By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

At this point, every sports fan, and even some outside of the sporting world, are aware that Matt Campbell, the greatest football coach in Iowa State University’s history, has accepted a new gig to become a Nittany Lion and be Penn State University’s new head coach. The move shocked the college football landscape. Campbell’s name has floated around the rumor mill most every year for half a decade at this point. Many ISU fans, me included, never thought the day would come when Campbell would not be donning his patented tight brimmed Cyclone hat. We had found our own Kirk Ferentz, and prosperity was here to stay.

That was an unrealistic expectation for a number of reasons. After all, Ferentz is the outlier, not the norm. And, in today’s NIL landscape, college athletics is not what it once was. With Campbell gone, Cyclone fans around the nation began the five stages of grief — or, as I’m calling it, the five stages of losing Matt Campbell.

Denial

What? Campbell to Penn State? As if. Even with rumors swirling heavily on Thursday, my friends, my family and I were panickily texting each other, doubting the validity. Campbell loves ISU and has notably turned down NFL and other major NCAA programs in favor of staying in Ames. It even got to the point that “SoundOFF” created the Campbell Rumors Assessment Project (C.R.A.P) to poke fun at the ongoing idea that Campbell would ever leave. Here’s a video from 2019 when Campbell was rumored for the Florida State job.

Not only that, but Penn State has been floundering in its coaching search for the better part of two months, and now, all of the sudden, Campbell is not only the target but is favored to accept the gig? No chance. ISU was slated to return 17/22 starters, while PSU’s roster and recruiting class was bleeding out to Virginia Tech to follow James Franklin. I was not buying it.

Anger

Well. The rumors were true. Campbell to Penn State for a whole lot of $$$. Eight years and $70.5 million. Cyclone fans took to social media. Anger was directed at Campbell. “I’m sure as hell not rooting for Penn State.” “I hope he loses every game.” “He can kiss the imaginary statue we all wanted built for him 10 minutes ago goodbye.” Anger was directed at Josh Pate, the media personality who was once loved by ISU fans. Pate had interviewed Campbell in 2024, saying, “We need more of this in college football,” referring to Campbell STAYING in Ames. Pate went from that to tweeting out at every opportunity that Penn State should be pursuing Campbell with full force. The faint of heart should stay away from Pate’s replies and comments, as ISU fans were not kind to him in the wake of the news.

Was it Pollard’s fault? Online messaging boards added to hate. Posts suggested that Pollard wanted more control over NIL funds, leading to Campbell, and even other top coaches at the University, frustrated.

We felt betrayed, lied to and deceived. We all trusted Campbell’s process and fell in love with the coach and the person. He represented and improved the image of ISU in a way few have. To do all that, and jump ship for a Penn State job that about five other coaches had already turned down in recent months?

Bargaining

Honestly, this stage did not exist. After all, there was no real bargaining to do. ISU could not match Penn State’s offer. But, before the details of Campbell’s contract were announced, even before Penn State announced his hiring, ISU had broken the news on Campbell’s replacement, Washington State’s head coach, Jimmy Rogers. This was doubly shocking for ISU and college football fans. Before we could even panic about losing our star coach at the tail end of the hiring cycle, in true Jamie Pollard fashion, he hired an under-the-radar name no one saw coming.

Depression

Texts continued to flood in from older ISU fans telling me to get ready to experience true ISU misery. No more above .500 seasons, no more bowl games, no more watching draft day to see which ISU stud was going to play on Sundays (and Mondays, and Thursdays, and sometimes Fridays and Saturdays). The football program is going back to the dark ages, and we might as well just wait around for basketball season. The crack team at C.R.A.P., now laid off. We lost the greatest coach in the history of the program, and no one is really sure why. Was it Pollard? Was it the money? Who knows? Any way you shake it, this stinks.

