One thing I've seen posted on this board numerous times is that ISU would be so far down in the pecking order since there are so many openings this season that it wouldn't be worth it to fire Rhoads. To me that is untrue because all the openings are not hiring from the same pool of candidates. Take Miami for example, the names most associated with that vacancy are Butch Davis, Mario Cristobal, Rob Chudzinski and Charlie Strong. None of those candidates would be considering ISU even if there wasn't an opening at Miami. Similarly USC, where various NFL head and assistant coaches have been rumored, is most likely not hiring from the same pool of candidates that ISU is.
Josh Newberg on Twitter had a board pictured that broke down various job openings and their likely candidates. You'll have to scroll down on his twitter media page to find it. Now, I'm not saying it's 100% accurate but I'm using it as an example to show that not all of the current openings are trying to make hires from the exact same pool of candidates. ISU is really only competing against Illinois, Mizzou, possibly Maryland and Virginia Tech (at this time, that could potentially change depending on how the dominoes fall and what other openings occur by the end of the season).
Here are some coaching candidates I think could be on Pollard's list and is purely speculation on my part.
Dino Babers- Head Coach at Bowling Green
Runs the Baylor Offense and Bowling Green has a tremendous offense.
Can Lanning run that type of offense efficiently?
Rod Carey - Head Coach at Northern Illinois
Has been good at maintaining the success started by previous coaches at Northern Illinois.
Can he manufacture that type of success on his own?
Matt Campbell - Head Coach at Toledo
We've seen his teams up close and know how good they can be.
Was Campbell the Chris Petersen to Beckman's Dan Hawkins?
Willie Fritz -Head Coach at Georgia Southern
Has won at every stop along the way.
What exactly would his offense be at ISU?
Matt Wells - Head Coach at Utah State
Has Big XII/Big 8 roots having played at Oklahoma.
Is he waiting to see if Whittingham leaves Utah?
Skip Holtz - Head Coach at Louisiana Tech
Son of a legendary coach and has been moderately successful at all of his previous stops.
Hasn't really every broken through. Bounced around quite a bit.
Todd Monken - Head Coach at Southern Miss
Took over a team that won 1 game in two years and has steadily built them up. Was OC at Okie State before becoming head guy at Southern Miss. Is originally from Illinois.
Lance Leipold - Head Coach at Buffalo
Was head coach for Div. III Wisconsin-Whitewater (I think that's the school) and won 6 National Championships at that level.
Hasn't really done a whole lot yet at Buffalo. Maybe Pollard knows him/knows about him from his time in Wisconsin?
KC Keeler - Head Coach at Sam Houston State
Won an FCS National Championship at Delaware and coached Joe Flacco after he transferred in from PITT.
Was fired from Delaware after establishing a pattern of having a really big year (10+ wins) and then slowly getting worse and worse record wise before pulling out another big year. I think that's called Pulling a Ferentz?
These are just a few guys I think Pollard could potentially be looking at. Certainly there could be numerous others that I have not listed. I've only listed guys who are currently head coaches, as I hope Pollard doesn't go the route of hiring a coordinator with no head coaching experience. I also haven't listed coaches who are currently unemployed like Hoke, though those type of coaches could surely be on Pollard's list.
Josh Newberg on Twitter had a board pictured that broke down various job openings and their likely candidates. You'll have to scroll down on his twitter media page to find it. Now, I'm not saying it's 100% accurate but I'm using it as an example to show that not all of the current openings are trying to make hires from the exact same pool of candidates. ISU is really only competing against Illinois, Mizzou, possibly Maryland and Virginia Tech (at this time, that could potentially change depending on how the dominoes fall and what other openings occur by the end of the season).
Here are some coaching candidates I think could be on Pollard's list and is purely speculation on my part.
Dino Babers- Head Coach at Bowling Green
Runs the Baylor Offense and Bowling Green has a tremendous offense.
Can Lanning run that type of offense efficiently?
Rod Carey - Head Coach at Northern Illinois
Has been good at maintaining the success started by previous coaches at Northern Illinois.
Can he manufacture that type of success on his own?
Matt Campbell - Head Coach at Toledo
We've seen his teams up close and know how good they can be.
Was Campbell the Chris Petersen to Beckman's Dan Hawkins?
Willie Fritz -Head Coach at Georgia Southern
Has won at every stop along the way.
What exactly would his offense be at ISU?
Matt Wells - Head Coach at Utah State
Has Big XII/Big 8 roots having played at Oklahoma.
Is he waiting to see if Whittingham leaves Utah?
Skip Holtz - Head Coach at Louisiana Tech
Son of a legendary coach and has been moderately successful at all of his previous stops.
Hasn't really every broken through. Bounced around quite a bit.
Todd Monken - Head Coach at Southern Miss
Took over a team that won 1 game in two years and has steadily built them up. Was OC at Okie State before becoming head guy at Southern Miss. Is originally from Illinois.
Lance Leipold - Head Coach at Buffalo
Was head coach for Div. III Wisconsin-Whitewater (I think that's the school) and won 6 National Championships at that level.
Hasn't really done a whole lot yet at Buffalo. Maybe Pollard knows him/knows about him from his time in Wisconsin?
KC Keeler - Head Coach at Sam Houston State
Won an FCS National Championship at Delaware and coached Joe Flacco after he transferred in from PITT.
Was fired from Delaware after establishing a pattern of having a really big year (10+ wins) and then slowly getting worse and worse record wise before pulling out another big year. I think that's called Pulling a Ferentz?
These are just a few guys I think Pollard could potentially be looking at. Certainly there could be numerous others that I have not listed. I've only listed guys who are currently head coaches, as I hope Pollard doesn't go the route of hiring a coordinator with no head coaching experience. I also haven't listed coaches who are currently unemployed like Hoke, though those type of coaches could surely be on Pollard's list.
