On the biggest overall differences from spring one to spring two:
"The first thing has been our mentality. I think last year at this time guys were counting the days until spring practice was over and being ready to be done. This year, this football team really from the day we came back in January till where we’re at right now, the majority of this team has really understood the value when nobody’s watching. When you guys aren’t here; when the fans aren’t in the stands. How critical our success and growth is. Going in the weight room every day. Getting bigger and stronger. Putting yourself in a position to come out and practice when nobody’s watching. Tuesday, Thursday practicing. Maybe we’re not keeping score that day and you’ve got to go out there and you’ve got to compete and you’ve got to be your very best. I think there’s been a great buy in value to that and understanding to that. And understanding that it is a one day at a time process to get where you want to go. Success at the end of last football season, and failures at the end of last season. Here you are, you get in the fourth quarters of games and we don’t make those plays. Why’s that happen? What are you doing when nobody’s watching to sacrifice this year when we need you to make those plays. So I think there’s been a lot of lessons learned and the mentality of this football team is certainly way different than what I saw a year ago. And all that does is give you a chance. But that’s probably the greatest growth I’ve seen in this football team in a year."
On the difference between counting until spring is over and finishing strong:
"I think last year, you knew you didn’t want practice to end because you knew how much practice we needed. I’ll be honest with you. I remember sitting on the field last year at this time, after the spring game, and saying man, we needed to continue to practice because we just weren’t there yet. But I think what you see right now is, you’re not afraid to go to the summer now. Because you see these kids; we’ve got some culture changer guys. You see, come in Thursday night, Friday night, it’s 8 o’clock, 9 o’clock at night, and there’s Deshaunte Jones and David Montgomery and JaQuan Bailey, those guys are actually working on their own. And you come in on Saturday mornings in the off-season and you see Jacob Park’s got all the receivers out there. Brian Peavy’s got all the corners and those guys are working on their craft. Now you’ve got a chance. That’s what it takes. But it only gives you a chance. So I think to me that’s the biggest thing. Last year you didn’t see any of that. That didn’t exist. But now all of the sudden you see guys starting to really understand what it takes and the true commitment that it takes to be successful. Unfortunately this is a sport that it’s not just showing up from 6 to 8 to be really good. You’ve got to be really willing to perfect your craft and you see guys really working and attempting to do that."
On Garrett Owens leading the way at the kicker position:
"Yeah, Garrett had a really good day today. I think maybe he was 3-for-3 or 4-for-4 showing a great leg. Obviously Chris Francis continues to, in the world of the kickoff game, continues to do really good things. But he’s competing at the (place)kicker spot as well. I think Garrett’s a guy right now that’s starting to settle in. It was nice to be able to get outside and let our specialists go. I thought we did a great job today in terms of punting the football, kicking the football and obviously snapping the football. Obviously some question marks there as we head into fall camp. But it’s nice to see that group kind of start to settle in."
On using a different nutrition program this year:
"I think that’s certainly been a huge gain for us. One of the biggest priorities that I had at the end of last was, we have to do a great job in terms of development with our student-athletes. Jamie (Pollard) really has a done a great job providing our guys a foundation in terms of putting the resources around our kids to feed them and to make sure we do everything in our power to allow our guys to be at peak performance as well. When you’re going in to lift or you’re going in to play football. Educating our guys in terms of nutrition. What’s it take, what do you have to do, what do you eat, how do you do that? I think you’ve seen great gains. Great example, Kamari Cotton-Moya right now’s 202 pounds. And a year ago into the season at almost 190. But you see a guy that’s continuing to buy in understanding how valuable that resource is. If you’re a great player, you want to know how can I be a great player consistently? It’s just more than a mindset sometimes. It’s also what do I put into my body, how do I take care of my body, what do I do in the film room? All those things are a component of it. But that’s been a huge change for us and it’s certainly been a huge positive change."
On the LeCharles Bentley offensive line advising program:
"LeCharles is certainly somebody that I’ve always been close with, really one of the premier understanding of training. Not only just offensive line, but really all your athletes. So LeCharles has kind of come in in an advisor role and just being around the program has just been a huge asset already. Just with understanding training mechanisms, understanding especially the offensive line world. Probably the number one trainer of offensive linemen in the world right now. Top offensive linemen in the country go to him. So LeCharles has certainly been a great asset in what he’s brought to the table. Been up here a couple of times. Can’t really have interaction with our players but certainly can have interaction with us and give us some great advise. He’s been a nice asset."
On how Bentley came to be in his role with Iowa State:
"LeCharles and I, we played in the north/south and the Ohio all-star game and the Big 33 game together. Really developed a relationship at that point; kind of stayed in touch. Obviously he went to Ohio State, really at one point was the premier offensive lineman in the National Football League, signing I think the highest-paid NFL offensive line contract when he went to the Browns. Then unfortunately LeCharles kind of had the tough injury, the staph infection that occurred in Cleveland. Kind of took football away from him. And he poured his heart and soul into training offensive linemen and understanding what happened to his own body as well as, how do I prepare young guys? So we really built that relationship when I got to Toledo and allowed him to come in and be a huge part of our program, even before he took off into his own business avenue. So we’ve always had a really good relationship and it’s been really enjoyable to have him around even now coming out here to Ames."
