Peterson: How much has Matt Campbell improved Iowa State football? Look at the experience on the depth chart

AMES, Ia. — Johnnie Lang or Breece Hall -— or maybe Sheldon Croney or even Kene Nwangwu. This isn’t about who gets Brock Purdy’s first handoff in Iowa State’s Aug. 31 season-opening game against Northern Iowa.

It’s about how that position exemplifies the very solid and very talented options Matt Campbell has in the 11 a.m. game that’s televised on FS1.

Sophomore. True freshman. Senior. Junior. Probably even in that order.

This is about what’s changed since the week before Campbell’s inaugural game as a rookie Power Five coach — to the array of talent he’ll put on the field next week.

Clearly, this will be the best of his previous three — and that’s even considering the past two won eight games.  His Cyclones are ranked 24th on the USA Today Coaches poll and 21st by the AP. They’ve been picked to finish third in the Big 12 Conference.

Yeah, clearly, a lot’s changed since Campbell came to Ames as a 36-year-old fixin to be the youngest coach in major-college football in 2016

“This has been the most physical camp I’ve been a part of,” Campbell said after practice Friday. “I thought we were a pretty physical team at Toledo.

“This has been a really physical camp, and to be able to be physical and still at this point — knock on wood — to be in good shape health-wise, is a real positive.”

Campbell said Nwangwu has been sidelined a bit because of hamstring issues, but look at the roster — it’s not a deal-breaker. Lang, Hall, Croney and true freshmen Jirehl Brock all healthy and ready to roll. 

That’s a huge difference from the first team Campbell put on the field — coincidentally which was a 25-20 loss against Northern Iowa.

The 2016 running back starter was Mike Warren. His backup? Walk-on Mitchell Harger, but there’s another example of what now seems like the dark ages of Campbell’s Iowa State run of success.

Check out Campbell’s first opening-game offensive line. Left to right, it was Jaypee Philbert, Patrick Scoggins, Brian Bobek, Nick Fett and Bryce Meeker.

“You’re talking night and day in terms of where we are,” Campbell said. “You’re looking at young guys coming in that are really talented and who are pressing the twos, the threes and the ones for playing time.

“That hopefully makes our special teams better. It makes the depth in our program better. We’ve been able to recruit to a plan and have guys that love football who have worked hard to improve themselves.”

Campbell has at least six offensive linemen from which to pick a starting five, when you consider that redshirt freshman Trevor Downing is good enough to start at one of the guard spots.

“That’s a hot position right now,” Campbell said.

His first line gave up 11 sacks in the first three games — losses against Northern Iowa, Iowa and TCU. It gave up 32 during the 3-9 season.

“There are six guys fighting for five starting spots right now,” Campbell said. “I think you’ll see a lot more guys play in there than you have in the past, which is a huge positive.”

Past Iowa State football teams have had trouble fielding 22 Big 12-worthy starters. Campbell now has a roster full of them. His 2016 starting lineup included players with a combined 111 career starts — 53 on offense and 58 on defense. The 2019 team has a combined 304 career starts — 156 on offense and 148 on defense.

“What you’ve got in our locker room right now is a group of men that are maybe some of the greatest leaders that I’ve seen,” Campbell said. “That’s probably been the greatest growth. That consistency has happened because of player-driven leadership, it’s not 'Coach Campbell saying do this.' It’s these guys saying, ‘This is what it takes here to win, and this is what allows us to be successful,’ and then holding themselves and others accountable to do it.

“That’s been a huge change.”

There’s something else, said Campbell:

“I hope my growth has occurred, too, as a coach.”

I don’t think anyone will argue that, either.

Randy Peterson is the Iowa State columnist for the Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, 515-284-8132, and on Twitter at @RandyPete. No one covers the Cyclones like the Register. Subscribe today at Des Moines Register.com/Deal to make sure you never miss a moment.

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