Matt Campbell is tough to critique and ISU fans should love that

A couple of weeks ago I ] started a weekly look at Baylor’s opposing coach. For the first two, it was easy to find things to criticize. Texas head coach Tom Herman and TCU’s Gary Patterson’s personalities have hindered what should be very strong upward mobility.

But Iowa State’s Matt Campbell is the opposite. He is a really good coach on the rise who does not let his personality or feelings get in the way. This is why, one day, Cyclone fans will lament that a bigger job comes along and swoops him up.

Yet, I don’t think that will happen as soon as it normally would for a coach of Campbell’s ability.

Why do you ask? It’s because of that personality. Straight forward, focused on the task at hand, and not looking to climb the ladder for the sake of climbing it.  Midwestern born and raised, Campbell gets the football culture of the region making Campbell is the perfect fit at Iowa State. He played at Mount Union, the D-III Kings of the Universe, so he understands excellence. He has applied that to what he is doing at Iowa St and it is working. 

Now here’s the rub.

Can he win more at ISU? Cyclone fans are more than happy to average 7-8 wins a year given their history, but they don’t want that to be the forever ceiling. Nor does Matt Campbell.

Is this Cyclone team the one that can finally play for a conference title? That will be the true measure of his growth as a coach.  Maybe it’s not this one. Perhaps it’s next year’s team. But the feeling around Matt Campbell’s orbit is that if not now, when? Brock Purdy and Breece Hall will both return for another season if Purdy doesn’t head to the NFL a year early which means 2021 truly could be the year.

I would love to crack a couple of jokes about his personality like it’s easy to do that about Patterson and Herman, two men that are so high strung. I am in constant amazement that they don’t turn into the Incredible Hulk.

But Campbell is not focused on things that don’t matter. He’s an Ohio bred football coach. He’s dull and he probably irons his jeans. If you asked him his favorite Batman character, he would say Commissioner Gordon. And guess what? It works. 

The man is winning at a program that was constantly spinning its wheels before his arrival and it was not for lack of support from the fan base. Mayben it was previous athletic administrations lacked the proper vision while Jamie Pollard has one. He’s found the perfect fit for Ames, Iowa. How long that perfect fit stays and how high he can carry the Cyclones are questions that will remain. But the product on the field is as good as it has ever been. And he’s the reason.

So what if his favorite Beatle is probably Ringo?