So, I assumed I was done talking about Gene Chizik. I liked the hire, I liked the guy, and while I didn't quite comprehend the Auburn deal, I guess I understood why he would take the job. But now comes this claim:
"I believed if you worked hard and did things right the opportunity would come to me. And in 23 years, I've never made a bad decision. I've never failed in this position."
What was that, Gene? You never failed? Columnist Ray Melick didn't quite understand, either.
That's pretty big talk for a guy who went 5-19 in two years as a head coach, a record that hardly qualifies as having "never failed."
Kind of like he never failed to lose a road game, eh?
One of the major issues I had with a lot of the fans and people that didn't support Gene Chizik from the beginning or that questioned his methods were the claims that he didn't "get it". And I thought those claims were irrelevant. I guess I was wrong. Coaching at Iowa State is a different deal. We don't expect greatness, but we do expect you to bust your ass and give it straight. And, while Chizik seemed to do that for a while, it's a complete and utter joke that he didn't fail at Iowa State. Was it his goal to appear appreciably worse in his two years than the season that preceded it?
I don't think he got it at Iowa State. All "firmly entrenched" jokes aside, Chizik apparently thought that he did the best that he could at Iowa State. And while there was an influx of talent on the field, don't try and convince the people of Ames and the Cyclone faithful that your hires were anything more than the Good 'ol Boys. Don't try and convince us that you had any interest in any long term future at Iowa State. But most of all, don't try and convince us that you did your best, never making a "bad decision" and "never failing". Pounding your chest might be one thing in SEC country, but both of those remarks were flat-out lies.
I feel bad for Auburn fans. Chiz was a guy that, when you heard him speak, you believed everything he said. Recruits did too. But what can you believe? I was one of his biggest supporters and I refuse to say that he was anything but a failure at Iowa State. He may win at Auburn. He may not. Does it really matter to us? Probably shouldn't. But I do think that he's proved to one fanbase, at least, that he's nothing short of an industrial-sized toolbox that could have cared less about Iowa State. And it's probably best that he's gone.
You may not be a failure in your own eyes, Gene. You're a head coach at an SEC school....a dream school (or so you say). But I guaran-frickin-tee you that you're nothing but a failure in the eyes of Cyclone fans. You damn near did the impossible - alienating a fanbase that wants something...ANYTHING...to embrace. You screwed that up.
Iowa State's lucky enough to have a guy in place in Paul Rhoads who knows, if nothing else, that Iowa State is a unique situation. You're not going to get by on your own sense of self-worth. To succeed at Iowa State, you're going to have to bust your ass at least two and a half times harder than anyone else. And, while Chizik was as "football smart" as anyone out there, he was out of his league in Ames.
Good riddance, Gene, and good luck down on the plains. You're going to need it. Cyclone football fans are about as patient and understanding as they come. But I think they're glad you're gone.
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