Here’s how new coach Paul Rhoads opened his press conference after receiving the spring game stats:

“I can take those down to the spare bathroom in the house. We can put them to use down there.”

Zing.

That’s Rhoads, who is trying to bring personality back into the program. He worked the room like a politician last week at a gathering of high school coaches, shaking hands with everyone and telling them to call him – anytime.

The last time that happened was when Dan McCarney was the coach, some of the veteran prep coaches said. Different staff, different style.

And Austen Arnaud at wideout?

Yep – when he’s not performing as Iowa State’s No. 1 quarterback.

He didn’t play great during Saturday’s spring game, but he certainly played better than last spring.

“I wasn’t thrilled with the way I played, but it’s spring,” he said. “We’ll be all right.”

The new spread offense included five receivers sometimes, long snaps and no huddles, but it had trouble moving the ball consistently against the No. 1 defense.

What that’s a sign of. . .who knows? Let’s wait until fall ball.

Former Iowa Cubs manager Bruce Kimm has ties to one of the game's most colorful players, former Detroit pitcher Mark "The Bird" Fidrych.

Kimm, then 24, was the catcher for each of Fidrych's 29 starts in 1976. The combination clicked to the tune of a 19-9 record, good enough to earn Fidrych the American League's rookie of the year award.

"It was basically a matter of being the right guy in the right place," Kimm said. "I caught most of his games at Evansville in 1975, and when we moved up to Detroit together in 1976, they figured it'd be best for him to start out with a catcher he knew."

Kimm already knew about Fidrych's unorthodox, flamboyant mannerisms -primarily talking to the ball and dropping to his knees to groom the mound before every inning. Fidrych was called The Bird because of his similarity to Sesame Street's Big Bird.

Kimm's only major-league home run, against Frank Tanana, gave Fidrych a 3-2 victory against California on Aug. 17, 1976.

"He was so excited that the next two innings, he was throwing the ball back to me faster than I was throwing it to him," Fidrych told The Register during a 2001 telephone interview . "The last inning, he came out to the mound and said three words to me. He said, `Don't blow it.' ``

“It’s very helpful, because that’s what the Big 12 is now,” the senior-to-be said. “They spread you out and throw the ball, and I see it everyday.”


Iowa State ranked 110^th of 119 Division I-A teams in scoring defense, allowing an average of 35.8 points during a 2-10 season. It ranked 117^th against the pass, allowing an average of 276.7 yards a game, and gave up 31 touchdown passes for the season.

The Cyclones averaged 1.42 sacks a game – 94^th nationally and 10^th in the Big 12 Conference. They were 10^th in the conference with an average of 5.1 tackles for loss per game.

It can’t get much worse.

 “Practicing against the spread helps me with the speed of the game,” Smith went on. “Last year, I didn’t see that kind of game speed until Saturdays. Now, I get that kind of speed everyday.”

**

A pair of West Des Moines Valley graduates, center Mike Knapp and receiver Alex Sandvig, won’t play anymore because of knee injuries.

“Recurring and nagging knee injuries,” coach Paul Rhoads said Monday.

Knapp, a senior in the fall, started five games last season before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Sandvig, a sophomore and brother of Cyclone defensive back Zac, didn’t play in 2008.

Neither player was listed on this spring’s depth chart.

“The depth is very much affected in the offensive line,” Rhoads said of Knapp. “Losing that kind of depth is something we can’t afford on the offensive line.”

“He’d been rehabbing like a mad man,” defensive lineman Nate Frere said.

**

Check out Tony Barnhart’s column on Chizik in Atlanta Journal Constitution:

 http://blogs.ajc.com/barnhart-college-football/2009/04/13/chizik-building-auburn-for-the-long-haul/?cxntfid=blogs_barnhart_college_football

Ames, Ia. ‑ Former Iowa State football coach John Majors endorses the spread offense new coach Paul Rhoads is implementing this spring – with one caveat:

“You know it can be awful windy up here, so you better be able to run the ball, and you better be able to kick the ball and play defense, too,” Majors, 73, said before addressing a high school coaches’ gathering in Ames.

“Tell the quarterback to pitch it a little more brisker when you’re in the wind. And also kick on third down with the wind behind you if it’s the last play of the third quarter.”

Today’s spread includes versatile quarterbacks throwing to as many as five receivers per play ‑ when he’s not running.

