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Iowa State University Athletics
Osemele Grew Into Leadership Role
10.01.2010 | Football
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State football player Kelechi Osemele doesn't have a typical 8.5-by-11-inch resume. For Osemele, it's more like 120 yards-by-53 yards. The redshirt junior's resume is every game, every snap and every block.
Each time Osemele steps onto the field in Cardinal and Gold; his goal is to compose a resume of perfection, one assignment at a time. The 6-foot-5-inch, 335-pound lineman began building a resume, physically, nearly seven years ago.
The Henderson, Texas native wasn't always the biggest guy on the field. The first year Osemele wanted to play football he was so small his mother wouldn't allow it, as she was fearful of her only son getting injured. But after a year of listening to her son's plea to join friends on the gridiron, Imelda Osemele gave in and let the 80-pound third-grader play football. From third to eighth grade Osemele found himself handling the ball in the running back position, like his favorite NFL player, Denver Bronco Terrell Davis. For a time he was a roughly normal height and weight for his age.
“I was a huge Terrell Davis fan, growing up I loved the Broncos,” Kelechi Osemele said. “He was the fastest player on the field. He was dominant and I loved his swagger. I always tried to play like him when I was little.”
At age 14, the days of being “little” started coming to an end for Osemele. On his 14th birthday, his mother gave him workout equipment that Osemele started using on a daily basis ? the beginning of an enormous growth spurt.
By Osemele's freshman year of high school he was a 6-foot-1-inch, 220-pound tight end. Just a short year later, Osemele shot up to 6-foot-3-inches and 260 pounds. By his senior year Osemele stood an elevated 6-foot-5 inches and scaled in at 300 pounds, which spurred his final position switch to the offensive line.
“It was pretty dramatic,” Imelda Osemele explained in regards to Kelechi's growth spurt. “I came back from work one evening and I looked up at him and said ?What's going on am I shrinking?' He shot up dramatically. He laughed and said ?No mom, I grew three inches'. It was like he shot up overnight.”
As his frame grew, so did the offers from college coaches during his senior year at Langham Creek High School.
“People just kind of heard of me by word of mouth, I wasn't in the paper or anything, I wasn't hyped up,” Kelechi Osemele said. “People just decided to come and see me play and that's when my offers started coming.”
After doing his own investigating, Osemele decided on Iowa State after receiving a slew of offers during his last year as a Langham Creek Lobo. His goal was to see the collegiate field early on and play at a school within a competitive conference.
Although Osemele redshirted his freshman year, the left tackle saw plenty of time the following season and earned second-team All-Big 12 honors. During his first year at Iowa State, Osemele watched and mimicked offensive line standout Reggie Stephens. Both Stephens and Osemele were Texas natives that redshirted their initial college seasons, which created a close bond between them.
“Reggie was the guy I looked up to because he played as a freshman and I was thinking about doing the same thing,” Kelechi Osemele said. “He was a technician and a perfectionist.”
Perfection is key in maintaining any resume, and for 21-year-old Osemele, it's something for which he is still striving.
“I'm trying to be [a perfectionist], but I'm not quite there yet,” Kelechi Osemele said. “I'm an aggressive player, so I make more mistakes than most people do by being aggressive. This season I wanted to eliminate mental errors, which I've done so far.”
Having zero sacks against and zero missed assignments this year is pretty near perfect. Last year the business major finished without any sacks against him the entire season. Osemele still wants to improve his footwork this season and find more responsibility on the field by picking up an extra opponent if needed.
With an offensive line, it's all about playing as a whole. Iowa State offensive line coach Bill Bleil says Osemele's intensity helps heighten the energy of the entire unit.
“He is a talented, big guy and he plays so hard,” Bleil said. “He plays with a lot of energy and because of that it makes the guys around him play hard too.”
Osemele was an active part in the success of the offensive line last season when the Cyclones cut the number of sacks against them from 40 in 2008 down to just 16 in 2009. As a left tackle, a main responsibility for Osemele is to protect the blind side, along with moving to create running lanes for his teammates.
“He is very talented, very strong and he is very mobile for a large man,” Bleil said. “He brings a lot to the table, he can be overpowering at times and it allows you to do some things.”
At just 8 years old, Osemele knew football was his sport. Thirteen years and 255 pounds later, he is the towering left tackle on Iowa State's starting offensive line. And just as he built up the body of a skinny teenage boy into a bulky lineman, Osemele is still building up his football resume.
“Every snap I think about what type of film I want to put out there for people to watch, for coaches to critique and scouts to see,” Kelechi Osemele said. “So every play I'm thinking ?How can I get better on this snap, how can I improve'. I want to put on a clinic almost, a teaching tape on how to do things perfectly.”