"The first thing has been our mentality. I think last year at this time guys were counting the days until spring practice was over and being ready to be done. This year, this football team really from the day we came back in January till where we’re at right now, the majority of this team has really understood the value when nobody’s watching. When you guys aren’t here; when the fans aren’t in the stands. How critical our success and growth is. Going in the weight room every day. Getting bigger and stronger. Putting yourself in a position to come out and practice when nobody’s watching. Tuesday, Thursday practicing. Maybe we’re not keeping score that day and you’ve got to go out there and you’ve got to compete and you’ve got to be your very best. I think there’s been a great buy in value to that and understanding to that. And understanding that it is a one day at a time process to get where you want to go. Success at the end of last football season, and failures at the end of last season. Here you are, you get in the fourth quarters of games and we don’t make those plays. Why’s that happen? What are you doing when nobody’s watching to sacrifice this year when we need you to make those plays. So I think there’s been a lot of lessons learned and the mentality of this football team is certainly way different than what I saw a year ago. And all that does is give you a chance. But that’s probably the greatest growth I’ve seen in this football team in a year."
On the difference between counting until spring is over and finishing strong:
"I think last year, you knew you didn’t want practice to end because you knew how much practice we needed. I’ll be honest with you. I remember sitting on the field last year at this time, after the spring game, and saying man, we needed to continue to practice because we just weren’t there yet. But I think what you see right now is, you’re not afraid to go to the summer now. Because you see these kids; we’ve got some culture changer guys. You see, come in Thursday night, Friday night, it’s 8 o’clock, 9 o’clock at night, and there’s Deshaunte Jones and David Montgomery and JaQuan Bailey, those guys are actually working on their own. And you come in on Saturday mornings in the off-season and you see Jacob Park’s got all the receivers out there. Brian Peavy’s got all the corners and those guys are working on their craft. Now you’ve got a chance. That’s what it takes. But it only gives you a chance. So I think to me that’s the biggest thing. Last year you didn’t see any of that. That didn’t exist. But now all of the sudden you see guys starting to really understand what it takes and the true commitment that it takes to be successful. Unfortunately this is a sport that it’s not just showing up from 6 to 8 to be really good. You’ve got to be really willing to perfect your craft and you see guys really working and attempting to do that."
On Garrett Owens leading the way at the kicker position:
"Yeah, Garrett had a really good day today. I think maybe he was 3-for-3 or 4-for-4 showing a great leg. Obviously Chris Francis continues to, in the world of the kickoff game, continues to do really good things. But he’s competing at the (place)kicker spot as well. I think Garrett’s a guy right now that’s starting to settle in. It was nice to be able to get outside and let our specialists go. I thought we did a great job today in terms of punting the football, kicking the football and obviously snapping the football. Obviously some question marks there as we head into fall camp. But it’s nice to see that group kind of start to settle in."
On using a different nutrition program this year:
"I think that’s certainly been a huge gain for us. One of the biggest priorities that I had at the end of last was, we have to do a great job in terms of development with our student-athletes. Jamie (Pollard) really has a done a great job providing our guys a foundation in terms of putting the resources around our kids to feed them and to make sure we do everything in our power to allow our guys to be at peak performance as well. When you’re going in to lift or you’re going in to play football. Educating our guys in terms of nutrition. What’s it take, what do you have to do, what do you eat, how do you do that? I think you’ve seen great gains. Great example, Kamari Cotton-Moya right now’s 202 pounds. And a year ago into the season at almost 190. But you see a guy that’s continuing to buy in understanding how valuable that resource is. If you’re a great player, you want to know how can I be a great player consistently? It’s just more than a mindset sometimes. It’s also what do I put into my body, how do I take care of my body, what do I do in the film room? All those things are a component of it. But that’s been a huge change for us and it’s certainly been a huge positive change."
On the LeCharles Bentley offensive line advising program:
"LeCharles is certainly somebody that I’ve always been close with, really one of the premier understanding of training. Not only just offensive line, but really all your athletes. So LeCharles has kind of come in in an advisor role and just being around the program has just been a huge asset already. Just with understanding training mechanisms, understanding especially the offensive line world. Probably the number one trainer of offensive linemen in the world right now. Top offensive linemen in the country go to him. So LeCharles has certainly been a great asset in what he’s brought to the table. Been up here a couple of times. Can’t really have interaction with our players but certainly can have interaction with us and give us some great advise. He’s been a nice asset."
On how Bentley came to be in his role with Iowa State:
"LeCharles and I, we played in the north/south and the Ohio all-star game and the Big 33 game together. Really developed a relationship at that point; kind of stayed in touch. Obviously he went to Ohio State, really at one point was the premier offensive lineman in the National Football League, signing I think the highest-paid NFL offensive line contract when he went to the Browns. Then unfortunately LeCharles kind of had the tough injury, the staph infection that occurred in Cleveland. Kind of took football away from him. And he poured his heart and soul into training offensive linemen and understanding what happened to his own body as well as, how do I prepare young guys? So we really built that relationship when I got to Toledo and allowed him to come in and be a huge part of our program, even before he took off into his own business avenue. So we’ve always had a really good relationship and it’s been really enjoyable to have him around even now coming out here to Ames."
