Iowa State Football Taketh, Now It May Giveth Away … and News and Views on Two Ex-Cyclones

ISU assistant football coach Chris Ash: filling a South Florida void that a co-worker caused?

 

Last week, Iowa State plucked defensive coordinator Wally Burnham from the winning South Florida program to take the same job for Paul Rhoads’ ISU football team.

Now comes this item from Brett McMurphy, who does a stellar job covering USF and other sports for the Tampa Tribune:

In ironies, of all ironies, the University of South Florida could be looking for its next defensive coordinator from the Big 12 and, you guessed it, Iowa State.

Nope, Wally Burnham is not returning to Tampa from Ames, Iowa, but Iowa State secondary coach Chris Ash has emerged as a distinct possibility. Rumblings throughout the coaching ranks indicate that Leavitt has been asking individuals for their opinions about the 35-year old Ash.

Ash could not be reached for comment.

Ash was hired at Iowa State in December after a two-year stint as secondary coach at San Diego State. Before that he was at Iowa State from 2000-2006, serving as ISU’s recruiting coordinator his final season. He worked with former USF defensive line coach Dan McCarney at Iowa State and went to San Diego State after McCarney was fired at ISU.

In Ash’s first stint at Iowa State, he recruited the Tampa Bay area and was instrumental in getting USF LB Tyrone McKenzie to ISU from Michigan State.

McMurphy’s complete blog item on the topic:  http://tinyurl.com/bp5bpf

Larry Eustachy: Winning's tough in Hattiesburg

Meanwhile, former Iowa State men’s basketball coach Larry Eustachy hasn’t taken Southern Mississippi to anywhere special in his five years as USM’s coach. His record at the school is 74-76, not really comparable to his 101-59 mark over five years with the Cyclones.

Rick Cleveland of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger sounds none too optimistic about the way things are going.

Wrote Cleveland:

So here we are five years later, and the USM basketball record is 14-13, with three of those wins coming against NAIA competition. I tuned in to the Tulane game Tuesday night and saw entire sections of Reed Green Coliseum without a single butt in the seats.

Any initial boost in attendance from the coaching change has long since fizzled.

In many, many ways, USM is back to square one, only paying more for it – against lesser competition.

Cleveland’s column:  http://tinyurl.com/b5e5be

Something that’s a little more upbeat for Cyclone fans: Former ISU quarterback Sage Rosenfels is officially headed to the Minnesota Vikings in a trade from the Houston Texans.

Few Cyclone quarterbacks have been as good as Rosenfels. He’s a good guy, and here’s hoping he makes a really good impact for the Vikings.

 

 

 

McMurphy’s full blog item: http://tinyurl.com/bp5bp

Sage Rosenfels Close to Being a Viking, and Perhaps a Starter

Sage Rosenfels, possibly winging his way to Minnesota

It appears imminent Sage Rosenfels, of Maquoketa, Iowa and Iowa State, is going to get the best chance of his NFL career to be a full-time starter.

A copyrighted story in the Houston Chronicle by John McClain says the Houston Texans are nearing a deal that would sent Rosenfels to the Minnesota Vikings.

The Vikings’ incumbent quarterbacks are Tarvaris Jackson and Gus Frerotte.

Rosenfels started five games in each of the previous two seasons for the Texans, but those were in relief of injured Matt Schaub. He has never played more than nine games in an NFL season in his eight years in the league. He has 30 career touchdown passes and 29 interceptions.

The Vikings still haven’t found what they’re looking for at quarterback to complement the terrific running of Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. Rosenfels, who will be 31 next month, could be a really nice fit.

If it makes this deal, Minnesota obviously agrees.

The Chronicle’s story: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/6276358.html

Rosenfels quarterbacked Iowa State to their Insight.com Bowl win in 2000. He spent a year with the Washington Redskins, four with the Miami Dolphins, and the last three with the Texans.

In 2005, Rosenfels led Miami’s biggest comeback in 31 years, when he entered their Week 13 game against the Buffalo Bills after Frerotte was sidelined by a concussion in the third quarter. The Dolphins had been down 23-3, but Rosenfels led the team on three fourth-quarter scoring drives for a 24-23 win.

I haven’t seen or spoken to Rosenfels since the night of that Insight.com Bowl win over eight years ago. He was a likeable young fellow, and he sure played some nice quarterback that night and that season, when ISU went 9-3.

Here’s to Sage becoming the rage in the Twin Cities.

Sage in his Iowa State days