Ask A Cyclone

Coaching staff: I am in “wait and see” mode regarding the coaching staff. It is refreshing to have a Coach that wants to be here without a doubt. Paul Rhoads is more of a players’ coach than Chizik, which the players have responded well too… Dan McCarney was a players’ coach as well, and like many players’ coaches, eventually he lost his edge with the players. Hopefully Rhoads can avoid going down that same path, but it’s wayy too early to tell.

With the coordinators, I’ll start with the DC Wally Burnham. Burnham is a highly regarded DC who has put together defenses that have slowed down potent attacks like WVU when they had White and Devine… For a defensive unit that ranked 110th (or something like that) in yards allowed, being 74th is a big improvement for the first year. He wanted to come to the Big 12 because he thought they had the best offenses and wanted the challenge. I’m all for it, but it will take some time to recruit and develop the players needed to run the scheme.

With OC Tom Herman, I honestly have no clue on what to think. He did well at Rice, but ISU is different. We don’t have the skill position talent to run the offense the way he would like. It may take a couple of years before we can form judgement when he’s able to bring in the players needed for his system. Because he is so young, if he does well here, I could see him leaving ISU relativley quickly.

ISU doesn’t have a Special Teams Coordinator- Paul Rhoads coaches that himself. The special teams has been an area that has seem to have gone down a little from last year. I am not certain if it has anything to do with not having a coordinator 100% dedicated to the units, or if it’s something else.

I’d say from a casual fan perspective, they love the staff. Winning definitley helps.. When you’ve won 5 games in the previous two years combined, you are going to take a 4-3 record in mid-October. Paul Rhoads says all of the right things, and he understands the culture in Ames, which people here love.

Regarding the running game, I think it’s adjusting the scheme to fit the players they have. To start the year, ISU didn’t run the ball much, and drives stalled. Arnaud was having trouble making reads, but was much more decisive when he decided to tuck and run. I think it was against Iowa that the fans realized that running the ball may be the strength of the team. The O-Line has a zone-blocking scheme where they don’t have to blow players off the line, and Alexander Robinson has the perfect combination of gap recognition and speed to make things happen.

When you play in the cold weather, I think you need to have the ability to run the ball. I think ideally this would be a 65-35 split between pass and run instead of a 55-45 split between run and pass… I’d much rather see the coaching staff adapt to the talent, rather than force the issue with their ideal scheme that doesn’t fit the skill set of the players.

I would say that while the passing game started off weak, it is picking up. The last two weeks, Arnaud has completed 63% of his passes for 459 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 pick. That includes missing almost the entire 2nd half last week. Arnaud has only thrown 1 pick since the 4 he threw against Iowa in Week 2. The Cyclones are getting the right combination of receivers on the field, and that has helped a lot. Most importantly, however, is the QB protection is improved. The O-Line has only allowed 3 sacks the entire season thus far, which is among the Top 5 in the Nation I believe.