Farley keeping options open?

[AmesPanther]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

Not true. He's issued a statement and his agent is on the air right now saying it's not happening, Gill is not interested in Iowa State. Any discussion was "very brief."

A statement that says nothing. The University said Gill is there for 09, but Gill didn't. His agent said nothing. His agent said he hasn't signed any contract extension with Buffalo. He wasn't sure who JP talked to; probably the AD. He said he thought Gill just told his AD that he wasn't talking to any schools. He said Gill wants to coach in the BCS. He said if it had been 2 weeks ago it would have been different for ISU.

I'm not saying there is any chance ISU gets him. I'm just saying he hasn't actually said anything that closes the door to ISU or any other school. Or at least I haven't read or heard it yet.

[SteinPizza]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

I've never understood the Iowa State as a stepping stone sentiment. They have good facilities, in a great conference (should walk through the north most years), great fan support (student section, tailgating, etc.), and a pretty good gameday atmosphere. Why wouldn't somebody want to go there and have sustained success? It is possible. I just hope Farley doesn't agree with me.

Iowa State = football graveyard. They had some OK success under Earl Bruce in the '70s, and some under McCarney. Other than that, they've been pretty bad. Zero tradition equals a very tough recruiting sell, let alone the lack of budget and facilities compared to their competition, Ames, Iowa, and several other factors.

It's not totally impossible. Bill Snyder did something similar at Kansas State. But if you start naming other schools that have gone from bad to good, they all had both tangible and intangible advantages that Iowa State doesn't have. Mizzou, Iowa, Northwestern, Kansas come to mind. ISU is a few rungs down the food chain from those schools in terms of athletics. That's why I put Iowa State in KSU's territory.

[Newsbreaker]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

A statement that says nothing. The University said Gill is there for 09, but Gill didn't. His agent said nothing. His agent said he hasn't signed any contract extension with Buffalo. He wasn't sure who JP talked to; probably the AD. He said he thought Gill just told his AD that he wasn't talking to any schools. He said Gill wants to coach in the BCS. He said if it had been 2 weeks ago it would have been different for ISU.

I'm not saying there is any chance ISU gets him. I'm just saying he hasn't actually said anything that closes the door to ISU or any other school. Or at least I haven't read or heard it yet.

The agent slammed that door shut as it pertains to Iowa State as definitively as is he possibly could. He wouldn't declare it "dead" because it's not his call to make, but the word seems to be that Gill wouldn't even engage in more than a cursory discussion with Pollard before putting the phone down.

Gill won't be ISU's head coach, at least not any time soon.

I know I'm hard on ISU, but that's just embarrassing. They were ready to hire him sight unseen and he wouldn't even sit down to talk about it. This is a guy who is at Buffalo and won't even consider a BCS job? Yeesh.

[AmesPanther]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

The agent slammed that door shut as it pertains to Iowa State as definitively as is he possibly could. He wouldn't declare it "dead" because it's not his call to make, but the word seems to be that Gill wouldn't even engage in more than a cursory discussion with Pollard before putting the phone down.

Gill won't be ISU's head coach, at least not any time soon.

I know I'm hard on ISU, but that's just embarrassing. They were ready to hire him sight unseen and he wouldn't even sit down to talk about it. This is a guy who is at Buffalo and won't even consider a BCS job? Yeesh.

He could have slammed the door shut but he didn't. He could have said Gill talked to JP and declined or that he talked to Gill and Gill declined. Or that Gill had signed or would soon sign the Buffalo contract. He made it a point to be clear that Gill hasn't signed any extensions.

He never said Gill engaged in any conversation with ISU. He just said he thought JP probably spoke with Gill's AD. He also said that had this been two weeks ago it would have been different, but after the Auburn thing he didn't think Gill was taking interviews; except for maybe USC. Then he mentioned for the right money Gill would probably listen.

[Panther-Sheik]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

This is a guy who is at Buffalo and won't even consider a BCS job? Yeesh.

Talk about embarrassing...I am thinking a guy from the FCS should turn that job down. Of course, I do think the FCS and especially UNI is better than the Buffalo job.

[Trapped in California]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

He could have slammed the door shut but he didn't. He could have said Gill talked to JP and declined or that he talked to Gill and Gill declined. Or that Gill had signed or would soon sign the Buffalo contract. He made it a point to be clear that Gill hasn't signed any extensions.

He never said Gill engaged in any conversation with ISU. He just said he thought JP probably spoke with Gill's AD. He also said that had this been two weeks ago it would have been different, but after the Auburn thing he didn't think Gill was taking interviews; except for maybe USC. Then he mentioned for the right money Gill would probably listen.

Turner Gill would coach at Buena Vista if they offered him $2.5 million a year for 5 years vs the $250K-$350K a year he is making now.

[Newsbreaker]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

He could have slammed the door shut but he didn't. He could have said Gill talked to JP and declined or that he talked to Gill and Gill declined. Or that Gill had signed or would soon sign the Buffalo contract. He made it a point to be clear that Gill hasn't signed any extensions.

