Post-practice interview session with running game coordinator following Tuesday's practice:
On true freshmen Kene Nwangwu and David Montgomery:
A lot of ability. Those guys are both very eager to learn. They’re very fun to coach. David, 5-11, six-feet, 225 pounds, quick as a hiccup. He’s a true running back, he can do it all; he can run, block, catch. Really excited about him; he’s kind of the slasher of the group. And then you’ve got Kene, six-feet, 195, 10.4 hundred-meter guy. He’s the fastest guy on the field any time he steps on it. I call them slash and dash. They’re fun because every day you kind of find, hey he can do this, oh he can do that, too. It’s like a Christmas present you’re unwrapping every day. Those two guys, as good as they are as players, they’re really good people. And they’re eager to learn and they’re very humble. They’re great teammates already. So it’s really exciting for me knowing you’ve got that behind a guy like Mike Warren, Sheldon Croney, Mitch Harger. You’ve got these two guys coming in the mix.
On Montgomery and Nwangwu complementing each other’s skill sets:
I think so. Any time you have a guy like Kene who can just take off and run and be a one-play guy like a long touchdown guy, it complements anybody’s skill set. But David can do, whoo, David’s hands are outstanding. His suddenness, his burst, his agility for 225 pounds, is really something. I can’t wait for you guys to see these guys live and you can kind of see what I’m talking about. He’s really something and then he has a little power to it. So David’s a little more of a thumper. Kene’s a little more of a dasher. You’ve got slash and dash right there, it’s fun.
On the prospects of one or both of them playing this season:
It will play itself out. There’s times you’re like, man, you really want to get four good years out of both of these guys. Especially when you have a guy like Mike already who’s going to take the majority of the carries you would think. But when you’ve got that type of high-end talent it’s hard to sit those guys when they can help your football team. So we’ll go through the next couple of weeks and we’ll make a decision and when we get out there September 3rd or whenever, if they play you’ll notice them. Trust me, you’ll notice when they play.
On having several backs available to help keep Warren fresh all season:
It’s really exciting for me because what it also does, it’s upped the competition in my room. So you have a bad day or you don’t want to practice, that’s okay, I’ve got other guys that will take those carries and do a really good job and make you wonder, man, am I going to be playing on Saturdays or getting all the carries I should? Those guys are making us play them right now because they’re doing a very good job of performing when they get on the field. You can’t rest on your laurels in my room because every single day is a competition for carries. I think it’s really helped Mike. It’s helped him because he’s had to be a leader, be a little bit of a teacher. So he has to be an expert in what he’s doing as well. So that’s been fun for me matching the maturation process of him with these two young guys as well.
On getting Warren to Iowa State after recruiting him at Toledo:
It’s interesting because I tell a story, when I got here, we had a couple of guys committed. And those guys who were committed, I wasn’t taking at Toledo, per se. And I knew I really wanted this kid so I’m kind of just biding my time hoping that something would work out where I can say, hey, I’ve got this kid on the back burner. And I think we had a de-commitment and we were still trying to chase that de-commitment but I am like, hey, I’ve got a guy, can we watch him? And the rest is history with that story. And luckily for us Mike was interested. He wanted to come up, he enjoyed the place, he loves Ames. He had a great freshman year and I think he’s going to have a great career when it’s all said and done.
On biding his time to wait for opportunity to recruit Warren:
Being the new guy, I didn’t want to ruffle any feathers, so I’m like, I hope these guys know what they’re talking about. Because I had a pretty good idea of what I want as a tailback. So I’m hoping these guys know what they’re talking about. You sit there and you just know you’ve got something in waiting there that can be really good and really special for our program. But if they’re trying to tell you these guys are better, you try to see it and listen and learn why they think that. So I’m trying to figure everybody out. In the back of my head, I’m like, we’ve got to get this kid.
On Warren building up his weight and thickness in the off season:
I told him, for the type of season and career you want to have, this weight room has got to become your best friend. He’s really embraced that and taken it to another level. He’s put on a pretty good amount of weight, upper body wise. He just looks better. He’s performing better. He’s in great shape. Our strength coaches have done a great job with him. He’s ready to go the long haul. And for us we’re going to need him to go the long haul and take a lot of carries and take the brunt of the work as we develop these freshmen and as we develop this offensive line and as we develop this football team. Keep pushing towards winning Big 12 games and hopefully going to bowl games.
On if Warren is still a 1,000-yard rusher given state of the offensive line:
With the carries he’s given, Mike Warren is one of the best backs in the country, I think. So whether it’s 1,000, 1500, 2,000, even 800, he’s going to maximize his opportunities when he gets it and when he gets that chance, he’s going to get those yards. I think he will be.
