Iowa State fires Paul Rhoads after blowing game vs Kansas State

Iowa State fired head coach Paul Rhoads after blowing a late lead against Kansas State.

Paul Rhoads has been fired by Iowa State after seven seasons with the Cyclones, according to Thayer Evans of Sports Illustrated. The loss comes one day after Iowa State blew a 35-14 lead and lost to Kansas State, 38-35, as the team fell to 3-8 on the year.

This is the third year in a row that Rhoads was unable to lead Iowa State to more than three wins in a season. This year’s 3-8 mark follows last year’s 2-10 debacle that included going winless in the Big 12 in 2014 and a 3-9 record in 2013.

Things started promising enough for Rhoads after he left his job as the Auburn defensive coordinator to replace Gene Chizik at the helm in Ames. Iowa State went 7-6 record and won the Insight Bowl but Rhoads was unable to build on the success he had in his first year and never topped seven wins or won another bowl game.

His teams made two more bowl appearances in the Pinstripe and Liberty in 2011 and 2012 after going 6-6 in the regular season but finished those years with losing records after falling in the bowl.

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Rhoads entered the season on the hot seat after winning five games the previous two seasons and without much in the way of noticeable progress, the writing was on the wall for Rhoads to get the axe and that fell on Sunday.

Evans tweets some possible targets for Iowa State.

According to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy, Rhoads will still coach the team in the season finale against West Virginia.