Iowa State Fires Head Coach Paul Rhoads
SI- Iowa State has fired head coach Paul Rhoads, according to a source. The move comes a day after Rhoads’s Cyclones blew a 21-point halftime lead to Kansas State, including allowing two touchdowns in the final 42 seconds, to fall 38–35. The defeat dropped Iowa State to 3–8 on the season and 2–6 in Big 12 play. Rhoads was 32–54 in nearly seven seasons in Ames. After a 7–6 debut campaign in 2009, capped by an Insight Bowl victory over Minnesota, Rhoads never had another winning season. The program took a downturn over the past three seasons, winning just eight combined games. Iowa State failed to win a conference game last season. The Cyclones got off to a decent start in 2015, winning two of their first four games. They also got a surprising 24–0 victory over Texas on Oct. 31. However, those occasionally bursts of success were surrounded by setbacks, and Iowa State failed to hang on to late leads in each of its past two games. The Cyclones led then-undefeated Oklahoma State 31–21 entering the fourth quarter before allowing the Cowboys to come back with two late touchdowns to win.
Pretty inevitable after that truly ridiculous loss to Kansas State yesterday. Allowing two touchdowns in the final 42 seconds. This has been a long time coming though. Some thought that Iowa State’s 24-0 victory over Texas in late October had secured Rhoads’ job for at least the remainder of the season but nope. Or maybe that his job was safe after firing offensive coordinator Mark Mangino so the Cyclone faithful would have somebody to blame instead of Rhoads himself but nope (it was rumored that Mangino might’ve been the head-coach-waiting once Rhoads got fired so Rhoads simply fired him. Didn’t totally work). It turns out not having a winning season since 2009 and compiling a record of 32-54 over the course of 7 seasons isn’t good enough for a guy to hold down a job. Who knew? This made sense for all parties involved. It flat out wasn’t working with Rhoads at the helm. Best for everybody to go and try something new.
By the way, did you guys hear that Iowa is 11-0?