Campbell talks learning how to win, Jacob Park and more to open Iowa State football media day

AMES, Ia. — Matt Campbell opened Iowa State’s annual football media day with a 45-minute press conference inside the Bergstrom Football Complex on Thursday morning. He discussed, among other things, Jacob Park, Joel Lanning, learning how to win and potential impact freshmen.

Expectations for Jacob Park

Park, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound junior, is the guy behind center for the Cyclones. That much has been clear since he became the primary signal-caller during the final five games of last season and claimed the job outright through the spring and summer.

But expectations for No. 10 have been raised entering this fall. After bouncing around a few different schools since 2014, Park’s comfortability with Ames and Campbell’s system has the head coach foreseeing great things ahead.

“The nice thing for all of us is we’ve seen some of his high moments, some of his moments where he’s played really good football,” Campbell said. “When you watch that, you see a guy that has the ability at this level, in a Power 5 Conference, to play at a high rate.

“We already know what his best looks like. Now, it’s a matter of taking the last six months and creating consistency, and taking those rough edges and smoothing them out, and really giving him the confidence of, here’s our offensive playbook, here are our expectations, and being consistent.

“I think his ability level is as high as any quarterback I’ve coached. He’s got elite arm strength. He’s got the ability to make all the throws. He’s elusive and creates in the pocket — all those things you want in a quarterback … we’re excited about Jacob. He has a chance to have a great career here.”

Candidates for Z receiver

Allen Lazard has long pinned down his spot on the depth chart. The 6-foot-5, 222-pound senior is entering his fourth year as Iowa State’s X receiver, and will spend the fall of 2017 chasing down some of the program’s top receiving records.

But when asked about who will claim the Z receiver position across from Lazard, Campbell offered a slew of names — Hakeem Butler, Marchie Murdock and Matthew Eaton among them.

“A lot of competition is great for our football program,” Campbell said. “That’s going to be a really fun race … Hakeem Butler may be the most talented wide receiver in our entire receiver group when you really cut it open and look at it.

“I think there’s high-end playing time available for that wide receiver group. It’s going to be interesting to see how it all shakes up. It’s a good problem to have, though.”

Learning how to win

Campbell enters his second season at the helm using some of the same verbiage he preached during his first season — that is, "the process." Last season, he said, his team did well in learning how to compete.

The goal this fall? Learning how to win. The Cyclones won two of their final three games a year ago after winning just one in their first nine. But of Iowa State’s nine losses, four were by a single possession.

“Everybody knows I talk so much about the process to get there,” Campbell said, “but I think the end of the last football season, winning some of those games — and really, for me, it was losing some of those hard, tough games last year that were invaluable learning lessons for our football team.

“It got to the fourth quarter of some of those games, and we’re inches away, or there’s a play that we don’t make. But a year ago, in that offseason, we weren’t putting in the time and effort to make those plays. I think our kids carried those lessons (into this past offseason).

“I think we learned so much more sometimes when things don’t go well. I think we were able to couple that with a great offseason, a great summer, and put it together for what is now fall camp … there’s been great growth, and I’m really excited about the continued growth to sustain success.”

Lanning playing offense?

Many words have been written and spoken about Lanning’s transition from quarterback to linebacker. On Thursday, the senior was listed as the starter at linebacker. During the spring game, his public debut at the position, he recorded a pick-six.

His transformation appears complete, but Campbell alluded that Lanning may continue to play some offense in spurts this season.

“I can already tell you that Joel Lanning is going to play offense this year for us,” Campbell said. “How much will be dictated by situational football as we get into it. We already know what Joel Lanning can do for us on offense, so, for me, it’s a matter of putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

“What are we, who are we and who are our best players on that side of the football? Situationally, where does it make sense to bring Joel into the football game for us to have success? What do we want to have him do?

“A lot of that is in fall camp — we’ll continue to develop and see what we are as a football team and what we need will certainly dictate that a little bit. But I’d definitely count on seeing Joel Lanning playing offense for the Cyclones this fall.”

Potential impact freshmen

Campbell sang the praises of his program’s most-recent recruiting class, calling it the best group of players he and his staff had ever assembled. But he stopped short of offering names as to who might emerge as potential impact freshmen this fall.

Instead, Campbell spoke of his players’ development, and that consistency in that department will help those freshmen see the field on Saturdays.

“They’ve been here since June, so you have an understanding of who they are,” Campbell said. “We’re really fortunate that this class has given us some great depth. But we’ve only had three practices, and not even a real football practice with full pads and hitting and being physical.”

Specifically, Campbell mentioned tight end Charlie Kolar, running back Johnnie Lang, receivers Tarique Milton and Josh Johnson, quarterback Devon Moore, defensive linemen Tucker Robertson, Dan Sichterman and Cordarrius Bailey, linebackers Jake Hummel and O’Rien Vance, as well as O.J. Tucker, Keontae Jones and Datrone Young as guys who have impressed so far.

Bowl game?

Iowa State last went to a bowl game in 2012. Campbell was asked how realistic it might be to get back to one this season.

“Winning and losing takes care of itself,” he said. “Yeah, we want to go play in bowl games. Yes, our goal is to be Big 12 Champions someday. But for us to get there, we have to learn what the process is in laying a foundation to continue that. I think we’ve laid a really good foundation.

“Success will take care of itself … in our roles, it has to be about growth that you guys can’t see that ultimately transfers onto the field. Where are we as a football program? I don’t know. We’re in Year Two of taking this program over.

“Does that mean we can’t win and have success? Absolutely not. That doesn’t mean that. But it’s going to be really fun to see where this team is in four weeks … as the season goes and we play these games, then we can talk about achieving or underachieving and what that looks and feels like.

“Six games? Is that our goal, to win six games? Not here, not me. My goal is to win every game.”

Odds and ends

Campbell was ecstatic about having senior offensive lineman Jack Campos back healthy, saying, “It allows the head coach to sleep at night.” … If Kene Nwangwu isn’t healthy by the season opener, Campbell mentioned Trever Ryen, D’Andre Payne, Johhnie Lang and Mike Warren as potential candidates to return kicks … Campbell revealed his competitiveness on Thursday morning, saying, “I’ll cheat at golf if I have to.”

Cody Goodwin covers high school sports, college basketball recruiting and Drake athletics for The Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.