cyrocksmypants

I came on here Saturday to give you guys and DMac props, but it wouldn't let me log in. Anyway, I caught the tail end of the game. I know it sucked being so close in the end, but a win is a win. This team will learn how to close out games, and then look out! Congrats again, and on a completely unrelated note, could anyone give me the time of this week's game?

Mac usually does a really good job at finding diamonds in the rough. He did particularly well with athletes from Texas in his time in Ames. That's why I have faith that he can turn things around. That said, we only won one game his first year. Keep in mind, these are not rebuilding years. Powerhouses re-build. These are re-juvenating years. He's got to have a little time to breathe life into the program before it can learn to walk again. His playcalling is conservative though, so that will drive you nuts. Troy Davis at ISU is the only collegiate player ever to have two 2,000 yard rushing seasons, but part of the reason that happened was because Mac ran him 35-40 times a game.

I can only use my Iowa State knowledge of Danny Mac, but I can tell you, if it's anything like what we went through, things will get worse before they get better. But they will get better...we had some rough days as Cyclone fans, but DMac pulled through. He's a defensive guy at heart, and until he gets his defensive players in place, it can be rough. He does love to run the ball though, so expect to see a steady diet of that.

Iowa State is an annomaly in terms of ticket sales. If I'm not mistaken, we broke records under Mac, but there were games where we just didn't show up, most in my memory was Missouri in 2004. Last game of the season and a win won the North for us, yet it seemed like there weren't even 30,000 people there (a roughly 50,000 seat stadium). Didn't help that it was about a million below zero outside (anyone who has spent a winter in Iowa can attest that temp probably isn't too far off from what it actually was). That being said, the man can energize the fan base, and with a new stadium and an enrgetic coach that will spend time in the community, I wouldn't be shocked in the least to see records shattered for you guys in attendence.

I'm just going to throw this thought in this thread, but I've seen multiple threads saying you guys should keep this coach and that coach and yadda yadda. If you keep all of your previous coaching staff but change the head coach, your results aren't going to be that much different. Mac needs to make wholesale changes or else he's not going to get the results he wants. Heck, I wouldn't be shocked if the ONLY reason he kept Canales is because he wanted to unite the fan base. Most coaches want to come in and get their own guys and wash away the stink of the previous regime that failed. Let him bring in his guys, I can all but guarantee that Mac will bring in a good staff.

It looks like a lot of you have kind of changed your tune to Mac. I had a sneaking suspicion that if he wasn't crucified by the NT faithful before his press conference that he'd win the majority of you over. I'm glad to see you're giving him a shot, and as I've said before, I think he'll be a great fit for all of you.

Coach Mac gives some of the best pressers that I've ever heard. It doesn't surprise me in the least that he's probably doing the same with you guys.

He was pretty beloved, and almost a victim of his own success. We knew what he accomplished and the attitude change that he started at ISU, despite what his overall record may look like.

Obviously, I'm going to be a little biased for my former coach, but let's break it down. You've got the administration and the fans. If the fans were to make a decision, it'll be vastly based on emotion. After all, if they like a guy, they think he's great and will win no matter what. Then you've got the administration, who's job may be very well put on the line with every hire. So, who would you trust more to make the right decision, the fans who are emotionally invested in a guy they like or the administration, who could very well lose their job if they make the wrong decision? Personally, I think the guy who can lose his job is a lot more likely to do as much research as possible to get the right person for the job.

I'm pretty sure we do have a decent sized group of alumni in DFW area. I know you'll probably see a large following in the north. I know I'm not the only one that will be cheering for North Texas now. As for a home and home, I'd love to see that, but with the Big XII going to the nine game conference schedule, it'd be hard to do. You never know, we've currently got one set up with San Jose State in a couple years and they very well may not even have a football team by then, so we'd need a replacement. I'd be scared to death to play Mac though. He's very good at getting his guys up for "motivator" type games, and there'd be a lot of motivatiom for him against his old team and with one of his former assistants now head coaching his former team.

