Chizik has clearer picture entering second offseason
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By Steve Batterson | Sunday, November 25, 2007 |
The routine won’t change.
When the Iowa State football team begins offseason conditioning work in a few weeks, the alarms will sound every bit as early. Sleepy-eyed players will show up for predawn lifting and running sessions, just as they did last winter.
“We’ll still be trying to get stronger, faster, all that, just like we did,” Cyclones coach Gene Chizik said.
But, there will be a difference as Chizik and his staff prepare for their second offseason at ISU.
“A year ago, our guys would run and lift and at the end of the day, we still didn’t know who could do what, who could really play,” Chizik said Monday. “Going into our second year, we’ve had so many questions answered and there will be so many fewer variables about where we are at.”
Simply put, Chizik has a clearer picture of where the Iowa State program is at after one year on the job.
The Cyclones finished a 3-8 season Saturday with a loss to an unbeaten Kansas team which moved up to the second spot in this week’s Associated Press college football poll.
Chizik senses progress, although not as much as he had hoped for during a season which saw Iowa State defeat Iowa, Kansas State and Colorado and string together its best outings of the year late in the season against some of the stronger opponents on the schedule.
“There are things that occurred that we can build on,’’ Chizik said. “We had three quality wins against quality opponents, and the way we came back and won against Colorado was a positive thing.
“We showed an ability to comeback. When we got down 14-0 at Missouri, we battled back and made it a game and down 21 against Colorado, we came back and won. Those all help, but we realize we still have so much room to grow.”
Chizik appreciated the work ethic and resiliency he saw from his team, saying it spoke volumes about the players in the program.
“Recruiting, though, is going to be very, very important for us in the next few years,” Chizik said.
Eight seniors started for Iowa State against Kansas, part of a lineup that underwent very few changes during the 2007 season. However, Chizik see few guarantees for returning players who started this past season as the Cyclones work toward next season’s opener.
“One thing I am looking forward to in the offseason is the competition I know that I’m going to see within our team,” Chizik said. “We know a lot more about those guys than we knew a year ago. That’s a good thing that will only make us better.”
Steve Batterson can be contacted at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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