Does anyone remember Matt Campbell?
Here he is trying to get after some little dude after the Cyclones lost to Ohio
September 17th, 2023 at 10:43 AM ^
This is where I was. Had no faith that anyone could take UM to success since Harbaugh wasn’t going to. Very glad to have been proven wrong.
September 17th, 2023 at 11:07 AM ^
Harbaugh wasn’t going to.
This is what I never got. Jim went 47-18 his first five years (2015-19), which maybe didn't fulfill all our wildest fantasies but was much better than RichRod or Hoke had done. No one was calling for him to be fired (although some wanted new coordinators).
Then we went 2-4 in an utterly shambolic "season" that was cancelled a couple of times and had no offseason workouts, no crowds, no eligibility, no safety coach (!) a bunch of guys opting out ... and somehow half the board here believed that those six games told us more about his coaching ability than everything he'd done before then.
September 17th, 2023 at 10:42 AM ^
I still wouldn’t mind Tom Allen on staff in some capacity when our future head coaches start peeling off.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:51 PM ^
Nah, I'd rather continue hiring guys on the upswing. Allen is a dinosaur and honestly seems like he coaches his teams to be dirty.
September 17th, 2023 at 9:07 AM ^
Matt Campbell had a very small window of opportunity to escape Ames, and he blew it.
September 17th, 2023 at 11:16 AM ^
Maybe he just really liked the movie "What's Up, Doc?"
September 17th, 2023 at 9:11 AM ^
Thin skinned. Perfect for a party.
September 17th, 2023 at 9:49 AM ^
There's a lot 'I told you so' going on in here this morning, but it doesn't make you any better of a person, or a fan, nor does it make you a smarter person. It merely puts you on the correct side of an educated guess. I'll stay on record as favoring Campbell (at the time) should the AD make a change, and I'll stay on record as favoring said change. Nonetheless, it was a decision that could have gone either way because - again, at the time - Harbaugh's program had been trending downhill and 2020 was the bitter end. It had to be the bitter end one way or the other.
I said it a hundred times back then - Warde's choice was to keep Harbaugh and bet that he fixes things, or replace him and hope the new guy fixes him. I thought Harbaugh was done, I thought 2020 had shown the end, and I was ready for a change. When things aren't working (and they weren't working anymore after 2019), you need to change. Now change is an educated guess - there's no such thing as a 'perfect candidate' - every new hire has to grow into a position. Some can do it quickly, others need more time, some just don't work out whatsoever. That was the choice Warde faced - continue with the known commodity and hope he improves the trend, or try something else. Fortunately, his choice has worked out better than anyone ever expected it would.
And don't lie - not a single person on this board saw the drastic, impossibly different outcomes between the disaster of 2020 and the undeniable success of 2021. NOT ONE. SINGLE. PERSON. And if you say you did, you're lying. We all hoped it would work - HOPED. Nobody knew it would.
The pickins' were slim after 2020, and Campbell was at the top of the list whether you liked it, or not. Fickell was also at the top, and many preferred him. BTW, I'm still not a big fan of Warde, he made the right choice but he did so in a manner that has Harbaugh looking at his NFL options every year - so he probably could have handled it better. Maybe not, but I'll go on the info I have, which is admittedly only personal feels.
So no, I don't feel bad about wanting Harbaugh replaced after the absolute worst season I've ever seen in ~50 years of watching. I'm ecstatic that its worked out like it has. But fuck off if you think I should feel bad otherwise...
September 17th, 2023 at 10:47 AM ^
You wanted Matt Campbell. That was a lot of words to defend an awful take.
September 17th, 2023 at 11:00 AM ^
1VA - i was (sorta) with you for a while. But the FO to fellow board members is just childish.
BYW - Yes I also KNEW Harbaugh would turn things around. He always has. And things like OSO-UM have always been cyclical. (See the 99s).
September 17th, 2023 at 11:13 AM ^
Are the people who tell me how I should feel also being childish?
And no, you did not KNOW that the change in program fortunes would be that dramatic, stark, pronounced <insert adjective here> that it would go from 2020 to the CFP in one off-season. You knew (hoped) that he'd eventually make things better.
September 17th, 2023 at 11:01 AM ^
I think your problem was taking anything about the 2020 football season seriously. Not sure why anyone did
September 17th, 2023 at 11:08 AM ^
Can people have wanted to Harbaugh to stay, but not have expected him to be this successful? Or should those of us in that camp eat a bag of dicks too?
September 17th, 2023 at 11:17 AM ^
I don't understand your question. We all wanted this success, but none of us expected it in one off-season. The only difference is what path people wanted to take to get there.
September 17th, 2023 at 11:30 AM ^
You don't have to be so defensive. You got it wrong, it happens. No big deal.
