Iowa State officials: Locker room video helps with recruiting

Iowa State's video featuring a celebratory post-game locker room moments after the Cyclones upset Nebraska 9-7 became one of the most recognizable moments of the 2009 college football season.

Football coach Paul Rhoads' emotional response in the locker room captivated the nation and even was shown in a compilation video on ESPN's top college football moments of the decade. The video also has helped the Cyclones become more recognizable in recruiting, Rhoads said.

"It was something that we lived, and it was a part of what we do," Rhoads said last week in Cedar Rapids. "I was glad it generated a lot of excitement about our program. I believe it showed the sincerity and how genuine we are and how passionate we are and how the kids are involved with it. It's helped recruiting. It's helped with our fan base, and it's helped in the overall growth of the football program."

The video was one moment in a successful season for the Cyclones. Iowa State finished 7-6 and beat Minnesota in the Insight Bowl. It was Iowa State's first winning season since 2005 and first bowl win since 2004.

"The last year went a lot better than most of us could have ever imagined," Iowa State Athletics Director Jamie Pollard said. " Having an opportunity to win that game at Nebraska, have the bounce that we got off the video in the locker room afterwards, which has been just incredibly powerful. Then to follow it up by winning a bowl game. It's just really, I think, helped catapult the football program much further in the future a lot quicker."

The video has generated more than 257,000 views on YouTube.

"It became very viral very quickly on the Internet," Pollard said. "But then it became very mainstream when (ESPN) did that."