Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers (12) looks down field for an open player during the Iowa State, Southeast Missouri State game on Saturday, September 3, 2022 at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. The Cyclones defeated the Redhawks, 42-10.
Hunter Dekkers is preparing to take his next steps as a quarterback.
That’s the mindset with which the redshirt junior is approaching Iowa State’s 2023 spring drills. He got his feet wet, and then some, last season while leading the Cyclones, but, now, it is time to hone in on the details of being the signal-caller.
“For me, personally, I would say a lot of stuff would just be the small details within the quarterback position,” Dekkers said when asked about his goals for the spring. “Also, just growing in leadership.”
The leadership piece will be key for Dekkers as he tries to help Iowa State bounce back from last year’s 4-8 campaign that snapped a streak of five-straight bowl game appearances for the program.
Dekkers completed 66 percent of his passes for 3,044 yards, 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions last season while earning honorable mention All-Big 12 honors.
That experience and accolades, along with the nature of the quarterback position, make Dekkers one of the most important Cyclones going through spring practice.
“I think time plays a huge, huge part into that,” Dekkers said about building leadership credibility. “I think just building belief and having your team have belief in you, I think is what really, really builds leadership.”
Dekkers is doing all of this with a new position coach and man in charge of the offense, Nate Scheelhaase, who played quarterback at Illinois before entering the coaching ranks.
“(Working with Scheelhaase has) been really enjoyable,” Dekkers said. “It’s been really good so far. It’s been really exciting to see what he can do as an offensive coordinator, and it’s also been a huge plus for us as quarterbacks to have him be our coach.”
Scheelhaase being the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach creates an interesting dynamic the program did not have previously under former offensive coordinator Tom Manning and quarterbacks coach Joel Gordon.
For the first time since Matt Campbell has been in Ames, the offensive coordinator is working directly with the quarterbacks on a day-to-day basis in order to refine and improve the offense based on how they’re working together.
“Obviously, as the offensive coordinator, you want to be on the same like wavelength as the quarterback,” Dekkers said. “Him being the person in the quarterback room to tell us what he’s thinking for each play is a huge plus for us.”
