Coach Dan McCarney has brought the football program to a level that was never seen at Iowa State prior to his hiring in 1994.

With a lot of patience on behalf of the athletic department and fans in general, McCarney slowly built the program into one that went to five bowl games in a six-year span.

Not to mention finally beating Iowa in 1998 and five times after that.

If you were to ask ISU fans after a 0-10-1 season in 1994 if they would settle for a coach who could bring that, I can guarantee they would all have signed up.

But today’s expectations aren’t what they were in 1994. McCarney has given fans a taste of success and they want more, a lot more. Maybe more than what Coach Mac can deliver.

He could be his own worst enemy.

ISU fans no longer consider beating Iowa the lone ingredient to a successful season. They don’t expect close games with Division I-AA opponents, and they won’t stand for losing seasons.

The new ISU fans want to see their team in the Big 12 title game. They want to have a chance at New Year’s bowl games, and they expect to be competitive in every game.

The problems haven’t all developed during this season either.

The writing was on the wall last year when the Cyclones finished with a 7-5 record after losing to Texas Christian University in the EV1.net Houston Bowl.

If ever there was a chance for Iowa State to compete for a Big 12 title, it was in 2005, when the schedule was set up in the team’s favor.

Instead of being one of the best seasons in Cyclones history, it ended as one of the most disappointing after an overtime loss left them out of the Big 12 title game for the second straight year.

This season came with high expectations. A potent ISU offense was supposed to pick up a young defense and give Iowa State another shot at the Big 12 North.

Instead, the Cyclones are about three inches away from being winless for the year.

The offense is averaging just under 19 points a game, and Iowa State is the only team without a win in the conference.

This isn’t exactly what first-year Athletic Director Jamie Pollard was expecting when he set a new season-ticket sales record in the offseason, and it isn’t affording him the fire power needed to raise millions of dollars for the proposed Jack Trice Stadium renovations.

McCarney has accumulated a 27-67 Big 12 Conference record to date and a 56-82 record overall. Take away seven wins over I-AA opponents, and that brings the record down to 49-82 – just more than four wins per season and two wins in the conference.

McCarney has only coached the Cyclones to one winning season in the Big 12, going 5-3 in 2000.

He is now looking straight down the barrel at a second season without a conference win in the last four years.

The mountain that is the McCarney coaching era peaked in 2000 and has now been on a slow roll down the backside. Play calling has become predictable, fans have become irritated, and they won’t stand for it. A coaching change is needed.

McCarney does deserve all the respect in the world from ISU fans and all their appreciation for getting the program to where it is. He will always be remembered as one of the greatest coaches in Cyclone history and the man who forever changed the attitude of Cyclone Nation.

But with that change has come greater expectations, and gratitude alone isn’t enough to keep Coach Mac around for another season. ISU fans shouldn’t feel bad for wanting more, and there’s only one way for that to happen.

It’s time for a change . no doubt about it.

Ben Carstens is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Cushing.