Second chances in college football are rare, but why?

[Harry]

DENTON, Texas - Dan McCarney knows he's a lucky man.

Suffering a stroke in 2012 didn't change that. Neither did going blind in his right eye after four surgeries that left it sensitive to light and requiring sunglasses even while indoors.

When he steps through the doors of the annual AFCA coaches convention and sees 12-14,000 aspiring coaches, he finds it easy to forget all that's gone wrong in his life and remember he's one of just 125 men on the planet trusted to guide an FBS football program.

It's a dream come true, and McCarney's second chance at UNT is something very, very few college coaches ever get. But why?

McCarney took over at Iowa State in 1995, piloting an Iowa State program that had struggled historically in the Big Eight into life as a Big 12 member after the league merged with four members of the Southwest Conference.

The program hadn't won a conference title since 1912 and had played in just four bowl games in school history, lowlighted by a 16-year drought when McCarney took over.

From 2000-05, ISU reached five bowl games, won two and missed the postseason just once. In 2004, the Cyclones shared a Big 12 North title with Colorado. Only a five-point loss to the Buffaloes kept the Cyclones from making their first appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game.

McCarney had staked a claim as the best coach in ISU history, racking up a 39-35 record in that six-year span, which included a nightmarish 2-10 campaign in 2003, one of his worst of his 12-year run in Ames.

Throughout his tenure, various programs showed interest. McCarney declined to name specific schools, but said he rebuffed "several" schools during the Cyclones' rise.

Read more: http://www.foxsports.com/southwest/story/second-chances-in-college-football-are-rare-but-why-080514

[UNT90]

Good article. Got the amount of wins in season 1 and season 2 mixed up, though.

I cringed when Gill took the Kansas job. Hope that Fort Worth son gets another shot at an FBS school.

[letsgiveacheer]

An excellent article.

This also calls to mind Rod Rust who was fired from North Texas to later become head coach of the New England Patriots, only to be fired again after one dismal season.