Coyer Part III; He's Bullish on Iowa State, Rhoads

AMES, Iowa - Larry Coyer has coached all levels of football, collegiately and professionally. He has served as defensive coordinator on two different Iowa State football staffs. There is no question what he thinks about Cyclone head coach Paul Rhoads. Coyer's remarks are significant because he brings perspective based on more than 30-years of coaching that includes stops at Marshall, Bowling Green, Iowa, Oklahoma State, UCLA, Houston, Ohio State and Pittsburgh.

"Paul Rhoads is the best," Coyer said. "He's perfect for ISU right now. He loves Iowa State. This is not a job, this is his heart. He wants to be the coach. Everything he's going to do at Iowa State is the best for Iowa State. Paul loves it here. This is his sole deal. He wants to make it a championship place. This is Paul's dream job. I would just say that he's going to make it happen, because he wants it bad."

Coyer has worked with Paul first hand.

"I met him at Ohio State University when he came in to be a graduate assistant" Coyer said.  "He was very knowledgeable and confident that he could do the job. We hit it off pretty well. He literally had as much input as I did with the secondary at Ohio State. He was a very good coach, and he had a great relationship with the kids. He was good at getting our players to play well together. After Iowa State, he went to Pittsburgh and he just blossomed. But his whole goal was to be the head coach at Iowa State. He makes good choices. He has a reason for everything he does that's in the best interest of Iowa State.

"It's fairly simple. College football is about developing student athletes. I know you have to win, but it's about building relationships. Professional football has nothing to do with that. It's performance-based only. Loyalty has nothing to do with it.
 
Coyer means what he says.

"There are no places like Iowa State in the National Football League," Coyer said. "No place where family is first, where you still have kids who are open and honest. I'm not trying to be corny, but where families stay together. That's just the way Iowa State is, and it'll never change.
 
"The NFL is a business run by business men who really don't care. I was blessed to coach in that league. You get trapped in it, because you start and you think that the retirement is better, when in fact as a coach it's not. College football is unique, because the kids count."
 
Strong words from a man who knows. He has been there.