Iowa State is in the midst of a prolonged but dramatic rise under Matt Campbell. If you don’t believe me, just look at the Cyclones’ recent history in the Big 12 preseason poll.
Iowa State's Big 12 preseason poll ranking, 10-team era:
2011: 9th
2012: 8th
2013: 9th
2014: 9th
2015: 9th
*** Matt Campbell hired ***
2016: 9th
2017: 9th
2018: 7th
2019: 3rd— Zach Barnett (@zach_barnett) July 10, 2019
As Campbell looks to hoist Iowa State to the next step of true Big 12 championship contenders, he’s bringing back two key figures that helped the Cyclones get on the doorstep in the first place.
On Wednesday, Iowa State announced the hirings of Kyle Kempt and Joel Lanning as quality control assistants.
These are far from regular quality control hires.
A one-time third-string quarterback, Kempt quarterbacked Iowa State to a 38-31 win at No. 3 Oklahoma in 2017. In his first career start, Kempt diced the Sooners by going 18-of-24 for 343 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Later that season, Kempt guided Iowa State to a win over No. 4 TCU, making him the first and only quarterback to lead Iowa State to two victories over top-5 opponents.
Sparked by Kempt, Iowa State finished the 2017 campaign with an 8-5 record, a Liberty Bowl win and an AP Top 25 finish, the program’s best season at the time since 2002.
Granted a sixth-year of eligibility, Kempt entered 2018 as the Cyclones’ starter, but was lost for the year to a knee injury and gave way to true freshman Brock Purdy, who enters 2019 firmly entrenched as Iowa State’s starter.
“With all of the events that have happened with Coach Campbell helping me out, I now have the chance to give back to the program that gave me so many opportunities,” said Kempt. “To be able to work under a coach as great as Coach Campbell, who is considered one of the best in the nation, is really special.”
Lanning arrived in Ames as a quarterback and spent his first four years at the position, but his talents grew to a point where he eventually became a three-way player. Lanning starred at linebacker, finishing third nationally as a senior with 8.8 tackles per game while rushing for 135 yards and throwing for 47. The 2017 winner of the Paul Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile player, he became the first FBS player since 2006 (Eric Weddle) to record a sack, interception, fumble recovery, rushing touchdown and passing touchdown in a season.
“Coach Campbell and this staff helped turned my football career around and I will do whatever I can to give back,” Lanning said. “I also want to learn a lot from them and help the program out any way I can. You have to start your coaching career somewhere and I am blessed to be able to do it at Iowa State. This will be fun and a great opportunity for me.”
Kempt will work with Iowa State’s offense, while Lanning will work with the defense.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
