For Iowa State alumni football fans, these are the good old days. Cyclone football has never been this good before. But every time Matt Campbell’s teams knock off one of the “big boys” or, in this season, beat eight of the nine other Big 12 teams to finish first in the league, the rumors start flying about other opportunities for Mr. Campbell in the NFL or among “powerhouse” college programs.

Let us hope Mr. Campbell can remember the grass is always greener on the other side and life is actually pretty wonderful right here in little old Iowa. Athletic Director Jamie Pollard and the Iowa State community have given Coach Campbell time to build a winning program. And Coach Campbell has proven that a powerhouse program can be built the right way, right here in the tall corn state.

Coach Campbell has a knack for recruiting coachable players and helping them become the best they can be: five-star performers on the football field and in life. Names like Brock Purdy, Breece Hall and David Montgomery will be long remembered among Cyclone fans.

So let’s show Mr. Campbell “Iowa nice” by being kind to one another. Democrats and Republicans, Cyclone and Hawkeye fans, Black, Brown and white, Catholics, Protestants and Muslims. And in the future, if the Cyclones ever have a disappointing season, let us not be quick to criticize coach or his players. Let us instead remember the joy that we have found in Cyclone football.

Brian Franz is an Iowa State University alumnus of the class of 1978.