The Iowa State Cyclones hit a new low when they blew a 35-14 halftime lead in Saturday’s 38-35 loss to the Kansas State Wildcats for their third straight loss. That also was their eighth defeat in 11 games this season. A 3-8 record and – more importantly –how they got to that point was enough for the Cyclones to finally shake things up and fire Paul Rhoads as head coach. Anybody that has paid attention to the program over the last two years could probably argue his dismissal should have happened sooner. However, they signed him to a 10-year contract extension early in his tenure and wanted to give him some time. Here is a look at the four biggest reasons Rhoads had to go at Iowa State.
Inability To Finish
It’s one thing when a team is losing to some of the top contenders in the country because they are simply overmatched and a completely different thing when they are in most games but their own inability to finish ultimately leads to their unraveling. It was the latter that led to the Cyclones finally firing Rhoads this week after they allowed a pair of winnable games get away. The Cyclones had blown second-half leads against both Oklahoma State and Kansas State in consecutive losses. Iowa State had a 31-21 lead over the Cowboys before conceding 14 unanswered points in the final quarter to lose 35-31 and then followed that up by blowing a 21-point halftime lead at home to the Wildcats this past week. The writing was on the wall by the time it was all over and by then the Cyclones had little choice but to address the situation.
Lack Of Overall Success
Rhoads managed to guide Iowa State to bowl games in three of his first four seasons with the program and at that point, it looked like the contract extension was a great plan. However, the results had waned since then without a single winning season since 2009. Yes, he’s actually been there that long: seven years.
He finished with a 32-54 overall record including a 3-8 mark this season. That lack of success cannot be overlooked for a program that wants to become a consistent contender in the Big 12. While they finally made a change after hitting a new low this year, it at least appears as though they were trending towards making a change in the offseason anyway based on the lack of success the Cyclones have had in recent years.
10 More Years Was Too Long Anyway
Rarely do we hear about college football head coaches offered long-term deals like this, so when Iowa State approached Rhoads with a 10-year extension in 2011, it turned a lot of heads. It’s understandable that the Cyclones were convinced they were headed in the right direction at the time but there is always a shelf life for all. He had a fair shake but just four wins in his last 22 Big 12 games wasn’t going to cut it.
10 years was too ambitious for Iowa State, who were actually like a desperate girlfriend who got her first boyfriend. They tried to cling to him with both hands. The truth is that he’s just a so-so coach and giving him that long of a contract made little sense.
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The Rise Of Big 12 Contenders
It certainly took some time for Big 12 programs like Baylor and TCU to turn things around and become legitimate conference title contenders, but after watching both teams rise over the last decade along with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State each bouncing back this year, there had to be some doubt at Iowa State about why they weren’t able to become a consistent Big 12 contender over the years. They’re sitting there watching so many teams go up the ladder but they’re still stuck at the bottom. The Cyclones were tired of being the Big 12 whipping boys. That’s what spurred the change.
