Before a minor setback this past season, when the Cyclones finished 3-9 overall, and 2-7 in conference play, Iowa State's Paul Rhoads had the program in Ames on the rise, and in a hurry.
The disappointing finish to this season prompted some changes in the coaching staff, including offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham and running backs coach Kenith Pope. To replace Messingham, Rhoads hired former Kansas head coach Mark Mangino earlier this week. Mangino had been serving as the assistant head coach and tight ends coach at Youngstown State.
Making an important hire, like an offensive coordinator in the Big 12, is destined to have some impact on the current commits and recruits on the radar, but as one commit eloquently explained, there's a whole lot of faith in Paul Rhoads, and that includes who he decides to bring on board.
“If coach Rhoads would have told me that he was bringing in a janitor from Franklin high school in Delaware to be the offensive coordinator, I would have been behind it 100 percent." offensive line commit Cole Anderson told the Des Moines Register.
Mangino led Kansas (yes...Kansas) to a 12-1 season and victory in the Orange Bowl back in 2007, so he's far above janitor status, and Rhoads knows that he got a top notch play caller.
Even for someone well known as a "players coach", that statement a pretty resounding stamp of approval for the direction of the program and the faith that recruits have in Rhoads and his staff.