin. This is where things got interesting, I told Austen that it was awesome to see him in there and i told him he looked more poised than a senior, he smiled. I asked what he thought was wrong with the offense,.. Too Conservative... Franklin chimed in and said you know what, its not Chiziks fault, Ofcourse.. he said its McFarland.. He then went on to mention that the school and offense that McFarland came from sucked and they just keep handing it off. Being caught up in the convo i asked why we never see anything deep, they didnt know why McFarland wasnt going deep. I said id like to see Wallace get behind that secondary and get a nice pass for a TD, his response was, Ill get it, just wait up and see.. he also said that arnaud is the guy with the arm to get him deep. So this really got me, Arnaud or Franklin... neither one of them seemed to favor McFarland.

I also had a few words with Phillip Bates, This kid got Huge already, and he is going to be outstanding for us.. I mean he is ripped. Reggie Stephens..He is optimistic that the line will pull it together, said "we'll get one next week".

On a downside, I also talked with Michael Tate, first things first.. He is going to try for a medical redshirt, his ankle is messed up and he dont know if he can bounce back, he said hed rather learn the system this year with a med redshirt and come back next season full speed with 2 years to play. He also told me that Chizik is very upset and VERY fierce right now, He actually told me that he thinks sometimes Chizik needs to cool down, he said that it gets annoying sometimes. Take that for what you will. But same thing, he knows they need to get things going and he wants to be a part of success. Anyway, i think i have lost your attention by now so i will keep things short.

It was a blast talking to Troy Davis, He doesnt look to be in football shape however right now, He is "retired" he wants to get back in but dont know if he will. He currently lives in Miami and he loved coming back, he said he loves it here and he loves the fans. He also had input on the whole, whats wrong with the 07 cyclone team.. He said they just need to come together as a team and get that first big win. He mentioned how the teams he played on didnt do so hot either and he really thinks good things are coming.

Hope you all will be there next saturday, win or lose.. Support these guys, you have no idea how nice it is to see the fans happy for these guys and to see the fans show continuing support. Sorry for the LONG POST
 
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Always appreciate the insight 33. I do feel bad for the players, I really do. It has to suck to see the fans pouring out in droves.
 
Also, I saw guess who...........



Jason Berryman! Yes Jason Berryman is BACK in Ames.. to be honest with you, i was happy to see him. He is still in excellent shape and he was very humble.. I talked to him about cincy and i told him that i think alot of people wish he was still around. He has made some mistakes and i think they have really helped him. I could just tell by the look in his eye that he was sincerely sorry and he knew he did wrong and wishes it wouldnt have ended the way it did. He is still working to get in the league. But currently living back in Ames.
 
Thanks for all that info, 33. Don't worry about being too long, this stuff is great to read. I think it was after the first UNI TD, but I was watching Ace on the bench through my binoculars, and he was PIZZED. I think there is a lot of fire in the players and that's good to see.
I hope we can get it turned this year and win some games. As a fan that lives in Ames, I have next year and the year after and all that. But those seniors have only this year and I would like to see some joy for those guys!!
 
Thanks for the info.

I'm going to hold out hope that our offense will get less conserative as players master the basics and get some experience playing within the system.
 
Also, i know this doesnt belong here... But Rashon Clark was out and i had to talk to him... I asked what he thought of McDermott, said he is "ok" i then asked if he missed morgan... He said both guys have their ups and downs but he misses Morgan and the Run & Gun, however he said that they should be seeing more of that this year. And i asked if Mike Taylor being gone was good or bad.. He said good and bad.
 
Does not disappoint me one bit to hear our players are not madly in love with the coaches. Some of the best coaches were not well-liked by the players...
 
I'll back up what 33 said about the love-hate relationship that the team has with the coaches. As a whole they understand the intensity and that good things are coming but at the same time they haven't completely bought into the new style and aren't fully grasping what they each need to do to come together. It's almost a fight back and forth but ultimately it's the coaching staff that's going to win, it's just a matter of how long it takes some players to realize that. I've talked to players that have bought in and some that haven't and it's what I think in the end is costing us some consistency.

In a way you can see a similar situation in Clark and GMac. Clark understands the pros of GMac but he was recruited and florished in Morgan's type of play. It takes different players to understand the different systems and to excel in them. Until we get a couple of years down the road in both coaching eras, it's going to be hard for some fans to see that.
 
Chizik has not had a lot of experience with players who need a lot of coaching to develop. It may take a while for him to get used to the idea. The kids that go to Texas and Auburn typically don't need a lot of help. Hope it all works out soon.
 
This reminds me a lot of the pushing back and forth we saw between McDermott and Jiri last season. Mac continually said publicly that one of them was going to change, and it wasn't going to be him (Mac). Eventually, Jiri accepted what Mac had been preaching to him and it made him a better player. But in the meantime, Jiri and the rest of the team looked like crap until he figured it out.

We're probably seeing the same thing with the football team, just on a much larger scale due to the amount of players Chizik has to work with.
 
Glad to hear that Chizik is fired up. Am I the only one who thinks that these guys can win this season if the coaches get their act together?
 
cycloneinmonaco said:
Glad to hear that Chizik is fired up. Am I the only one who thinks that these guys can win this season if the coaches get their act together?
Click to expand...

What. The. ____?

Are the coaches missing kicks? Throwing picks? Snapping the ball over the QB's head? Dropping punts?

Are the coaches void of blame? Certainly not. However, they're not the reason we're 0-2.

Fans that have absolutely no concept of what's going on are very, very annoying.
 
"Fans that have absolutely no concept of what's going on are very, very annoying."

yup
 
22, i took it as "if the coaches get their (the players) act together" and i would guess thats how he meant it to be taken
 
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dinger7203 said:
22, i took it as "if the coaches get their (the players) act together" and i would guess thats how he meant it to be taken
Click to expand...

I read the words on the screen and they were quite clear.

Also, I've read some of the previous posts from him (as cys_av8r noted).
 
Maybe the reason we don't go deep in pass routes is simply because we don't have the line protection to allow our receivers to get down field.

If the players are pointing fingers at the coaches after two losses who is going to be on this ship ten weeks from now?
 
Agh, my eyes are burning.

Great insight and post but any chance you can edit it with some paragraphs instead of one huge chunk? It hurts, but thanks for the update.
 
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