Rhoads' Vision Becomes Reality

“It's beyond pride. It's a restored trust. There's a confidence again, a passion that teeters on swagger. More than anything, (Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads) has restored the Iowa State “it” factor, the steadfast belief that it is great to be a Cyclone...the man's enthusiasm is genuine to the core...”
? columnist Sean Keeler, Des Moines Register

“I'm not just a football coach. I'm not just here to win games and neither is anyone else (in our program). I could not be prouder of who you are and what we are becoming together...(doing things the right way everyday) is our culture, that is what makes us Cyclones.”
-- Iowa State head football coach Paul Rhoads to his team after the Insight Bowl victory over Minnesota

When Iowa State head football coach Paul Rhoads had his first team meeting, he told his Cyclone team that “I am proud to be your coach and that we will prepare diligently to win a bowl game.”

Win a bowl game? In 2009? The Cyclones had been 8-27 over their three previous seasons.

“What he said isn't just a bunch of bull,” ISU tailback Alexander Robinson told Randy Peterson of the Des Moines Register. “He said he was proud to be our coach, but he also said that not only would we get to a bowl game, we would win a bowl game. Those were the first words out of his mouth the first time he got us all together as a team, and I am telling you the truth.”

“I'm sure a lot of us thought he was just trying to motivate us with inspirational talk like that,” cornerback Leonard Johnson told Peterson. “He was stressing winning a bowl game, but we'd just lost 10 games in a row. That seemed a little out there.”

Indeed. The New York Times rated Iowa State 112th among 120 NCAA FBS teams nationally to start the season. The Big 12 media ranked the Cyclones dead last in the league's pre-season poll.

At the December 2008 press conference introducing him as Iowa State's new head football coach, Rhoads compared his return to ISU and his native state, to a Hollywood script. On the last day of 2009, his team wrote the best possible sequel. Inspired by its coach, an Iowa State squad that didn't win a conference game and lost its final 10 contests in 2008 bought into Rhoads' vision of immediate success. Iowa State's 2009 season ended with a Cyclone bowl game victory. The reward for keeping that faith was a seven-win season and a victory over Minnesota in the Insight Bowl played in sunny Tempe, Ariz. on New Year's Eve.

Rhoads stuck to his guns all season long and in the process unified the Cyclone Nation.

“Let me say it again, I am proud to be your football coach,” Rhoads told joyous Iowa State fans from the Insight Bowl victory platform after ISU beat Minnesota, 14-13. By then the Cyclone bandwagon had already left the station.

Go back two months before the Insight Bowl, to the Iowa State locker room following ISU's 9-7 win at Big 12 North Division champion Nebraska on Oct. 24.

Above the ear-shattering noise of a wild celebration, Rhoads implored his team to hear him clearly. Injury and illness had depleted the ISU squad (the Cyclones played without starting quarterback Austen Arnaud and starting tailback Alexander Robinson) and the team had just scored Iowa State's first win in Lincoln, Neb. in 32 years.

“We had people tired everywhere, we had people sore everywhere,” an emotional Rhoads told his jubilant players, his voice wavering from a mix of elation and exhaustion. His next words have become synonymous with the Phoenix-like ascendency of the Iowa State football program in its first year under Rhoads.

“Listen to me, listen to me,” Rhoads said in a hoarse voice, struggling to be heard above the clamor of victory. “I am so proud to be your football coach.”

That statement, which ignited another round of uninhibited uproar, is just what Iowa State fans across the country wanted to hear. The echo of those words has boomeranged back Cyclone fans. The feeling is mutual. The moment, poignant for its spontaneity and sincerity, was caught on video and featured on networks across the country. CBS would call it one of college football's top moments of the decade. The clip had been viewed nearly 235,000 times on YouTube by season's end. Fans have embraced Rhoads for his down-to-earth demeanor and personality in a season that exceeded all their expectations.

The historical significance of Rhoads' success in his first Iowa State season is underscored by his place as the first Cyclone football coach to win seven games in his initial campaign since 1915. He is the first coach in ISU history to post a winning record in his initial Cyclone season since 1931. Each Iowa State win in his first Iowa State grid campaign vanquished another streak of recent futility. The win at Kent State was ISU's first road victory since 2005 and the Cyclones' victory over Nebraska the program's first conference road win since the same season. The former ISU assistant coach under Dan McCarney (1995-99) had made his own mark.

Rhoads is a former defensive coordinator and the 2009 Cyclones made remarkable strides on that side of the ball. Iowa State held three conference opponents to 10 points or less for the first time since 1965. ISU was 68th nationally in the red zone in 2008. In 2009, the Cyclones ranked second-best among 120 FBS teams in that category. Iowa State's defenders were ninth nationally in turnovers forced. The defense's anchor, linebacker Jesse Smith, earned first-team all-conference honors. Strong safety David Sims was named by the league's coaches as the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year.

Offensively, Rhoads implemented a version of the spread attack that made Alexander Robinson Iowa State's first 1,000-yard rusher since 2004. Arnaud moved the Cyclones despite injuries that forced he and Robinson to miss parts of several games this season. Offensive lineman Reggie Stephens, a first-team all-conference honoree, led a rejuvenated front in the trenches.

Born in Nevada, Iowa, just 10 minutes from Jack Trice Stadium, Rhoads came back to Iowa State after most recently coaching as defensive coordinator at Auburn. His stellar track record complements his Iowa roots. The man who was valedictorian at Ankeny High School, one of the largest schools in the state (located just 20 minutes south of Ames), Rhoads was the ideal individual to take control of the ISU football program.

Just ask Iowa State fans.

Players Mentioned

Austen Arnaud

Austen Arnaud

Leonard Johnson

Leonard Johnson

Alexander Robinson

Alexander Robinson

David Sims

David Sims

Jesse Smith

Reggie Stephens

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