Yep. I remember.
I was also not thrilled about it. Got sick to my stomach in fact. But you have to remember the context of the hire. We were coming off 5-7, and an Iron Bowl ass kicking. Of all the coaches out there on paper, we hired Chizik???? Fuck that. But then the guy proved himself. Maybe ISU was a fluke. He hired all the right people. Recruited like a MF'er. Said all the right things. Ran a tight ship. The players bought in.
I'm not afraid to admit I had the man pegged wrong at the outset. But most people would have thought those things before he did what he did. Gene is the exception not rule. No one could have imagined that he would do what he did. NO ONE.
ISU was no fluke. Only 3 coaches since WWII have had a winning record in either of their first two seasons. None had 2 winning seasons in their first 2. One is Paul Rhoades, who reverted back to 5-7 in his second season. Neither Earl Bruce who later won several Big 10 titles at OSU, nor Johnny Majors who later won an NC at Pitt, and several SEC titles at UT, had a winning record in their first two seasons at ISU. A losing record at ISU is meaningless in defining any coach. Nobody wins there, especially early. I regarded him as being hired in as if he was an AC with no HC record.
That said, since most people only focus on the W/L record, and don't account for the type of program, or situation, it was a horrible PR move at the time, that has worked out rather nicely.
And yet, some still refuse to give Chizik the credit, and claim it's all Malzahn. Again, idiots who don't know what a HC is or does.