Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell and team celebrate with Jones Jensen as he scored during Cyclones Victory Day on Friday Aug. 25, 2023, in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK
AMES — Veteran Iowa State offensive lineman Grant Treiber may or may not start in Saturday’s 1 p.m. (ESPN+) season opener against Northern Iowa.
He’s cool with that. Excited, even. New offensive line coach Ryan Clanton has elevated the competition and camaraderie in that room to such heights, that the most burly Cyclones have happily settled into a simpatico state known as “mudita.”
“(That’s) pure joy in others’ success,” said Treiber, who will be a key component along a once-embattled O-line that must improve if ISU is to handle the Panthers and rebound from its first losing season since 2016.
But why “mudita?” And why now?
It started when the Cyclones’ head coach, Matt Campbell, read “Twin Thieves: How Great Leaders Build Great Teams.” One of the book’s co-authors, Steve Jones — a former high school football coach — leans heavily on “mudita” and calls it “a key indicator of a strong, high-performing culture both in sports and in business” on social media.
Campbell absorbed the concept and relayed it to his team, which also went on an offseason retreat designed to repair any frayed threads in its self-titled “five-star culture.”
The gambit worked, but whether it leads to an improvement in the win-loss ledger remains unclear. That’s not the point, though.
“We’ve obviously gotten some adversity along the way already,” said Campbell, who notably lost last season’s starting quarterback and running back because of charges stemming from the state’s probe into sports gambling. “I think until you get out under those lights and until you play the sport of football, you just don’t know what you have until you get out there and see it. But the foundation — the roots — of this group is really special so it’s gonna be really fun to watch.”
Not always. Maybe not even on Saturday when UNI quarterback Theo Day — a preseason FCS All-American — peppers the Cyclones’ esteemed secondary with well-placed passes. But ISU’s young team has cultivated the desired mindset to rediscover success after a 4-8 season marred by critical mistakes in pressure-packed situations. The challenge hinges on whether that state of “mudita” is durable; that it doesn’t crumble when adversity strikes.
“I feel like everybody’s been excited,” said legacy defensive end Joey Petersen, who’s slated to make his first career start on Saturday. “If we get an interception (in practice) the whole defense is in a roar. The offense scores, the offense is in a roar. I just feel like everybody’s excited when somebody makes a play.”
Especially when somebody else makes a play. The Cyclones could experience quite a but of vicarious joy against the Panthers, given how many times the word “or” dots the depth chart.
There’s an “or” between Rocco Becht and J.J. Kohl at quarterback. There are four “ors” separating tailbacks Cartevious Norton, Eli Sanders, Abu Sama, Carson Hansen and Arlen Harris Jr. from each other. There’s also an “or” after Treiber’s name at right guard, as the 6-6 325-pound redshirt senior has been pushed by 6-4, 315-pound redshirt freshman Deylin Hasert. Both will play and both will be — or are fully expected to be — thrilled by each other’s individual triumphs.
“It’s just not putting that pressure on yourself,” Petersen said. “Just do your job and somebody will make the play. If you’re in your gap, that means somebody else is free to fly through theirs, so now if you make the play, everyone else celebrates with you. And if they make a play, then you celebrate with them. We’re a team a the end of the day, so whether you’re having a bad day or a good day, you’ve just got to be happy for everybody.”
Except, of course, for the opposition. “Mudita” doesn’t apply there. Nor should it.
“I think we take every (game) and we don’t look beyond,” Campbell said. “We look at the moment and (try to) be ready to seize the moment and seize the opportunities at hand. Yes, there may be youth on our football team, but we’ve been here before.”
