Together again

AMES - It's early December 2008, and Tommy Tuberville is still Paul Rhoads' boss at Auburn.

Both knew - along with the rest of the Tigers' staff - that pink slips were likely forthcoming and that they and their families would be set adrift among the college football coaching landscape.

But few could have predicted how a whirlwind of uncertainty would eventually lead to productive high-profile positions elsewhere, and in Rhoads' case, a dream job - the head coaching slot at Iowa State.

Now Rhoads meets Tuberville - No. 19 Texas Tech's top man - for the second time in Saturday's 6 p.m. Big 12 Conference game at Lubbock.

Funny how things turn out.

“It was wild,” said Rhoads, who spent one season at Auburn, saw then-Cyclone coach Gene Chizik hired to replace Tuberville, then swiftly was tabbed to fill the opening in Ames. “It went from, see, I interviewed for the Utah State job a week before we played Alabama in the Iron Bowl, so I had interviewed for that job already. And then we played the Iron Bowl (a 36-0 loss, Nov. 18, 2008) and we're on shaky ground for a week, or however many days that was. But it was pretty plain to see that the end was in sight.”

The whole process, from dismissal down south Dec. 3 to an unveiling 20 miles from his hometown in Ankeny by Dec. 20, took less than three weeks.

“We go from getting fired to - I was involved with about three different coordinator jobs and then the door to Iowa State opened up and that process was very fast,” said Rhoads, whose Cyclones (3-4, 0-4) seek to sour the Red Raiders' invigorated spirits fueled by a 41-38 upset win last Saturday night at Oklahoma. “Two interviews with (ISU athletics director) Jamie (Pollard) and then a secret drive north to Ames and a news conference. Unsettling and exciting all at the same time in those few weeks.”

Rhoads was officially named the Cyclones' head coach Dec. 20, 2008.

His first season brought a surprise 7-6 record. His second fell one win short of bowl eligibility at 5-7.

And this season, Rhoads picked up his first win in three tries over in-state rival Iowa, and the main goal of achieving another bowl bid hasn't yet left the realm of possibility.

“He's a good football coach,” Tuberville said of Rhoads in Texas Tech's weekly news conference. “He's solid. He understands players. He understands recruiting. He fits in up there, he's from there. His dad was a high-school coach.

“He has done, and he'll continue to do a great job.”

Rhoads' teams have earned at least one signature, upset win on the road in his first two seasons.

In 2009, it came at Nebraska.

Last season, it happened at Texas.

Could this week serve as another springboard?

If so, the Cyclones may need to put up 40 or more points in regulation for the first time all season.

And it's possible, if nagging problems - from turnovers to penalties to dropped passes - can be fully cleaned up.

“Once we get to clicking in all aspects, then this offense will really explode,” said ISU quarterback Jared Barnett.

Before Rhoads burst onto the scene in Ames, he operated in secretive silence that December.

Speculation swirled.

He kept his mouth shut tight.

“There was pillow talk between my wife and (me),” Rhoads recalled. “That was the only person that had any idea. My sons had no idea until I'd accepted the job. When a potential future employer says, ‘You need to keep this quiet,' you keep this quiet.”

Now there's nothing hidden about Rhoads, who hopes to guide his team to a second straight upset of the Red Raiders.

“I yell, I scream, I cry, I laugh, I yell,” he said. “I don't change from Wednesday to Saturday. They know what they've got.”

Yes, they do.

Funny how things work out.

“I like it when somebody's out there showing emotion like he does,” said ISU defensive end Jake Lattimer. “He's not sitting in the back blending in with everybody, just kind of watching. He's out there with us. He's showing emotion and getting after it. And personally, I love that.”