Allen Lazard: A cornerstone of Iowa State football's success

AMES — As the season winds down, Allen Lazard's legacy can be as good as he wants it to be.

Football isn't an individual sport. He can't go out on the field and beat a team by himself, but the individual impact he's had on the team from a leadership perspective is remarkable.

Iowa State (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) is one win away from a bowl game with five games left. A game against No. 4 TCU looms large on Saturday at 2:30 in Jack Trice Stadium.

Lazard has a chance to go from record-breaking receiver to one of the most important players in Iowa State history.

'You look at his numbers and catches and all of those things, but people forget that — those are great for the record book,' Coach Matt Campbell said. 'It's more so of what kind of legacy do you leave the juniors and the sophomores and the freshmen with? What kind of impact do you make to really change this culture?'

When Campbell was hired as Iowa State's head coach on Nov. 29, 2015, his goal wasn't to just make a bowl game. It was to maximize his players and their abilities. It was to build a foundation for future success. He said Monday the foundation has been laid.

And it started with Lazard.

Campbell immediately recognized Lazard was one of the most, if not the most, talented players on Iowa State's team.

'What's been really rewarding is to watch his growth in the last two years,' Campbell said. 'He's taking his God-given ability and starting to match what his ability says he can do and creating that with a work ethic to maximize that. He's taken a real leadership role on this team and I think that started probably sometime during this spring. He really started to mature and take off.

'He's always been a great football player but now you look at him and say, 'Wow, that's a great teammate. That's a guy that really understands the ability to make a difference.''

Campbell believes if a team's best player also is its best leader, then that program has a chance to sustain success.

'When your best players are guys that do it right, work hard, have elite work ethic, then all the young guys, they want to be like the best player,' Campbell said. 'They're always watching. I've challenged Allen from the day he got here to the day he leaves here to be that guy all the time because everybody is watching.'

Sophomore receiver Deshaunte Jones was watching.

Jones and the rest of the receiving group knew they could go to Lazard for any advice about how to beat a defensive back if they're lined up a certain way. Jones, a high school quarterback, said Lazard was the one who taught him how to make a good cut when he's running routes.

'It's just something I can look up to,' Jones said. 'When he leaves, I know I can do this thing like Allen did when he was here. Just giving off that energy and that leadership.'

Campbell has raved about his 19 seniors and what their leadership has meant to the program.

Lazard became the leader of the senior class. He set a standard for everyone to buy into. Campbell said Iowa State needs to be a player-led program to succeed.

'It's just an everyday mindset,' Lazard said. 'You just have to be the same person every day. Whatever you're preaching, you have to be able to buy into that as well. You can't go against your own word.'

It'd be easy for Lazard to be arrogant and not practice what he preaches. He holds nearly every receiving record in Iowa State history and he's gotten nearly every accolade he could.

He's played on losing teams. Iowa State's combined record through Lazard's first three years was 8-28.

Allen Lazard's career

Year

Games

Receptions

Yards

Touchdowns

2014

12

45

593

3

2015

11

56

808

6

2016

12

69

1,018

7

2017

7

33

371

5

Total

42

203

2,790

21

In fact, it's almost commonplace for high-profile receivers on losing teams to be selfish and egotistic.

Lazard, one of the lone bright spots during that 8-28 run, could have transferred when then-coach Paul Rhoads was fired. He could have entered the NFL draft after last season. He could have picked another program when Iowa State came calling. The Cyclones, after all, were 3-9 the season he committed.

But he said he knew what he was getting into. He couldn't see himself in any other uniform. He wanted to build something special.

'He's just a good teammate,' offensive coordinator Tom Manning said. 'I don't want to say that's uncommon, but for someone who has every right to be extremely arrogant, he's not. He's just a good dude.'

Lazard's parents always told him to give more than he receives, which is kind of ironic for a person who plays a position called 'wide receiver.'

But Lazard bought into that.

'At the heart of Allen Lazard is a true sense of humility,' Campbell said. 'Allen has great parents and sometimes I think his mom gets shortchanged because he has a mom that has a phenomenal heart. I think that aspect of Allen has certainly been one of the things I've enjoyed coaching Allen more than anything. There is a lot of humility in who he is and there's a big heart in there to want to help others and be there for others and I appreciate that.'

It's rare for any 18-to-22 year-old to understand giving in a culture that just wants things.

'I want to leave Iowa State as someone who changed the culture and someone who changed the program,' Lazard said. 'At the end of the day I don't want people to be able to talk about Iowa State football without mentioning my name and this senior class.'

It'd be hard for Lazard to give more than he received during his time in Ames, given all the passes and touchdowns he's caught.

'I want to leave Iowa State as someone who changed the culture."

- Allen Lazard

Luckily, the season's not over.

'It doesn't end today, it doesn't end after Saturday — it's a whole season's worth,' Campbell said. 'Then all of the sudden you can sit down and ask, 'What did I really accomplish as a senior and during my entire career here?' Allen has a chance to do some really special things.'

If the Iowa State football program stays on this path, the path Lazard set, he has a chance to give much more than he ever received.

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