Chizik feels mistreated by ISU

[20eyes]

Chiznut was absolutely using ISU as a stepping stone. He had no ties to the Big 12 and I specifically remember saying (as I watched his press conference) that I give this relationship three years tops. There was just no way this guy was going to stay at ISU ... He simply needed to add "head coach" to his resume. The difference with Chiznut at ISU and Auburn is simply this ... his assistant coaches. Auburn opened the coffer and Chiznut was able to surround himself with some of the best and most expensive assistant coaches in college football. He had to. It was the only way he could be successful at Auburn. At ISU, his assistants did not make much more than the Dominos Pizza Guy ... If Chiznut took his same ISU staff with him to Auburn ...? Well, he he would not have lasted the season. yes, recruiting is much easier at Auburn and in the SEC, but a sign of a truly good coach is a coach who can win at every level. Take away Chiznut's high-priced assistants and you still have a head coach who is over his head.

This in and of itself isn't a bad thing. John Majors and Earle Bruce did the same thing. The difference is that they had to win to be able to move on, which they did.

Gene's case is different. He knew he didn't have to win because he was going to Auburn. His poor performance at ISU did disqualify him from every other SEC job or any BCS job better than ISU, which is probably all of them.

 

[Snowcraig]

Chiznut was absolutely using ISU as a stepping stone. He had no ties to the Big 12 and I specifically remember saying (as I watched his press conference) that I give this relationship three years tops. There was just no way this guy was going to stay at ISU ... He simply needed to add "head coach" to his resume. The difference with Chiznut at ISU and Auburn is simply this ... his assistant coaches. Auburn opened the coffer and Chiznut was able to surround himself with some of the best and most expensive assistant coaches in college football. He had to. It was the only way he could be successful at Auburn. At ISU, his assistants did not make much more than the Dominos Pizza Guy ... If Chiznut took his same ISU staff with him to Auburn ...? Well, he he would not have lasted the season. yes, recruiting is much easier at Auburn and in the SEC, but a sign of a truly good coach is a coach who can win at every level. Take away Chiznut's high-priced assistants and you still have a head coach who is over his head.

Actually, Chiz got big money to hire his assistants. It was actually something like 3rd in the Big 12 behind OU and UT at the time. For ex, MacFarland made something like 300k a year, while Cotton only made something like 120k a year.

What pisses me off was that he took that money and gave it to his fishing buddies. I am one of the few ISU fans who really doesn't have a problem with Chiz leaving or how he did it. My issue with Chiz was the job he did at ISU, and specifically the group of boneheads he hired for assistants, in particular, the defensive coordinator and strength coach.