Iowa State Football: Matt Campbell will be Tennessee target

Matt Campbell has put Iowa State football on the map with a tremendous 2017 season. Unfortunately his successes will likely take him away from the Cyclones.

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There was a point this season when the Iowa State Cyclones had legitimate College Football Playoff aspirations. The incredible coaching job that Matt Campbell has accomplished in Ames can be summarized in that one sentence. Campbell’s squad beat a Top 5 Oklahoma team and followed it up with another Top 5 victory, this time over TCU.

The Cyclones lost a thriller to Oklahoma State in Week 11, effectively ending their Big 12 Title aspirations. Yet the 2017 season will go down as one of the most tremendous years in Iowa State history. If Matt Campbell can win at Iowa State it won’t be long before top programs start knocking.

Tennessee fired Butch Jones on Sunday. They join Florida and potentially other big name programs with coaching vacancies this winter. Not all coaching jobs are created equal. Florida and Tennessee are much more prestigious jobs with much larger recruiting bases. If Campbell did decide to stay in Ames he’d be hard pressed to build the Cyclones into a perennial powerhouse.

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Climbing the ladder is how head coaching careers are made. Butch Jones took the job at Tennessee after a successful stint at Cincinnati. Jim McElwain went to Florida from Colorado State. Iowa State fans can’t begrudge Campbell for taking the next step in his coaching career. Rather, he deserves to be celebrated for the fantastic job he’s done at ISU.

If it’s not Tennessee it will be someone else. It’s bittersweet, but Campbell’s time in Ames is coming to an end.