Iowa State offensive coordinate Tyler Roehl talks to media during a media opportunity at Stark Performance center on Feb. 11, 2026, in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
AMES — There are many types of hammers.
Some are built for demolition, designed to reduce bricks to dust and foundations into rubble.
Others are meant for more delicate duties — to work in tight spaces, or repair rather than destroy.
All are fashioned to turn sharp nails into vital connective tissue; to bridge a gap and keep things together.
But how does Iowa State offensive coordinator Tyler Roehl view the hammer/nail relationship?
“Get all those tools in line and demand one thing: And it’s to play with physicality,” said Roehl, who spent last season as the Detroit Lions’ tight ends coach, but returned to the Cyclones’ program to serve on head coach Jimmy Rogers’ first ISU staff. “We’ve got guys who are about it and want to play with physicality. Honestly, right now, if you’re not playing with that mentality and mindset, (you) don’t belong on the field right now, because 98 percent of the guys are playing with that.”
That philosophy connects hulking offensive tackles, to still-big, but smaller tight ends. It links guards with quarterbacks, and a center with wide receivers and running backs.
Hammers strike. Nails are driven. Roehl’s rule-the-trenches and run-first scheme enlists active participants, not passive observers.
“It’s pretty glaring if you don’t (play that way),” said Roehl, who has seen plenty of hammers battering their way through the early stages of spring camp. “And that’s the standard. That’s the expectation. Even if we have a really good run in the middle of practice, I don’t need every single player running down to the end zone. I don’t. Because to me, that’s the expectation. Let’s get back in the huddle. Let’s call another play. Let’s go.”
That’s returning offensive lineman Austin Barrett’s mentality. The 6-6, 320-pounder junior-to-be has yet to start a game in his career, but helped ISU’s offensive line block for two 700-plus-yard rushers (Carson Hansen, now at Penn State, and Abu Sama, now at Wisconsin) for the first time since 1982.
“We want the pressure of learning more positions, learning how to be more violent, stay in our gaps, and learn the schemes better and better,” said Barrett, who transferred to ISU last season after a stint with Indiana. “(Offensive line) coach (Jake) Thornton impresses that onto us. It’s not easy to play for these guys, and that’s how it should be.”
It’s also not always easy for the Cyclones to find sustained success in their ground game — even with NFL veteran backs David Montgomery and Breece Hall starring in the program within the last decade. Hence the need for hammers. Lots and lots of hammers from the point of attack to the backfield.
“It’s either get hit, or hit somebody,” said 5-10, 175-pound transfer running back Cameron Pettaway, who was the MAC Freshman of the Year last season. “You never want to be the nail. You always want to be the hammer, so (at) running back, you’re always trying to hit somebody. Don’t ever take (any) free hits, or run out of bounds. Just be physical. That’s what (Roehl) emphasizes.”
And, as noted, it’s also what he and his offensive staff demands. High intensity helps form that standard. As does elite conditioning — and Roehl’s track record has been impressive. He served as ISU’s assistant head coach and running backs coach in the team’s record-breaking 11-win season under Matt Campbell in 2024. Before that, he spent five years as North Dakota State’s offensive coordinator.
“I’m happy with where we’re at in practice,” Roehl said last week. “I’m not satisfied for a second. There’s a lot of good, but then (it’s about) how consistent can you be? How are you bale to practice with championship habits, the finish, the effort, the physicality, every single rep? That’s what’s demanded. There (are) glimpses of really good, but then there (are) glimpses of we have a long ways to go. So I’m happy, I’m just not satisfied.”
