Hope. A word we can all relate to and understand. However, hope can manifest in far different ways from person to person. Its meaning is malleable to a particular situation and event. It has no intrinsic value in itself, but the idea of hope residing within a person’s mind (or heart) can become very powerful and affect that person’s sense of worth and attachment to whatever it is he or she is hopeful about. Hope can be a wondrous feeling, but it can also become poisonous if the fantasy of one’s hopes far exceeds the reality of a situation.
I hoped Paul Rhoads was “the” coach to help Iowa State football reach a level of respectability. I hoped that the results we witnessed in the first four years of his tenure were going to be the standard for Cyclone fans: five to six win seasons with the possibility of seven or more in good years. But in the end, the realities of the world of college athletics and the politics of the current Big XII conference dinged and dented my hopes and the hopes of the Cyclone family to the point that the man we all wanted to be the answer to our football quagmire is now heading out the door.
By no means am I attempting to victimize Rhoads. He is not a helpless pawn. He made decisions that contributed to his own demise, but he also faced hurdles and a reality that a majority of college football programs do not, nor will not confront. Rhoads’s genuine enthusiasm and furor for everything that is Cyclone football will never be questioned. It was contagious and his passionate speeches and sincere investment in Iowa State was infectious and kept so many Cyclone faithful hopeful that his next assistant hire or next class of recruits would be the answer to what so many of us wanted it to be. We hoped he was the coach.
As I sit here and contemplate the future of Cyclone football, I hope the next coach will be the “one.” I hope that he will be able to bring the element to the program that Rhoads seemed to lack. What is that piece? How does a program become successful? What is the process? What does it look like? There is no clear-cut answer. There is a litany of things that go into building a successful football program and hopefully the next coach will be able to blend those factors into wins on the field. Like a fan of any team, my allegiance is not to one person. My allegiance to the Iowa State Cyclones always comes first, but my hopes are not as stubborn. My hopes wax and wane with every coach and athlete that dons the cardinal and gold of Iowa State.
Until the very bitter end, I hoped Rhoads was going to remain on the sidelines at Jack Trice Stadium. I hoped that he was going to continue to nurture and coach maturity and football into the young men who decided to play football at Iowa State. But it is time to move on. It is time to pick up the shattered remains of the hopes I had in one man and get ready to thrust them upon another. Sports are never fair. They force us to face the bitter reality of any situation. And that is why sports will continue to be the battle ground between hope and reality. In the end, only one can remain.
I am so proud to have known you as a coach of Iowa State football, Paul Rhoads. I wish you the best, and I hope this move was the right one for everyone in the end.
I hoped Paul Rhoads was “the” coach to help Iowa State football reach a level of respectability. I hoped that the results we witnessed in the first four years of his tenure were going to be the standard for Cyclone fans: five to six win seasons with the possibility of seven or more in good years. But in the end, the realities of the world of college athletics and the politics of the current Big XII conference dinged and dented my hopes and the hopes of the Cyclone family to the point that the man we all wanted to be the answer to our football quagmire is now heading out the door.
By no means am I attempting to victimize Rhoads. He is not a helpless pawn. He made decisions that contributed to his own demise, but he also faced hurdles and a reality that a majority of college football programs do not, nor will not confront. Rhoads’s genuine enthusiasm and furor for everything that is Cyclone football will never be questioned. It was contagious and his passionate speeches and sincere investment in Iowa State was infectious and kept so many Cyclone faithful hopeful that his next assistant hire or next class of recruits would be the answer to what so many of us wanted it to be. We hoped he was the coach.
As I sit here and contemplate the future of Cyclone football, I hope the next coach will be the “one.” I hope that he will be able to bring the element to the program that Rhoads seemed to lack. What is that piece? How does a program become successful? What is the process? What does it look like? There is no clear-cut answer. There is a litany of things that go into building a successful football program and hopefully the next coach will be able to blend those factors into wins on the field. Like a fan of any team, my allegiance is not to one person. My allegiance to the Iowa State Cyclones always comes first, but my hopes are not as stubborn. My hopes wax and wane with every coach and athlete that dons the cardinal and gold of Iowa State.
Until the very bitter end, I hoped Rhoads was going to remain on the sidelines at Jack Trice Stadium. I hoped that he was going to continue to nurture and coach maturity and football into the young men who decided to play football at Iowa State. But it is time to move on. It is time to pick up the shattered remains of the hopes I had in one man and get ready to thrust them upon another. Sports are never fair. They force us to face the bitter reality of any situation. And that is why sports will continue to be the battle ground between hope and reality. In the end, only one can remain.
I am so proud to have known you as a coach of Iowa State football, Paul Rhoads. I wish you the best, and I hope this move was the right one for everyone in the end.
