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Question for Clone fans re: coaching change

When Spike Dykes retired, there was a lot of folks feeling that Tech as up a creek - the thought being that he had taken the program about as high as it could ever get and we'd never find a coach that could match Spike's (mediocre) achievement.

Enter Mike Leach.

While Tech still doesn't have that signature big win against OU or Texas, it's pretty obvious that the program is better now than it was with Dykes. Leach had virtually no experience as a head coach and it bit him in the arse several times over the years. But he's getting there. Recruiting is improving year by year. And many Tech fans think he took a huge stride forward as being a head coach when he fired the defensive coordinator two weeks ago. With the offense he has in place, we don't need a top 10 defense to be a major player, just a defense that can create a few turnovers and force 5 or 6 punts a game.

I hope Chizik can elevate your program similarly. I like it when there's somebody besides Nebraska in the Big XII championship game. Except maybe KState... can't stand those folks.
 
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Except maybe KState... can't stand those folks.
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I'm liking you Tech guys more all the time. I think I'll start rooting for you in the south.
 
I think it was definitely time for a change in the program. When Dan first took over he surrounded himself with some solid assistants. Over time, many of those assistants moved on to better things. The quality of the staff declined, and the cumulative effect was starting to emerge.

Gene has brought new hope and a new staff. Time will tell how it works out, but my initial perceptions are very positive. Gene seems to have the qualities of leadership that attract both players and coaches to want to follow him.
 
Techsan81 said:
Were you guys all on board with firing Dan?

I know the team fell short several times in the last few years when they were on the verge of winning the Big XII North, but I really liked him and thought he was doing a good job for Iowa State.

Also curious about your impressions of Chizik.
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There is no way you could know this but this topic has been the most talked about topic of all time on this message board. It has been hashed and rehashed more times than I could count. The result everytime, though, is the same:

Most fans liked Dan the Person. Yet most didn't like Dan the Coach. And it all comes down to hope and money. Dan wasn't going to be able to sell the ticket quantity that AD Pollard expected to sell. Chizik has sold tickets and in a big way despite everyone (realistically) expecting to not win many games this year. Had Dan still been coach, we probably sell half the tickets we sold this year.

So when you say you really liked Dan, I think most people would agree that they liked Dan but he didn't deliver us Wins and couldn't sell hope.

As for Chizik, I think fans have high hopes and, in general, like his approach. The Jury is still out and will be out for quite some time on Chizik. He has the methods and assistant coaches to make ISU very good. Recruiting will be his biggest challenge as it is with any coach at ISU.
 
I liked the man but I was ready to move on in terms of a coach. Too many "near misses", too many games playing to the level of competition, and after going to 10 of the 12 games last year (including road trips to Texas, OU and K-State), I was tired of watching the same game 1 too many times. Seemed like was the same play(s), different team for what was being run agasint us - corrections and changes were coming too slowly

Dan was a great guy, but he'd taken us as far as he could
 
BryceC said:
I've never seen a team give up like that squad last year. It was time to go.
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That was the one thing I noticed about a lot of McCarney's teams: as soon as they had a tough loss, the rest of the season went downhill. Almost like they gave up. This season after losing to Kent State and UNI I was expecting the same, but I've been impressed that our boys are still out there busting their butts every week, although the record doesn't reflect it. That's something to be proud of as a Cyclone. Now if we can only stop turning the ball over...
 
Techsan81 said:
I like it when there's somebody besides Nebraska in the Big XII championship game. Except maybe KState... can't stand those folks.
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I think you'll get your wish this year, except it might be K-State, which is unfortunate for everyone involved.
 
One thing about Leach and his offense - it's almost never boring.

And you almost never feel like the team can't come back if they get behind - with last year's bowl game being exhibit A.

If I had to watch the aggy offense every week, I'd throw up.
 
Techsan81 said:
And you almost never feel like the team can't come back if they get behind - with last year's bowl game being exhibit A.
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As someone who grew up in the Twin Cities metro (who absolutely HATES Minnesota), that was one of the best 10 games I've ever seen. The look on Glen Mason's face through the entire 4th quarter was absolutely priceless. Thank you for that.
 
