Matt Campbell addresses rumors regarding Ohio State after first fall practice

AMES — Matt Campbell does not care about your rumors.

Following Iowa State’s first of two practices on the opening day of fall camp 2018, the Cyclones’ head coach addressed the swirling rumors and questions of his name being among the top candidates should Urban Meyer be relieved of his duties at Ohio State.

“First and foremost, I want to address this, I think the thing for me for you guys is I’ve got the utmost respect for those of you that follow our football program. I really appreciate what you do,” Campbell said. “With that said, over the last two days, I’ve gotten some text messages, phone calls about addressing situations at other institutions, other institutions’ football program, what’s going on at other institutions and you need to know this.”

“From my end, I’m never going to talk about what’s going on at other schools or other universities. My sole purpose in my job is to focus on, number one, our football players and, number two, our coaching staff, number three, our fan base and, number four, the future of our football program.”

Campbell’s name surfaced on Thursday as one of the top potential candidates if Meyer resigns or is fired in the wake of a scandal surrounding domestic abuse allegations against his former wide receivers coach Zach Smith. The Cyclones’ third-year head coach, an Ohio native, has become a hot commodity in coaching circles following Iowa State’s surprising breakout 2017 season and his stature continues to grow as the program’s trajectory trends upward heading into the 2018 season.

He was rumored to be in the conversation for a number of jobs last offseason, but never seriously entertained any other schools. People in the college football world think that could change if his home-state school, and one of the sport’s blue blood programs, comes calling.

For now, Campbell has no interest in discussing what is going on outside of Ames and the Bergstrom Football Complex.

“I think a lot of you guys know me. I think a lot of you guys know what I stand for,” Campbell said. “I’ve always said this, ‘You’re either somebody in this profession whose trying to either be somebody or trying to do something.’ I think really over the last two and a half years, I’ve proven that my whole sole mission is to be here and to do something.”

“With that said, as we go forward, again, I have the utmost respect for you and the job you have to do, but I’ll only answer questions that pertain to our football program, Iowa State football and our future. Fair enough?”