Iowa State coaches, players support D-line coach Eli Rasheed as he grieves loss of son

AMES - Iowa State defensive line coach Eli Rasheed stood before the entire team last week, and gave a heartfelt message on the power of faith and belief.

The message was personal and timely as Rasheed and his family cope with the death of their son. Osha D. Southward, 21, died in a motorcycle crash on July 27 in Toledo, Ohio.

'I kind of shared my story and what I'm going through as far as the challenge in my faith and trying to stay strong for my family and all the things like that,” Rasheed said. 'At the same time I know death is going to happen.

'We're on borrowed time, but the world continues on so you've got to get up and go to work the next day.”

According to reports, Southward's motorcycle struck two vehicles - one from the rear and one head on - around 9 p.m. He was pronounced dead at the University of Toledo Medical Center later that night.

Rasheed was at Iowa State's first fall practice just three days after the accident. Iowa State Coach Matt Campbell, offensive coordinator Tom Manning and cornerbacks coach D.K. McDonald flew to Toledo on Aug. 3, the Cyclones' media day, to attend the funeral. All four coaches worked together at Toledo.

'That's the one nice thing about being together as a staff for so long because you know how to rally around each other,” Campbell said. 'I say sometimes football coaching families, it's a cliché, the football family but in times of crises, I think that's really when you see family come together and we've been able to come together.

'We're going to have to continue for awhile to support them.”

Rasheed described Southward as a strong personality and free spirit. He said Southward bought the motorcycle the day of the crash.

'The one thing I appreciate about the last three months with him is that I know he was putting God in his world,” Rasheed said. 'He was doing things right, working two jobs and I'm proud of him. I know that being said, he's made himself into heaven. So it's good.”

Helping Rasheed through his grief is the strong sense of unity he is getting from his group on the defensive line. Defensive tackle Vernell Trent and defensive end J.D. Waggoner are the only seniors on the two-deep and have taken it upon themselves to bring along the newcomers.

'Those two guys are the best two guys to start a trend in leadership,” Rasheed said. 'They'll take them to water parks, there's cookouts, these things are all done by those guys to build that closeness of the group. I think the next year's seniors will do the same thing. Couldn't ask for a better group of seniors. Unbelievable.”

Trent played in all 12 games last season and had 11 tackles with 0.5 tackles for loss while Waggoner played in seven games, registering 12 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and a sack before a season-ending shoulder injury against Baylor.

Since his redshirt season in 2013, Trent has seen the cohesion among the defensive line steadily improve and culminate this fall. With new pieces like junior Matt Leo, sophomore Ray Lima and redshirt freshmen Joshua Bailey, Eyioma Uwazurike and Carson Lensing in the mix for snaps, that sense of togetherness is happening at the right time.

'We're in a foreign place pretty much, even the guys from Iowa,” Trent said. 'Unless you were born and raised in Ames, you still feel like you're far away from home. We all gather around each other and show each other comfort and love and be a family toward each other.”

Other returners like JaQuan Bailey, Spencer Benton and Jamahl Johnson are coming into their own too. JaQuan Bailey played in all 12 games last season and had 23 tackles at defensive end while Johnson played seven games in the interior, recording one tackle and a quarterback hurry.

Johnson said dropping weight from 315 pounds to 305 has better served him through fall camp, and he's been able to utilize his skill set in more ways. The hard part, he said, was finding the right weight.

'Once you get down to a weight you're comfortable at and a weight you can get off the ball and still run at, if you maintain that weight, which is pretty tough for a D-tackle, you'll do really well at the weight,” Johnson said.

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