AMES – Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell’s favorite thing about being a head coach is developing leaders.
Campbell’s theory is that if he has a player-led program, the buy in will be that much more from his athletes. He has to develop the leaders, but he lets them take the reins once they’re established.
It’s something he learned from legendary coach Larry Kehres at Mount Union, and it’s something he’s carried through as a head coach himself.
“My Mount Union experience, and comparing it to my Pittsburgh experience from when I was there, the one thing that was drastically different was the players’ ownership within the program,” Campbell said.