Campbell - Iowa State football coach

oak_street1981 said:

A National Championship is a National Championship, and as HC he was in charge of the OC, DC, recruiting, keeping the SEC Booster payoffs pipeline open, whatever it took.

You can give Cam Newton, Gus M, or the big money Bubbas down there all the credit, but he was the HC and that is all that counts. By your standard Barry Switzer deserves no credit for the Oklahoma dynasty he ruled over for years.

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I'm not taking anything away from him. Gus got the job done and that's what matters.
I'd still give a fair amount of credit to Cam.

oak_street1981 said:

A National Championship is a National Championship, and as HC he was in charge of the OC, DC, recruiting, keeping the SEC Booster payoffs pipeline open, whatever it took.

You can give Cam Newton, Gus M, or the big money Bubbas down there all the credit, but he was the HC and that is all that counts. By your standard Barry Switzer deserves no credit for the Oklahoma dynasty he ruled over for years.

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Before my time. Have no idea what was going on when OK hired Barry Switzer which was the question. What did you think of the hiring of Chizik at the time or can't you remember? That's what fizzle's question was and what was responded to.

Unless you thought it was a great hire at the time. Which is okay too. It's just an opinion either way.

What is the point? What did people think when Michigan State hired Nick Saban? What did people think when Stanford hired Jim Harbaugh?

The answer was that no one was much impressed, and they were all completely on the wrong side of that opinion in both cases.. If some Auburn like program decides to steal away Matt Campbell from Iowa State after this year, he is no less of a risk or odd hire than hiring Gene Chizik was for Auburn back in 2009 or whenever that was.

There is some notion by some on this board that hiring Head CFB coaches is a science and there is a playbook that must be followed.

I mentioned Barry Switzer (and if you know nothing about him then you are not much a fan of CFB) because one of the posters above gave credit to Gus M and the player for the NC and not the Head Coach. The Head Coach gets the credit every time, not some hot shot OC (who in the case of Gus, has been on the hot seat very recently), or some recruit that was paid off like Cam Newton. Barry Switzer like many great coaches was a high level guy that picked his staff, and then got out of the way and let his staff get the job done, as he closed the recruits and kept the administration in line. PJ Fleck is probably that type of Head Coach.

oak_street1981 said:

What is the point? What did people think when Michigan State hired Nick Saban? What did people think when Stanford hired Jim Harbaugh?

The answer was that no one was much impressed, and they were all completely on the wrong side of that opinion in both cases.. If some Auburn like program decides to steal away Matt Campbell from Iowa State after this year, he is no less of a risk or odd hire than hiring Gene Chizik was for Auburn back in 2009 or whenever that was.

There is some notion by some on this board that hiring Head CFB coaches is a science and there is a playbook that must be followed.

I mentioned Barry Switzer (and if you know nothing about him then you are not much a fan of CFB) because one of the posters above gave credit to Gus M and the player for the NC and not the Head Coach. The Head Coach gets the credit every time, not some hot shot OC (who in the case of Gus, has been on the hot seat very recently), or some recruit that was paid off like Cam Newton..

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I typed "Have no idea what was going on when OK hired Barry Switzer which was the question. The hiring was before my time.

Not being able to read must have caused you trouble in the past.

Oh wait you did finally answer the question:"The answer was that no one was much impressed, and they were all completely on the wrong side of that opinion..

Hope you get a good night's sleep.

oak_street1981 said:

A National Championship is a National Championship, and as HC he was in charge of the OC, DC, recruiting, keeping the SEC Booster payoffs pipeline open, whatever it took.

You can give Cam Newton, Gus M, or the big money Bubbas down there all the credit, but he was the HC and that is all that counts. By your standard Barry Switzer deserves no credit for the Oklahoma dynasty he ruled over for years.

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Yikes, freezing cold take alert!!

Comparing Switzer's historic 16 year run @ Oklahoma with Gene Chizik (who had 1 successful season among 6 as a head coach) is totally ridiculous.

oak_street1981 said:

The answer was that no one was much impressed, and they were all completely on the wrong side of that opinion in both cases.. If some Auburn like program decides to steal away Matt Campbell from Iowa State after this year, he is no less of a risk or odd hire than hiring Gene Chizik was for Auburn back in 2009 or whenever that was.

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Dude you have no clue what you're talking about. The Chizik hire was WIDELY mocked at the time, both locally and nationally. Remember the infamous video of him and the Auburn AD getting booed at the airport upon landing in town?

