Somebody talk me out of Matt Campbell. I realize he is not the fancy, splash hire that most of us want, but he is what we need. I have not seen many coaches do more with less than he has done at ISU. He was also good at Toledo before. I will take substance over flash any day of the week. Can any of you say you don't fear having to play ISU with him as the coach? I think that is a pretty good litmus test for a candidate. Hell, I know Lincoln fears him. Here is his record:
Year
Team
Overall
Conference
Standing
Bowl/playoffs
Coaches#
AP°
Toledo Rockets (Mid-American Conference) (2011–2015)
2011
Toledo
1–0
0–0
W Military
2012
Toledo
9–4
6–2
T–2nd (West)
L Famous Idaho Potato
2013
Toledo
7–5
5–3
T–3rd (West)
2014
Toledo
9–4
7–1
T–1st (West)
W GoDaddy
2015
Toledo
9–2
6–2
T–1st (West)
Boca Raton*
Toledo:
35–15
24–8
* Departed Toledo for Iowa State before bowl game
Iowa State Cyclones (Big 12 Conference) (2016–present)
2016
Iowa State
3–9
2–7
9th
2017
Iowa State
8–5
5–4
T–4th
W Liberty
2018
Iowa State
8–5
6–3
T–3rd
L Alamo
2019
Iowa State
7–6
5–4
T–3rd
L Camping World
2020
Iowa State
8–2
8–1
1st
Iowa State:
34–27
26–19
Total:
69–42
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth
†Indicates Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, BCS, or CFP / New Years' Six bowl.
#Rankings from final Coaches Poll.
°Rankings from final AP Poll.
I get the bowl record is not the greatest, but again, these are with 3 star kids with a few 4 stars sprinkled in. Now imagine what he could do with 4 star kids and some 5 stars. Am I totally off base here?