DALLAS — For those who didn’t sit and stare at their computer all day Tuesday, Iowa State was featured during the Big 12 media days in Dallas and as expected, a decent chunk of news broke. Here is a quick list of need to know items from the day. In the coming week, we will analyze and report further on a handful of these topics and more.
Something different
Paul Rhoads recently formed what is being called a “player leadership committee.” This group of eight Cyclones will serve as a liaison between Rhoads and the players in the program.
“We were at a point in our program that communication wasn’t sufficient enough,” Rhoads said. “So I decided to elect a player leadership panel. It was a fantastic job of the diversity that we got with it, the position groups and age and regions of the country and so on and so forth. They help spread my message to the team whether if it is the locker room or wherever it is and they help bring me things that maybe I wasn’t aware of.”
The group consists of: Cory Morrissey, Tom Farniok, Quenton Bundrage, Jake Campos, Daniel Burton, Luke Knott, Justin Madison and Jarvis West.
Farniok, a senior team leader, saw the need after how last season went.
“Last year it was almost like we had cliques," Farniok said. "It wasn’t like we didn’t like each other. There wasn’t that element where everything was stuck together and we have that this year. That sophomore team where we had Jake Knott and A.J. Klein, we definitely had that. My redshirt freshman year we had that. Something happened during my junior year and we all got divided. It was weird. I don’t know how it happened or why but it did.”
Coe wanted back on
One of the first items of business that this leadership committee had to deal with was former Cyclone defensive tackle Rodney Coe, who inquired about getting back on the team that he was removed from last spring.
“When I approached them about Rodney, for obvious reasons, there were reservations,” Rhoads said. “We talked through some stipulations for him to rejoin the program and in the end, it didn’t work out. I’ll leave it as simply as that.”
Cory Morrissey said that one of the stipulations was that Coe would have to be on the team without a scholarship. As Rhoads noted, it didn’t work out and Coe is now at Akron where he will finish his career.
It is worth mentioning that the same committee voted unanimously to allow senior defensive tackle Brandon Jensen back on the team.
“He knew I wanted him,” Rhoads said. “He knew that the coaching staff wanted him. He wanted to make sure that his teammates wanted him. There are 10 players on it and overwhelmingly and unanimous, they wanted him back on the football team.”
August 16 deadline for a QB
Rhoads said that the program plans to name a starting quarterback before or on an Aug. 16 scrimmage during fall camp.
“We don’t have a starter named, but we have two starting quarterbacks in our offensive system,” Rhoads said. “There will be a lot of coaches that would be like to be able to say that as well, and I look forward to the competition as it begins on the 4th.”
Ayeni is out
Junior college defensive linemanTerry Ayeni will redshirt 2014 due to a torn ACL.
Still waiting
Fellow junior college defensive linemen Dale Pierson and Trent Taylor have yet to make it to campus. However, Rhoads is confident that they will be enrolled by Aug. 4, when practice begins.
He gone
The Devron Moore saga is over. He will not be a part of the Iowa State football team in 2014.
Lazard is looking good
He is yet to take a hit but so far, true freshman wide receiver Allen Lazard has fared quite well during summer workouts in Ames.
“He came in and did a great job with our summer weight program this year,” Rhoads said. “Maybe even above our expectations as a coaching staff, and with that in mind, he’s going to get his reps. He’s going to get his opportunity to catch balls. If he’s where he’s supposed to be catching balls in the process he’ll have an opportunity to play right away.”
Hot topics
I’d like a dollar for every question asked to Paul Rhoads about Mark Mangino or last year’s Texas game.
Depth chart
CLICK HERE to view Iowa State’s pre-camp depth chart.