Acceptance

New Head Coach Jimmy Rogers flies into Ames during a snowstorm, greeted by Pollard and other ISU brass on the tarmac. Rogers has a great pedigree, specifically in the Midwest during his time at powerhouse FCS program South Dakota State. In his press conference, he comes across as friendly, determined and excited to lead ISU out of this changing of the guard.

Pollard clears up rumors at the press conference about his involvement with NIL. He gives the money to the programs, and they choose to do with it as they please. I’m inclined to take Pollard at his word, seeing all the good he has done within the athletic department.

Campbell, as it turns out, has some close family members dealing with health-related issues, and the Penn State gig brings him closer to home. Campbell takes out a full-page ad in The Des Moines Register, thanking Cyclone nation. He even chokes up in his introductory press conference at Penn State when talking about ISU. Gosh, why was I ever mad at this guy in the first place?

As determined as I was to root for his downfall at the first announcement of his departure, I must admit that it is going to be difficult for me to do anything but root for Campbell’s success in any and all future endeavors. His leading of the football program brought me countless memories with friends and family that I won’t soon forget.

Meanwhile, here’s to the future, Jimmy Rogers. The ISU family and fandom are behind you.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

It would be a shame if this column just turned into why I hate certain things, but I promise to bring the positivity back soon. For now, I have to rant again.

For the sake of your time, and Shane’s editing of this, I cut out about half of this column where I explained how we got to the current state of the College Football Playoff (CFP). This is about as short as I can put it: Two teams used to make the national championship, in 2014 it switched to a four-team playoff, and in 2024 it changed to a 12-team playoff.

The stated reason for expanding to 12 teams was that too many “worthy” teams were being left out of the four-team format. At first, it seemed simple. “Worthy” teams are getting left out, so the natural solution is to expand the playoff. Then, the powers that be made it not so simple, creating a cavalcade of problems in the process.

These are the problems I see. The simplest to me is that there are not 12 teams worthy of competing for a national title in a given season. Even worse, what was once a largely computer-model driven system of seeding and determining rankings, the 12 teams are now decided by a committee of 13 former and current athletic directors and coaches. Another problem is that the most prestigious bowl games are now playoff games as a means to reach the national championship, which has devalued their significance. Once a cherished accomplishment has become a stepping stone. Before, even one loss could kill any hope of making the national championship. Now, multiple teams with multiple losses get in every single year.

As well, teams ranked 13^th, 14^th and 15^th all take to press conferences and social media to talk about how they deserved to be in the 12-team playoff when just a few short years ago they would not have even been considered. Now, 9-3 Texas (horns down) thinks they deserve to be in the same conversation as 12-0 Indiana. It’s ridiculous.

My main gripe, though, is with the selection committee. What are supposed to be the most important games of the season are now in the hands of a group of 13 people who arbitrarily decide, and often mistake, what teams deserves to get in and what ones don’t. This brings in a bias that is not otherwise seen in any sport. Could you imagine if the NFL determined its playoff seeding based on the opinions of 13 owners across the league as opposed to its set-in-stone system? Why are these athletic directors’ and former head coaches’ opinions THIS valuable?

The current, and arguably most glaring, example as to why the committee holding this much power is a problem is happening right now. BYU is currently 11-1 with its one loss coming against Texas Tech. BYU is ranked 11^th. Texas Tech is ranked fourth. There are currently three two-loss teams ahead of BYU. Those teams — Oklahoma, Alabama, and Notre Dame — do have one thing that BYU lacks: brand recognition. Despite having a worse record, and worse resumes overall, these teams all sit ahead of the Cougars because the committee inherently comes with a bias, versus blindly judging these teams on resumes alone. BYU will meet Texas Tech in the Big 12 title game this weekend. The Cougars must win to cement a place in the CFP. Texas Tech will be in with or without a loss. So, despite BYU having a single loss to a top-five team, with the number six strength of record, the team is currently outside of the playoff due to its current constraints. Absolute buffoonery.

