On the team support he’s received since his son’s passing:
From Coach Campbell and the rest of the staff. Our players have been awesome. I had a talk with them this morning, really thank[ful], I appreciate them. It really means a lot to my family. We’ve got a great team, great group of guys, great group of coaches. And it means a lot to me. And then from all the Cyclones out there, I appreciate it, too. My family appreciates it.
On what he said to the players when he met with them Tuesday:
We had one of our building blocks, pyramid building blocks, and it was about faith and belief. And I kind of shared my story and what I’m going through as far as the challenge in my faith and trying to stay strong for my family, those things like that. And at the same time I know death is going to happen. We’re on borrowed time. But the world continues on so you’ve got to get up and go to work the next day. So, talked to them about that. It was a good talk; they enjoyed it.
On his son and what he was like:
He was, I guess you can say, a strong personality, free spirit. What happened was he’d saved up some money and bought himself a motorcycle on the 27th, that same day, and passed away that night. The one thing I appreciate about the last three months with him is that I know that he was putting God in his world and he was doing things right. Working two jobs and I’m proud of him. I know, that being said, that he’s made himself into heaven. So, it’s good.
On football helping with his grieving process:
Even my wife and I, she’s probably the strongest woman I know. Last January her mom passed. The summer before that her dad passed. So we’ve been dealing with three losses in three years. And the one thing that we mentioned when we were in Toledo is that we wanted to come back and kind of keep things as normal as possible. Although it’s good days and bad days you still have to get up and go to work. And I expressed to my players the same thing. Those guys deal with, there’s a lot of guys in that room that deal with a loss. You have to get back up, get back on your horse and continue on. And that’s the big thing. So we talked about it and knew we had to continue on knowing that we had some peace and he’s in a much better place than down here [where] we are, no question.
On the progress of Iowa State’s defensive tackles:
Our interior guys are doing pretty well. We need to get a little bit better. Practice seven today and we’ve got a long way to go. But we’ve got some power, some strength and we’ve got a couple, we’re about two deep. I think Josh Bailey’s coming along. That’s probably going to help us with a spare. With Kamilo (Tongamoa) still out there and he’s going to get here soon, then we’re talking about possibly having three-deep on the inside. Which is what you need in this conference.
On the possibility of Matt Leo playing inside as well as on the end:
Right now he’s playing defensive end and doing a good job. We moved Eni (Eyioma Uwazurike) inside and he’s been working at three-technique and he’s been doing a really good job. We talking about seven practice(s) but the kids never played D tackle and he’ll help us for real. He’s a good prospect and a good player and he’s doing a great job.
On realistic expectations for Tongamoa after he arrives:
Well, we looked long term for that. You’ve got to have some depth at some point and if we can get him to help us at some point during the season, it’s a win for us. We’re going to need depth to survive this conference. So even if we get him week four ready to go, that’s going to help us down the road in November.
On Ray Lima’s progression since arriving in the winter:
Ray had a spring practice which is the best thing that’s happened to him. He had a great summer and really learned the defense so he’s able to pick up and move around and be a really good football player for us. Not just that. The best thing about Ray Lima is his leadership off the field. He’s a quiet soul but he does a lot of work off the scene. He’s really, when we were recruiting him, we knew he’d change the culture of our room. It’s probably one of the closest groups that we have on our team is our defensive line.
On what makes Lima a culture changer:
He’s a faith guy. Dad’s a pastor. He’s humble. He’s going to change the culture when no one’s looking. He’s going to build those relationships and we knew that in recruiting. We knew everybody around him said great things about him. But he’s a believer. That’s how we knew that he would trust our process and help our program.
On how instrumental Lima will be in how the D line plays this year:
Well, he’s 310 pounds and he’s active. He’s going to help us with the vertical push and vertical pass rush. He’s going to be a sound football player that plays in his gap and he’s going to be active.
On competition at the LEO position:
Oh there’s great competition in our room. And I want it that way. I don’t want anybody to feel comfortable. I think when you’ve got that in your room, when you’ve got three-level, three groups, and they’re all competing, you’re going to have pretty good players. They’re all coming along. Carson Lensing is doing a great job. JaQuan (Bailey) is, he’s going to be a player. It was his winter conditioning that kind of kept him as a two but he’s not going to stay a two for very long. Because he’s attacked this fall camp and gone full speed. Attitude’s great, effort’s great. He’s going to be a good player.
On Jamahl Johnson’s performance so far in camp:
I’d like to see a little bit more. The best thing he’s done is gotten his weight to where it’s manageable, where he can be explosive. But he provides a really good pass rush. He has great hands and good motor rushing the passer. I want to see more for him as far as run block destruction and coming off the football. He’s very capable.
On Vernell Trent’s progress and maturing into a leader:
I’ll tell you what, I couldn’t ask for two better seniors than J.D. Waggoner and Vernell Trent. Vernell has bought into our coaching staff and the way we do things and those two guys are the best two guys to start a trend in leadership. They’ll take them to waterparks, there’s cookouts; these things are all done by those guys to build that closeness of the group. And I think the next year’s seniors will do the same thing. Couldn’t ask for a better group of seniors. Unbelievable.
