Construction is under way and the architect has a year of building complete.

ISU football coach Gene Chizik enters his second season as head coach and master planner of what he hopes to become a masterpiece of a football program.

“We’re excited to get back on the field and work on becoming a better football team,” Chizik said during his first press conference of the spring. “The kids are really working hard.”

And they’re much further ahead. After arriving in Ames in November 2006, Chizik spent most of his inaugural season making acquaintances with the team. Most of those contacts are back this season for his second go-around, making things much simpler.

“I think, from last spring, it’s going smoother, coaching wise,” said junior linebacker Jesse Smith. “We already figured out how the coaches coach and how we practice.”

Things have also gone easier for Chizik. After assistant coaching stops at Auburn and Texas, Chizik made the jump to head coach last year. After one season, he says he said he feels more comfortable with his role after learning to deal with many of the administrative duties that come with it.

“I’m a football coach, and I feel like more of that right now,” Chizik said.

He’s coach who hopes to improve on a 3-9 season that saw the Cyclones finish in the cellar of the Big 12 North Division last year.

Chizik plans to change that by opening every starting spot for competition, including his offensive line, which returns four starters from last season.

“Having an inheritance type of mentality – we just don’t do that,” he said. “Everybody is starting over.”

This includes sophomore quarterback Austen Arnaud. A backup behind four-year starter Bret Meyer, Arnaud completed 20 of 37 passes for 267 yards in six games for the Cyclones last season. This year he’s battling sophomore Phillip Bates for the play-calling duties.

Chizik said the starting spot is yet to be determined, along with the rest of the opening slots. Arnaud said he’s ready to compete.

“I’ll keep preparing myself every day so I can be that guy,” Arnaud said.

It’s those competitions Chizik can now focus on, without the off-field distractions that came during his first season. He’s looking forward to it.

“All those ‘x’ factors are gone,” Chizik said. “Now it’s the meat and potatoes.”

The “meat and potatoes” will make for a well-balanced diet that, when combined with a blueprint for success, Chizik doesn’t plan to steer away from. Chizik says fans shouldn’t expect much of a change in his style of coaching from last season.

“We’re going to coach them better,” he said. “They’re going to play better. We’re not going to deviate off the plan that we know works.”