Here’s what it comes down to for me, and Mike Leach, a legendary college football coach who left this earth far too soon, and who also spent some of his coaching career at Iowa Wesleyan, proves me completely wrong. In a rant during his time at Washington State University, Leach tore the former four-team playoff apart. Now, the CFP did expand to his liking, but kept the committee and bucked the universal American football version of determining a champion, which is playoff seeding based on records like they do in little leagues, high schools, DIII, DII, D1AA and even the NFL. So, if you’re going to have a playoff, at least do it right and dump the committee. HERE is Leach’s rant. It’s worth the five-minute listen if you are a college football fan. Unrelated, but just for fun, here is my personal favorite Leach clip of him talking about coffee.

Reach out with comments, complaints, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

Winter sports in full swing

As I was writing the sports section for the Times Vedette this morning, I attempted to find different ways to describe the Panorama and ACGC winter sports teams starting their seasons. That, and the fact that it looks like I’ll have to warm my car up every morning now, helped me realize that winter is truly here. Good luck to each of those programs this season. And be sure to check out our winter sports guide, which features the ACGC and Panorama basketball and wrestling teams, by clicking here. 

Why I hate Black Friday games

Certain aspects of my life make me realize that I like the “old way” of doing things. I like classical architecture. I like old movies. I like a fair amount of old music. I prefer analog controls like buttons and dials on cars as opposed to screens. But, when it comes to sports, I’m much the opposite.

I appreciate the recent changes made by the MLB to make games faster. I don’t believe that basketball players who hit the court in Converse shoes years ago are as good at basketball, or as athletic, as modern NBA players. And, no one can convince me that Joe Namath or Roger Staubach could be an NFL quarterback today. But, one place where I draw the line and prefer the days of old is when it comes to the NFL’s scheduling. That may sound like an odd place to mark a line in the sand, but I’ll explain.

In 1961, congress passed the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. There are plenty of legal reasons that went into why this was passed, but you simply need to know that the main purpose was to prevent NFL broadcasts from interfering with amateur sports such as high school and college football. If you want the details, HERE is a good article that explains the innerworkings.

High school games on Friday, college games on Saturday, and the NFL on Sunday and Monday. A football game for each day of the weekend and another one to get you past the Monday blues sounded good to me. This was a great system that had been in place for decades, but the NFL, and admittedly college, too, bent these rules in recent years.

For example, today, Friday, Nov. 28, the Chicago Bears play the Philadelphia Eagles in Philly. Not only that, but there is a full slate of college football games broadcast today. It is bad enough that the Bears are playing on national TV (the Packers would be fine), but Iowa also faces Nebraska today (the Cyclones would be fine). There should a set of laws against those teams being seen by the masses.

The NFL and the NCAA have discovered certain exceptions and work-arounds in recent years. The main rules of the law are making sure the times do not overlap, and that no high school game is being played at the same time as a college or NFL broadcast within 75 miles. What gives me pause, though, is TV vs. streaming.

The language in the act says, “sponsored telecasting of the games on a television station.” Since streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video or Netflix are not technically a television station, the same rules don’t apply to them. The argument could (and should) be made that, in effect, they are.

You can spare me the argument that the NFL or the NCAA — or streaming platforms — are doing this for the benefit of the fans. The more games they can get on the air in different time slots on different days, the more money they can make, and they are all seemingly happy to bend the rules to do so. Is it life-threatening or world shattering that the NFL and NCAA are playing football on a Friday? No. But, it does annoy me that the traditional way of doing this is being changed to simply fill some already deep pockets. Chew on that with your leftover turkey.

Reach out with comments, complaints, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

State football championships

It’s football championship week here in Iowa. Some champions have already been determined: Class 8-player, won by Bishop Garrigan over Woodbine, 44-42. Class A, won by MMCRU over Saint Ansgar, 30-17. Class 1A, won by West Lyon over Regina Catholic, 34-27. Class 4A, won by Xavier over Pella, 31-6.

