Iowa State Coaching Candidates

What rumors are out there regarding coaching candidates for Iowa St?

Turner Gill just signed a contract extension at Buffalo, but we all know that doesn't mean much nowadays. I've heard Jay Norvell, the Oklahoma co-offensive coordinator (and former neighbor of my parents ) Paul Chryst, Skip Holtz, and Gary Patterson.

Has Glen Mason been mentioned?

I don't know if he's been mentioned by the powers that hire but his name has been brought up by fans.

The two hottest names, according to a friend of mine who is obsessed with Iowa State athletics, are Turner Gill and Gary Patterson.

Gill might be a pipe dream in my opinion. If he keeps the train running for another year or two in Buffalo, he might be able to land a really big opening after 2009 or 2010. If he takes the Iowa State job now and struggles with it, the doors to bigger jobs might be closed that would otherwise stay open if he continues to have solid teams at Buffalo. Then again, Chizik was 5-19 at Iowa State and now he's coaching Auburn, so who knows?

Apparently, Patterson's wife is an Ames native, so that's fueling some of the fire for this rumor. My thought on Patterson is, TCU isn't a terrible gig. Great natural recruiting base, and recent success probably allows him to at least get in the living room with guys who might end up at Oklahoma, Texas, etc. He gets national recognition for the job even though he's not in a major conference, and he gets crazy loads of love from the locals and alums. I have to think if Patterson had his eyes on a BCS job, other (better) opportunities have presented themselves, and likely will again down the road.

I personally think Mason would be a solid hire for Iowa State considering the current level of the program, Mason's familiarity with the recruiting territories around the Midwest, and his proven track record of taking teams that are typically 2-3 wins/season and building them into 6-7 wins/season with the occasional sparkle of a 9-3 mixed in. I don't think Mason is the guy to get ISU to a BCS game soon, but he might be the guy to get them into the bowl schedule on a regular basis. The one question would be recruiting head-to-head with other Big XII and Big X teams. He gets the most out of some unheralded guys, but would he be able to bring in the type of talent ISU needs to compete in the Big XII?

Other names this friend has thrown out there: Troy Calhoun (Air Force), Pat Hill (Fresno State), Todd Graham (Tulsa) and Kevin Sumlin (Rice). He seems to think there's a decent chance of landing Pat Hill, who responded "no comment" the other day when asked if he'd been contacted by the folks in Ames. Hill would be a huge get on par with Gill or Patterson IMHO. Calhoun is another guy my friend is really high on right now. He also notes that Sumlin, though not holding a great record at Rice, has done a lot with a little, which is something the ISU job will likely require.

On the Jay Norvell thing, he really hates that idea. I bet a lot of people in Ames will be reluctant to hire a coordinator from a top dog Big XII team after feeling snakebitten by the Chizik thing.

Kevin Sumlin coaches Houston And I wouldn't say he has done a lot with a little, he just took over for Art Briles who was 13-3 in the CUSA at Houston before landing the Baylor job.

Prior to this season Kevin Sumlin had a thinner resume than Jay Norvell.

I mis-attributed Kevin Sumlin to the Rice job. Rather than Sumlin, I meant David Bailiff. Bailiff is who they're looking at.

Iowa St. is a very tough place to win at -- just ask Chizik!!

I don't think they will ever be the top banana even in their own state and are in a tough conference that is loaded with teams that have stepped it up in recent years.

I do not think it would be a smart choice for an established head coach like Sumlin or Gill and they are better off where they are at. ISU will probably have to either take an assistant like they did last time or get someone who is hungry re-tread that wants to be a head coach again.

If I was a head coach, I would avoid that job like the plague.

Gold Rush said:

Iowa St. is a very tough place to win at -- just ask Chizik!!

I don't think they will ever be the top banana even in their own state and are in a tough conference that is loaded with teams that have stepped it up in recent years.

I do not think it would be a smart choice for an established head coach like Sumlin or Gill and they are better off where they are at. ISU will probably have to either take an assistant like they did last time or get someone who is hungry re-tread that wants to be a head coach again.

If I was a head coach, I would avoid that job like the plague.

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Lets hope that they bring in a good one and start competing with Iowa for in-state recruits.

Same problem Mich State has

Gold Rush said:

Iowa St. is a very tough place to win at -- just ask Chizik!!

I don't think they will ever be the top banana even in their own state and are in a tough conference that is loaded with teams that have stepped it up in recent years.

I do not think it would be a smart choice for an established head coach like Sumlin or Gill and they are better off where they are at. ISU will probably have to either take an assistant like they did last time or get someone who is hungry re-tread that wants to be a head coach again.

If I was a head coach, I would avoid that job like the plague.

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Yet Mich state seems to be making progress on that front... Time will tell if it sticks or not...

NateDawgUM said:

Turner Gill just signed a contract extension at Buffalo, but we all know that doesn't mean much nowadays. I've heard Jay Norvell, the Oklahoma co-offensive coordinator (and former neighbor of my parents ) Paul Chryst, Skip Holtz, and Gary Patterson.

