At least not until after the season.
You have to look at this from the perspective of Pollard (who is definitely not going anywhere) and who his next hire might be and whether he has given CPR a real fair shot.
In terms of who the next coach might be, Mangino didn't end his career as a HC very well. Jamie might take a flyer on him or perhaps he's done his homework and has decided MM wasn't given a fair shake in that deal. Either way, unless he is promoting from within, which may not actually be a great scenario, he simply isn't going to fire CPR during the season. Tied to that, is if JP realizes that his play for the next coach also includes his own coaching treatment. What I mean, is that if he fires CPR in the middle of the season, before the season's results are actually known (meaning until we have 7 losses) he tells his future coaches that they will not be allowed to complete whatever they start in any given season.
That is just bad business. By holding CPR, Jamie avoids the uncomfortable position of not letting a coach complete the season and also makes the play for the next coach, who is going to want to know if he will be given a real legitimate shot to win games at Iowa State.
Further, although some may think that in terms of seasons, CPR's shots are already gone, and after last night I'm inclined to agree with you, but I don't think that allows for a full perspective. CPR is the only coach in Iowa State history and probably within all of the NCAA that has turned down a pay increase for a promise of a facility improvement.
Our problems at Iowa State cannot simply be summed up in the head coach and the starting quarterback. That's what stupid fans think. Our problems have gone back historically and CPR took steps to rectify that.
That does NOT mean I'm saying he gets a free pass to fail this season, but Jamie has to keep that in mind when making that decision...and I think it DOES mean CPR has earned the right to not be fired after only 2 losses on the season.
My cutoff was 6 wins, and I think realistically Jamie's is probably closer to 5 with signs of significant improvement. He hasn't lost enough games to make either of those impossible, even if the losses indicate how incredibly difficult that task is, it is still possible.
Another thing to keep in mind, is that our two losses have both been tied late in the game....and according to the pundits, both might have been to ranked teams.
Pollard HAS to keep that in mind. He will eliminate the best coaches from a search if he fires a coach for losing a tough home game and a tough road game to possible Top 25 teams when we've been ranked all of about 3 times in our last 35 years.
The best coaches won't even consider somewhere they won't be treated fairly or well....we'd have to take a shot at a hot up-and-comer with no proven experience as a head coach....and I'm not sure that is the right answer at Iowa State for our next coach.
Decisions have consequences...and CPR should not be fired right now if all of the consequences are considered appropriately.
There is still a chance, although I admit that it is a statistically puny chance, that CPR wins at least 4 more. Several teams in the Big 12 have looked very humble in several outings, and this team has quite possibly played 2 teams that are very good teams until very late in the game and had chances to win both.
I think the rest of this season is going to suck, but I'm also realistic in understanding that firing CPR is the wrong answer.
The right answer? In my opinion, the right answer is for Jamie to have or to build a list of quality candidates to replace CPR...Mangino's name should probably be on that list, but he doesn't just get the job. Then, once the trigger of 7 losses (if Jamie has the 6 win cutoff) or 8 losses (if Jamie has a 5 game cutoff) takes place, he should quietly start to interview coaches or to reach out to them to see if they are interested...simultaneously, he needs to figure out which donor is going to pay for the contract buyout. At the end of the season, he needs to be prepared to talk to CPR and the public, pay respect to what CPR did for the program and point to how critical those changes have been, but also point out that the coach isn't hired just to have buildings built and put fans in seats, but also to win games.
Doing anything before then is a knee-jerk reaction and will get us a knee-jerk coach.
And who knows? Now that I'm looking at 2-3 wins at most in my own view, maybe the team figures out a way to win 6 and we are all eating crow at the end of the season?
As I said earlier, the Big 12 looks down as a whole....doesn't mean we WILL win, but the game of Toledo might find it's way to one of our toughest 4-5 games by the end of the season. At this point of the season, there is simply no way of telling.
You have to look at this from the perspective of Pollard (who is definitely not going anywhere) and who his next hire might be and whether he has given CPR a real fair shot.
In terms of who the next coach might be, Mangino didn't end his career as a HC very well. Jamie might take a flyer on him or perhaps he's done his homework and has decided MM wasn't given a fair shake in that deal. Either way, unless he is promoting from within, which may not actually be a great scenario, he simply isn't going to fire CPR during the season. Tied to that, is if JP realizes that his play for the next coach also includes his own coaching treatment. What I mean, is that if he fires CPR in the middle of the season, before the season's results are actually known (meaning until we have 7 losses) he tells his future coaches that they will not be allowed to complete whatever they start in any given season.
That is just bad business. By holding CPR, Jamie avoids the uncomfortable position of not letting a coach complete the season and also makes the play for the next coach, who is going to want to know if he will be given a real legitimate shot to win games at Iowa State.
Further, although some may think that in terms of seasons, CPR's shots are already gone, and after last night I'm inclined to agree with you, but I don't think that allows for a full perspective. CPR is the only coach in Iowa State history and probably within all of the NCAA that has turned down a pay increase for a promise of a facility improvement.
Our problems at Iowa State cannot simply be summed up in the head coach and the starting quarterback. That's what stupid fans think. Our problems have gone back historically and CPR took steps to rectify that.
That does NOT mean I'm saying he gets a free pass to fail this season, but Jamie has to keep that in mind when making that decision...and I think it DOES mean CPR has earned the right to not be fired after only 2 losses on the season.
My cutoff was 6 wins, and I think realistically Jamie's is probably closer to 5 with signs of significant improvement. He hasn't lost enough games to make either of those impossible, even if the losses indicate how incredibly difficult that task is, it is still possible.
Another thing to keep in mind, is that our two losses have both been tied late in the game....and according to the pundits, both might have been to ranked teams.
Pollard HAS to keep that in mind. He will eliminate the best coaches from a search if he fires a coach for losing a tough home game and a tough road game to possible Top 25 teams when we've been ranked all of about 3 times in our last 35 years.
The best coaches won't even consider somewhere they won't be treated fairly or well....we'd have to take a shot at a hot up-and-comer with no proven experience as a head coach....and I'm not sure that is the right answer at Iowa State for our next coach.
Decisions have consequences...and CPR should not be fired right now if all of the consequences are considered appropriately.
There is still a chance, although I admit that it is a statistically puny chance, that CPR wins at least 4 more. Several teams in the Big 12 have looked very humble in several outings, and this team has quite possibly played 2 teams that are very good teams until very late in the game and had chances to win both.
I think the rest of this season is going to suck, but I'm also realistic in understanding that firing CPR is the wrong answer.
The right answer? In my opinion, the right answer is for Jamie to have or to build a list of quality candidates to replace CPR...Mangino's name should probably be on that list, but he doesn't just get the job. Then, once the trigger of 7 losses (if Jamie has the 6 win cutoff) or 8 losses (if Jamie has a 5 game cutoff) takes place, he should quietly start to interview coaches or to reach out to them to see if they are interested...simultaneously, he needs to figure out which donor is going to pay for the contract buyout. At the end of the season, he needs to be prepared to talk to CPR and the public, pay respect to what CPR did for the program and point to how critical those changes have been, but also point out that the coach isn't hired just to have buildings built and put fans in seats, but also to win games.
Doing anything before then is a knee-jerk reaction and will get us a knee-jerk coach.
And who knows? Now that I'm looking at 2-3 wins at most in my own view, maybe the team figures out a way to win 6 and we are all eating crow at the end of the season?
As I said earlier, the Big 12 looks down as a whole....doesn't mean we WILL win, but the game of Toledo might find it's way to one of our toughest 4-5 games by the end of the season. At this point of the season, there is simply no way of telling.