He never said Gill engaged in any conversation with ISU. He just said he thought JP probably spoke with Gill's AD. He also said that had this been two weeks ago it would have been different, but after the Auburn thing he didn't think Gill was taking interviews; except for maybe USC. Then he mentioned for the right money Gill would probably listen.

Everyone can hear for themselves here:

http://www.62andeven.com/

He said ISU contacted Buffalo but it was made well known to ISU that Gill wasn't interested. He wouldn't foreclose all possibilities, but said that if the right job came along, he might be interested. ISU isn't it.

Whether they called and said "Hey Turner, want this job, it's yours" or not, Turner Gill turned ISU away at the door, and that's the point.

He also said the paperwork wasn't signed, but that Gill had indeed received the extension and raise. You can wait for the ink to dry if you like, but that's a done deal.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3773899

Also note that national publications, Fox Sports Radio and the like are talking about the interest in Gill, and the fact that he took interviews at Auburn and Syracuse. He wouldn't even grant ISU the interview.

This is going to be embarrassing for ISU when the smoke clears just like the basketball search was, when coaches from Wyoming were telling ISU they weren't interested. KXNO had it right this afternoon - Pollard is taking a hard stand on those upcoming schedules, making a football purgatory and outright graveyard.

[06panther10]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

This is a bad bad deal for Iowa State. I do not see that football situation getting better in a looong time.

[Mountain Panther]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

This is a bad bad deal for Iowa State. I do not see that football situation getting better in a looong time.

A trip to Ames for UNI/ISU in 2010 is looking PRETTY good right now.

[06panther10]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

An NDSU win in Ames next year in looking pretty likely at this point too.

[cydave]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

This is going to be embarrassing for ISU when the smoke clears just like the basketball search was, when coaches from Wyoming were telling ISU they weren't interested. KXNO had it right this afternoon - Pollard is taking a hard stand on those upcoming schedules, making a football purgatory and outright graveyard.

I thought the Basketball search was fine. Bringing in a coach who had gone to 3 straight NCAA tourny's is a pretty good hire, especially from a tough "mid-major" conference. Whether or not that was a good decision now, is up for you to decide. But, at the time, I thought GMAC was a good hire.
Also, ISU basketball has tons more tradition than football. Only a few years ago we won back to back Big 12 titles and went to the Elite 8.

Also, there is nothing that says JP actually offered Gill the job and Gill declined. It just sounds like JP may have contacted their AD. Take it for what it's worth.

[cydave]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

This is a bad bad deal for Iowa State. I do not see that football situation getting better in a looong time.

While that may be true, and I really hope it isn't. It really depends on how much of our current talent sticks around after the new coach is named. We have a ton of young potential (namely, Darks, S. Johnson, L. Johnson, Schwartz, Williams, Tiller, Arnaud, etc) that with the right coach, could light on fire.

In all honesty, ISU is waiting to blow up in football. IF we start winning, Ames will go crazy. We have everything in place (besides a head coach) to make a run. Facilities are going through huge upgrades, the money is rolling in, donors are stepping up, ticket sales are up, we are getting exposure on television, and our tailgating kicks ass. (not that it matters, I just had to throw it in there)

[cydave]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

Oh, and also...
In all honesty, losing chizik may have been better off for us anyways. (only if we can hire the right coach). I mean seriously, the guy was 5-19 in 2 years, holding a 10 game losing streak, his record got worse over the last 2 years, won 2 games in the big 12, lost to some horrible teams, play calling was horrible, and our defense was probably one of the worst in the nation. If you paid my 1.1 million/year, I could have won 5 games. The only thing he was good at was recruiting and going back on his word/lying.

The only true bad thing about this is we may lose some good players and recruits. And it may set us back another year or so. But all in all, I'll let Auburn have this guy!

[Chitown Panther]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

Oh, and also...
In all honesty, losing chizik may have been better off for us anyways. (only if we can hire the right coach). I mean seriously, the guy was 5-19 in 2 years, holding a 10 game losing streak, his record got worse over the last 2 years, won 2 games in the big 12, lost to some horrible teams, play calling was horrible, and our defense was probably one of the worst in the nation. If you paid my 1.1 million/year, I could have won 5 games. The only thing he was good at was recruiting and going back on his word/lying.

The only true bad thing about this is we may lose some good players and recruits. And it may set us back another year or so. But all in all, I'll let Auburn have this guy!

I agree....somebody that isn't driven and passionate about the job....time to leave. This will be a set back for ISU, regarding recruits...but long run it will be better.

[cydave]

Re: Farley keeping options open?

I agree....somebody that isn't driven and passionate about the job....time to leave. This will be a set back for ISU, regarding recruits...but long run it will be better.

Definitely. From watching him on tv at Auburn, it was obvious that he never even wanted to be at ISU and that he was bolting as soon as a better job opened up.