Is Iowa State Ready For Respectability? » Brats & Beer

November 28, 2006
posted under: Gene Chizik, Iowa State football

The Packer fan in me is still horribly depressed after that huge, embarrassing loss to the Seahawks last night, but the Cyclone fan in me is terribly impressed, surprised and suddenly quite optimistic about the future now that Iowa State has hired Gene Chizik as head football coach.

This has to be the biggest coup in college football history and I have no idea how Jamie Pollard pulled it off. He must be a fork-tongued devil at the negotiating table to have talked someone with those credentials into taking the job. Chizik coached at Auburn and helped them finish No. 2 in the rankings, then went to Texas and coached the defense during the Longhorns’ run to a national championship. He’s a guy who can legitimately recruit in Texas and the Southwest. I still don’t quite believe it.

But if Chizik can work some mojo like we hope he can, are we Cyclone fans ready for national respectability in football? Being a supporter of the Cardinal & Gold has always been a pretty easy gig: If ISU beats Iowa then the season’s been a success. What happens when we’re winning games and challenging for Big 12 championships? Think of the pressure to win every game. We’re likely to become spoiled little brats like Nebraska fans — or worse yet, like Iowa fans — and bitch and moan after a two-loss season. It all seems so antithetical of Iowa State to have such high expectations.

Another thing we’re going to have to contend with is yet another uniform change, because that’s what we do: New coach, new unis. I’m in full agreement with Peterclone at Cyclone Sports Journal that the time is right for the Cyclones to return to a traditional two-tone color scheme and ditch the all red Union suit. My preference would be for cardinal red helmets and jerseys with gold pants, but I also have sort of a soft spot for the yellow helmets they wore in my youth. But why stop there? Let’s go all retro and replace the present logo with a classic one from the past, like maybe the capital “I” from the 1970s. (Thanks to Uni Watch for the link.)

Whatever happens, watching this program develop over the next few years is definitely going to be interesting — and hopefully a lot of fun.