Front and Center: Paul Rhoads is now Iowa State football

CEDAR RAPIDS -- "Good! Good!" Paul Rhoads exclaimed when a Cedar Rapids Jefferson athlete  informed the coach he was coming to ISU's summer football camp.

"Love to! Love to!" Rhoads answered when a younger Cyclone fan offered a mini-helmet for the coach to autograph.

This is where it starts for the rookie head coach. Winning hearts and selling. He has to do it with people like the ones who came to Lindale Mall Thursday for Iowa State's annual "Tailgate Tour" stop in Cedar Rapids.

Rhoads joined other high-profile ISU coaches like Greg McDermott and Kevin Jackson of men's basketball and wrestling, respectively, in trying to curry goodwill with the public.

The many who met Rhoads for the first time couldn't have returned home saying he was aloof. Whether he can rebuild Cyclone football to the point where it was going to five bowl games in a six-year period, a la Dan McCarney, we'll see.

But after the two forgettable post-McCarney years with Gene Chizik running the show, Rhoads has already brought back the enthusiasm and sunniness of McCarney off the field.

Look, rare is the new head coach in any sport at any school who doesn't say the right things in the months before he or she has coached Game 1. But I've found you can get a quick read on the coach from the players. If they seem genuinely excited and impressed with the coach after 15 spring practices, it's a good sign.

"He's definitely passionate," said ISU quarterback Austen Arnaud. "He is committed 100 percent in the program and the university."

"He's such a great guy," Cyclones starting offensive Ben Lamaak of Cedar Rapids said. "He's so passionate, so smart, so fun to be around."

The two mantras Rhoads repeatedly uttered as he introduced himself to cardinal-and-gold wearers here Thursday were "It's great to be back (he was an ISU assistant under McCarney)," and "We've got a lot of work to do."

In other words, love me, but understand this thing could take some time.

Rhoads' first-season goal: "To improve in every single phase of our program.

"I know that sounds like a cop-out, but it's the furthest thing from a copout. To me, it's a very large answer.

"There's not a phase I don't want to see us improve in, from the techniques we use, to the execution in all phases, to scoring more points, to limiting the number of points we allow, to how we learn to prepare, to how we do in the classroom. I want improvement in every single phase of the program.

"By doing that, the progress we make and the foundation that we lay in Year 1 will get us headed in the direction we need to achieve goals that ultimately we want to achieve. That's winning championships, starting with the Big 12 North and advancing from there."

Iowa State shared the North title in 2004. It was a co-champion of the Missouri Valley Conference in 1911 and 1912. That's the comprehensive list of the Cyclones' football conference titles in 117 years of the program.

Given that the University of Texas has a net profit from its football program that exceeds Iowa State's total athletic budget, Rhoads has the same boulder to push as did Chizik and McCarney.

But you can't start a fire without a spark, and Rhoads seems to be happy to give off sparks with his fan base.

"It's a big job," he said. "It's a huge job. If you were lining up and making comparisons within our conference, there's going to be a number of categories where we're ranked behind a lot of folks. That establishes you as an underdog right away.

"Some people back away from that. Some people are ambitious and enjoy the challenge. I picture myself and our staff and our football team as here to meet that challenge head-on and all the tasks that go along with it."

It doesn't sound like Rhoads has his head in any unrealistic clouds.

"I can be Vince Lombardi or Bill Belichick," he said, "but it doesn't reallly matter if you don't have the players to do it. We're in the process of acquiring them. At the same time, you've got to develop what you have. More importantly, I should say, you've got to develop what you have."

Lamaak, who will be a fourth-year junior this fall, is ready to be developed.

"I just want to make it to a bowl game," he said. "In my three years (and two previous head coaches), we haven't been to a bowl game yet. That's definitely the goal this year."

A fan told Rhoads he'd be at the Cyclones' season-opener Sept. 3 against North Dakota State in Ames, when ISU seeks to end its 10-game losing streak .

"Good!" Rhoads virtually shouted. "Good!"