Iowa State's Matt Campbell addressed the inevitable NFL question at Big 12 Media Days

ARLINGTON, Texas — It was inevitable that Matt Campbell would be asked to address the NFL question during Tuesday's Big 12 Conference football media days.

What about the pros, Coach?

“Haven’t really put a lot of thought into it,” Campbell told a couple hundred reporters. “My goal and dream was to be like my father: to be a head high school coach.”

It’s a question that will continue, as long as his Iowa State football team continues to have success.

Campbell's name was thrown around this offseason after eight NFL coaches got their walking papers last winter. NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport even reported that the New York Jets were denied an interview with Campbell, whose name was also floated with his home-state Cleveland Browns.

“I have a great passion turning (young people) into men,” he said.

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Campbell already turned down the NFL once earlier in his career. While working as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green, Campbell was assigned to assist then-New England Patriots director of personnel Scott Pioli with everything he wanted during a trip to the school.

Pioli was so impressed with his host that he asked if Campbell would like to interview for an open scouting department position.

Campbell politely said something along the lines of: "Thanks, but no thanks."

During an interview with the Register last season, he said:

“I absolutely love college coaching. What I love about college coaching is that it’s more than just winning and losing football games. There’s a sense that you can still make a difference in young people's lives. Whether you can or can’t at that (professional) level — I don’t know.”

Campbell set the narrative early during the press conference that he knocked out of the stadium. When asked about lofty 2019 expectations that include being picked to finish third in the Big 12, Iowa State’s coach didn’t blush.

“I don’t mean this to be negative, but if we worried about what the expectations of our program was outside our wall, the first three years, we would have crumbled really fast,” he told a few hundred reporters.

An example, he said, is the type of questions being asked now, compared to his first season in 2016.

“All the questions (before Year 1) was what color uniforms we’re wearing (and) what’s your entrance song,” Campbell said. “People cared about stuff that didn’t matter.

“Now, people are talking about the team. They’re asking football questions.”

His team went 3-9 in the first season, and fans wondered when the program would finally take off. It enters 2019 after going 8-5 during the past two seasons.

“We’re not worrying about what anybody outside our walls says,” Campbell said. “We’re creating unity within our walls.”

That’s progress.