Just read the article. The almost upset of Florida State happened in 2002, not 2000. Not a big deal, but I'd expect better from a "professional".

It's a life changing decision. You're gonna jump on him for not consulting his family first? Heck, I was offered a promotion that tripled my salary, but moved me 9 hours away from friends and family, so I spent a couple of days to talk to them about it. I don't think you can judge him for that.

If you want to get technical, Mac wasn't fired, he stepped down on his own. We screwed up with Chizik, but we're pretty damned happy with the guy we've got right now.

It wasn't a matter of getting good coaches, it was a matter of being able to pay and keep them. This is part of college football, but it also shows success. People aren't going to want to hire assistants for a team that couldn't play itself out of a wet paper bag. Most coaches, if they're good and on a good staff/team, will usually want bigger and better things instead of just staying a coordinator or position coach.

Agreed with Yellow Snow. Honestly, before Mac, we were so bad we probably would have been kicked out of the Big 8 if we weren't founding members.

When the players start picking a coach, you're in trouble. At most any given player has four years to play for a school, as opposed to a coach that could spend a career there. What happens if there's mediocre results with the coach the players picked, do you fire him and make the players mad again? Do you let the players pick their next coach again? It's the players's duty to play the game, not pick the staff. If they don't like the staff, they have the right to transfer. Otherwise my opinion has always been (and it was with Iowa State after the Chizik fiasco) for them to shut up and play ball.

Meangreendan, I didn't mean that, I meant I didn't mean it about his tenure or time at North Texas. For the most part, my question was answered, so thank you. in the meantime, North Texas has now become my third favorite team, below only Iowa State and Hawaii and just above "every team that plays Nebraska".

That or he's head coached in as many bowl games as Canales has in his career.

I really wasn't trying to even make this about Canales, or really about his tenure at North Texas. I've just seen a lot of posts saying he's going to be a head coach elsewhere, and being someone that wasn't emotionally invested in him, couldn't see why his resume to lead people to believe he was a lock to be an FBS head coach next year, that's all.

The difference is, when Iowa State hired Mac, they didn't have the luxory of having a former BCS head coach that had been to multiple bowl games as an option to hire over him.

This is an honest question, and I don't mean any offense to it, because I've re-written it about 10 times and it sounds condescending every time (I swear I don't mean it to be). But, what makes everyone think he'll go out and get a head coaching gig elsewhere? Does he even have any other previous head coaching experience? As an outsider looking in, I see a guy that coached a handful of games and the lost majority of them (did he even win any games he coached in?). I know a lot of you like how he motivated guys and how they responded to him, but if the best thing you can put on your resume is "I lost to Kansas State by only 8 points" I just can't see why someone not associated with the program or him would look at him as leading an FBS program.

He ran a 4-3 for as long as I can remember on defense with an emphasis on stopping the run. Offense I think depends on his coordinater and his athletes. He started in a Pro set, but towards the end of his tenure and he switched to a spread hybrid scheme. Regardless of what sets he has on offense, he'll run the ball if he has a back that's even halfway decent. He loves running the ball, grinding the clock and winning with defense.

I was at that game. The combination of Mac going out with a win and Gary Pinkel whining like a little baby on the sidelines was enough to make that a very memorable game. Freezing cold that day, though.

Mac will sell seats. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that by the season starts he will have sold more seats than Fran or Leavitt could (obviously there's never a way of knowing for sure). He's one of the best salesman I've seen. And remember, while some of you may be hesitant about him, as messageboards go, you're more fanatical then your average fan. When he hits the trails and starts marketing the team and what his aspirations are, he's going to sell a LOT of people. And on turning the program aroud, he took as much of a definitive cellar-dwellar as you could get at Iowa State and turned us into a respectable program, at one point being ranked as high as number 9 in the country. He raised our expectations enough that we went from being happy just to be able to watch really good athletes kick the crap out of us to expecting a minimum of a bowl appearance every single year.

For what it's worth, don't plan on Cotton leaving his Nebraska gig anytime soon, at least voluntarily.