I'm just amazed that so many people thought there was anything, at all, worth drawing from the 2020 "season." Did it not seem a little amiss that Northwestern and Indiana were B1G title contenders that year, while UM and PSU had losing records?
Indications are that Harbaugh took the pandemic seriously and applied protocols as much as possible. This may not have been true of some other teams. In a sport where players line up in close proximity, that probably made it a bit difficult to prepare.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:10 PM ^
I don't understand not understanding taking 2020 into account in the midst of 2020.
You didn't, it turns out to be a complete anomaly, perhaps for reasons you identify, so it turns out you were right. Not only am I happy for you, I'm happy for me, because I've enjoyed the last two seasons.
But while 2020 obviously had abnormal factors--a fact that faced every program in the country, not just Michigan--there were still games played and we still had a garbage performance. We were the program that didn't have stop practices. We were the program that didn't have covid take out half our team (until midseason when we canceled everything).
The CFP had Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, and Notre Dame. Not exactly a weird or unexpected outcome because covid was some sort of equalizer that changed everything.
It's not like we were out there playing a game of chance. It was football, and he kept starting Joe Milton over Cade even after Cade had shown he was more capable and defensively we couldn't stop anyone other than PJ Fleck, coming off extremely bad losses to OSU. No adjustment to shutdown Rocky Fucking Lombardi to Ricky Fucking White in perhaps our most inexcusable loss to Michigan State of all time.
So to me, to not factor those things in is weird. Even now I wouldn't hand wave it all away by saying "Covid!" I think some actual changes were made, particularly coaching staff changes, that helped turn it around. It's not like we just kept doing everything the same but once Covid protocols went away it all worked.
September 18th, 2023 at 1:55 AM ^
There were plenty of obvious reasons to throw out 2020. Just like no one should make any rash decisions during the middle of a pandemic. I can think of many people that wanted to separate from their spouse when it started and talking some of them out of it.
September 17th, 2023 at 11:41 AM ^
I never wanted campbell and always wanted to keep harbaugh. my posting history bears this out
i didn’t “know” the turnaround would be as awesome as it is, but I knew that campbell was what his record says it is (basically same record as hoke) and that if we were going to turn it around, harbaugh would be the guy to do it (based on his record)
September 17th, 2023 at 11:43 AM ^
2008 was worse. 2020 wasn't even a real season.
September 17th, 2023 at 1:50 PM ^
2014 was worse than 2008.
Rich Rod, for all his faults, at least had his worst year in year 1.
Hoke had a losing season by year 4, when he should have been getting a better teach each year.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:59 PM ^
And don't lie - not a single person on this board saw the drastic, impossibly different outcomes between the disaster of 2020 and the undeniable success of 2021. NOT ONE. SINGLE. PERSON. And if you say you did, you're lying. We all hoped it would work - HOPED. Nobody knew it would.
so i guess you’re going to double down it.
for the record - i ABSOLUTELY thought 2021 would be entirely different. suggesting that that was a dumb opinion at the time is to suggest that everyone should have ignored harbaugh’s long career of coaching good-to-very-good football teams, and decided that the weirdest season in the history of sports was reason enough to burn it down and start from scratch.
not everyone has the memory of a fruit fly.
September 17th, 2023 at 1:06 PM ^
"When things aren't working you need to make a change."
Uh, events have proven this categorically false. We did not need to make a change. Not making a change led to 2 B1G championships.
Therefore, sometimes you do not need to make a change.
September 17th, 2023 at 2:27 PM ^
That’s a lot of words when a simple “I was wrong, and I could not have been happier to be wrong” would have sufficed.
also “absolute worst season”??? The fuck? That season in no way compares to Hoke’s last or RR’s 2008 season. It was Covid, my man. A lot of weird shit was happening that year. Michigan had to deal with a bunch of roster issues caused by injuries and Covid. Weren’t they also one of the youngest teams at the time too?
September 17th, 2023 at 3:12 PM ^
This is bullshit. I was also super bullish on the 2021 team, and for the record, I think the get rid of coach for Campbell people were and still are basically online zombies.
The 2020 team was really young and needed another year to develop and they needed the pandemic to subside. College FB is primarily game for seasoned players.
The talent was obviously there and they were still developing. If YOU couldn’t see it, that is on YOU.
September 18th, 2023 at 1:49 AM ^
I backed Harbaugh at that time and always because he had a history of success and, given his Michigan love, there was no other coach that could do better. Replacing him would have been the most idiotic idea in college football since forever
Further, Campbell was a STUPID take and one that ALWAYS happens where he was just the most recent shiny pebble of the day that satisfies all the common and stupid knee jerk reactions to what is essentially a bump in the road. Most people never ever understand the long game.
Also, this is not just one side with a better educated guess. The idea of getting rid of Harbaugh at that time has to be the most idiotic and stupid idea in the history of football. The only thing that comes close is the idiot Jed York getting rid of Harbaugh because Harbaugh showed no respect for the spoiled brat.
