Terry Brands leaving? Gable?

See what guest blogger Ryan Young, Iowa wrestling beat reporter for The Daily Iowan, has to say about Terry Brands or Dan Gable leaving Hawkeye country to join the Cyclone wrestling program.

When the news came out last week that Iowa State head wrestling coach and former-Cyclone superstar grappler Cael Sanderson interviewed twice for the job at Penn State and had later been signed, my initial reaction was fear.

With Sanderson heading the Nittany Lions, Iowa's chances of pulling a three-peat next season at both the Big Ten Championships and the national tournament are consequentially slimmer.

Undoubtedly, the Big Ten is the best conference in collegiate wrestling, and coaches like Tom Ryan at second-place Ohio State, J Robinson at Minnesota, and Barry Davis at Wisconsin give Tom Brands and the Hawkeyes a run for their money each season. Add Sanderson to that list now as well.

But then, when the rumor mill began to churn and talk about the Iowa State coaching vacancy gained more and more steam within the state — what with the recent football fiasco over in Cyclone country and all — I read a few comments I never dreamed imaginable. In fact, they got me sweating on the inside of my body.

Dan Gable and Terry Brands shedding their Hawkeye loyalty and draining every ounce of black and gold blood to coach at Iowa State?

The idea sounds like science fiction — Gable and Brands would pretty much have to be aliens sent to destroy the world if they chose to transplant themselves nearly two hours away from the one place they are revered more than Kirk Ferentz.

I mean, either one of them could get it arranged in their contracts to have someone walk in front of them throwing rose petals.

But when you talk about unquestionable loyalty, you have to think about Sanderson and how the underlying truth is that the almighty dollar can get people to do things you never though possible.

The only thing that scares me about the Terry Brands situation is that when I did a sit-down interview with both him and Tom last semester for a class story, Tom talked about how his brother is a highly-sought after young coach.

Terry even said he had got an e-mail not long before the interview from Egypt, which was searching for a national freestyle coach, and if he was still at his post in Colorado with the US team, he probably would have taken the offer. This guy can go pretty much wherever he wants to right now.

But I think he loves Iowa too much. I asked him how long he planned to stay with his brother, and he said he had told Athletics Director Gary Barta he wasn't itching to go anywhere.

Having spent a few days around him, I like to think he is as honest as he is passionate about winning.

I know I'll be happy when Iowa State finally signs someone, though — preferably not Terry or Gable.

Ryan Young
Sports Reporter