Each time Osemele steps onto the field in Cardinal and Gold; his goal is to compose a resume of perfection, one assignment at a time. The 6-foot-5-inch, 335-pound lineman began building a resume, physically, nearly seven years ago.
The Henderson, Texas native wasn't always the biggest guy on the field. The first year Osemele wanted to play football he was so small his mother wouldn't allow it, as she was fearful of her only son getting injured. But after a year of listening to her son's plea to join friends on the gridiron, Imelda Osemele gave in and let the 80-pound third-grader play football. From third to eighth grade Osemele found himself handling the ball in the running back position, like his favorite NFL player, Denver Bronco Terrell Davis. For a time he was a roughly normal height and weight for his age.
“I was a huge Terrell Davis fan, growing up I loved the Broncos,” Kelechi Osemele said. “He was the fastest player on the field. He was dominant and I loved his swagger. I always tried to play like him when I was little.”
At age 14, the days of being “little” started coming to an end for Osemele. On his 14th birthday, his mother gave him workout equipment that Osemele started using on a daily basis ? the beginning of an enormous growth spurt.
By Osemele's freshman year of high school he was a 6-foot-1-inch, 220-pound tight end. Just a short year later, Osemele shot up to 6-foot-3-inches and 260 pounds. By his senior year Osemele stood an elevated 6-foot-5 inches and scaled in at 300 pounds, which spurred his final position switch to the offensive line.
“It was pretty dramatic,” Imelda Osemele explained in regards to Kelechi's growth spurt. “I came back from work one evening and I looked up at him and said ?What's going on am I shrinking?' He shot up dramatically. He laughed and said ?No mom, I grew three inches'. It was like he shot up overnight.”
As his frame grew, so did the offers from college coaches during his senior year at Langham Creek High School.
“People just kind of heard of me by word of mouth, I wasn't in the paper or anything, I wasn't hyped up,” Kelechi Osemele said. “People just decided to come and see me play and that's when my offers started coming.”
After doing his own investigating, Osemele decided on Iowa State after receiving a slew of offers during his last year as a Langham Creek Lobo. His goal was to see the collegiate field early on and play at a school within a competitive conference.
Although Osemele redshirted his freshman year, the left tackle saw plenty of time the following season and earned second-team All-Big 12 honors. During his first year at Iowa State, Osemele watched and mimicked offensive line standout Reggie Stephens. Both Stephens and Osemele were Texas natives that redshirted their initial college seasons, which created a close bond between them.
“Reggie was the guy I looked up to because he played as a freshman and I was thinking about doing the same thing,” Kelechi Osemele said. “He was a technician and a perfectionist.”
Perfection is key in maintaining any resume, and for 21-year-old Osemele, it's something for which he is still striving.
“I'm trying to be [a perfectionist], but I'm not quite there yet,” Kelechi Osemele said. “I'm an aggressive player, so I make more mistakes than most people do by being aggressive. This season I wanted to eliminate mental errors, which I've done so far.”
Having zero sacks against and zero missed assignments this year is pretty near perfect. Last year the business major finished without any sacks against him the entire season. Osemele still wants to improve his footwork this season and find more responsibility on the field by picking up an extra opponent if needed.
With an offensive line, it's all about playing as a whole. Iowa State offensive line coach Bill Bleil says Osemele's intensity helps heighten the energy of the entire unit.
“He is a talented, big guy and he plays so hard,” Bleil said. “He plays with a lot of energy and because of that it makes the guys around him play hard too.”
Osemele was an active part in the success of the offensive line last season when the Cyclones cut the number of sacks against them from 40 in 2008 down to just 16 in 2009. As a left tackle, a main responsibility for Osemele is to protect the blind side, along with moving to create running lanes for his teammates.
“He is very talented, very strong and he is very mobile for a large man,” Bleil said. “He brings a lot to the table, he can be overpowering at times and it allows you to do some things.”
At just 8 years old, Osemele knew football was his sport. Thirteen years and 255 pounds later, he is the towering left tackle on Iowa State's starting offensive line. And just as he built up the body of a skinny teenage boy into a bulky lineman, Osemele is still building up his football resume.
“Every snap I think about what type of film I want to put out there for people to watch, for coaches to critique and scouts to see,” Kelechi Osemele said. “So every play I'm thinking ?How can I get better on this snap, how can I improve'. I want to put on a clinic almost, a teaching tape on how to do things perfectly.”
Players Mentioned
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Cameron Pettaway 4_1_26 interview
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Tyler Roehl 4_1_26 presser
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Jesse Bobbit 4_1_26 presser
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