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Two days ago a radio station in Des Moines reported that Gill turned down an opportunity to interview.

I imagine Gill is so p.o.'d right now that he is going to put on his recruiting shoes and make Buffalo the MAC powerhouse and thumb his nose at everybody for a couple of years. Gill is a top-notch guy and the Auburn situation continues to show how boosters--who supposedly run the show in a big way at Auburn--can screw things up.

Iowa State is a tough situation, but they have had success in the past and it can be a good job for the right guy.

Why is Gill such a superstar? He's done a nice job at Buffalo but he's never beaten a BCS team in nine tries (and he's played Baylor and Syracuse). He had a chance to close out the regular season strong at home this year, but they lost to Kent who had three wins at the time. I'd take Patterson, Leach, Hill and many others before even considering Gill at this point in his career.

"I'd take Patterson, Leach, Hill and many others before even considering Gill at this point in his career."

I agree with your take that Patterson and Hill would be bigger gets. I think throwing Leach into the category is doing him a bit of disservice. He's masterminded great offenses is the much tougher division of a legit BCS conference. Though he might not necessarily be a better coach, in the world coaching hires, he's in a different league than the rest.

Part of the appeal of Gill, IMHO, is that he probably comes with the smallest price tag of the four you've listed above.

Maximus said:

Why is Gill such a superstar? He's done a nice job at Buffalo but he's never beaten a BCS team in nine tries (and he's played Baylor and Syracuse). He had a chance to close out the regular season strong at home this year, but they lost to Kent who had three wins at the time. I'd take Patterson, Leach, Hill and many others before even considering Gill at this point in his career.

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Gill made something out of absolutely nothing in a short period of time. The fact that he's an all around good guy and a former college star just add to the allure.

I actually didn't think he was a good fit at Auburn, because I think you need to be a sleazeball to win in the SEC. I think he'll wait for a Big XII or Big Ten job to open up, kind of surprised he didn't jump at Iowa State, I think that's a much better fit for him than Auburn or Syracuse.

I think that Iowa State will have to take an assistant coach from a bigger program unless they can get Glen Mason. It is a terrible job due to the fact that there is not a huge talent pool of recruits and their facilities are terrible. I don't see Iowa State pulling many recruits away from Iowa, Minnesota, or Nebraska, much less the southern division schools of the Big 12. I think that if Gary Patterson was ever going to leave TCU for a rebuilding project he would have taken the K-State job due to his ties to the school and area.

Rumour = Phillip Fullmer

Old Tennessee coach. Reported by the local morning sports guy in DSM, who is very well-connected nationally....

Wow. Fullmer would be a huge get for ISU. Our neighbors down 35 are my second favorite college team (a good friend of mine was a captain there a few years back), so I really hope they get things turned around. I was disappointed when they fired Dan McCarney as, in my opinion, he was a great fit for the program. He was a solid, hard-nosed guy who was well-liked by his players, the high school coaches in Iowa, and college coaches across the country. He wasn't an amazing recruiter, but he and his staff did an amazing job with the talent they had...and they put together some very good seasons. I understood ISU wanting to take its program to the next level (much like Minnesota), but I thought firing McCarney was the wrong way to go about it. BETTER solution would have been to throw a ton more money at the program to upgrade the stadium and facilities.

MGGopher said:

Wow. Fullmer would be a huge get for ISU. Our neighbors down 35 are my second favorite college team (a good friend of mine was a captain there a few years back), so I really hope they get things turned around. I was disappointed when they fired Dan McCarney as, in my opinion, he was a great fit for the program. He was a solid, hard-nosed guy who was well-liked by his players, the high school coaches in Iowa, and college coaches across the country. He wasn't an amazing recruiter, but he and his staff did an amazing job with the talent they had...and they put together some very good seasons. I understood ISU wanting to take its program to the next level (much like Minnesota), but I thought firing McCarney was the wrong way to go about it. BETTER solution would have been to throw a ton more money at the program to upgrade the stadium and facilities.

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I believe the powers that be at Iowa State are tossing a huge amount of money into Jack Thice Stadium. Which they need. While it will be no where near TCF or even Kinnick it will be a huge improvement. If you go to there athletics website you can look it what there are doing. I also believe they are building a genertic basketball practice facility. Meaning 2 floors bland lobby 2 courts etc. you can see what going on there too at the same time. I guess in that aspect they are in front of the Gophers.

Fullmer would be a great catch for them. I agree with the poster on here that we need Iowa St. to get stronger so they can take some of Iowa's recruits away. They also could beat the Hawkesyes in their annual matchup if they had a decent team and that helps, too.

If Fullmer wants it, they should just hire him right now....

Gold Rush said:

If Fullmer wants it, they should just hire him right now....

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If he's really interested, they really need to make that happen.