Monday, September 10, 2007

Congrats Mac

It used to be that one of the biggest upsets Dan McCarney was a part of was claiming Iowa State's first victory over the Hawkeyes in 15 years in the Cy-Hawk Series in 1998. Now, the former Cyclone's coach had a hand in perhaps an even bigger one as his South Florida team upset N0. 17 Auburn on the road Saturday.
I talked to McCarney early Sunday, around 11:00 a.m. Florida time. He'd gotten back from Auburn at around 6:00 a.m. and his phone had been ringing off the hook non-stop. Calling him back several hours later, he was losing his voice. It was the same voice you could hear looking back at the Mediacom replays of the Insight.com Bowl win as he was celebrating his team's first bowl victory ever. He had been answering calls all morning, the most he'd gotten since his final game at Iowa State.
Gene Chizik is the new head coach but players haven't forgotten about their former leader. Bret Culbertson told me on the Cyclone's media day he still routinely emails McCarney. Many of the players came to his father's funeral over the summer. Quarterback Bret Meyer said he caught the tail end South Florida game.
When I spoke with McCarney earlier in the week about what the annaul Cy-Hawk series meant to him, he told me had only a few minutes in between team meetings. We talked for about 15. One of the last things he told me wasn't about the Hawkeyes or any of Todd Blythe's performances against Iowa.
"I sure do miss it up there at Iowa State," he said.

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