Also, Chizik went 5-19 (2-14) at Iowa State. Saying that Campbell would be as much of a risk is absurd. How many beers did you have last night?

CentralGopher said:

It depends on what you use him as an example of. How about how you can win with lower rated recruits?


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Lets not count our chickens before they hatch, ISU could easily drop 3 of their next four.

btowngopher said:

Lets not count our chickens before they hatch, ISU could easily drop 3 of their next four.

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True, but they also have a very outside chance of winning the last 4 which would give him the most wins in Iowa State history in one season. That is a very nice, hopeful place to be in at the start of November for a Cyclone squad.

btowngopher said:

Lets not count our chickens before they hatch, ISU could easily drop 3 of their next four.

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Agree, but they have a win over the 4th ranked team so have proven they can win with a backup qb and lower ranked recruits.


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CentralGopher said:

Agree, but they have a win over the 4th ranked team so have proven they can win with a backup qb and lower ranked recruits.


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X 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000! Does this mean the previous staff---who did not win 9 games---left the cupboard bare??

oak_street1981 said:

Auburn won a National Championship under Gene Chizik, which made that a very good head coaching decision. They have not won a championship since and probably will not win another one before we are all dead.

MAC hires are always crapshoots, but I would not be surprised if Matt Campbell turns out to be a better hire than PJ Fleck. I was convinced that Brohm at Purdue was a better hire than Fleck the moment Purdue hired him.

The jury is out on whether Coyle made the right call by bringing in Fleck. I'll check back in four years or so.

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Wow you must be great fun at parties.

oak_street1981 said:

The jury is out on whether Coyle made the right call by bringing in Fleck. I'll check back in four years or so.

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See you in four years!

oak_street1981 said:

What is the point? What did people think when Michigan State hired Nick Saban? What did people think when Stanford hired Jim Harbaugh?

The answer was that no one was much impressed, and they were all completely on the wrong side of that opinion in both cases.

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Huh? Aside from your other terrible takes in this thread, this opinion is laughable. NO ONE at Stanford was impressed by hiring a former NFL QB with two consecutive 11-win seasons at the Division I level? NO ONE at Michigan St. was impressed by hiring a sitting NFL DC with a 9-win season in his one year as a HC? NO ONE? To even compare either to the Chizik hire (let alone Barry frickin' Switzer) is among the most absurd things I've seen on this site.

Balanced said:

X 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000! Does this mean the previous staff---who did not win 9 games---left the cupboard bare??

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If you call two 6'6" receivers as well as 4 starting off. Linemen and 2QB's who had previous experience, then yes the cupboard was bare. But they also had an AD and admissions office, that allowed marginal JUCO to enroll.

Rog said:

For those who are using Campbell as an example should know this --

Campbell is in his 2nd year

Last year he was 3 and 9 (Fleck so far is 4 - 4)

So far this year he is 6 - 2 with a big win. (Fleck next year ?)

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He took over a program that had won 8 games total and 4 conference games in the previous 3 seasons.

mkAz said:

I suspect that Matt Campbell will be in high demand once the coaching carousel kicks in, I'm not entirely sure that ISU will be able to keep him long term.

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Iowa St has a $9 million + buyout clause in Campbell’s contract. That’s a big poison pill to better than average P5 programs. According to Campbell, he had other job offers that were considered better than Iowa St by most standards. He wanted Iowa St b/c he felt it had great potential. It looks like he’s realizing that potential in short order. I expect him to stay at Iowa St for a fairly long time until he gets an offer he can’t refuse, like Ohio State.

The remaining games on the schedule are winnable and potential loses as well. At worst, Iowa St will be 7-5, at best 10-2, most likely 8-4 or 9-3. 9-3 would likely get them in the Big XII championship game if one of the wins in Okie St.

Urbandale said:

I'm in a similar situation, living in the Des Moines area and making it to more Cyclone games than I do Gopher games. I think the two coaches are both very talented, and I'm absolutely thrilled to have Fleck wearing the maroon and gold.

There certainly has been a different fan reaction to the first season for each, however. At Iowa State, the team has been roadkill for so long that 3-9 last year didn't stir much angst. There was very little outcry beyond the usual muted grumbling. At Minnesota, there has been a taste of recent success. The fall this year seems severe and sudden. The grumbling has not been muted.

I think the long-term outlook for both programs is robust. And I think there's a strong chance both Campbell and Fleck stay for many years. A program isn't a destination program until someone decides it is. And a destination program is only a destination program until someone decides it's not.

I'm blowing off Iowa State-Oklahoma State on November 11th to attend Minnesota-Nebraska. Am I a fool?

