With a dismal 2-10 season behind it, the ISU football team sees only greener pastures in the future.

“It’s an exciting time for all of us,” McCarney said earlier this month in his media day press conference. “Every time you get a chance to start a new season, you get a chance each year to gather as a football team and define how you want to be remembered.

“That’s the great thing about a new season. There are new faces, new coaches in some cases, a new season and you really, really get to start from scratch, as we have, and try to define what kind of team we want to have this year. It’s an exciting time.”

Iowa State won its first two games of 2003 before dropping the rest of the schedule. For the first time under McCarney, the Cyclones failed to win a conference game.

With the memories of 2003 still fresh in his mind, McCarney said he’s more focused and motivated to get his team back on the right track.

“You don’t get [last season] all out of your mind,” McCarney said. “There are a lot of things that happened last year that I want to make sure never happen again. As far as my focus, my motivation, my inspiration and my drive, it’s this team and those kids. I want to make sure we get the most out of them, and I want to make people proud. I want people to come to these stands again really proud of this program.”

The Cyclones will seek guidance from the veterans on the team, like senior defensive back Ellis Hobbs and punter/placekicker Tony Yelk. Both players were on the last Cyclone bowl team, a position they’d like to return to.

“We know last year wasn’t right,” Hobbs said. “It just didn’t feel right, it wasn’t right in the stat books or in our hearts. We’re just ready to go out there and prove a point.”

This year, McCarney didn’t select captains during spring ball, choosing instead to name position leaders in an effort to promote accountability among those on the field.

“Our leadership is strong,” McCarney said. “You might know that I didn’t elect captains in the spring like I normally do. I appointed position leaders before summer workouts began. They were in charge of leadership, the discipline, problems with the volunteer part of voluntary workouts. The players handle that, the coaches don’t. They did a real good job of that. We’ll elect captains here in a couple weeks before we break camp, and I know we’re going to have some good, strong leaders on this football team.”

Yelk said there has been a different feeling in the locker room this season, with team camaraderie taking center stage.

“We sat down [as a team] a couple different times and got everything out in the air,” Yelk said.

“We talked about everything — we’re a team, we’re a family. We talked about everything.”

So far, Yelk said, the team seems to be on the same page, but the first true test will be when the Cyclones take the field against Northern Iowa on Sept. 4.

“The guys were really open and responsive to it,” Yelk said. “Starting with winter programs, the attitude was a night and day difference in my opinion.

“I think I’m being realistic and not optimistic.”

Hobbs said a key for the Iowa State will be to concentrate on the team and not the distractions looming off the football field.

“I see us being better than what we’ve been, if we can stay together as a team and sit here through the tough times and the good times and rely on one another and not everyone on the outside,” Hobbs said.

One of the distractions may be the suspension of defensive lineman Jason Berryman. Berryman, 2003 Big 12 co-defensive freshman of the year, was suspended indefinitely after an altercation with another ISU student in late July where Berryman allegedly stole the student’s cell phone and a small amount of money.

Although Berryman’s loss hurts, McCarney sees it as another rallying point for his team.

“This could be a classic example of there isn’t any one player more important than the team,” McCarney said.

“We all have to overcome obstacles, some things that you can control, some things you can’t control. How you handle that adversity is one of the great measures of a head coach, of a program, of a staff and of players that I’ve learned.

“I feel real good about the chemistry of the team.

I feel that this team is going to rally no matter who is here or isn’t here.”