Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Iowa State Football: Will Matt Campbell’s gamble pay off?

By Matthew Bartlett

AMES, IA - SEPTEMBER 24: Head coach Matt Campbell of the Iowa State Cyclones coaches from the sidelines in the first half of play against the San Jose State Spartans at Jack Trice Stadium on September 24, 2016 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA - SEPTEMBER 24: Head coach Matt Campbell of the Iowa State Cyclones coaches from the sidelines in the first half of play against the San Jose State Spartans at Jack Trice Stadium on September 24, 2016 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell chose to stay in Ames rather than climb the ladder. Will he be rewarded for his faithfulness in 2018?

When Matt Campbell’s Iowa Cyclones upset the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners on the road people took notice. The Cyclones followed up that upset with an encore performance at home three weeks later, knocking off then No. 4 TCU. Suddenly the relatively unknown head coach was getting calls from big name programs across the nation.

After taking Iowa State to such great heights in 2017 the doors of opportunity were wide open for Campbell this offseason. He could have parlayed this magical season into a more high-profile job. There were several marquee programs looking for head coaches, but Campbell turned them all down. He elected to stay in Ames, signing a six-year, $22.5 million contract which would keep him at Iowa State through the 2023 season.

The next few years will test the merits of this decision. If Campbell’s faith in Iowa State is rewarded with on field results there will be little doubt his decision to stay in Aimes paid off.

The Big 12 has traditionally been a top-heavy conference, making the week to week schedule more manageable than its neighbors to the north and south, the Big Ten and SEC, respectively. That could set up the Cyclones for relevancy going forward. Keeping ISU in the Big 12 title hunt in every November would be heralded as significant step forward.

Next: Way-too-early college football top 25 rankings for 2018

Campbell took on a sizable risk to achieve those goals. 2017 could end up being his best shot to jump up the coaching ladder. The coaching realm is full of one hit wonders, coaches that had storybook seasons and were unable to ever replicate their success. Last season was special for Campbell and the Iowa State program, but it also added unmeasurable amounts of pressure to the 2018 campaign. Can he pull off back-to-back strong seasons in the same way he managed back-to-back upsets over Top 10 teams? We will see.

Home/College Football News