Campbell Teleconference Highlights

AMES, Iowa - Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell held a media teleconference this morning to give us an update on the status of his team and other items.

Here are some highlights.

On Relationship With Jamie Pollard And His Administrative Decision Last Week

"Jamie made a really hard but powerful decision last week. For me he is one of the things I really love about being here at Iowa State. I am grateful to be a part of an athletic department that is trying to do what is best for what is most important. What is most important is the people, whether it's our student-athletes or our staff. Those are tough decisions but I certainly have the utmost trust and belief in Jamie. I am really fortunate to have a great relationship with Jamie. We talk a lot and I certainly know what challenges we are facing as a university and athletics department. For our situation, I feel like it's the right decision. I am humble and grateful to be able to help spearhead the best decision for our department."

On Players And Staff

"We are going into week three of our new normal. I have been really proud of our players and coaching staff in every aspect of our organization to create a new sense of normality. This is where your culture really comes into play. We have had the ability to maintain a line of communication and accountability. We've had the ability to engage and we have created opportunities to find ways to get better. We have chipped away in all of those areas the last three weeks and made a lot of growth. Our challenge to our staff was developing a line of communication. The one thing we could hold each other accountable for, without being able to see everyone physically every day, was keeping that line of communication open. We've done a great job of that. We can still teach. We live in a world that goes 100 miles an hour, and for the first time, our world has slowed down. This is now a challenge for all of us to get better during this down time. We now have time to look at things we need to get better at. If we can come back better, than we have a chance to continue to improve. It's really been our mantra over the last couple of weeks."

The Challenges Of Dealing With An Unprecedented Situation

"In a way, there has been a brand new challenge and you have to tackle it like a new opponent. There is a lot of anxiety, but you have to sit back and see how you can win this challenge. How do we give our kids the best opportunity to thrive through? One thing we can do is find a routine. If you are sleeping in to 11 o'clock every day, it's probably going to be hard for you to come back and thrive from this situation. What we have been able to do is find ways to connect with them. Find ways to hold people accountable. I feel we have made great progress with this and that's been our starting point in trying to create a positive routine with academics, nutrition, strength and conditioning and with football."

How Experiences As A Division III Athlete Could Help In A Delayed Start

"I played football and coached football at Mount Union. We didn't have much engagement in the off-season. There was no spring practice. We didn't have very many guys on campus during the summer. Then in August, everyone was accountable for their own workouts and what they needed to do. Once the pre-season started, we were ready to play football. Fortunately for us, we held a standard of accountability in the off-season. We were ready by September to go kick everybody's butt. I lean on that experience. I've been that guy as a player and that guy as a coach. We have plans set for getting the guys back in June, July or August and what that will look like. I don't like to waste a lot of time on hypotheticals because you can get lost in that. Right now, we have a really good plan for what is going on presently, and if we come back in any of those time frames, we have a good plan on how we are going to approach it to get ready for the season."

On Player Engagement During This Time

"One thing I have been proud of is watching our kids continue to find ways to engage. Whether it's Madden on-line, trick shot challenges, or their ability to connect on facetime to stay engaged with some of the older guys picking up some of the younger guys. That has been really rewarding to me. That's probably as good as a win we've seen as a football program, because this is real life. Sometimes we even forget that these kids are going home and some of these kids have parents who are struggling. Maybe they lost their jobs and they are home helping out. We've got some guys that are actually working right now. To me, that's real leadership. That's standing up. You have to remember, our society hasn't seen anything like this. Adversity has hit and true leaders stand up and begin to lead. I've watch our guys become leaders by taking care of things at home, stepping up and helping child care and getting a job. Those are some of things I have been really proud of."

Iowa State University Athletics

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