Still to be determined today are Class 2A between Van Meter and Kuemper Catholic (likely finishing up as this column goes out), Nevada vs. Bishop Heelan in Class 3A, and Dowling vs. Iowa City Liberty in Class 5A. The games are all being streamed online for free at www.iahsaa.org/watch/. Tap in and watch some of the best football teams in the state try to etch their names into the history books.

World cup madness

The next Fifa World Cup is in 2026, hosted by the great U.S.A. I remember hearing rumblings of this happening back when I was in high school. The selection process takes years and is normally determined far in advance, mainly to help the hosting countries prepare for the influx of teams and fans.

The World Cup is the single greatest sporting event in the world. Better than the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, MLB playoffs, and even the Olympics. Every four years the greatest soccer talents in the world put their skills on display and play their hearts out for their respective nations.

It has created some of the most memorable sporting moments of all time, from the Diego Maradona “Hand of God”goal, to Zidane’s headbutt (2:30 in), to Tshabalala’s opening goal of the 2010 World Cup, to the overall stunning 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France that saw Lionel Messi capture the sport’s most elusive trophy in a game for the ages.

Solid performances at the tournament have jumpstarted many relatively unknown player’s careers and have produced incredible moments during qualifying games. This past week, we got one of, if not the, greatest qualifying game ever.

Denmark and Scotland were battling for a place in the 2026 World Cup. The winner of this Nov. 18 game guaranteed a place in the tournament. What transpired was absolute fireworks.

Scotland’s Scott McTominay opens the scoring with an incredible bicycle kick just three minutes in. Take a bow. Fast forward, Denmark answers back in the 57^th minute, followed by a red card for the Danes in the 61^st. Scotland takes the lead back in the 78^th minute, only for Denmark to answer right back in the 82^nd, tied 2-2, heading into the final minutes. And, of all players, defender Kieran Tierney produces a left footed curler in the 93^rd minute to give his nation the lead. Check out this angle. If that wasn’t enough for the Scottish fans in attendance, just three minutes later, Kenny McLean scores from within his own half, lobbing the keeper from some 60 yards out. Here are highlights to the game. Skip to 20 seconds for McTominay’s bike, 3:08 for the red card, 4:25 for Tierney’s strike, and 5:30 for McLean’s lob. “They will drink Glasgow dry tonight.” What a comment. What a game.

Reach out with comments, complaints, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

The state volleyball championships wrapped up last week, and the semi-finals and finals for football are in full swing. Last week, Iowa PBS streamed the volleyball finals. I was able to catch a few of the games that reaffirmed my belief that volleyball is underrated as a spectator sport. The dives. The kills. The blocks. Last-second digs. The pancakes. It’s a joy to watch, and I’m lucky to have caught a few games. As for football, you can catch those games streamed on the IAHSAA website HERE. If you’re reading this as soon as our newsletter comes out, the 1A semi-final game between powerhouse Grundy Center and Regina will be just about wrapping up. I decided to do a wrap up of all the volleyball state championships, as well as where football stands as of press time.

Volleyball

• 1A: No. 1 Saint Ansgar (31-4) defeats No. 2 Janesville (33-12), 3-1
• 2A: No. 1 Denver (50-1) defeats No. 3 Hinton (30-3), 3-2
• 3A: No. 2 Assumption (28-7) defeats No. 5 Humboldt (33-7), 3-0
• 4A: No. 5 North Scott (27-10) defeats No. 2 Sioux Center (30-5), 3-1
• 5A: No. 1 Waukee Northwest (38-1) defeats No. 2 Ankeny Centennial (34-6), 3-0

