Iowa State should bring Gene Chizik home again

With Paul Rhoads out, Iowa State should circle back around and hire Gene Chizik

Paul Rhoads is out at Iowa State after Saturday’s second half collapse, a 38-35 loss to Big 12 foe Kansas State. The search for a new head coach will begin immediately, but the Cyclone administration would be wise to turn to a familiar face. Luring Gene Chizik back to campus could provide Iowa State instant credibility and generate a national buzz to aid their flailing program.

Gene Chizik might be the only coach in the history of football who has parlayed a 5-19 record at a school into a job upgrade that quickly resulted in a national championship. He left Iowa State at the end of the 2008 season and in just two seasons turned Auburn into a 14-0 national champion. The Cyclone football program needs just that kind of magic to inject some life into their football program.

Chizik, currently employed as the University of North Carolina’s defensive coordinator, was fired from Auburn in 2012 and actually took a significant two-year coaching sabbatical before reuniting with good friend Larry Fedora at UNC. He has expressed that he would be open to being a head coach again if the right opportunity presented itself.

Chizik, still just 53 years old, should see Iowa State as just that kind of opportunity. His downfall at Auburn wasn’t coaching football, it was all the other things that come along with being a high-profile head coach. He came across as robotic to the press, and didn’t engage donors in a warm and fuzzy manner – not good traits for the coach of a program that’s constantly under the microscope. That’s how a coach who wins a national title manages to get fired just two years later.

Iowa State is a big job, but it isn’t SEC big. Chizik would be able to focus more of his energy at the Big 12 school on football and less on politicking. This plays to his strengths. If Iowa State’s administration is smart it will realize that the school is ripe for a Chizik return. The Cyclones are a prominent enough program to recapture his attention while being small enough to help him avoid the pitfalls he fell into at Auburn.

Critics of a Chizik return will point to his poor record at the school and his quick departure to Auburn as reasons not to call his name again. The reality is that he took over a really bad situation at Iowa State his first time and had the program headed in a much better direction when he left. There is a reason that Auburn saw fit to hire him despite his poor record.

In regards to his quick departure, that’s simply the nature of modern college athletics. He received an opportunity to take one of college football’s best jobs and secure his financial future. Who wouldn’t change jobs if offered a high profile move and better salary?

Iowa State’s football program is struggling in a competitive Big 12 that features video game offenses. Bringing in Chizik, a recognized defensive mind, would help Iowa State differentiate itself from the rest of the league. While they lack the resources and tradition to beat teams like Oklahoma and Baylor at their game, the Cyclones could gain competitive traction by doing something different. Focusing on defense in the Big 12 would certainly be contrary to the rest of the league.

If the Iowa State administration looks objectively at its coaching opening Gene Chizik will, and should, be at the top of the list.