I admit I would not have expected Harbaugh to win the Big10 championship the next year. But I expected it as soon as he figured out how to take down Ohio despite their recruiting and talent advantage. And he was going to figure it out eventually.
September 17th, 2023 at 10:00 AM ^
That smirk at the end gets me every time.
September 17th, 2023 at 10:01 AM ^
Some wanted him to be our HC after Hoke got fired.
September 17th, 2023 at 10:15 AM ^
I never had any interest in this guy as M’s coach, but so, so, so many of you did. And I will never let it go.
September 17th, 2023 at 10:24 AM ^
Asshole. I see and hear enough about him living here in central Iowa.
Campbell is a perfect example as to why you should strike when the iron is hot. Loser blew his chance to leave Iowa State behind. Now it’s obvious why he chose not to move on to potentially bigger and better things..
September 17th, 2023 at 11:03 AM ^
SAM - maybe there a reason he never left? Maybe he never got a “commitable“ offer!? ADs do their due diligence after all.
September 17th, 2023 at 11:39 AM ^
Possibly. It’s easy to say now in 20/20 hindsight, it’s just sort of hard to believe in the context of the time. Hard to say as I’m not an AD nor am I personally involved in any schools’ AD’s.
September 17th, 2023 at 10:25 AM ^
What an asshole
September 17th, 2023 at 10:39 AM ^
In 1-possession games .......... the Cyclones have lost 8 in a row, and 12 of their last 13 (goes back to a mid-2021 loss to WVU, the last time Iowa State was ranked). The only win was at Iowa last September.
Yesterday's game also included an ISU FG which looked to be good, but was called no good. They of course lost by 3.
Gambling scandal this off-season too. I don't think that was Campbell's fault, but he lost some personel to that, including his starting QB and RB.
Not saying Campbell doesn't need to keep his cool, but I can get why he is very frustrated right now.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:25 PM ^
The one-loss performance is beginning to approach Scott Frost!
September 17th, 2023 at 11:05 AM ^
No, I don’t remember him.
September 17th, 2023 at 11:50 AM ^
I think Campbell is a good coach, but having good players obviously helps that impression. ISU will never recruit well, so he'll never acheive his full potential there.
He should have cashed in while he could have
September 17th, 2023 at 12:12 PM ^
I don't get the take that Campbell was a fool for not "cashing in" when he had the chance. He has a $22.5 million dollar contract. That's probably at least 10 times my life's earnings so far and I've been working a lot longer than Campbell. Seems like plenty of cash to me. Maybe I don't have expensive enough tastes or something.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:24 PM ^
I didn't realize that Matt C coached under Tim Beckman, the now-disgraced former HC of Illinois, at Toledo and replaced him there. Beckman was (in)famous for (a) sending a bunch of assistants to Happy Valley to try to recruit PSU players who were given a free transfer option (no sitting out) after the PSU meltdown in 2011 and (b) getting fired by Illinois for player abuse. He hasn't coached in CFB or Pros since.
He made the right choice to jump from Toledo to ISU after 2015. But missed his chance after 2019 and 2020 (even 2021) to jump to NFL (Jets, Lions, etc.) or even Oklahoma. Now ISU is stuck with a guy with one career win over Iowa. Iowa is to ISU as UM is to MSU (sans Dantonio era). One win every five years keeps your job.
Just glad JH got a 2nd chance and changed over his staff completely after 2020. I can only imagine how Matt would handle getting heckled entering the tunnel (yes, the tunnel of terror!). Other than the Richrod meltdown after the 2009 Purdue loss, we've been fortunate that coaches keep their composure even after tough losses.
September 17th, 2023 at 12:34 PM ^
Let's go back to the 2020-2021 offseason and find all the people wanting to fire Harbaugh to hire Campbell (I don't think I was one of them...). People get way too worked up about single season results
September 17th, 2023 at 2:15 PM ^
2020 Iowa State had Purdy at QB. Breece Hall at RB, X Henderson at WR. that was a great combo. Cudos to the guy getting those three together, but yesterday, the team had under 10 yards rushing in the 1st half at Ohio. The suspended QB (Dekkers) is an idiot. I doubt they lose this game if he hadn't screwed up his life on phone-based gambling.
September 17th, 2023 at 5:32 PM ^
I never wanted Campbell but I do admit I wanted Harbaugh gone after 2020 and I bet a lot of people did as well. Going into the 2021 season I was thinking it was going to he a shit show like Hoke’s final season. I got more depressed as the season approached. Despite a game that was obviously fixed by the Big Ten commissioner, 2021 ended up being the most fun I had during the season in awhile. I almost slipped and thought I might die rushing the field after the win against OSU but it would have been totally worth it.
September 18th, 2023 at 12:06 PM ^
There's a reason he's still at Iowa St.