Well...all rumors you understand...but from what I HEARD, Bates has seen the writing on the wall. Arnaud is a Sophmore and a better QB than Bates, who is also a Sophmore...AND...Tiller, a Freshman, has actually been grading out the last couple of weeks better than either of the other two...so...seeing himself as a backup to Arnaud or Tiller for the next two years didn't quite appeal to Mr Bates...nor did switching to wide out (where, frankly, ISU really doesn't need him since that is a well stocked position) or tailback appeal to him (as was suggested...from what I HEARD...by a member or two of the coaching staff). He wanted to be a QB but he didn't want to hold a clipboard.
Like most of the kids you see today...if you can't get what you want, take your marbles and go home (though if the guy had any marbles he would have held out through the end of the year). No great loss though...he really did run the offense like he didn't have much of a clue about how it worked. After two years, I kind of expected a little more out of him....