Offseason dismissals set standard for rebuilt culture at ISU

AMES - Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads hasn't tried to start a culture in the offseason, nor has he scrapped the plan for what he wants to see for his current players.

He's called his most recent offseason a rebuild in culture. When Rhoads took over the Cyclones job in 2008, he quickly went to work and took Iowa State to bowl games in three of his first four years. But in the last couple seasons, that 'culture” strayed from the path.

'The hiccups we've experienced and the loss in the strength of that culture, as I look back, is easy to talk about and identify now,” Rhoads said. 'It's not always that way when you're going through it.”

Since January, Iowa State has dismissed the likes of running backs DeVondrick Nealy, Martinez Syria, wide receiver P.J. Harris and strong safety T.J. Mutcherson in an effort to regain the attention of the team. Negative influences in the locker room trickled across sides of the ball and position groups, especially as the year went on.

'Just a lot of times last year, we went into the games knowing we were going to lose,” said junior cornerback Nigel Tribune. 'That's just the culture we had last year. I think the mentality of the whole team has just turned around. That's going to help us going into the season.”

Tribune was particularly blunt about being hesitant to stand against negative influences a year ago and has tried to rectify that this offseason. He had 64 tackles and 13 pass breakups as a sophomore, but felt like something was missing as a sophomore.

Rhoads has noticed a difference in Tribune's approach on the practice field through fall camp and said the junior has been more willing to seek instruction.

'It starts with you taking a step forward and saying, ‘I'm not good enough. I'm not working hard enough. I'm not preparing like I need to,'” Rhoads said of Tribune. 'He came up to me twice today and asked me questions about things. He wouldn't have been close to doing that in his first two years.”

Another aspect of change during fall camp for the ISU defense has been a competition amongst the group.

Staff has tracked takeaways and pass breakups through camp and at the end of the practice, whoever puts up the most stats in those areas, is awarded a football. The winner signs the ball, carries it with him for the next day before passing it on to the new winner.

For a defense that only forced 16 takeaways in 2014, secondary coach Maurice Linguist said the competition has been effective through camp in changing the mindset of the defense.

'Who cares if it matters to us? It's got to matter to them,” Linguist said. 'It's got to matter to the kids and the kids are getting excited about it, which gets us more excited about it, which gets those kids more excited about it. It's a good thing to see.”

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