ISU Football: Zamberlin Must Go

Yes, the music is totally appropriate. DO NOT QUESTION JEREMY SOULE

I have remained silent on the Zamberlin employment issue for a long time (out of superhuman loyalty), but now I will come out: Z has to go. I'm going to ride this thing to the end but as an ISU patriot who loves his school to death, we have to let Z go and try to salvage the what's left of the wreckage. We have to save ISU Football from the modern-day reincarnation of Luigi Cadorna, a man who never changes his plans and urges a demoralized army of soldiers forward into entrenched Austrian positions across the Isonzo.

I can remember, when I first came here, how fun the games were and all the people who wore orange and made noise, when Pocatello still had some pride in ISU and when football was competitive. I remember the student section was a fun place to be with everyone donning orange and having a great time. I remember how into the game people got and I recall how hard it was for me to move around because there were so many people who, despite the losing, were having a great time because we were competitive and the games were fun. We heckled other teams and got into shouting matches with opposing fans...in other words, to sum it all up, everything felt like a college environment.

Then, then-Athletic Director Paul Bubb decided to fire Larry Lewis with one year on his contract; fans were tired of losing all these games and we wanted a change. We gave Coach Lewis his buyout so he could chill in the Pressbox and roam around until he found another job (he is now an assistant at Colorado State). A national search was conducted and about a month before my first academic semester (I enrolled academically in Spring 2007; I had begun my ISU game attendance in the fall of 2006), we hired John Zamberlin from Central Washington. The ISU press lauded his ability to recruit locally, his willingness to work with schools with sub-par facilities, and his ability to relate with his players. ISU fans started looking up to a new era of glory, up from the massive disappointment of a 2-9 season when many were eying a deep playoff run. It was a fresh start. I myself was swept away in the enthusiasm, and pledged undying support to the cause because that's what a good fan does. I stood through thick and thin and attacked all critics, and always kept my eyes looking to a bright future.

That was 4 years ago.

Now, Holt Arena lies empty and quiet during games. There may be some rowdiness in the pre-game and the first quarter but by the 2nd quarter it disappears into the air and vanishes, not to be seen or heard again. There is so much room to run through even with the camera crews because nobody is there. The North side, once possessing a sizable fan section, is all but desolate. There is nothing to be had, and only the most loyal and devoted fans show up these days. There is no energy, only a void where pride used to be a long 4 years ago. Those 4 years have seemed like an eternity, a lost age in a way. With the rapid, insane decline of morale and pride, ISU's prospects of ever being relevant in existence are blacker than the uniforms that we now wear.

There is only one option now: we must cut our losses, bite the bullet, and drop the pilot before he crashes us into a mountain. For the greater good, he has to go. For the honor of ISU and future Bengals. We have tolerated enough.