Paul Rhoads Paul Rhoads ( born February 2 , 1967 ) is an American college football head coach at Iowa State University . Rhoads was formerly the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach of the Auburn University football team before then - head coach Tommy Tuberville was forced to resign at the 2008 season ' s end . Rhoads filled the vacancy at Iowa State created by another former Auburn defensive coordinator , Gene Chizik , who left after two seasons at Iowa State to take the open job at Auburn . Playing career . Rhoads was a prep special mention all - state free safety and valedictorian of his high school class at Ankeny , Iowa before lettering for three - years at Missouri Western State University from 1986 to 1988 , where he played defensive back alongside Leland Williams . He graduated in 1989 with a bachelor ' s degree in economics and was the recipient of the Chris Faros Scholarship , honoring the program ' s top senior student - athlete . Rhoads then earned a master ' s degree from Utah State University in 1991 . Coaching career . Rhoads began his coaching career under Chuck Shelton as a graduate assistant at Utah State working with the secondary . After serving in the same capacity under John Cooper at Ohio State , Rhoads received his first full - time position as a defensive backs coach at University of the Pacific in 1992 . The following season , the Pacific Tigers ranked 20th nationally in pass defense , allowing just 152 yards passing per game . In 1995 , incoming head coach Dan McCarney hired Rhoads to join him at Iowa State , where he served as linebackers and secondary coach for 5 seasons . While with the Cyclones , Rhoads also assisted with the special teams . Pittsburgh Panthers . In 2000 , Rhoads was hired as the defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Panthers by Walt Harris . In his first season , Rhoads was credited with improving the team ' s defense to their best performance since 1980 . In 2001 , his defensive unit ranked among the nation ' s top 30 in five different categories at season ' s end . Additionally , Pitt finished with 38 quarterback sacks . In 2002 , the Panthers defense ranked among the nation ' s top 25 in an impressive seven different categories . In 2004 , Pitt ranked ninth nationally with 17 interceptions and Rhoads was kept on staff by new head coach Dave Wannstedt . That decision proved wise as by then end of the 2005 season , Pitt was ranked second nationally in pass defense ( yielding just 152 . 82 yards per game ) and sixth in pass efficiency defense with a 99 . 36 rating . In 2006 , " Sporting News " named Rhoads the Big East ' s best defensive coordinator . In 2007 , Rhoads ' defense was among the nation ' s leaders in various categories , finishing fifth nationally in total defense ( allowing just 297 . 7 yards per games ) and third nationally in pass defense ( allowing just 167 . 3 yards per game ) . While the team finished 5 – 7 , they ended on a high note by holding then - # 2 ranked rival West Virginia to a season - low nine points in a 13 – 9 victory in the Backyard Brawl , limiting the Mountaineers high - powered offense to 183 yards ( 292 yards below their average ) . Auburn Tigers . In 2002 , coach Tommy Tuberville offered Rhoads a job to fill a vacant spot for defensive coordinator at Auburn . Having completed only his second season at Pitt , Rhoads passed on the job with Tuberville eventually hiring Gene Chizik . However , when Will Muschamp resigned at the conclusion of the 2007 season , coach Tuberville again offered the job with Rhoads accepting to head the 2008 Tigers defense on January 17 , 2008 . As head of Auburn ' s defense , Rhoads also coached defensive backs , as did the Tigers ' last four defensive coordinators . While the 2008 Auburn defense started exceptionally ( ranking in the top25 nationally in 6 defensive categories after week 6 , including the 2nd ranked scoring defense ) , the Tigers struggled down the stretch finishing 5 – 7 . The highly touted defense fell to an overall defensive ranking of 27th out of 119 Division I FBS squads , but did finish 15th in scoring . Iowa State Cyclones . Following the departure of Tommy Tuberville at Auburn , Gene Chizik ( then head coach at Iowa State ) returned to Auburn as head coach . Rhoads was not retained by the new head coach and was subsequently chosen to replace Chizik as head coach at Iowa State . Rhoads was introduced as the 31st head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones on December 20 , 2008 . Rhoads had previously spent time at Iowa State as an assistant coach in the late nineties and was raised only 20 miles from the school ' s football facilities . His father , Cecil , was one of the winningest coaches in Iowa history , coaching high school for more than three decades and has been inducted into the Iowa High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame . Rhoads ' contract was reported to be a 5 - year deal worth $ 5 . 75 million and includes incentives that could increase his salary . Rhoads opened his ISU career with a win over FCS North Dakota State . He also led Iowa State to a victory at Kent State in his first year , ending a 17 game road losing streak . On October 17 , 2009 , Rhoads and the Cyclones defeated Baylor to end an 11 game losing stretch against conference opponents . On October 24 , 2009 , the Cyclones defeated the University of Nebraska in Lincoln for the first time since 1977 , inciting his post game speech which became nationally recognized . Paul Rhoads is the first Iowa State coach to win six games in his initial season since 1915 , when Charles Mayser coached the Cyclones to a 6 – 2 – 1 record . On December 31 , 2009 , Paul Rhoads and the Cyclones capped off their season with an Insight Bowl victory over the University of Minnesota . In 2010 , Rhoads captured a milestone win over the # 22 Texas Longhorns by a 28 – 21 margin . It was only the fourth ever road win over a ranked team in Iowa State history , and the first occurrence since a 33 – 31 victory over Oklahoma in 1990 . It was also the first ever win by an Iowa State football team over Texas . In 2011 , Iowa State started off the season 3 – 0 including a triple overtime win over Iowa in Ames , and a win over Connecticut in East Hartford . The Cyclones would drop the next four games , starting out 0 – 4 in conference play but quickly bounced back . The Cyclones rebounded with a 41 – 7 win on October 29 at No . 19 Texas Tech . In the process of that game , Iowa State managed to rack up 512 total yards , the most since the Nov . 22nd , 2008 game at Kansas State ( 626 yards at KSU ) . Several other school records were broken , including first - ever win in Lubbock , Texas ( 1 – 5 all - time ) , largest margin of victory against a ranked opponent ( previous : 22 - point margin of victory against No . 20 Nebraska , 2002 ) , largest margin of victory against a ranked opponent as an unranked team ( previous : 21 - point margin of victory against No . 8 Missouri , 1981 ) , largest margin of victory against a ranked opponent on the road ( previous : 7 - point margin of victory at No . 22 Texas , 2010 ) , and most points scored against a ranked opponent since Nov . 9 , 1996 ( 42 at No . 7 Colorado ) . On November 18 , Iowa State faced off against undefeated No . 2 Oklahoma State , Heisman frontrunner Brandon Weeden , and star wide receiver Justin Blackmon in Ames . Down 24 – 7 early in the second half , Iowa State came back with 17 unanswered points to force overtime . In overtime , Iowa State scored on its first play from scrimmage , but Oklahoma State answered back with one . In the second overtime , Iowa State forced an interception and ran three run plays to beat Oklahoma State 37 – 31 , smashing Oklahoma State ' s chances of playing for a national championship and Brandon Weeden ' s Heisman shot . Iowa State became bowl eligible with the win and improved to 6 – 4 . The win over Oklahoma State marks Iowa State ' s first ever win against an opponent in the top 6 . ( AP polls ) . On December 16 , 2011 , the school announced a 10 - year contract worth $ 20M .