Football

• 8-Player State
  FINAL: Bishop Garrigan (12-0) vs. Woodbine (11-0) on Nov. 20
• Class A
  FINAL: Saint Ansgar (12-0) vs. MMCRU (12-0) on Nov. 20
• Class 1A
  SEMI-FINALS:
  Grundy Center (11-0) vs. Regina Catholic (11-0)
  West Lyon (11-0) vs. South Hardin (10-1)
• Class 2A
  SEMI-FINALS:
  Kuemper Catholic (11-0) vs. Wilton (9-2)
  Osage (11-0) vs. Van Meter (9-2)
• Class 3A
  SEMI-FINALS:
  Solon (11-0) vs. Nevada (9-2)
  Bishop Heelan (9-2) vs. Wahlert Catholic (9-2)
• Class 4A
  FINAL: Xavier (12-0) vs. Pella (11-1)
• Class 5A
  SEMI-FINALS:
  Dowling Catholic (10-1) vs. Valley (9-2)
  Waukee Northwest (10-1) vs. Iowa City Liberty (10-1)

There’s lots of good football to be played, and that means there’s lots of good football to watch.

Reach out with comments, complaints, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

West Sioux’s record breaker

The ACGC football team plays in the quarterfinals for the third time in three seasons tonight, Friday, Nov. 7. Two seasons ago the Chargers ran into Madrid, falling 21-14. Last season, the team fell to eventual state champion, Tri-Center, 47-20. This time, ACGC goes up against West Sioux (9-1). Despite the fact the Chargers have not made it to the UNI dome during those three seasons, the teams that have won more overall games than them in the past three years is few and far between. 

Speaking of West Sioux, a former Falcons WR name is in the record books. And, outside of wanting to see the Chargers get one step closer to a state championship, it gives me another reason to root against the Falcons. That seems like an odd thing to say, but I’ll give you my reasoning.

In 2019, West Sioux WR Kade Lynott had 342 receiving yards in a single game — and on only 12 catches. That is thoroughly impressive. Arguably, even more impressive. Lynott, and his QB that day, Hunter Dekkers (yes, that Hunter Dekkers), both went on to play at ISU at various times. (They are also cousins.) The record those two came together to break that day was set by a friend of mine, Logan Garrels. He and I were basketball teammates in middle school and high school. I just ran into him last weekend for the first time in years. He’s got a kid now. Am I getting old?

Garrels had 340 receiving yards against Hoover in 2014. He had 20 receptions that day (sixth most in a single game) from his QB, Will McElvain. Some might recognize his name, as he spent a few seasons as UNI’s starting QB.

I only just found out that Garrels’ record was broken thanks to an IA football video detailing Lynott’s incredible performance. He bested my friends record by two yards. Congrats to him, but it gives me another reason to root for ACGC tonight.

Winter sports are right around the corner

This week, I have been interviewing the head coaches of the winter sports teams across ACGC and Panorama. During my first interview, which was with Lane Rumelhart, ACGC’s wrestling coach, he said it felt strange that we were already talking about wrestling season while the football team still had least one more game to play.

I agree. Sure, early November typically means that winter is right around the corner. Thanksgiving is approaching, singling the start of the holiday season. And, in truth, I conduct these interviews a fair bit ahead of time so I have time to write the pieces. These teams are not even holding practices for another two weeks or so. But, nevertheless, winter sports for both ACGC and Panorama bring exciting times.

Last year, both boys wrestling programs tied or beat the school record for the most state qualifiers for a single season — six for ACGC and five for Panorama. The school’s coop for girls wrestling sent two athletes to the state tournament. A year after the Panorama girls basketball team dominated, reaching the state final, the girls managed an above .500 record despite losing their head coach and two of the best players in program history. Last season, the ACGC girls basketball team finished an incredible 22-2 and return all but one starter. ACGC boys basketball team also had an incredible campaign but lost the majority of its firepower. The Panorama boys will be looking to improve under its second year being led by Josh Beardsley. All in all, there will be a lot to watch, cover and root for in the coming months.

Reach out with comments, complaints, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.