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If Iowa State beats West Virginia this Saturday, yes, you’re a fool.

Pete smith said:

I see the big difference between PJ and Campbell is what happened when looked in the cupboard. Campbell had two 6ft. 6 inch receivers who could caught the ball. Then he recruited another 6 ft. 7 inch receiver. He brought in 2 JUCO defensive tackles the first year and 1 AllJUCO offensive linemen and another defensive tackle the second year. Apparently Campbell recognized his deficiencies and decided to get immediate help. He got rid of the malcontents much like PJ. Perhaps the big difference is in the assistant coaches. They adjusted their schemes to their players. Not sure PJ and staff do as much - especially on defense.

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Have to disagree with that statement. Campbell runs the same Offense that he ran at Toledo. He recruited players that fit his scheme, 2 true freshman WRs played Campbell’s first year, his best RB was a true freshman in year 1 over a returning All Big XII soph RB, and transitioned to a more throwing QB as season 1 progressed. Campbell’s Iowa St Offense set many program records for passing and total offense.

Campbell’s Offense is a balanced run-pass offense that operates our of shot gun and spread formations. He makes defenses defend the whole field. This year’s offense is weaker in the run game and leaning on passing more than last year, but it is exactly the offense that they ran at Toledo.

I wasn’t as familiar with Fleck’s WMU offense, but I doubt that he has changed it much with the Gophers. For the most part, coaches stick with what they know and are comfortable with. I don’t think Fleck and Campbell are different in that regard. They are different in about every other way though except age.

KillerGopherFan said:

Have to disagree with that statement. Campbell runs the same Offense that he ran at Toledo. He recruited players that fit his scheme, 2 true freshman WRs played Campbell’s first year, his best RB was a true freshman in year 1 over a returning All Big XII soph RB, and transitioned to a more throwing QB as season 1 progressed. Campbell’s Iowa St Offense set many program records for passing and total offense.

Campbell’s Offense is a balanced run-pass offense that operates our of shot gun and spread formations. He makes defenses defend the whole field. This year’s offense is weaker in the run game and leaning on passing more than last year, but it is exactly the offense that they ran at Toledo.

I wasn’t as familiar with Fleck’s WMU offense, but I doubt that he has changed it much with the Gophers. For the most part, coaches stick with what they know and are comfortable with. I don’t think Fleck and Campbell are different in that regard. They are different in about every other way though except age.

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+1

dpodoll68 said:

Huh? Aside from your other terrible takes in this thread, this opinion is laughable. NO ONE at Stanford was impressed by hiring a former NFL QB with two consecutive 11-win seasons at the Division I level? NO ONE at Michigan St. was impressed by hiring a sitting NFL DC with a 9-win season in his one year as a HC? NO ONE? To even compare either to the Chizik hire (let alone Barry frickin' Switzer) is among the most absurd things I've seen on this site.

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As usual dpodoll68 has chosen to narrowly, and hyper-critically focus to closely on the specific wording, rather than consider the overall, broader point. Now I will concede that my rambling comments were poorly written, sloppily constructed, with limited, if any focus on what some of the posters prior actually wrote, so yes my post was not exactly elite. Maybe I should stop typing posts when watching TV, texting and taking calls.

The overall alternate positions I was pushing, which clearly was not coherently conveyed to anyone, was really just that hiring football coaches is a total crapshoot, especially with MAC Coaches, low level P5 coaches, and hot, or at least promising assistants. Timing, luck, boosters and internal politics often lead to a good coach failing, even borderline can't miss hires of proven winners. Hires that look great on paper turn to failure and oddball hiring decisions sometimes work out. (Mark Mangino for one, after all we know fat guys have no business being the face of a program)

Jim Mora, Lovie Smith, and others were considered safe hires, and very competent coaches, and both will be gone soon. (Mora before Smith) Brian Kelly probably would have been fired by now if not for all the massive payouts ND has had, and now he is likely back the mix for a Playoff appearance. As much as I like to be critical of Joel Maturi, I do realize that hiring a football coach is one of the hardest things a AD has to do.

Campbell, Fleck and Chizik were of interest to me due to some things they have in common, and the first two may be great some day. Chizik won a NC, and I just wanted to acknowledge that his accomplishment since it counts for a lot, considering Auburn has no legitimate National Championships other than his. The 1957 NC was for a 10-0 team on probation. Now I guess I overlooked the fact that the guy went 5-19 at Iowa State, so yes it was not a very good post.

