Troy Calhoun Air Force Head Coach Best realistic candidate as of right now. Realistic in that Iowa State would represent a significant pay raise for him, he's interviewed for another job (Clemson) already, he's a head coach who's already done it and there are some ISU ties, albeit loose ones. Should be interviewed if he's interested. Jay Norvell Oklahoma Co-Offensive Coordinator Norvell was one of four known interviews last time. He and Pollard don't have a direct background with one another, but there is some intertwining between them and between Norvell and ISU and the Big 12. Minority candidate (think BCA report card). Probably will have to be pursued, he's not going to come asking for the job again. Will probably be interviewed if he's interested. Mike Stoops Arizona Head Coach Apparently has some level of desire to return to the midwest as a head coach. Got Arizona to its first bowl game in 10 years this season but apparently, Wildcat fans expected more. Was hanging by a thread in Tucson before this year, so may want to get out while the gettin' is good. You have to interview him if he's interested. Pat Hill Fresno State Head Coach Appears to be itching to make a move up to a BCS school. But no apparent reason beyond that to think he'd want to relocate to the midwest and take on the ISU challenge. There's one small Iowa State connection for Hill: his assistant head coach John Baxter was a Cyclone graduate assistant while earning an ISU masters degree in the mid 80s. If Hill initiates contact or a trial balloon is floated west and comes back with a favorable reply, absolutely he's an interview guy. Todd Graham Tulsa Head Coach A hot name because of the high-powered offense and winning ways of the Hurricane the past couple of years. But Tulsa was good when he got there; that's how Steve Kragthorpe landed the Louisville gig. Graham also stiffed Rice after just one season, not a good precedent. The last thing ISU can afford is to get Chizzed on again. Just doesn't seem like a good idea. Steve Loney St. Louis Rams Offensive Line Coach Deserves an interview and it's a mistake if he doesn't get one. Should he be hired? Won't say that, that's what the interview process is for. He's an ISU alum and former Cyclone coach and he's been in the game a long time at the both the major college and NFL levels. I'm predisposed to favor a current winning, more-with-less college coach. But Loney's pros might outweigh the con that he isn't one of those.
Some of those are head scratchers. Why would they want to move to ISU. Troy Calhoun: USAFA is a great gig, maybe the money is an issue but it's hard to imagine that ISU is loaded up with $$$ for a head coach. Also at Air Force he can be consistently one of the best teams in the Mtn West and in some years the best team. They are very competitive in that league. ISU is never going to be competitive on any kind of regular basis in the B12. Fritz Hill: WTF would he want to move to the fridged midwest for the ISU job? Like the USAFA guy he already has a program that is more competitive than ISU. BCS conference? Well maybe if he were a young buck hoping to get ISU looking good and above .500 and becomming that hot young coach who can snag a job the next rung up the ladder. But isn't Fritz closer to retirement age? Mike Stoops: Sure after struggling for 5 years to get AZ back to being at least competitive it's only natural that he'd like to do that same thing at a school with worse weather, less tradition, less money, less recruiting base, poorer facilities, ugly chicks, etc...you get the point. If he can't hack it at AZ then he for sure can't hack it at ISU.
Now that is a hiring that makes sense, DCoord from Iowa goes back to Iowa...he was hardly a hot coordinator like Muschamp, so this is a good gig for him. More money, a shot to show he can be a head coach and it's not like he was going to have all sorts of better jobs open for him. Terry