Mike Nelson - Defensive Line Coach - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Mike Nelson

Title:
Defensive Line Coach
Email:
Phone:
(515) 294-8845

Mike Nelson’s impact on the Iowa State defense was immediate and has remained constant. The steady drop in Iowa State’s total defense numbers and a record-setting effort against the rush the last two seasons underscores Nelson’s contributions to five Cyclone bowl seasons in the last six years. Iowa State allowed just 139.2 rushing yards per game in 2004, the best Cyclone performance against the run since World War II. The 2005 Houston Bowl defense destroyed that record, allowing just 102.7 rushing yards per game. Nelson’s men in the trenches allowed opponents just 2.98 yards per carry last season, under the post World War II school record of 3.15 set by the "Dirty Thirty" Cyclones of 1959.

Several key performers who have tutored under Nelson have received national recognition for their stubbornness up front. Senior nose guard Nick Leaders was named a first-team all-Big 12 selection by the league’s coaches. The Omaha, Neb. native finished his career with 262 career tackles, 15 sacks and 33 1/2 tackles for loss. Defensive tackle Brent "Big Play" Curvey, who has thrived under Nelson’s guidance, made 61 tackles last season with eight sacks and a blocked kick to go with a 66-yard interception return that iced Iowa State’s win over No. 22 Colorado.

Nelson has also overseen the development of former walk-on defensive end Shawn Moorehead. The senior became a starter and made 34 tackles this season. Defensive end Jason Berryman, who started as a true freshman in 2003 and earned the Big 12 Conference defensive newcomer of the year award, led all freshmen defensive tackles in NCAA Division I-A with 110 stops that fall. He had a great 2005 campaign, with 72 tackles and 7 1/2 sacks.

In 1997, Nelson’s first season at ISU, the Cyclone defensive line figured prominently by racking up 21 sacks, the highest Cyclone single-season total in 10 years. In 1998, ISU sacked opposing quarterbacks a school-record 32 times. Defensive tackle James Reed earned all-Big 12 honors and defensive end Reggie Hayward earned all-league recognition in 1999 and 2000. Both are now in the NFL.

In 2000, Iowa State’s defensive line of Hayward, Reed, Ryan Harklau, Kevin DeRonde and Nigel Tharpe gave the Cyclones their best defensive line in more than a decade. The Cyclones forced 23 turnovers as Hayward earned first-team all-Big 12 honors and Reed finished the regular season as the No. 2 all-time career tackler among down linemen in Iowa State history. After ISU’s 2000 Insight.com Bowl campaign, Hayward played four successful years with the NFL’s Denver Broncos and is starting his second season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Reed was a 2001 opening-day starter for the New York Jets and now plays for the Kansas City Chiefs.

ISU’s interior defenders earned more honors in 2001, as sophomore defensive tackle Jordan Carstens was an all-Big 12 selection by the league’s coaches en route to an Independence Bowl berth. Carstens earned all-Big 12 honors again on the coaches’ team in 2002. Iowa State ranked among the league’s top five teams with 29 sacks that fall. He is in his third season with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.

Nelson’s r?sum? includes trips to a pair of bowl games under Dave McClain at Wisconsin. Under current Arizona Cardinals head coach Dennis Green, Nelson went to the 1991 Aloha Bowl at Stanford.

The 57-year-old Nelson has served coaching stints at Missouri (1985-86) and Kansas State (1989). The Chicago native coached the defensive line at both schools. He also spent three seasons coaching linebackers and the defensive line for Edmonton of the Canadian Football League. The Eskimos made the CFL playoffs in each of those seasons.

Nelson started his coaching career at Southern Illinois before spending one season in the Ohio high school ranks. He worked as defensive coordinator at Norfolk State (1972) before returning to his alma mater, Dayton, in 1973. Nelson was the Flyers’ defensive ends and linebackers coach. He then moved to Virginia (1975-76) as the secondary coach and to Ball State, where he was outside linebackers coach under McClain. Nelson followed McClain to Wisconsin, where he was part of the Badger turnaround. He spent five seasons as outside linebackers coach at Wisconsin.

Nelson jumped to the CFL for three seasons before moving to Missouri and then San Diego State, where he coached inside linebackers and the defensive line. He was the defensive line coach at Rutgers (1993-95) for three seasons before going to Oregon State.

A graduate of Chicago’s St. Laurence High School, Nelson earned his bachelor’s degree from Dayton in 1969. He was a four-year letterwinner for the Flyer football squad and also lettered in hockey. He earned his master’s degree at Southern Illinois in 1970. Nelson is married to the former Betsy Nelson. The couple has three sons (Kurt, Eric, Mark).