What was the story with him moving from ISU to PSU? In his short time as coach at ISU, you could see your program get better immediately. Was it just a matter of money and a better talent base in Pennsylvania? In any case, Cael is the real deal. PSU squashed us yesterday and is on their way to yet another championship under him.
Cael Sanderson (edit) - Why'd he leave?
- Thread starter andyokstate
- Start date
They gave him want he wanted to run a winning program year in year out. Also didn't have to go head to head with Iowa for talent. Whole different pool of kids out there. The Brands name and the Iowa program is big in this state, but Caels is a bigger name and the PSU name are big in a lot of other places.
Different people have their theories. Some think our newly hired AD, at the time, Pollard didn't care for wrestling and didn't want to pony up the dough to keep him when PSU starting talking to Cael. Others think that since PSU just invested a ton into their wrestling program facilities and the money they offered Cael was just too much that ISU couldn't match at that time. I personally think it is a little bit of both. PSU was an up am coming program ready to throw some money around and it is no secret our AD likes to save money as much as possible.
Some of the other wrestling regulars can fill in the details, but IIRC it was a significant pay raise (even more so w/ incentives added in), PSU made a commitment facility-wise, and being in the heart of PA didn't hurt.
From what I remember, PSU was building a new $10 million wrestling only facility where ISU could not do that. Additionally, I think Cael, when he made the move, made the point that the talent in the Northeast part of the country was really good. From a public standpoint, I think that is what was provided. Behind the scenes, I do not know.
Basically JP was asking Cael to do more with less. The wrestling practice facility is shoe horned into the Lied Rec center and just didn't match what the other big programs had at the time. It all boiled down to money and Iowa States commitment to the wrestling program. To be fair though, Iowa State didn't have the funds at that time to heavily invest into the program. There were other projects within the athletic program that needed addressed first and the budget back then was really tight.
Wasn't that about the time we were trying to survive as a conference and for the most part Iowa State wasn't getting included in any major conference realignment?
This.
At the time, ISU didn't have upgraded facilities for revenue sports (FB and BB), so investing in Wrestling didn't make a ton of sense. Now that JP has built out the rest of the facilities, and seen some financial returns, WR can be focused and invested in.
No. It was before that. Plus any conference realignment before it actually started to happen was completely unthinkable.
This is reinforced by all those photos of Jerry Sandusky wearing Penn State wrestling gear.
Pollard is a pretty down to earth $ guy...he attacks the greatest need first and then moves on to the next. Now that the top needs have been "fixed", wrestling is getting the love. Honestly, the men's programs at ISU (except wrestling) have been on an upward trajectory. Time to share some of the football TV $'s with wrestling...way overdue.
It's been mentioned, but I specifically remember Cael stating that he would have better recruiting opportunities at Penn State (read: he wouldn't be competing against Iowa). Plus, I think it's reasonable to assume he was offered a lot more money than he was getting at Iowa State.
I always assumed Sanderson was chasing the money, similar to Hoiberg heading to the Bulls, but on a completely different scale.
Hoiberg:
Sanderson:
Hoiberg:
Sanderson:
PSU offered way more $$, brand new facilities, and better recruiting.
Not much that ISU could do at the time. End of story.
Not much that ISU could do at the time. End of story.
If I recall correctly, funds were tight, but things just then were looking a bit better.
So Cael or women's gymnastics coach KJ Kindler (now at OU) or any other non-revenue sport might realistically, at least, ask for something more -- the problem being that probably not everyone's expectations could be met. It just wasn't that big a pot. And all sports probably had some deferred needs as funds brightened a bit, including football. I'm not saying things might not have worked out otherwise, but that was the money situation at the time.
Cael's salary then I believe the highest in wrestling. PSU (and others, like Ohio State) were moving to higher levels. Cael was surely aware of this, and as the mentions of recruiting suggest, it is something he had thought about. An analogy might be Dresser's salary this year versus what Cyclone fans hope to see happen today.
So Cael or women's gymnastics coach KJ Kindler (now at OU) or any other non-revenue sport might realistically, at least, ask for something more -- the problem being that probably not everyone's expectations could be met. It just wasn't that big a pot. And all sports probably had some deferred needs as funds brightened a bit, including football. I'm not saying things might not have worked out otherwise, but that was the money situation at the time.
Cael's salary then I believe the highest in wrestling. PSU (and others, like Ohio State) were moving to higher levels. Cael was surely aware of this, and as the mentions of recruiting suggest, it is something he had thought about. An analogy might be Dresser's salary this year versus what Cyclone fans hope to see happen today.
Starting a thread title with only Cael's name while we are in a coaching search is going to get a lot of people's hopes up only for them to realize this thread is a reminder of why he left ISU.
The money was just the icing on the cake for Cael. PSU had the Big ten Network money and was committed to top notch facilities, which is an obvious recruiting advantage. Cael understood that it would be much easier to compete for national titles at Penn State and made the no brainer decision to leave. It sucks for Iowa State but at the time we simply didn't have the funds to support the program at the level he needed to be an annual contender. Now that a lot of the non revenue sports have had facility upgrades I imagine JP will be throwing some cash at the wrestling program.
I think the biggest issue fans had with what occurred is that we pushed out a really good coach to make way for Cael, and then he was gone. We acted like we were going to not let what happened with Dan Gable happen again, but it kind of has, the only bright spot being the dominance is not something we have to live with on a day to day basis. And we ended up far lower than I think we ever would have by just keeping Bobby at the helm.
I think most understand why he did it. People say he didn't want to compete with Iowa for Iowa talent, but the fact is the Pennsylvania talent has been far better year in and year out, with no one in the home state being a really good alternative to PSU. Add in the fact that Cael was and is the best recruiter of elite talent from non-wrestling states(like Bo Nickal) and you have a team that has top 3-type guys at 80% of the weights. The amount of elite talent, and the way they rack up bonus points, was on full display on Sunday. OSU is great in the low weights, but those matches were scraps to the end , and the upper weights were absolutely steam rolled by PSU.
Thanks for the insights. It sucks to lose a great coach, but more so when it's one of your own (Captain Obvious™). We really don't like facing Bill Self twice a year. It was easy to cheer for him when he was at Tulsa or Illinois, but not so much now.
Who knows - maybe someone at PSU will piss Cael off and he'll come back home to Ames. If he were to do that, I think he would transcend the Iowa name and crush it.
I knew there was a chance for it to get ugly, but was really hoping it wouldn't. There is a huge margin between #1 and #2.
Who knows - maybe someone at PSU will piss Cael off and he'll come back home to Ames. If he were to do that, I think he would transcend the Iowa name and crush it.
I knew there was a chance for it to get ugly, but was really hoping it wouldn't. There is a huge margin between #1 and #2.