Iowa State football players Bill Marsau and Kevin DeRonde don’t usually talk about their common football experiences when they get together.

That may be too bad, because they could probably learn a lot from each other.

Both came to Cyclone country widely regarded as the best high school football linemen among Iowa preps, Marsau in 1995 and DeRonde in 1997. Both came from small towns. Both had somewhat trying seasons on a personal level last season, Marsau as a reserve and DeRonde as a redshirt.

And finally, both are listed as starters on the spring depth chart, Marsau at offensive tackle and DeRonde at defensive end.

“I don’t really talk too much about football with (Marsau),” DeRonde said. “We talk about farming or something.”

Marsau and DeRonde don’t even talk about the pressure and expectations ISU fans put on them after they have had highly-regarded high school careers.

“I know there were a lot of expectations for Bill (too), but we really haven’t talked about it,” said DeRonde, who knew Marsau briefly before arriving at ISU.

For Marsau, the starting spot at left offensive tackle is the latest in a series of position changes entering his fourth season with the Cyclones.

He played offensive guard last season and was on the defensive line the season before. Marsau went from being a starter on the defensive line in 1996 when he was a redshirt freshman to being a second-string offensive lineman last season.

“I’ve had my ups and downs throughout my career,” Marsau said. “My ability to keep my focus on what I wanted to do and the ability to stick with it are paying off.”

Marsau said the switch from offensive guard to offensive tackle was much easier than the switch from the defensive to offensive line.

“As far as moving from guard to tackle from last year to this year, it isn’t a lot different,” he said.

“It’s all the same technique, the blocking is pretty much the same. The way (offensive coordinator Pete Hoener) teaches it, he wants us to learn all the positions, so it really wasn’t that big a leap this year.”

DeRonde said he has mixed feeling about his redshirt year last season.

“It was kind of tough; you’re practicing all the time and you just sit out (of games),” he said.

However, DeRonde said there were some benefits of taking a redshirt year.

“I know the program a lot better, the plays and all, so I wasn’t that disappointed,” he said.

Marsau also said he saw some good out of a less than ideal situation last season.

“Last year was real hard for me and I felt I grew up a lot as a player,” Marsau said.

“For the first time in my life I wasn’t the best in my position and I had to accept that fact. It really ingrained in my head the idea of the team concept.”