“I would want a quarterback today who could run and throw,” said Majors, who coached the Cyclones between 1968 and 1972. “When I was playing, we were taught to gang tackle. Our head coach used to say 11 men on every play on the ball.

“Today, you’re very fortunate to get two men on the ball against the spread offense, because once the quarterback breaks the line of scrimmage, it’s mostly one-on-one. You don’t get much gang tackling in the spread offense, and I like that.”

Here are other Majors’ thoughts:

On new ISU coach Paul Rhoads:

“I want fans to be patient with Paul Rhoads, because he’s a great guy and he’s going to get the job done here at Iowa State. I don’t think Iowa State could have picked a better person for the job at this particular time.

“After 1996 season when I stopped coaching at Pittsburgh, I stayed on and Paul was (Pitt’s) defensive coordinator for Walt Harris. I spent a lot of time over at the football practice field, and I got to know Paul real well.”

On coaching salaries:

 “When I was graduating from the University of Tennessee in 1957, the magic number for college graduates was to make $10,000 a year by the time you’re 40. When I came to Iowa State, my (salary) package was $25,000 – and I was 32 years old.”

On Iowans: “There are fewer phonies per capita in Iowa than any state in America. (Iowans) don’t show their money, and if they’ve got money, they’re not going to tell you how much they’ve got.”

**

Bo Williams didn’t transfer from national champion Florida just to watch others carry the football.

“I came here to play, and that’s what I’m trying to do,” the sophomore-to-be said Friday. “Right now, I’m just trying to learn the plays, the new system and the new offense.”

The 6-foot-1, 217-pounder is the No. 3 tailback this spring – behind Alexander Robinson and Jeremiah Schwartz.

Robinson is speed. Schawartz is brawn.

Williams?

“I see myself as a combination back – I can run you over or out-run you if necessary,” he said.

He left Florida two seasons ago because “I didn’t feel like I fit in the offense.”

Now he’s getting just as many practice reps as Robinson and Schwartz.

“I came here for strictly business,” said Williams, who sat out last season. ““I’m here to take care of my academics first and foremost.

“I’m here to be the best student-athlete possible. I don’t even go out up here. I take care of myself as a young man.”

He has flattering things to say about coach Paul Rhoads.

“He’s a players’ coach,” Williams said. “He doesn’t wear all those fancy suits everyday. Sometimes, he comes into meetings wearing shorts.

“We can relate to him. He’s just a guy.”

Under Construction:

 Iowa State's basketball practice facility is expected to be

completed in August.

Ames, Ia. – Maybe it’s stating the obvious, but there’s no quarterback controversy at Iowa State.

New coach.

New coordinator.

New system.

Junior-to-be Austen Arnaud’s

 No. 1 again, and redshirt freshman-in-waiting Jerome Tiller is No. 2.

“Austen’s the guy, but Jerome is making great strides in providing competition,” coach Paul Rhoads said after practice Tuesday. “We’re not in a derby.

“We’ve got two scrimmages left, and Jerome is not going to bypass Austen in those two scrimmages.

“As I say that, I’m very complimentary of how Jerome has played this spring.”

Both are learning the up tempo spread offense, which includes no huddling, long snaps from center and sometimes five receivers.

“It was hard to learn the system at first,” said Tiller, who redshirted last season as Arnaud took a majority of the snaps. “The first couple days, they threw a lot at us. Now, it’s just playing ball and having fun.”

Fun?

“Coach Rhoads is more upbeat,” Tiller said. “He’s always trying to speak to the players. He’s trying to be close. He likes to get along with the players.”

Rhoads is an Ankeny native and former Cyclone assistant on Dan McCarney’s staff. He knows his job includes rapport with fans and players.

He’s all-business, but not to the extent of former coach Gene Chizik.

“The only time I really sat down to talk to coach Chiz was when he recruited me,” Tiller said Tuesday. “I only talked to him just a few times when he was the head coach.”

So coach Rhoads is more accessible?

“Yes,” Tiller said. “He likes to interact a lot with us.”

**

College athletes often transfer when there’s a coaching change. That never crossed Tiller’s mind.

“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen after coach Chiz left,” he said, “but I wasn’t going to make any predetermined decisions to leave. I wanted to stay and contend for the starting spot.”