On changing the running game approach due to offensive line issues:
Not one bit. You don’t talk to Coach Campbell about what happened with the injury. We’re full steam ahead. You go through life, you’re going to face adversity; you’re going to face challenges. And our football team, ever since even when Coach Campbell got here, we’ve faced adversity and we’ve faced challenges. And the best thing Coach Campbell’s done, he’s unified us as a group. Whether it’s coaches, support staff, players – we’re all on the same page. We all know what happened. We lost one of our best players. But that doesn’t stop us from trying to reach our goals and reach our full potential. So as we go forward, we know our issues and we know how we need to fix those issues. And we’re going to just go forward and make the most of it and I expect my guys to be the leader of it and we’re going to make this thing right.
On backs and linemen spending time together in classrooms like last year:
With Coach (Tom) Manning and Coach (Jeff) Myers - our offensive line G.A. - and Coach Campbell, it’s now more stuff on the field with them. More of our individual time, more of our group time with them. We’ve spent more time on the field and in the classroom with them so we can work as one together. The scheme we run is very friendly to the O line and the backs and when we’re cohesive together like we were at the University of Toledo, I’d expect a lot of good things. So just having all those minds together, that’s why with the offensive line situation, we’ll find a way and get it fixed. My guys will be a big part of that helping with some of the protection stuff. So I think we feel pretty good about what we’ve been doing.
On the development of running backs as pass protectors:
The good thing about the freshmen, they aren’t scared. They step in there; they stick their nose in there. They attack the blitzers. Mike has gotten a lot better. That’s one of the things we challenged him in the off-season to work on, his feet and his hands. His punch is a lot better. Mitch Harger is probably as good a pass protector we’ve got. He’s tough, he knows the protections, he fits in there really nicely. But the two freshmen have really adjusted well to it. When you’re a thick guy like David, he’s 225, he can really rock some of those linebackers. And Kene’s a little sneaky there, he sneaks up on you quick and gets his hands on you. I’m really comfortable with those guys in those situations. We’ve got to do a good job protecting Joel (Lanning). He’s done a nice job this summer, this spring, and he’s going to be our leader. So we’ve got to make sure he’s protected.
On true freshmen Kene Nwangwu and David Montgomery:
A lot of ability. Those guys are both very eager to learn. They’re very fun to coach. David, 5-11, six-feet, 225 pounds, quick as a hiccup. He’s a true running back, he can do it all; he can run, block, catch. Really excited about him; he’s kind of the slasher of the group. And then you’ve got Kene, six-feet, 195, 10.4 hundred-meter guy. He’s the fastest guy on the field any time he steps on it. I call them slash and dash. They’re fun because every day you kind of find, hey he can do this, oh he can do that, too. It’s like a Christmas present you’re unwrapping every day. Those two guys, as good as they are as players, they’re really good people. And they’re eager to learn and they’re very humble. They’re great teammates already. So it’s really exciting for me knowing you’ve got that behind a guy like Mike Warren, Sheldon Croney, Mitch Harger. You’ve got these two guys coming in the mix.
On Montgomery and Nwangwu complementing each other’s skill sets:
I think so. Any time you have a guy like Kene who can just take off and run and be a one-play guy like a long touchdown guy, it complements anybody’s skill set. But David can do, whoo, David’s hands are outstanding. His suddenness, his burst, his agility for 225 pounds, is really something. I can’t wait for you guys to see these guys live and you can kind of see what I’m talking about. He’s really something and then he has a little power to it. So David’s a little more of a thumper. Kene’s a little more of a dasher. You’ve got slash and dash right there, it’s fun.
On the prospects of one or both of them playing this season:
It will play itself out. There’s times you’re like, man, you really want to get four good years out of both of these guys. Especially when you have a guy like Mike already who’s going to take the majority of the carries you would think. But when you’ve got that type of high-end talent it’s hard to sit those guys when they can help your football team. So we’ll go through the next couple of weeks and we’ll make a decision and when we get out there September 3rd or whenever, if they play you’ll notice them. Trust me, you’ll notice when they play.
On having several backs available to help keep Warren fresh all season:
It’s really exciting for me because what it also does, it’s upped the competition in my room. So you have a bad day or you don’t want to practice, that’s okay, I’ve got other guys that will take those carries and do a really good job and make you wonder, man, am I going to be playing on Saturdays or getting all the carries I should? Those guys are making us play them right now because they’re doing a very good job of performing when they get on the field. You can’t rest on your laurels in my room because every single day is a competition for carries. I think it’s really helped Mike. It’s helped him because he’s had to be a leader, be a little bit of a teacher. So he has to be an expert in what he’s doing as well. So that’s been fun for me matching the maturation process of him with these two young guys as well.