From Coach Campbell and the rest of the staff. Our players have been awesome. I had a talk with them this morning, really thank[ful], I appreciate them. It really means a lot to my family. We’ve got a great team, great group of guys, great group of coaches. And it means a lot to me. And then from all the Cyclones out there, I appreciate it, too. My family appreciates it.
On what he said to the players when he met with them Tuesday:
We had one of our building blocks, pyramid building blocks, and it was about faith and belief. And I kind of shared my story and what I’m going through as far as the challenge in my faith and trying to stay strong for my family, those things like that. And at the same time I know death is going to happen. We’re on borrowed time. But the world continues on so you’ve got to get up and go to work the next day. So, talked to them about that. It was a good talk; they enjoyed it.
On his son and what he was like:
He was, I guess you can say, a strong personality, free spirit. What happened was he’d saved up some money and bought himself a motorcycle on the 27th, that same day, and passed away that night. The one thing I appreciate about the last three months with him is that I know that he was putting God in his world and he was doing things right. Working two jobs and I’m proud of him. I know, that being said, that he’s made himself into heaven. So, it’s good.
On football helping with his grieving process:
Even my wife and I, she’s probably the strongest woman I know. Last January her mom passed. The summer before that her dad passed. So we’ve been dealing with three losses in three years. And the one thing that we mentioned when we were in Toledo is that we wanted to come back and kind of keep things as normal as possible. Although it’s good days and bad days you still have to get up and go to work. And I expressed to my players the same thing. Those guys deal with, there’s a lot of guys in that room that deal with a loss. You have to get back up, get back on your horse and continue on. And that’s the big thing. So we talked about it and knew we had to continue on knowing that we had some peace and he’s in a much better place than down here [where] we are, no question.
On the progress of Iowa State’s defensive tackles:
Our interior guys are doing pretty well. We need to get a little bit better. Practice seven today and we’ve got a long way to go. But we’ve got some power, some strength and we’ve got a couple, we’re about two deep. I think Josh Bailey’s coming along. That’s probably going to help us with a spare. With Kamilo (Tongamoa) still out there and he’s going to get here soon, then we’re talking about possibly having three-deep on the inside. Which is what you need in this conference.
On the possibility of Matt Leo playing inside as well as on the end:
Right now he’s playing defensive end and doing a good job. We moved Eni (Eyioma Uwazurike) inside and he’s been working at three-technique and he’s been doing a really good job. We talking about seven practice(s) but the kids never played D tackle and he’ll help us for real. He’s a good prospect and a good player and he’s doing a great job.
On realistic expectations for Tongamoa after he arrives:
Well, we looked long term for that. You’ve got to have some depth at some point and if we can get him to help us at some point during the season, it’s a win for us. We’re going to need depth to survive this conference. So even if we get him week four ready to go, that’s going to help us down the road in November.
On Ray Lima’s progression since arriving in the winter:
Ray had a spring practice which is the best thing that’s happened to him. He had a great summer and really learned the defense so he’s able to pick up and move around and be a really good football player for us. Not just that. The best thing about Ray Lima is his leadership off the field. He’s a quiet soul but he does a lot of work off the scene. He’s really, when we were recruiting him, we knew he’d change the culture of our room. It’s probably one of the closest groups that we have on our team is our defensive line.
On what makes Lima a culture changer:
He’s a faith guy. Dad’s a pastor. He’s humble. He’s going to change the culture when no one’s looking. He’s going to build those relationships and we knew that in recruiting. We knew everybody around him said great things about him. But he’s a believer. That’s how we knew that he would trust our process and help our program.
On how instrumental Lima will be in how the D line plays this year:
Well, he’s 310 pounds and he’s active. He’s going to help us with the vertical push and vertical pass rush. He’s going to be a sound football player that plays in his gap and he’s going to be active.
On competition at the LEO position:
Oh there’s great competition in our room. And I want it that way. I don’t want anybody to feel comfortable. I think when you’ve got that in your room, when you’ve got three-level, three groups, and they’re all competing, you’re going to have pretty good players. They’re all coming along. Carson Lensing is doing a great job. JaQuan (Bailey) is, he’s going to be a player. It was his winter conditioning that kind of kept him as a two but he’s not going to stay a two for very long. Because he’s attacked this fall camp and gone full speed. Attitude’s great, effort’s great. He’s going to be a good player.
On Jamahl Johnson’s performance so far in camp:
I’d like to see a little bit more. The best thing he’s done is gotten his weight to where it’s manageable, where he can be explosive. But he provides a really good pass rush. He has great hands and good motor rushing the passer. I want to see more for him as far as run block destruction and coming off the football. He’s very capable.
On Vernell Trent’s progress and maturing into a leader:
I’ll tell you what, I couldn’t ask for two better seniors than J.D. Waggoner and Vernell Trent. Vernell has bought into our coaching staff and the way we do things and those two guys are the best two guys to start a trend in leadership. They’ll take them to waterparks, there’s cookouts; these things are all done by those guys to build that closeness of the group. And I think the next year’s seniors will do the same thing. Couldn’t ask for a better group of seniors. Unbelievable.
