Iowa State football: I can’t stop watching the Paul Rhoads rant

Oct 3, 2013; Ames, IA, USA; Iowa State Cyclones coach Paul Rhoads reacts to a call by the officials during their game against the Texas Longhorns at Jack Trice Stadium. Texas beat Iowa State 31-30. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports

Iowa State head football coach Paul Rhoads’ rant after the loss against Texas has been recognized as the best college football rant since Mike Gundy sounded off on a newspaper article back in 2007. There may not be a memorable line like, “I’m a man! I’m 40!”

But I’d be lying if I said I haven’t watched/heard this rant over 100 times already.

For those that have heard just pieces of it or looked at some quotes, here’s the entire press conference that followed the game (video provided by Cyclones.com).

Rhoads clearly dug in with his heart and didn’t leave out any emotions on what his thoughts were on the missed fumble. His voice gets louder and angrier when talking about how he had to look into his players’ eyes and, in the coach’s mind, lie to them about what happened. That everything was okay after the refs took the game away from them on a clearly botched call.

The greatest line was later in the press conference, when he brought up Iowa State being the least penalized team in the nation and gave the snarky response: “I’m sure they made tremendous calls all night long.”

It’s a classic that will be ran all season long.

Rhoads criticized officials, and he’ll get reprimanded and possibly fined for what he said on Monday, but it doesn’t matter. It was worth it because the officials deserved the criticism. He won commitments and future prospects over.

Iowa State’s head coach is a prime example of how most fans are – passionate toward the program and sticking with them even through the tough games. Both programs that were on the field on Thursday night are polar opposites in historic tradition. It’s no secret and it’s quite ordinary that Texas will receive the benefit of the doubt.

Do they deserve it? Well, the program worked hard to get back on track since Mack Brown took over as coach and, outside of the previous two years, have been thriving. Iowa State needs to work hard and get on the map if they want more things to go their way.

That’s the way life it. Work hard, and that is rewarded. No one is ever successful without a little bit of luck on their side.

But something as blatant as last night’s missed fumble call is wrong, and totally deserved the berating that Rhoads gave it. Every Cyclones player and fan should love it, embrace it, and take it with them to the next game.