About Saban, Harbaugh and Switzer:

-Saban was a dull, non-charismatic guy with a proven history of great Defense when MSU hired him, and it was a very MSU like hire, I am not sure if anyone was predicting such great things for him

-Harbaugh, one of my favorite coaches, was coming of a DWI, and coaching at non Scholarship FCS team that had recently been DIII, so although he had a good pedigree it was hardly a home run hire for Stanford that had been 16-40 in recent years pre-Harbaugh.

I am not sure that anyone expected those two guys to rise anywhere near where they ended up, and yes it was an huge stretch but sometimes on occasion wild card hires like Chizik rise to high levels. The guy did go 33-19, with a 14-0 year at Auburn, and probably could have kept the program (loaded with talent, few barriers to admission, resources) moving forward if they had not fired him, but they tend to give their coaches a very short leash. Gus Malzahn was on a hot seat not too long ago.

I mentioned Switzer for only one reason; he had all the advantages at Oklahoma, and is nothing like Gene Chizik except he won a NC and was not always given full credit by some detractors, who credited all those advantages Oklahoma used to have. Some implied he was just a idiot puppet for Jerry Jones and deserved almost no credit for winning a Super Bowl in Dallas. I do not share that opinion and Switzer is a coach that I rate near the top. My point was any coach that keeps the train on the tracks and gets all the way to a National Championship deserves a lot of credit, even if it had been Tim Brewster, assuming Florida State handed him the job in some bizarre world twist of fate, and they won a NC once.

oak_street1981 said:

As usual dpodoll68 has chosen to narrowly, and hyper-critically focus to closely on the specific wording, rather than consider the overall, broader point. Now I will concede that my rambling comments were poorly written, sloppily constructed, with limited, if any focus on what some of the posters prior actually wrote, so yes my post was not exactly elite. Maybe I should stop typing posts when watching TV, texting and taking calls.........

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Good post and much better said.

CycloneGopher said:

As my moniker suggests, i am both a Cyclone and a Gopher. Since our season isn't going as planned people are looking at Iowa State this year and going wth but with little to no perspective on how they are doing it. Matt Cambell is looking to be a pretty decent coach but you look at the 3-9 record a season ago and it was kind of the exact opposite of the Gophers now. They had an offense that could score points on everybody. A running back in Montgomery that is like brooks and smith and leads nation in broken tackles. They also have 4 legitimate receivers with one in Allen Lazard who will be drafted. The most ridiculous thing about this year is our starting QB took a leave of absence from the team and our starter during this run is a walk on senior who couldn't get playing time at Oregon State. Oregon State!

The biggest change is our Defense which was a sieve last year, but they were young and learning new system. This year we all thought we would be hard pressed for 5 wins cuz our defense would still be woeful. However, they are one of the top units in the league and they did this through key position switches and juco, while also letting youth grow. They don't do anything special play a very basic defensive scheme just keep ball in front of them and are very opportunistic.

I think the gophers while having a less than desired year are poised for the future as we can see the pieces that will anchor a defense for a few years while we have some building pieces on offense that need some talented athletes inserted into. While i'm still not sold on fleck and his personality, i do believe we have the pieces to be good in the future. Everyone talking about winning last year. I'm sorry for you Mitch haters but he was a seasoned starter in the big ten. While he wasn't great he did lead us on multiple game winning drives over his seasons and if we had that dynamic and poise this year in game ending situations we would have at least 1 or 2 more wins.

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One thing I can say, being a graduate of both schools......I have yet to get an "update" from ISU about what custom painted shoes Campbell will be wearing during the game this week. He seems to worry about coaching, not rewriting the dictionary, or making headlines over his fashion choices to cover for his on the field issues.

Good game out in West Virginia yesterday, albeit a loss. The conference seems like a good fit for his coaching talents.

fan of Ray Williams said:

Good game out in West Virginia yesterday, albeit a loss. The conference seems like a good fit for his coaching talents.

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Their's a lot of good coaches out there, but there aren't a lot of coaches that can be good coaches anywhere. Finding the right fit is key, but of course that's a very difficult thing to identify. Look at Charlie Strong for example. Clearly can coach, he was great at Louisville, then bad at Texas, now doing great again at USF.

btowngopher said:

Their's a lot of good coaches out there, but there aren't a lot of coaches that can be good coaches anywhere. Finding the right fit is key, but of course that's a very difficult thing to identify. Look at Charlie Strong for example. Clearly can coach, he was great at Louisville, then bad at Texas, now doing great again at USF.

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Strong got a raw deal at Texas. He should have been given 1 more year with the mess he had to clean up.