The ISU football team has seen tumultuous times on and off the field during this school year.

Six players have been dismissed from the team this season, creating a troubling reputation this year for Cyclone football. But it’s one the athletic department says may be skewed.

Coach Dan McCarney said players who run into trouble have to deal with the consequences of their actions.

“We constantly educate our kids, especially at the beginning of the year and two-a-days we have speakers come in from every walk of life where a young man can get into problems,” he said.

Speakers include the Ames Police Department, ISU Department of Public Safety and others who educate the players on subjects such as alcohol, drugs, performance-enhancing drugs and date rape, McCarney said.

He said another problem is that, given the amount of players on the team compared to other sports, eventually problems are bound to turn up.

“We keep our problems to a minimum, and the shame of it is that the focus is always on the handful of guys who don’t do what they are supposed to – instead of the huge numbers of guys I have that do a great job on and off the field,” he said.

It is no different at Iowa State than at any other school, McCarney said.

Making decisions that end the collegiate careers of players such as Jason Berryman are not easy, but McCarney said the emotion is taken out of the equation because players do it to themselves.

“If rules are still going to be broken by a young man, then they have to live with that – and I can go to bed at night and I can look myself in the mirror knowing I did all I could to make sure they understood the ramifications,” he said.

And as much as the coaching staff tries to educate the players, McCarney said problems will continue to happen, stating that is what happens in big-time college football, and the ISU program will continue to move forward.

“One problem is too many [problems] as far as I am concerned, but I live in the real world too, and I know there are going to be problems now and then,” McCarney said.

“But we do move on and we will move on. We always have and we always will.”

Also continuing will be the team’s commitment to the community.

McCarney said it is important to give back, and the football team tries to do its share.

On Saturday, members of the team will head out to the Story County Conservation Center to help load trees. Every summer, defensive coordinator John Skladany uses players for Habitat for Humanity to build houses for the less fortunate.

Steve Malchow, senior associate athletic director, said these programs are all a part of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, which emphasizes service to the community.

“All of sports and hundreds of student athletes participate regularly in a number of outreach programs,” Malchow said.

“It could be as simple as before the spring game our football team conducted a clinic for little kids – 220-some youngsters from around the area came here.”

Malchow said the list of things the athletes do on campus is endless, and it is unfortunate that community service doesn’t get as much publicity as players who get in trouble.

“They are very active in the community. It’s a good group of student athletes we have on campus,” he said.