On getting Warren to Iowa State after recruiting him at Toledo:
It’s interesting because I tell a story, when I got here, we had a couple of guys committed. And those guys who were committed, I wasn’t taking at Toledo, per se. And I knew I really wanted this kid so I’m kind of just biding my time hoping that something would work out where I can say, hey, I’ve got this kid on the back burner. And I think we had a de-commitment and we were still trying to chase that de-commitment but I am like, hey, I’ve got a guy, can we watch him? And the rest is history with that story. And luckily for us Mike was interested. He wanted to come up, he enjoyed the place, he loves Ames. He had a great freshman year and I think he’s going to have a great career when it’s all said and done.
On biding his time to wait for opportunity to recruit Warren:
Being the new guy, I didn’t want to ruffle any feathers, so I’m like, I hope these guys know what they’re talking about. Because I had a pretty good idea of what I want as a tailback. So I’m hoping these guys know what they’re talking about. You sit there and you just know you’ve got something in waiting there that can be really good and really special for our program. But if they’re trying to tell you these guys are better, you try to see it and listen and learn why they think that. So I’m trying to figure everybody out. In the back of my head, I’m like, we’ve got to get this kid.
On Warren building up his weight and thickness in the off season:
I told him, for the type of season and career you want to have, this weight room has got to become your best friend. He’s really embraced that and taken it to another level. He’s put on a pretty good amount of weight, upper body wise. He just looks better. He’s performing better. He’s in great shape. Our strength coaches have done a great job with him. He’s ready to go the long haul. And for us we’re going to need him to go the long haul and take a lot of carries and take the brunt of the work as we develop these freshmen and as we develop this offensive line and as we develop this football team. Keep pushing towards winning Big 12 games and hopefully going to bowl games.
On if Warren is still a 1,000-yard rusher given state of the offensive line:
With the carries he’s given, Mike Warren is one of the best backs in the country, I think. So whether it’s 1,000, 1500, 2,000, even 800, he’s going to maximize his opportunities when he gets it and when he gets that chance, he’s going to get those yards. I think he will be.
On changing the running game approach due to offensive line issues:
Not one bit. You don’t talk to Coach Campbell about what happened with the injury. We’re full steam ahead. You go through life, you’re going to face adversity; you’re going to face challenges. And our football team, ever since even when Coach Campbell got here, we’ve faced adversity and we’ve faced challenges. And the best thing Coach Campbell’s done, he’s unified us as a group. Whether it’s coaches, support staff, players – we’re all on the same page. We all know what happened. We lost one of our best players. But that doesn’t stop us from trying to reach our goals and reach our full potential. So as we go forward, we know our issues and we know how we need to fix those issues. And we’re going to just go forward and make the most of it and I expect my guys to be the leader of it and we’re going to make this thing right.
On backs and linemen spending time together in classrooms like last year:
With Coach (Tom) Manning and Coach (Jeff) Myers - our offensive line G.A. - and Coach Campbell, it’s now more stuff on the field with them. More of our individual time, more of our group time with them. We’ve spent more time on the field and in the classroom with them so we can work as one together. The scheme we run is very friendly to the O line and the backs and when we’re cohesive together like we were at the University of Toledo, I’d expect a lot of good things. So just having all those minds together, that’s why with the offensive line situation, we’ll find a way and get it fixed. My guys will be a big part of that helping with some of the protection stuff. So I think we feel pretty good about what we’ve been doing.
On the development of running backs as pass protectors:
The good thing about the freshmen, they aren’t scared. They step in there; they stick their nose in there. They attack the blitzers. Mike has gotten a lot better. That’s one of the things we challenged him in the off-season to work on, his feet and his hands. His punch is a lot better. Mitch Harger is probably as good a pass protector we’ve got. He’s tough, he knows the protections, he fits in there really nicely. But the two freshmen have really adjusted well to it. When you’re a thick guy like David, he’s 225, he can really rock some of those linebackers. And Kene’s a little sneaky there, he sneaks up on you quick and gets his hands on you. I’m really comfortable with those guys in those situations. We’ve got to do a good job protecting Joel (Lanning). He’s done a nice job this summer, this spring, and he’s going to be our leader. So we’ve got to make sure he’s protected.
