Iowa State football Head Coach Matt Campbell commented on the growth of two upperclassmen, junior quarterback Brock Purdy and senior defensive lineman JaQuan Bailey.

He said both have grown a lot over the spring. For Bailey, it’s been with his physical condition.

“He’s come back in the best shape I’ve seen him in…he’s in the best shape of his life,” Campbell said in a press conference Thursday. “He’s worked tremendously hard over the last three months while he was at home in Jacksonville.”

Last season, Bailey only played in four games due to a leg injury and received a medical redshirt.

In the 2018 season, Bailey totaled 46 tackles (14.5 for a loss), eight sacks, five pass deflections and forced and recovered a fumble en route to earning a spot on the Coaches All-Big 12 Second Team.

Campbell said Bailey came back better than when he left them three months ago.

Having missed the majority of last season, Campbell said Bailey gained a different perspective.

“I think the greater gift that JaQuan has been given is the gift of the ability to sit on the outside and look in for the first time in his career a year ago,” Campbell said.

Bailey is expected to be one of Iowa State’s most productive players on the defensive side of the ball.

However, Campbell expects Bailey to have another kind of impact on the team.

Campbell expects Bailey to be a leader for the team.

“The greatest way he can impact this program is to unify, be a great senior leader and the ability to connect every person in our organization and our program,” Campell said. “He’s taking great reigns of this team over the four weeks we’ve been back.”

According to Campbell, Bailey’s grown over the last five years.

“Five years ago, there were some good days and there were some tough days [for Bailey],” Campbell said. “But what I always knew about JaQuan, and the same thing goes for Josh [JaQuan’s twin brother, who is also a defensive lineman for Iowa State] is their heart and when you really cut it open JaQuan’s got an amazing heart, he cares about people and it’s what I love about him, it’s what I love about Josh and it’s been a growth process. JaQuan’s gone through it all, high successes, some tough times and yet what he’s always had the ability to do is grow from any of those situations. You never know what a journey is going to look like or feel like, but JaQuan’s taken advantage of this opportunity in every way, shape and form.”

Another player Campbell expects to see grow as a leader this season is Purdy.

Purdy threw for 27 touchdowns, had eight rushing touchdowns and threw nine interceptions last season.

He earned a spot on the 2019 Coaches All-Big 12 Second Team.

“Brock has had a lot of experiences, which life is about, positive and negative, learning and growing from them and at his age at the collegiate level, Brock has experienced all of those,” Campbell said.

Campbell said through those experiences one thing was a constant.

Purdy wasn’t trying to be anyone else, according to Campbell.

“Brock knows who he is, Brock has never ever tried to be somebody else, he’s always just tried to be the best version of him,” Campbell said.

Campbell said in January, Purdy “completely understood where he was, what has occurred over his first two years playing the sport of football at the collegiate level and understood where he wants to go.”

Purdy was described as an “11th coach” for the team.

“He’s almost a player’s coach at times, he doesn’t need somebody to self-start him every day, he’s a guy that’s driven to be great and a guy that demands the best from everybody around him,” Campbell said.

Campbell said he’s seen Purdy do that over the past couple of months when sports teams couldn’t be face to face with one another due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said he’s seen Purdy do those things by the way he’s communicated with teammates over the last three months, the ability to hold the team accountable with fundamentals and details and the accountability with the small details in workouts.

During part of the three month stretch away from football, Purdy was with his family in Florida where they have relatives.

At first he and his family were only down there for spring break, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they stayed down there.

Regardless of where they were quarantining, Purdy wanted to be with family.

“We weren’t really sure what we were going to do once we got down to Florida, but the bottom line was I wanted to be with my family,” Purdy said.

Purdy said they stayed down there for a month and a half with his father’s family and it was a great time for him to reflect on what’s going on.

He said the time gave him time to distance himself from the sport of football.

“Being in Ames for a year and a half, I was always thinking about football, what I can do better to help this team and it was just football, football, football,” Purdy said in Thursday’s press conference. “It felt like there was a lot of pressure and stuff going on in my head, with what happened last year, so just being with my family for a month and a half down in Florida being able to fish, have my mom cook dinner, being with my father, brother and sister for me was a blessing.”

Campbell said he believes it was a powerful time for Purdy.

“I think it’s been a whirlwind for him in his first year and a half in Ames,” Campbell said. “To be able to be surrounded by his family during the quarantine was healthy for him and provided him the ability to step back away from to be a kid again. It’s what I love about Brock, his family is very important to him.”

In order to unplug, Purdy’s family talked about faith and their purpose in life.

Purdy said he’s a man of faith, so he, his father and his brother would discuss the Word in addition to faith and purpose in life.

“Especially with everything going on, for me to step back and understand that life’s not all about football and sports…and to understand what purpose here in life was huge for me,” Purdy said.

Purdy said this time period cleared his mind up.

He said he fished and did some outdoor activities to keep his mind fresh and away from “the craziness going on.”

Last season, Purdy said he felt like everything was on his shoulders, but said if everybody can get on the same page, then they’ll “roll from there.”

“This offseason, I’ve read books on how to deal with pressures and anxiety about the season and stuff like that,” Purdy said. “I think this has been a great time with all the quarantining that I could step back and reflect on everything that’s going on. I’ve taken that serious more than anything really and my ankle is healed up, so that’s good.”

The Cyclones lost the last four out of six games last season and finished with a 7-6 record.

In his two years at Iowa State, Purdy has thrown for 6,232 yards, 43 touchdowns and thrown for 16 interceptions while also rushing for 13 touchdowns.

He is being discussed as a Heisman Trophy — college football’s highest individual honor — contender and has had his name on some NFL mock drafts for the 2021 NFL draft.