Cyclones ready to make a move up the Big 12
DALLAS - Allen Lazard sat alone at his interview table in the Omni Hotel ballroom holding the press conferences of Big XII media days on Monday afternoon.
Flanked by his quarterback, Joel Lanning, and defensive back, Kamari Cotton-Moya, who each were holding court with all of just two or three sports writers apiece, Lazard took a glance up at the slough of media not more than 25 feet away, crowded around Oklahoma State’s players and head coach Mike Gundy.
“I’m not a big fan of interviews so I really can’t complain that much,” he said. “Honestly in six months we’ll be right over there with them as well.”
That statement may have been said somewhat tongue-in-cheek for Lazard, one of just three four-star recruits signed by Iowa State since 2011. After a three-win season last year that ended with the dismissal of Paul Rhoads, Matt Campbell - who led Toledo to a double-overtime win against Iowa State last season - was hired to make good on Lazard’s prediction.
If Campbell and company have something working in their favor, it might be that expectations are understandably tempered when it comes to forecasting the Cyclones’ potential success in 2016.
“When don’t people sleep on us?” Lazard asked rhetorically. “As long as I have been at Iowa State they have for sure. But we haven’t done anything yet, so we still have a lot to prove to ourselves. We don’t deserve to be sitting over (with Oklahoma State) at the same time.”
The no respect card is a familiar motivation tactic with teams, but it’s a little more refreshing when that’s followed with a dose of humility.
“We have to do something for ourselves, and every day we try to win the day,” Cotton-Moya said. “Every day through workouts, through practice, through watching film, we’re trying to beat our opponents without having to think about what they’re doing.”
That’s one of the principles Campbell is looking to establish. He may not be quite as bullish on the prospects of immediate improvement as Lazard, but there’s plenty of reason for optimism. Campbell brings with him a 35-15 career record as head coach at Toledo. Last year’s Rockets offense showcased two backs that each finished a touch short 1,000 yards rushing paired with a passing attack that totaled over 3,000 yards
If Iowa State shows some resemblance to the product Campbell put together at Toledo, that would certainly help jump-start the Cyclones’ recruiting efforts in addition to its results on the field. In-state rival Iowa has seen a similar renaissance this year in its recruiting after the success it had last season, and it has focused heavily on the Big 12 recruiting hotbed of Texas.
Campbell has a plan for that, too. Winning games is something he’ll have to do on a head-to-head basis, but winning in recruiting doesn’t necessarily have to be.
“The day that I got hired at Iowa State I said I want to become the Big 12 option in the Midwest,” he said. "We’re still located in some really good football footprints in Iowa, near Minneapolis, near St. Louis, Kansas City is two or three hours from our front door, one of our biggest alumni bases is in Detroit, Michigan.
“It’s funny, coming from the MAC, Northern Illinois was kind of the outcast, but they didn’t really have to battle anyone else in recruiting,” he added. “They played it to who they were and what they were, and I think that we have to be pretty similar to that in this conference in terms of how we build our program and where we build from.”
The Big 12 may not exactly be up for grabs as far as Iowa State is concerned this season, but there is certainly room for the Cyclones to move up the conference ladder. Lazard, who enjoyed a strong sophomore season last year, is clearly motivated to be a talked-about team despite his feelings on being one doing the talking.
Perhaps he’ll have a change of heart if Campbell can expedite a positive transformation.
“Just seeing how confident he is, his desire to win, how relentless he is not to lose just pushes us even more,” Lazard said. “We don’t want to be the team with the same problems that we’ve had in the past. We want to change the culture at Iowa State, we want to get a positive thing going.”
