Brian Peavy’s offseason improvement driven by competitiveness

AMES — Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell had trouble sleeping one night this spring, so he turned on the television.

A replay of the Iowa State and Texas game from last fall was on, so Campbell settled in to watch it. Of the things that stood out to him, the performance of defensive back Brian Peavy was at the forefront of his mind.

In Campbell's estimation, Peavy looked like an excellent combination of skill and competitive drive.

'You turn that game on and there is Peavy making some huge plays in one-on-one coverage in that game when he had to make plays,' Campbell said. 'I think that's the one thing I love about Brian. He gets better every day because football is really important to him.'

Peavy, now a sophomore, was an All-Big 12 honorable mention selection in 2015 and started the last 11 games. He led the Cyclones in tackles (82), pass breakups (10) and interceptions (2) while ranking second among all Big 12 freshmen in tackles.

For as efficient as Peavy became within the secondary group during his debut season, he felt like there still is more he can do. He had a season-high 12 tackles against Oklahoma State — the 10th game of the season — and said he could feel himself learning and progressing on a week-to-week basis.

'I'm getting 2 percent better every day (and) getting a feel for the new coaches and the new system. So I'd say it's going great,' Peavy said. 'I always live by — the biggest room in the house is room for improvement — so (getting) 2 percent better is always on my mind as far as going out and attacking the field.'

At 5-foot-9 and 184 pounds, Peavy has oftentimes been matched up with bigger receivers on the outside. Neutralizing that size advantage comes only with sound technique and attention to detail, which defensive backs coach D.K. McDonald has stressed to the position group as a whole through the spring.

Peavy's biggest objectives through spring drills were to learn to shed blocks quicker and become an even more consistent tackler. Those efforts showed McDonald a lot, too.

'He's a bulldog out there,' McDonald said. 'He's extremely competitive and in this short time he's been one of the most competitive guys that I've been around. It's good to see. He's athletic, he's quick, he's fast and he hates getting beat. I'm happy we've got him on our side. He's bringing a lot to the table right now and he's kind of raising the level of the other guys too and that's what you want.'

The secondary is shaping into one of the deepest positions for Iowa State next season. Seniors Nigel Tribune, Jomal Wiltz and Jay Jones are all back with Peavy and junior Kamari Cotton-Moya in the mix too. But it might be some of the newcomers that make the biggest impact.

Junior college transfers Thadd Daniels and D'Andre Payne were in the fold this spring after signing with the Cyclones mid-year. Iowa State also signed Duke graduate transfer safety Evrett Edwards, who will have two years to play.

'I do think one of the nice things we have is flexibility because of our back end,' Campbell said. 'We've got some really, in my opinion, really high-end, back-end football players that can play and do some different things for us and play in different spots because they have some good football awareness to them.'

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