Wayne Bolt had a suspicion his phone would be ringing soon.

Bolt and new ISU head football coach Gene Chizik go way back; they have been friends for 20 years and were co-workers at Clemson in the 1980s.

When Chizik’s big break came, Bolt knew he would be right behind him.

“We’ve always said, whoever got the first head job, if it was feasible for us to go, we were going to get together,” Bolt said. “We’ve been talking about it for 20 years. It just hadn’t happened yet.”

Now his chance has come – defensive coordinator at Iowa State.

Bolt had taken the last year off, getting away from coaching after 20 years, taking a hiatus to recharge his batteries.

“Energized,” Bolt said. “It was a good thing for me and my family, and the good Lord has blessed us. Everyone I talked to, all my friends through the coaching profession, everyone is so stressed out during the season. I can’t remember being that stressed out, but I guess I was.

“I had a chance to travel and see my friends and go to some games, and just sit down and sit back and watch.”

The time off has left him refreshed, ready to head a defense that gave up 30 points and 392 yards a game in 2006.

With his defensive coordinator in place, Chizik’s next move was on the offensive side of the ball, where he lured Robert McFarland away from a head coaching position at Stephen F. Austin.

“The community has been phenomenal,” McFarland said. “I’ve always liked the university and I’ve always been intrigued by universities like this, places that have the support of the community, of the people around them.”

Slowly but surely, Chizik has continued to compile his staff, with nearly every position now filled.

“These guys go back with me a long ways,” Chizik said of his assistants. “They know my family and I know their families.”

Chizik retained one member of Dan McCarney’s staff, quarterbacks coach Todd Fitch.

“He fits very well with this staff and what I’m looking for,” Chizik said. “He’s a great football coach and we kept Todd here. We think he’s a great fit for what we’re trying to do.”

For Fitch, the transition from the McCarney era to Chizik’s tenure has been smooth, and he has been impressed with what his new boss has accomplished.

“He knows what he wants,” Fitch said. “He knows what he’s looking for from his players and the coaches. He’s understanding where the immediate needs are on our roster. He’s organized and straightforward – here’s what we need, let’s go do it.”

When Chizik started interviewing prospective coaches, he had two simple criteria for the men who would fill those positions: Great coaches, great people.

“All the guys I hired I know, guys I’ve worked with in the past or guys that I’ve talked and done a lot of football with,” Chizik said.

“I know what their background is as a man, I know what they bring to the table as mentors and role models to these guys.”

That’s the important part to Chizik. Aside from winning football games and making Iowa State into the strongest program it can be, Chizik knows a big part of his job is building the young men who are placed in his care.

Chizik treats his assistants and players as members of his own family, and his family takes that attitude and puts it into practice.

When Bolt’s wife arrived in Ames to look for a place to live, Chizik’s wife greeted her with several options.

The Bolts looked at the houses she had found, liked one and took it.

“Family is always first,” Bolt said, and for Chizik, that family is his staff too.

A part of that is bringing in assistants who aren’t here for themselves, but coaches who are committed to the university and the program they will be working alongside Chizik to build.

“In this profession you have to bring along guys that you trust, that are Gene Chizik guys, guys that won’t be trying to get out of here in a year,” Chizik said.

That’s a philosophy shared by the men he has brought into the ISU coaching family.

“The main thing is we’re with a guy [Chizik] we’ve known and we respect,” Bolt said.

“This is a great place. I’ve been at Auburn, I’ve been at Clemson and those are good places, but in this coaching profession, it’s who you’re with and making that place as good as it can be.

“This place has won in the past, it hasn’t won lately and we’re going to try to get it back.”

While much of Chizik’s staff have already compiled lengthy resumes, it’s the pedigree on those resumes that is particularly impressive.

The bios of Chizik’s staff read like a history of powerful college football, led at the top by Chizik himself.

Chizik started his coaching career at Clemson, ran the defense at Auburn and won a national title in 2006 with Texas.

McFarland worked at Notre Dame and was on the same staff as Chizik at Clemson.

Bolt was on that staff too, and also spent time at Auburn, coaching tight ends under legendary coach Pat Dye.

Assistant coach Jeff Koonz has been with Chizik at both Auburn and Texas, while wide receiver coach Jay Rodgers has worked for both Ohio State and LSU.

Defensive line coach Mike Pelton played for Auburn and spent time in the NFL.

The point is this: Chizik has assembled a staff that knows not only football, but winning football.

“Our philosophy has come from guys we’ve been around,” Bolt said.

Having that philosophy shaped by the legendary programs of the game isn’t a bad place to start.