Hlas: Campbell just might be answer for Cyclones

Google 'perfect fit' with 'new coach,' and you get almost 50,000 entries.

New coaches are all perfect fits when they're hired, at least if you listen to the people who hired them.

So, is Matt Campbell the 'perfect fit' as Iowa State's new football coach? He was described in those very words by ISU President Dr. Steven Leath on Monday.

I'd rather have a square peg in a round hole if he can recruit against anyone and knows what to do with talent without running afoul of the NCAA. So far in his career, Campbell has fit those descriptions nicely.

His four Toledo teams went 9-4, 7-5, 9-4 and 9-2. He won three of every four games in Mid-American Conference play. For those who turn their noses up at the MAC, former head coaches from that league include current stars Nick Saban, Urban Meyer and Brian Kelly. Gary Pinkel and Jerry Kill were none too shabby, either.

Of course, there were also Tim Beckman and Darrell Hazell. Beckman flamed out horribly at Illinois, and Hazell appears to be guiding a Purdue program that has the bleakest outlook in its conference.

Every coach is different, every job is different, every situation is different. The MAC is legit. But the Big 12 is biggest-boy football, with a league-full of Texas-grown talent.

That said, this looks like a good hire done surprisingly quickly for Jamie Pollard at Iowa State.

'Find somebody who wins,' Pollard said Monday at Campbell's introductory press conference in Ames, 'and they'll win again.'

That isn't always the case, but it's the safest way to wager. Especially when that coach's entire football life is entrenched in nothing but winning.

Campbell played at Perry High School in Massillon, Ohio. Perry is in the Ohio state-finals Friday. Its coach, Keith Wakefield, is in the state's high school Hall of Fame. He was one of Campbell's mentors.

Campbell later was on the football team at Mount Union, the premier NCAA Division III program in the nation. Larry Kehres was Campbell's coach. Kehres retired with a record of 332—24—3. His .929 winning percentage is the best in college football history.

None of that makes Campbell a prototype for a winner in the Big 12. But being immersed in those backgrounds would tend to make you think he knows something about success.

'I like to recruit,' Campbell said with insistence Monday. 'You win with players.'

And, 'All nine (of his assistant coaches) will be great recruiters, I promise you.'

That is the name of the game. It's not about giving good press conference, it's not about being a so-called fit with a so-called culture of a place. You create the culture in college football by whether or not you win games. It's that way at Iowa State, Iowa, Ohio State and Toledo.

A quick word about Paul Rhoads: His program flatlined after initial promise, but he was the kind of person Iowa Staters found easy to like and support. His firing brought no joy in Cyclone Country. His last week as the Cyclones' coach will be remembered for dignity and grace.

And, he left behind some players. This year's 3-9 Cyclones weren't far from being a bowl team, and perhaps should have been one. Campbell knows he isn't being handed an empty roster, having coached Toledo against ISU this year and last.

But the Cyclones, like almost every other team that recently fired a coach, need to get and retain more good players. They also need someone with a steadier hand on game-days. Maybe that's Campbell.

Given Iowa State's low football profile and the fact it got someone who has won a lot in four years as an FBS head coach, there's no reason not to click 'like' about this hire.