Dan did get some decent recruits at ISU, which is not easy. The Davis brothers, Wallace, and Blythe are the ones standing out in my mind right now. I give him a lot of credit for this and their talent helped to boost the program. I hope that Chizik can find some similar players and build a strong supporting cast over the next few years...
 
C.John said:
Walden brought in Troy, not Dan.
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And I think it's pretty safe to say that Darren was a product of Troy being at ISU.

However, to Mac's credit he was smart enough to actually put Troy on the field, something Jim didn't quite figure out.
 
Crap, this could get interesting.

Regardless that the official release was that he "resigned" he was basically fired it was just a nice way of putting it. You can't tell me that if Dan refused to step down that JP wouldn't have just fired him anyways. Dan did the classy thing like he always did and didn't turn it into a big PR nightmare. If you read threads here you'll see that Dan comes up a lot even when the topic is not about him. Still a lot of people here that support him and it was definately a split crowd when he was let go.
 
allyclone said:
Dan was given the chance to stay, but was going to be forced to clean house with his coordinators.
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This is key here. Dan's loyalty in the end cost him his job. He wasn't going to fire his worthless assistants (read Barney Cotton). He could have stayed, but when he refused the condition to him staying he was out. Don't make it sound like the administration was barbaric in dismissing Dan. Taking into consideration all that he had given to the program they gave him the option to stay w/ conditions. He refused the condition knowing that in doing so he was resigning.
 
McCarney was a nice guy...a nice guy that in 12 years lost 61% of the games he coached (56-87). His two predecessors lost 65% (Walden...the eight years prior to McCarney) and 57% (Criner...the four years prior to Walden) of their games. He basically had the same success in a far easier conference (Big 12 North) that his two predecessors had in a far tougher conference (Big 8).

I think Chizik was a great hire. I expect him to significantly improve the results that we experience at ISU. I am especially pleased with what he is doing on defense...hopefully we can keep TTU below 50!!
 
What? No darts in a DMAC thread? Someone better go make sure he is alright!
 
leg4cy said:
This is key here. Dan's loyalty in the end cost him his job. He wasn't going to fire his worthless assistants (read Barney Cotton). He could have stayed, but when he refused the condition to him staying he was out. Don't make it sound like the administration was barbaric in dismissing Dan. Taking into consideration all that he had given to the program they gave him the option to stay w/ conditions. He refused the condition knowing that in doing so he was resigning.
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I don't have any inside info and I would guess neither do you...but I would find it highly unlikely that McCarney had an option to stay even if he cleaned house. I don't see that to be the M.O. of our AD...making decisions for his subordinates. Frankly, the only way he would have stayed is if there were still a glimmer of hope based upon the results experienced last season...obviously, there was no glimmer of hope. It's pretty tough to sell hope with a coach that is a proven loser (56-87) like Dan...this is the primary reason he will not be a HC at a BCS type school again.
 
cyclone#1 said:
I don't have any inside info and I would guess neither do you...but I would find it highly unlikely that McCarney had an option to stay even if he cleaned house. I don't see that to be the M.O. of our AD...making decisions for his subordinates. Frankly, the only way he would have stayed is if there were still a glimmer of hope based upon the results experienced last season...obviously, there was no glimmer of hope. It's pretty tough to sell hope with a coach that is a proven loser (56-87) like Dan...this is the primary reason he will not be a HC at a BCS type school again.
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Especially when you consider he did a little house cleaning a few years back, ie Marty Fine.

Dan was gone. I seriously doubt he was even given an option to stay. It was resign or be let go. Dan did the classy thing by not making a stink about it. JP did the classy thing by leaving the decision up to Dan and doing it early enough that Dan got a farewell tour, of sorts. I don't believe for second there was any option that allowed Dan McCarney to come back as ISU's football coach in 2007. EOS
 
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